Olympus’ booth is situated in the centre of the exhibition hall, one cant possibly missed it. I had a few words with Leo Goh of Olympus Malaysia and tested out their latest dslr the Olympus E-510. Apart from that, I tried the Zuiko 300mm F2.8 mounted on an E-330. Almost full range of Olympus lens were present at the show, some half-cut mock up were seen. An Olympus P-1 mock up were present too.

According to Leo, the Olympus E-510 with Image Stabilization (IS) activated is able to maintain 100% sharpness of the photo up to 3-stops down. As user goes to 4-stops down, 90% sharpness is believed to be achievable.

Having won the EISA "European Consumer Camera 2007-2008"Award, I was eager to know how true is what Leo said. Theoretically speaking, having the IS system built-into the camera body, one can save a huge amount of money on lens investment. For instance, a 70-200 F2.8 non-IS version cost around USD1100 (RM3740) while the IS version cost around USD1700 (RN5780).

The E-510 is set to the following:
Exposure Time = 1/30"
F Number = F5.6
Exposure Program = Manual
ISO Speed Ratings = 400
Metering Mode = Center Weighted Average
Focal Length = 42mm
White Balance = Auto white balance

I have taken 2 burst with IS off, while 1 in single mode with IS activated. The original images are shown below and follow up with image 100% cropped on the focused area.

Reszed images
Photo 1 with IS off

Photo 2 with IS off

Photo with IS on

100% cropped images

Photo 1 with IS off

Photo looks blur when taken without IS at shutter speed of 1/30 with focal length of 84mm.

Photo 2 with IS off

Photo looks better than the first shot, but camera shake is still noticable.
 

Photo with IS on

With IS on, the above photo is sharper than previous two.

A brief testing of the Olympus E-510’s Image Stabilization does impress me. With the retail price of USD730 (RM2482) with kit lens, it is well-worth buying for beginners and those who would like to travel light. With its Live-view capabilities, the E-510 is good for underwater photography when coupled with Gibson E-510. More info of Olympus E-510 here.

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