Olympus E 5 Review | 108 Data compared

The Digitalkamera.de review highlights the Olympus E-5 as a robust, professional-grade DSLR featuring a highly durable, weather-sealed body, excellent ergonomics, and a versatile 3-inch vari-angle swivel LCD screen. It is praised for producing exceptional image resolution at low ISO settings, aided by the TruePic V+ image engine and precise, high-contrast JPEG output. Conversely, the review notes the camera is heavy and bulky, particularly with the Zuiko Digital 12-60mm kit lens, making it less suitable for casual use. Performance drawbacks include limited low-light capabilities with visible noise at high ISOs compared to competitors, along with outdated 720p video capabilities.

Olympus E-5 The Olympus E-5 is a robust, weather-sealed digital SLR camera designed for advanced photographers who require speed, durability, and extensive manual control. Weighing nearly 900 grams, its solid build shields sensitive internal components from water splashes and dust. Despite having only a 12-megapixel sensor, it outperforms several higher-resolution competitors in overall image quality, producing razor-sharp, highly detailed shots with incredibly natural colors. The camera is exceptionally fast, boasting a sports-level shutter delay of just 0.38 seconds and an unlimited continuous shooting mode that captures 5 frames per second until the memory card is full. Key hardware strengths include a flexible, fully articulating tilt-and-swivel control monitor, a helpful electronic 3D leveling gauge, dual memory slots (CompactFlash and SDXC), and built-in HDMI and microphone ports. However, the camera is not suited for beginners due to a steep learning curve, featuring 23 physical buttons, three dials, two switches, and an intricate menu layout holding 74 deeply customizable settings. Its most notable weaknesses lie in the video recording department; it lacks full 1080p HD capabilities, maxing out at a smaller 1280x720 HD...

The NETZWELT review characterizes the Olympus E-5 as a premium, high-priced single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera built around the traditional Four-Thirds system and bayonet mount. A key feature highlighted in the review is its 3-inch fold-out and swiveling screen, which provides a convenient Live View option to supplement the optical viewfinder. Designed without automatic shooting modes, this camera targets advanced users, offering an informative top LCD display alongside extensive physical controls. It is capable of capturing 12.3-megapixel still images and HD videos, saving them onto dual SD and CF card slots, while providing connectivity via a dedicated microphone input, HDMI, USB, and AV out. Pros and Cons Summary Pros: High-Resolution Output: Delivers high-quality imagery up to 12.3 megapixels. Versatile Vari-Angle Monitor: Features a 3.0-inch display that fully flips out and rotates for difficult shooting angles. Advanced Control Layout: Equips professionals with an informative top LCD panel and abundant tactile buttons for manual adjustments. Dual Storage and IO: Supports simultaneous use of SD and CF cards alongside versatile multimedia connections like a mic input and HDMI port. Cons: High Price Tag: Positioned...

The Digitalkamera.de lab test indicates that the Olympus E-5, paired with the 12-60 mm F2.8-4 SWD lens, delivers exceptional fine-detail resolution, outstanding texture reproduction, and low vignetting at low ISOs. The combination provides accurate white balance, natural color rendering, and maintains strong, uniform sharpness across the frame. Conversely, the review highlights significant, high-ISO noise that becomes intrusive at ISO 800 and limits image quality at higher settings. Additionally, the system exhibits limited dynamic range compared to competitors and noticeable barrel distortion at the 12 mm wide-angle setting.

The Digitalkamera.de lab test of the Olympus E-5 with the Zuiko Digital ED 50mm f/2.0 Macro highlights exceptional performance, showcasing sensational image sharpness from edge to edge across the aperture range and near-perfect optical corrections with virtually no distortion or vignetting. While the lens perfectly captures fine detail from the 12.3-megapixel sensor, the 4/3-system, when combined with this lens, shows limitation in dynamic range and noise performance at higher ISO settings, and the lens lacks a physical focus limiter switch for non-macro shooting.

The Olympus E-5 is a highly robust DSLR camera featuring a solid aluminum chassis and a magnesium alloy body designed specifically for demanding outdoor photography with its extensive weather-sealing against dust and water. Released as the successor to the E-3, it maintains identical physical dimensions but introduces a higher-resolution 3-inch tilt-and-swivel display, dual slots supporting CF and SD/SDHC/SDXC cards, and new 720p HD video capability via Motion-JPEG AVI formats. The camera is equipped with a 12.3-megapixel Four-Thirds sensor paired with a TruePic V+ image processor, which achieves an expanded maximum ISO sensitivity of 6,400 and a continuous shooting speed of 4.8 frames per second. A major advantage highlighted in the review is the camera's exceptional image resolution, which extracts maximum performance from Zuiko Digital lenses to comfortably compete with 16-megapixel rivals despite its lower megapixel count. Additional pros include its extensive customization options, extreme physical durability, and a highly practical dual-axis electronic level. On the downside, the primary disadvantage is its image noise, which was rated as outdated compared to contemporaneous competitors like the Nikon D7000, as image quality degrades...

The Olympus E-5 RAW review on Connect-Living evaluates the flagship Four-Thirds DSLR camera, priced at €1,400 (with an overall score of 49.5 points). The evaluation highlights excellent haptic design, featuring a durable magnesium alloy body with a comfortable rubber grip, a dual-axis tilt-and-swivel 3-inch LCD screen, and an effective supersonic wave dust-reduction system. Performance-wise, the camera stands out with a highly responsive phase-detection autofocus system sporting 11 cross-type sensors that focus in 0.23 to 0.31 seconds, an integrated mechanical image stabiliser with multiple modes (including vertical-only panning support), and a burst speed of 4.8 frames per second. In terms of image quality, the core strength of the 12.2-megapixel camera lies in its exceptional rendering of fine details and high texture retention in both JPEG and RAW formats. While switching to RAW mode boosts image resolution by up to 25%, it reveals notable performance trade-offs. The camera suffers from aggressive visual noise at higher ISO settings, jumping from a visible 2.0 VN at ISO 800 to a disruptive 5.3 VN at ISO 6400. Additionally, its dynamic range is modest (ranging from...