I absolutely love the E-520. I have bought five lenses for it so far; my favorite for sharpness is the 50mm f/2 prime lens, but for extra wide, I like the 9-18mm. I have the 70-300mm as well, and it can shoot a bird at 200 feet and put it right in your face.I am also very impressed with the kit lenses. I do a lot of manual focusing and shooting, and these lenses are sharp... truly unbelievable for the price, and they stand up well against some very expensive glass by other manufacturers. Over the years, I have spent a LOT more money for lenses that turned out to be inferior to these.Olympus makes some of the top lenses in the world.The menu on the E-520 was easy for me to understand from the start, but I've been shooting with SLRs for over 40 years. Even though the E-520 is called an "entry level" SLR, it might prove daunting for a beginning photographer. Nonetheless, if you are mildly familiar with f-stops, apertures, shutter speed and film speed (or equivalent), I think you'll find this an easy camera to operate.I have spent hours at [...] comparing studio photos and resolution charts as shot by various cameras. Olympus measures very well against the big money cameras in the studio shots. In the resolution charts, though, Olympus falls behind. So, if you need the absolute best digital image money can buy and you can afford [...], buy the new Nikon; or, shell out [...] for a Canon Mark II or III. All these cameras will give you better resolution than any Olympus camera.BUT... Although the price of those cameras is many times higher than your E-520, the quality of their pictures is not much higher. And, by the way, in my opinion the E-520 shoots better pictures than the E-30 or the E-3.I don't do magazine layouts or commercial photography; however, on occasion, I do like to blow a picture up to 16x20 or larger, and the E-520 gives very satisfying results.Moreover, Olympus has given me GREAT service. I have had to return two lenses for various reasons. In one case, Olympus shipped me a brand new lens; in the other case, they repaired the lens and had it back to me within the week; no questions, no hassle.

The Olympus e520 is a good entry-level DSLR with in-body image stabilization, usable live view, and many other nice features. While made in China, it has a metal lens mount, and I was impressed by its overall construction. I wish I could say the same about the bundled kit lens, which is a cheap 14-42mm zoom with a plastic mount. I'm a semi-pro aviation photographer. I got acceptable results on the ground, but noticed a slight but definite blurriness in the air, despite using the image stabilizer. Ordered the companion 40-150 mm zoom separately and when that arrived, discovered that it would not deliver consistently sharp focus at infinity and max zoom, regardless of camera settings, due to motion of the lens end, also noticed the same in the 14-42 mm lens. This is unnaceptable for me. I returned the camera and both lenses for a full refund. Amazon's service was excellent, and the camera is good, but the lenses are terrible.

*****UPDATE REVIEW MAY 15, 2009*****I've had this camera now for about 6 months...long enough for me to evaluate it some more. It's about 75% + and about 25% minus. I find it easy to use. Some reviewers did not. At first, it didn't look very sharp on my computer monitor. And the LCD screen doesn't let you zoom in on preview with much sharpness. So, until I actually had some photos printed off the card, I wasn't convinced. It does produce sharp, saturated photos.The ISO goes to 1600, but I was having trouble getting shutter speeds over 1/80th while trying to shoot a basketball game. Inside, at night, I have given up trying to get sneak photos of my son and his dog asleep in their bed. After watching the focus flash go off 6 or 7 times, I give up. Without the main light on, it's abysmal. Last night, I tried to take a picture of a deer by the road. I never could get it to focus and had to set it to manual. Luckily, I got it right and with RAW, and some editing afterwards, got a pretty decent flash picture. Sadly, my $135 point and shoot would have gotten the picture in focus (the flash couldn't have made the shot). While for daytime shooting the smaller viewfinder doesn't bother me, in low light it performs poorly for trying to focus. The lenses don't have a fixed turn on the focus ring, so you can't guess as the ring will just keep on turning. Other than that, it is a great performing camera. Anyway, I thought I'd add my thoughts.*****INITIAL REVIEW DECEMBER 4, 2008*****I ordered an E-520; it was shipped on 11/30 and I received it at lunch on 12/02 by UPS w/free shipping. Can't beat that... (I also found it on a weekend Turkey Day sale for $469.) Anyway, this is a fantastic camera.I spent 11 years as a paid photographer, doing portraits and weddings, and I worked for a while as a photojournalist, and custom darkroom tech. Every camera has both good and bad attributes. I'm sick of people trashing cameras over trivial crap. I want to photograph nature; my family; vacations; etc. Reading numerous reviews and tiny variances in lab condition tests both confused me and worried me as I toiled over a camera. When I actually worked as a photographer, I shot everything from Hasselblads to Nikons to Mamiyas as a photographer, but this is my first dSLR. The old Nikon is retired and now a shelf decoration at home. Hence I was shopping for a camera to do better than my pocket PAS I take hiking and paddling. I figured I knew a lot about cameras until I started reading all the test reports on digital SLRs. Man, it can get confusing.Not to bore you with technobabble, I am extremely happy with the camera and I've only used it for 2 days. A few of the things I've noticed as of my 3rd day with the camera are: This camera feels good in my hand. The grip is shaped just right to get a good hand hold and not be hitting buttons with my thumb. It feels a lot more like a pro-grade SLR than a consumer grade (at least to me). The mode and setting dials are conveniently located. The LCD is good. The menus, while there are a LOT of them, are pretty easy to understand once you play with the camera a while. They are bright and easy to read. I like them better than the Canon XSi. You might forget exactly where a sub-menu is if you don't use the camera for a while, but I suspect the average shooter won't be adjusting every little setting just to take pics. My guess is that most people will shoot jpegs and do some EV adjustments, etc. Plus, there are short cut buttons on the camera that can control the ISO, single vs. continuous shooting, etc.The overlay grid is kind of cool, mostly to play with if you have much experience. It has a square green box that shows you where it took the readings. While squares light up on the overlay, through the viewfinder there are 3 focus points. When it focuses, small red dots light up to show you where the focus is. You can customize these. Basically I found this to be very helpful. In lower light, fast action or lots of differently spaced areas in a shot, it's easy to have the camera get your subject a bit out of focus. I haven't used the face recognition or auto-gradation (shadow adjustment technology) yet. Some of the articles say that a lot of the features are for a transition to a higher grade camera from a PAS. I disagree with that. While some are cutesy, they would help most anybody, especially in rush situations where you don't have to analyze things and make a quick decision. And, not everybody wants to scrutinize every situation and become super photographer. Mom or grandma might want a camera to photograph the kids at football games, or take fireworks pics with on July 4th, etc. Settings that have automatically compensated for variables (at least to some extent) can and do come in handy. I've used them in the past. The day my camera arrived, I did photograph a girls' basketball game at the school where I teach and I was pleased with the results. People complain the viewfinder is too small. It is a bit small compared to Canon, but it's still plenty big. I read where the shape of the 4/3rds sensor causes some of that perception, as compared to traditional viewfinders/sensors which are rectangular. The read out is a tad small, but the major info at the top such as f-stop and shutter speed is readable. Those are the important ones. The small clutter of information at the bottom is more of a learn what's where and just acknowledge it's set. Once you've set them in the control panel menu, do you really need to squint to read them and remind yourself they are there? Just hit the info button for the LCD and that will be displayed...a lot bigger. I used the view finder and 1600 ISO. It performed as expected, although I did have to adjust the EV controls at first as the girls were too dark...sort of shadowy looking. The adjustment cleared the pic up fine. Looking at the pics on my TV and computer, they are well exposed and very sharp, with vivid colors even on natural. The camera LCD flashes on areas with blown highlights, but in a gym, that's to be expected. Most any picture will have high and low key areas. The histograms will prove handy.People complained the LCD focus is too slow. For stability and a sense of feel for the composure and camera, I used the viewfinder A/F. Putting my elbows against my chest and the camera against my face is something I've done for many years. holding a camera out in front of me is just not natural, nor is it good for low speed shots. Plus, it looks sort of hokey...like my elderly mother holding up a PAS and saying "smile..." Basically, it performed top notch. Most of the time, I didn't even pre-focus and it caught the action. The LCD did take a bit longer, but in my opinion, LCD is for landscapes, wildlife, family group shots, sneaky shooting, etc. The camera does come with a little piece that slides over the viewfinder slots to block light from the sensor when using the LCD. I put it in one of the card pockets of my LowePro camera strap, so it would be handy and I wouldn't lose it. I have both the 14-42mm and the 40-150mm lenses and while the depth of field isn't as shallow as I'd like it, and the bokeh isn't comparable to top-end lenses, you wouldn't expect them to be. Other than the f-stops are not as low as I'd prefer, they are great lenses. I wish they would blur the background better, but different focal lengths can help the aperture out to some degree. The 300mm zoom is on my Christmas list. The 3-pack of lenses would give a person 28-600mm zoom equivalent. For a hobbyist or even a paid shooter, I would be hard-pressed to think of a situation where you would be wanting more. I haven't mentioned a lot of the technical details. You can get information overload on many sites if you want that. If you want to ask me questions, please do so. I'd be pleased to hear other folks' thoughts. I'm experimenting a bit more every day to learn it. I am very pleased with it. In my opinion, you cannot go wrong with this camera, especially considering the quality of the pictures, the features, and the price. I added a Gary Fong puff diffuser for the on board flash.*****UPDATE FEBRUARY 2, 2009*****I've had my 520 for about 2 months now, after doing the traditional wondering about brands and models for way too long. I had the typical questions and concerns about the camera. So many reviews by so many labs, individuals, etc. can get quite confusing.Anyway, getting on to my review update. This camera is plastic, as people have noted. Big deal. It's durable, very attractive and feels absolutely great in my hands. It does not feel cheap in any way. The lenses don't have a very low f-stop unless you get the higher end ones. This is usually not a problem in most situations, except speed shots in very low light. The Live View is terribly slow in low light and drops out quickly in very low light. I'm not sure why people seem so concerned about Live View. I use the viewfinder probably 95+ percent of the time. The viewfinder is quite fast to focus. Landscapes, trying to focus quickly for people shots or moving objects would be where a sluggish Live View would pose a problem in low light. It has a lag anyway...not something I would use for any movement. Use the viewfinder...I do have a big problem with the way the lenses do not have a set infinity point. While a film photographer, I could guess the distance or set it to infinity if necessary. You can't really do that as it keeps turning. I found that out while doing moon and star photography. A lot of photos of the moom were a bit fuzzy, past what I expected from the moon glow or the atmosphere. You can't see anything with Live View in total darkness and the images are so small in the viewfinder that it's unusable. Having a reference point would be handy, although I'm still working on getting good in night photography in general. I guess reading some articles or books on the subject would seem logical.A disappointing feature is the limitation of the ISO to 1600. Night sports photography is difficult at 1600, although I think you can probably set it to RAW, and then drag out enough details to be suitable. I'm pretty new to RAW, so I'm not expert in this area. Remember, a night photo will never be as good anyway. So many of the new cameras go to 3200, that 1600 seems kind of wimpy. But, 1600 still blurs indoor basketball a lot of the time. While you can pan with the xD card, most of the time you are following the players and decide when to take the photo.It has the obvious limitations for night streets, carnivals, etc. where you need some speed in the shutter. The camera settings do come in handy to manipulate. Night shots give that traditional amber look. While this is handy for effect, sometimes it is unwanted. That's where setting the camera's white balance to the light bulb icon corrects it very well. Complicated huh...The related issue of only 3 focus points for the viewfinder has not given me any problem at all. A lot of reviewers did not like this as most cameras have upped the focus points. This could be a problem for a brand new photographer, but you soon learn where to focus on. Way back when, we didn't even have focus points. Hint: Read all you can on f-stops, depth of field, etc. I had to learn to take photos when my camera had a match-needle for the f-stop and a dial for shutter speed, and a bulb setting. Brain power, not a do-it-all camera is the real key to photography. If you continually rely on the camera to figure it out, you will do a disservice to yourself.The flash is definitely worthy of praise. It's dead-on; enough said. It also recharges fast. Some people have commented that the menu is complicated. Use the camera for a couple of weeks, experiment with the settings, and flip through the reference manual and I think you'll find it easy to understand. I must admit that I haven't read it all yet, and still don't know how to fine tune some of the settings as well as I should. This is sort of a film to digital transition, where one is used to doing it in your head or the darkroom, and now you have to translate that into telling the camera to do it. I can get somewhat confused if I try to get too creative on the spur of the moment. I think with a camera this versatile, you need a game plan for your shots. I guess I really should study the manual more as I get time.A first "click," my point and shoot seems to take a better grab shot in some areas. But, it's designed to do that...let the layperson take a quick picture, of decent quality. At first, I was a bit disappointed that my wife's Sony (which cost about $350 when she bought it) too better photos...until I learned how to adjust the camera. You should remember that the latitude of the 520 is designed to push the envelope past that of point and shoots, and realistically past that of most dSLR cameras anywhere when compared to its price. That is what makes the difference. It's amazing how things have come down in price. I bought my first PAS 5 MP digital in 2004 for the small amount of $500. Prior to that, we'd paid about $200-250 on a markdown for a 1.3 MP back about 2001-2002.A buddy with a much more expensive Canon and I were doing the previously mentioned night photography. He commented on how good it was that my entire LCD menu lit up...that it was easy to see and make adjustments to. He's a good photographer, with a system that probably cost 3-4x what mine did and he frequently praises my E-520 and what a good purchase I made. It seems to me the models with the top displays in gray scale LCD would be frustrating to read compared to this one.Anyway, bringing my essay to an end. The features are great on this camera. The meter and flash are extremely accurate. The kit lenses are very high quality and embarrassing affordable. The camera is easy to make adjustments to and easy to use with a minimal amount of effort in the learning curve. While lots of people talk about paying money for "good" lenses up the line, I'm not one of them. For casual photography, I can't recommend spending $700-800 or closer to $1,000 on a lens.Two deficits of Olympus is while they have a good variety of accessories, aftermarket items are an issue, and their stuff is typically fairly expensve. I wish the flash models were cheaper. A very good Sunpak or Vivitar flash is much cheaper than the comparable Oly models. But, with the 4/3rds sensor system, and the zooms, you'd have a headache to keep trying to remember to make adjustments to keep the flash accurate. Plus, there is the voltage limiter to keep from burning out your circuits with another brand flash as an added aftermarket cost.My end advice: Get this camera and I doubt you will regret your decision. It will give you years of enjoyment, and satisfaction with great photos. Buy whatever Oly lenses you can afford to (based on your needs and not trying to keep up with the Jones). All too often, photographers buy stuff so their camera bag looks full, or they can have bragging rights. Go aftermarket on related items like remote controls, etc. I do recommend buying a BLM-1 battery. I just think they last longer--my opinion. FYI, OwnUser makes a cool battery holder that looks like a motor drive. It adds bulk (or holding area if you prefer that term), and comes with a remote control and an external battery pack that holds AAs and clips on your belt. If you want to play around with things such as close up or fish eye accessories, Opteka and other Japanese brands make inexpensive add-ons. They are cheap in price, but sometimes perform pretty well. I've used cameras and lenses costing thousands of dollors. You don't always have to have an expensive lens or camera to get a satisfying shot. For a picture of the kids or a desk top of photos from the vacation, inexpensive equipment usually does fine, given limitations. That said, inexpensive elements don't always have as good of multi-coatings (if any), or as good quality glass elements...or plastic in some cases. However, some perform amazingly well for a budget price. Try a couple out. If you don't like them, return them for a refund.In any event, the Olympus E-520, the 14-42 and 40-150 lenses (get the 300 zoom if you like nature) will do an excellent job in almost any job you need them to. At least, that's my opinion.

I have a E410, E500 and now the E520 body. All of these are great cameras. The E520 has a very fast recycle rate on both the images and the flash. It is very easily used as point-and-shoot in auto mode and I can still get all of the effects that I could with a manual film camera. One point I will make very clear. If you buy this as a "kit" with lenses don't expect this performance. The lenses that come in most kits are cheap. Don't get me wrong, they work great in full sunlight... anything other though you will likely have slow responses and blurry photos. Many times the camera focus just will not acquire from low lighting. Buy good quality lenses and you will not be disappointed!