Olympus E-10 4MP Digital Camera w/ 4x Optical Zoom

For me, the E-10 was just what I needed. 4 megapixels is fine for just about anything I would want to do. If you really think you need 5, spend $500 more on the E-20. Remember, however, that more pixels means more time to record, play back, or modify each image. The viewfinder is large and bright and the diopter correction is very positive. Eye relief is good enough to use glasses. Unlike an SLR, the viewfinder light comes from a beam splitter rather than a flip-up mirror. This raises the question of what the lens speed of F2 means, since the beam-splitter will steal some light. There is a built-in viewfinder cover so you won't get stray light coming in when you take remote shots. The lens is really nice and seemed to have very low flare. The built-in macro focusing feature gets you close enough for anything but documenting periodontal surgery.

Understand, though, that this camera is big and heavy compared to most modern digital cameras. Nobody who grew up on SLRs will be surprised, but remember that you are going to have to lug this puppy around for several years. Despite its size and weight, it feels very comfortable, even for a lefty.

The E-10 has most of the controls a good SLR would have and several more that are completely beyond a chemical camera. The combination of exposure correction, sharpness and contrast control, and image histogram display really help in those bad light situations.

So, a pro might want more pixels and many amateurs will want something smaller and lighter. However, this camera very nicely fits a significant niche market.

This has been a great camera. The body is largely metal, so there are few plastic parts to break. The battery door is located on the bottom, so batteries can be swapped out even when the camera is mounted on a tripod.

The lense is not interchangable, which can be a disadvantage for some, but it ensures that no dust can get into the shutter or behind the lense. I love the dial controls. There are enough dials and buttons on the camera so that the LCD display is not required for most camera settings.

There are a few disadvantages to the camera. The shutter speed only goes up to 1/640, and the aperature only goes up to F11, however the aperature can be as shallow as F2.2. Also, as time has worn on, the light meter doesn't seem to perform as well in low light as when I first bought this camera. Don't get me wrong, though. It still does an excellent job. Better than most digital cameras.

Overall, I have been quite satisfied with this camera.

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   Written on August 2, 2002
   Summary: Excellent choice for the semi-pro
I recieved my camera about 4 months ago, and except for a few minor complaints, I have been very happy. The camera takes excellent pictures, and the manual controls are very easy to use and allow very professional looking results. Prints from the camera to a P400 Olympus printer look excellent up to 8.5X11 inches (I am sure they would look better on a bigger print, but that is as big as my printer can do).

My only complaint in the LCD screen. It refreshes slowly, and takes quite a long time to preview images. Also, when zooming in and out on the pictures really takes longer then necessary (from both CF and SM).

Just as one final note, although the camera literature does not specify support for the new 512MB CF cards, I use one with no problems. I have not, however, used a Microdrive as of yet.

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   Written on July 24, 2002
   Summary: Great Image Quality, But SLOW
Simply put, this camera is a SOLID machine that offers excellent image quality as well as photographic control. Being an SLR, I never used the LCD screen to shoot, which makes it more like using a standard 35mm. Get the battery pack/grip. Without it, the consumption of batteries is tremendous. With it, I easily got 1000 shots before needing a recharge. My major gripe, and the reason I upgraded to a Canon EOS D60, is that it is SLOW. The buffer is inadequate and I always found myself waiting for it to empty to take another shot. Viewing the images on the LCD screen takes forever. And the top shutter speed of 1/650 second is not fast enough.