We had some pretty
overwhelming evidence that Olympus' entry-level E-600 was more than just some fancy Photoshop, and sure enough, the outfit has today made things official for us. Designed as a low-cost
E-620, the 12.3-megapixel shooter drops only the backlit buttons, a trio of 'art filter' modes, aspect mask control and the two-shot multi exposure mode from an otherwise heralded device. If you can live without those, you'll find a delectable $599.99 price tag that includes a 14-42mm f3.5/5.6 Zuiko zoom lens, a 2.7-inch swiveling Live View LCD, in-body image stabilization, a dust reduction system, sequential shooting at four frames per second and the ability to accept CF, UDMA and xD memory cards (sorry, SD lovers). It'll be available from respectable camera outlets this November -- just in time to satisfy that nagging need on the forthcoming holiday gift list.
[Via
Electronista]
posted Aug 31st 2009 9:21AM
At $599, something had to give. No SD is a bummer!
SD cards are for phones, point-and-shoots and other gadgets where read/write speeds don't matter that much.
It has a CF slot, why bother on SD ?
Personally, I prefer CF, but if they're trying to sell this as an entry level camera, SD is pretty much a requirement. They should have left out the xD and had SD instead. It's time for them to give up on it.
@Tombio
microSD is for phones, dummy.
No SD - no buy. My monitor, laptop and compact camera all have SD slot and no CF slot.
IMO, CF will die out when SDXC appears.
@Shinigami
Yes I know, but wait. Are you telling me that Sharp TM150 is not a phone? ;)
Got a Delkin SD to CF adaptor in my E-620. Works like a charm with a high speed SD card and I can even insert a micro SD card (via a MicroSD to SD) adaptor if I want to upload some photos from my mobile.
http://www.delkin.com/products/adapters/sd-to-cf/sd-to-cf.html
At the long end of the zoom, f/5.6 is two stops slower than serious shooters prefer and four stops slower than the best primes of that focal length. Not a problem if you're shooting landscapes, but don't try using that focal length to capture movement or shoot in available darkness.
and how is this different, really, from a Canon or a Nikon kit lens?
As much as I love shooting in available darkness, available light is SOOO much easier.
Presumably "Serious shooters" don't buy an entry level DSLR with a kit lens then? There's certainly no shortage of more expensive glass that will meet your exacting requirements, but don't expect to get it with a body for anything like $600
Paul,
If your comment was sarcasm, I want to thank you for the brilliant work. If not, I'd like you to show me better lenses from Nikon or Canon for the same financial outlay.
Regards, tekdroid.
whats the deal with xD cards?? With the largest size offered (that I can find) being 2GB you'd think other technologies would have taken over by now. Why do so many camera manufacturers make use of these cards? Thank god for xD > MicroSD converters.
They make manufacturers xD when they screw us over with that garbage!
No SD is a disgrace.
xD is basically SD without a flash controller. The flash controller sits in the IC talking to the flash card. It makes
the card cheaper (?), but let's just stop this nonsense about several flash card standards.
Just stick to SD and CompactFlash. CompactFlash for those apps who need faster access.
At least they arent sticking xD down our thouat like sony does with memory stick.
You can use UDMA cards or Compact Flash.
Dude....the only camera manufactures that ever used xD are Olympus and Fuji and Fuji already ditched it and Olympus is in the process of dropping it, which only make the fact that this camera has an xD slot even weirder.
I don't have has big a problem with Memory stick, at least it is usable in pretty much everything Sony makes (and now their SLRs give you a choice) and not just a handful of devices and most computers with memory card slot's take it.
@newone sony DSLRs support more than just memory stick.
I don't understand why people keep spreading that sony DSLRs take MemoryStick only
xD is by far the worst aspect of Olympus camera ownership - they are harder to come by and more expensive. But having a second card slot is still a boon because you can then copy from one CF to another in-camera. In my E-620 I've left a 512MB xD card in for just that purpose.
Or you can be smart and just get a Canon or Nikon (seriously).
How do you confuse YOUR personal preference, to someone else being "smart"? I don't get it. (seriously)
Wait, Canon and Nikon offer DSLR's with image stabilization built in? I don't think so. Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax, Samsung, Olympus, and Panasonic all make excellent cameras; it's just a matter of preference into which system a consumer will buy. Lens selection and camera specifics play an roll in that. Brand name? Not so much. (Or at least it shouldn't.)
Well if it's the lenses you want, then definitely Canon or Nikon (preferably Canon) and I don't shoot either of them. I shoot Pentax with mostly third party lenses.
Well, Patriks7, you don't know much about photography, do you? Otherwise you'd know that Oly's Zuiko lenses have a reputation of being some of the best (though pricy) you can find.
Hi. Nikon and Canon may be fine for your needs, but I doubt we could have a discussion about the finer points of the competition because I think you are waving that 'it's what everyone is using' brandist flag.
When you are ready to objectively assess the competition and its merits, come back.
I know that most people don't use liveview but I wish we had more cameras with tilting screens. They really are a ton of help for unusual camera angles/shooting over crowd's heads
Any word on how many auto-focus points this model has? That is about the only downside to this model if it has less than canon or nikon do in the d5000 or 500d.
the crop sensor is a non issue unless you really need a very very wide kit lens cause 28-84 full frame 35mm equivalent is just fine plus this thing has a swivel screen too.
Off topic, say I was looking to get my girlfriend an entry-level SLR for her birthday. Any suggestions?