Customer Reviews

Olympus E-20 5MP Digital Camera w/ 4x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What an amazing machine this is. After suffering through the flimsy plastic trinket cameras with little or no real optical quality, I finally own a truly versatile digital camera. The E-20 (as with the E10) offers extraordinary flexibility in digital photography. Prior to my recent purchase I spent at least a year and a half researching and waiting for this last pixel jump. The E-20 offers all of the flexibility of a high-level SLR which is missing on most other digital cameras.

Good Points:

- The feel... It has enough weight for good stability, and it fits your hand very nicely.
- Excellent lens with the ability to add extenders, filters, what-have-you.
- Super Image Quality
- Good bundled software (Adobe PhotoShop Elements and Camedia)
- Image control
- SmartMedia, CompactFlash, AND Microdrive compliant with the ability to use more than one card type at a time (you can switch between the cards).
- True SLR (some competitors offer interchangeable optics, but still have you look through a viewfinder. What's with that? I want to see what I'm taking.).
- Great accessories! (I can't wait to get the lithium polymer attachment)

Drawbacks
- I'll have to get a better strap
- Flexibility & control vs. ease of use trade-off... there are roughly 30 buttons to learn (but most of us will want that kind of control).
- It doesn't come with a case... even a cheapie
- I need to buy stock in a battery company
- Remembering to turn it off whenever I open the media bay or change power source

This is probably not the camera you would buy for your instamatic dependent Aunt Sally or Uncle Jimmy-Bob, but if push came to shove you could always tell them to just put the big knob on "P" (Program) and snap away.

When you pick your camera, don't go by statistics alone (or reviews alone for that matter). You've got to get out there and see how the camera feels in your hands. If you've a history with good quality 35mm SLR's you are going to love the E-20.

We tested this camera for compatibility with VeriPic. We put it through its paces in all the modes including adjusting manual white balance, IS, PS and Noise Reduction mode, sharpness filter, all combinations of the 5 resolutions and 3 compression modes. The camera performed flawlessly and what amazed us is the camera was very frugal on the batteries. Once set of charged 1600 mah NiMH AA batteries actually got us through 350 pictures! This was a very pleasant supprise. The technical specs also don't mention another gem...There is a large RAM buffer that allows you to take up to 5 FULL mode resolution (5 MegaPixel) photos one after another without waiting for the photos to write to the Compact Flash card! This means you can take photos quickly without having the normal digital camera wait between photos that other cameras have. (The manual lists a 60 ms wait between shutter press and photo capture. This is almost too small to notice and the user will think this camera responds like a 35 mm SLR). The photos look great in FULL resolution JPeg at 1:2.7 compression. Don't use the two TIFF modes because you'll run out of memory card soon and there is no noticable quality difference between the TIFF and JPeg mode so you might as well use JPeg and save some memory. Additionally this camera is VeriPic compatible! That means it is suitable for professional insurance or evidence photography work. We would have given this camera 5 stars instead of 4 except for two things we didn't like about it. The camera is a bit too heavy and hard to lug around unlike the direct competitor (Minolta Dimage 7 which is significantly lighter) and the second drawback is that it is significantly higher price than the Dimage 7. Otherwise it is a great camera!

I am now using the E-20N for our newspaper and have found it to be excellent for sports and news photography. The only drawback is the write time from buffer to card can be long and ties up the camera when the buffer is full. It is a little slow powering up, about 5 seconds. However, I am learning to overcome it and work around it. It takes excellent quality photos and does night football on the high school level very nicely with the FL-40 Flash. The flash is a necessary accessory. It is a wonder to handle, good focus, fast auto focus and love the manual flexibility it has. I definitely recommend it. I did not know if it would take night football, but it has done very well. I am still learning it and trying to master the many features it has. Very, Very good digital camera, it has all but eliminated our wet darkroom. we also use Nikon Coolpix 950s and 995, both very good digital cameras.

The Olympus E20N replaced their E10 and now can capture 5 meg images. This is a key upgrade to what was already a very fine digital camera. The construction and materials of this camera put it into the upper echelon of consumer digital cameras and some would argue that this is a strictly professional tool. What I like about it is the balance of features, quality and design. Once Olympus manages to speed up the image storage process, the E20N will be worthy of 5 stars.

Many digital camera designers are scrambling to improve optical performance of the camera lens. The need for a zoom lens that covers a wide range is hamstrung by the small size of even a 5 megapixel CCD. This in part explains the poor image performance of many inexpensive digital cameras, but even in the lower price regime, Olympus has been an industry leader for years. But a designer of a more expensive camera like the E-20N ... has more latitude in designing optics and herein lies a key strength of this camera. The lens of the E-20N has a zoom range equivalent to a 35-140mm lens on a 35mm camera, with an aperture of f 2 to 2.4. One can sight through an optical TTL viewfinder or via a swivelable LCD screen. Excellent optics!

The control features of the E20N are also excellent, yet not perfect. Many adjustments are set by holding down a dedicated button while rotating the camera's control wheel, which can be difficult to do one-handed. The built-in flash has fairly decent range, but since the camera has a hot-shoe, an external flash can be added if necessary.

I like the ergonomic feel of the E-20N and I also like that it has four available operating modes: automatic, manual, aperture priority and shutter priority. By using the new progressive scan mode, one can take images with a shutter speed of 1/18000th of a second, but the image resolution is reduced by a factor of two. This might make you think this is an ideal camera for sports photography, but I'd disagree. The camera is just too slow at storing image data. It often takes over 8 seconds to store a high resolution image with the E-20N and this is the camera's most serious fault.

The bottom line for most folks is image quality and in this department, the E-20N does not disappoint. If you ever make the move up to a large-format printer, you'll want a camera of this quality. You can achieve excellent prints at 11x17" with the E-20N. For pictures requiring a slow shutter speed, the noise-reduction filter is very useful.

The Pros: EXCELLENT IMAGE QUALITY and control. Very solid grip and feel - actually feels like a real camera. The lens is bright and sharp, image quality is probably the best I've seen. The focal length of the camera is great. Best thing compared to most digicams I've used: there is no shutter lag - the time it takes between you pressing the button (click) and the actual picture being taken. I hate that on some Sony cameras I've used in the past - by the time the camera actually takes the picture a person's expression or light conditions can change... :-(
All in all, a great camera for this price and probably the cheapest in its class of SLRs (compared to Nikon D1X).
The Cons: SLOW WRITE TIMES, but you can get used to that and learn to live with it. FIXED LENS - you cannot change lens with is good and bad. Good because the CCD elements are protected at all times and don't get dirt.. a problem with some digital SLRs. You can also get attachments that go on top of the lens for macro or wide angle, etc. The LCD screen is HORRIBLE - don't use that for composing shots too often.
I am waiting for the new models to come out at PMA end of Feb. 2002. At that time E20 should get cheaper - hopefully.
You probably must've read a lot of reviews by now. ....

If you're looking for a great snapshot camera, look somewhere else. This isn't it. This Olympus is a workhorse of a camera good enough to replace your film cameras. After years of shooting 35mm, this is the camera I picked to test the digital frontier. My main concern about going digital was photo quality but I have been impressed. Shoot at (near) top quality, run through Photoshop Elements, download to a CD-R, CompactFlash or SmartMedia and run it through your local photo lab at Ritz or even Wal-Mart. The quality is admirable. I took this camera on vacation to Canada and was not disappointed. Could you do better? If you already have Nikon or Canon lenses, spend the extra cash and buy their latest models. But for the money, you'd be challenged to find a better overall camera that will let you explore your own photographic passions.

The best features:
* True photo-quality at 8x10-plus (gives you room to crop)
* Feels like a real camera
* Bright lens with decent telephoto range

* Variety of settings to let you go totally automatic or manual

The worst features:
* It is somewhat heavy (although the weight does give you a sense of comfort)
* Slow write times to memory
* Small cache that fills up with about 5 high-quality tiffs
* Lens range (without extensions) is a bit limiting, especially outdoors.

Well, after 3 years of serious consideration, I finally went digital. I spent hours an hours considering which camera to buy, and since I've had great experience with Olympus in the past, I looked at the E10 and E20. Once I got relatively acquainted wuth these two, I looked at other models.
I went with the E20 and I could want little else. It is easy to use, and easy to learn all the functions and I find it very user friendly. On top of that the images are amazing. The program mode is almost fool proof, and you get great results all the time if you are just taking quick shots for WYSIWYG images.
For tose fearful of the woeful reports of battery consumption, just go out and get three sets of Nickle Metal Hydride batteries and a rapid charger and you'll be set. If you plan on going on a trigger-happy outing and do that often, you might want to consider Olys Lithium Polymer battery setup. It is an investment, but it will ultimately pay for itself.

Have been using a Canon S100 for casual photography but was looking for something professional for serious work. After checking online reviews and current prices I decided to go with the E20N. Many reviews had remarked on the qualtiy constructions of this camera which I can only agree with. This is one heavy, well constructed piece of equipment. Kind of like the Hummer of cameras. Not a camera one would use stricly for pictures of the kids etc. This is a serious tool for pros or semi-professional photography. Tons of buttons, menus and dials to learn how to use. But the results are excellent! I almost exclusively use the SHQ mode with creates about 4MB size files (2500 x 1950 at 144 ppi, low JPEG compression). This is good enough to create larger than 5"x7" output on an imagesetter at 133 lpi. On an ink jet printer you can get top quality prints on legal size paper. Next step up would be the Nikon D100 which costs about the same but without the lens! Only negative for me is the fact that it takes relatively long to save pictures to the storage medium.

I love this camera! This camera is the most like a TTL SL Reflex 35mm camera I've ever seen in a digital camera. The only drawback is how it seems to "go to sleep" between shots, if the shots are not within a few seconds of each other, and then the camera is hard to "wake up." Of course, I am still learning how to use the camera, especially with the built-in flash, and the Olympus dedicated flash. And as far as I am concerned, as a user of Canon and Nikon cameras for many years, I bought this camera because I know that Olympus has made great cameras for as long as I can remember, and the 5 megapixel print quality from its images is excellent.

Buying a camera for the resolution is like buying a book based on how many pages it has.

I suspect that many of the cameras which purport to offer higher theoretical resolution are in fact limited by lens resolution. The small size of compact digital sensors in comparison with film makes severe demands on lens quality, but the dedicated digital E-10 and E-20 lenses are definitely up to the task.

Pixel quality, rather than quantity, is definitely an area where this and the E-10 shine- the rendition and gradation of colours is better than most. Particularly good with greens, golds and blacks.

The other outstanding thing about this camera is the way it handles. The user interface (by the standard of DLSR cameras) is elegant, and satisfying. This is particularly the case if you regularly tweak the settings: the interface is aimed at making such tweaks while composing the shot, rather than having to step through menus prior to the shot, although this means you need to get to know where each button is by feel, and stay familiar with what it does. You also need to get into the habit of doing a quick "cockpit check" prior to shooting, in case of an inappropriate setting left from the previous session.

I'm a big fan of spinning a rotary switch rather than repeatedly pressing a pushbutton, and the designers of this camera clearly share that preference. In a nice amalgamation of the best of both worlds, you typically hold a button down with one finger to identify which parameter to tweak, while spinning whichever of two rotary knobs comes most conveniently under another digit in order to change that parameter or select from a number of options. The buttons are nicely spread around the available areas, so that you can find them by feel. Many are differentiated in some tactile way which confirms their identity. In some cases (eg manual vs autofocus) Olympus have opted for a dedicated rotary lever even though there are only two choices. This means your finger tells you what the mode is, eliminating the need for yet another confusing light in the viewfinder.
The balance and feel of the camera is very pleasing, and the buttons and dials fall nicely under the fingers. This is a "Real" metal-body camera, no expense spared in the case design and production, and it feels like it.

Personally I think the E-10 is an even better camera than the E-20, unless resolution is your paramount concern - the E20 has some speed issues, and extra options which may distract rather than adding value, depending on your priorities. The E10, considering how much control you get, has a minimum of fiddly "smart" bells and whistles- a great camera if capturing short movie clips with sound holds no fascination for you.

I have one major gripe: while there is a facility for hooking the camera up to an external (TV) monitor, to preview the image in real time (as it falls on the sensor)- and the camera comes with an infra-red cordless remote shutter release - yet, for some *entirely* unfathomable reason, you cannot use both these facilities at once, which reduces the remote to not much more than a gimmick. You have to shell out for an expensive extension cable release, and this is of limited length.

Minor gripes are mainly connected with the autofocus- you do have to pander to it in ways which are not necessary in the case of a wet-film SLR, and it is definitely slower. However if I had to choose between a better autofocus and the superb (for a DSLR) manual focus and zoom (both via lens rings), it would be no contest.

It used to bother me that the LCD down-angle is insufficient for high overhead shots, until I realised that I could angle the panel to "maximum up" and turn the camera upside down to take the photo. The image will still look "right way up" to you, although not to the camera.

All things considered, if you like to have lots of control of the parameters, and you use your camera regularly, this is a very good choice.