Olympus E-620 Digital SLR Review


The Olympus E-620 comes with the following accessories included in its retail package:

  • Body
  • Li-ion battery BLS-1
  • Li-ion battery charger BCS-1
  • USB/Video Multi cable
  • Eye piece cover EPC-1
  • Shoulder strap
  • OLYMPUS Master CD-ROM
  • Instruction manual
  • Warranty card

We tested the E-620 as a bundled kit with the Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 lens and lens hood. Depending on which retail location you visit, other kit options are also available. Many retailers also offer a two-lens kit with a 40-150mm lens in addition to the 14-42mm lens we tested.

Two very welcomed accessories that are available for the E-620 include an optional battery grip and an optional underwater housing. The HLD-5 power battery holder not only increases the number of shots that can be taken, but it also adds an additional shutter release button for portrait controls. The unit holds two BLS-1 lithium ion batteries.

Although it’s expensive, the PT-E06 underwater case is also a welcomed accessory. It will protect the camera up to a water pressure equivalent to a depth of 40 meters. Not only does this case protect from water, but it also protects from knocks and bumps on land. While underwater, you can take full advantage of the camera’s Live View capabilities.

Specifications

Memory

CompactFlash Type I/II (UDMA), Microdrive, xD-Picture Card

Sensor size

17.3 mm (H) x 13.0 mm (V)

Lens mount

Four Thirds Mount

Effective Pixels number

12.3 million pixels

Sensor Type

High speed Live MOS Sensor

Aspect ratio

1.33 (4:3)

Dust reduction

Supersonic Wave Filter (dust reduction system for image sensor)

File format

RAW (12-bit lossless compression), JPEG, RAW+JPEG

Recording image size

[RAW] 4032 x 3024 pixels
[JPEG] 4032 x 3024 pixels - 640 x 480 pixels

File size

RAW: 4032 x 3024 (approx. 1/1.5 lossless compressed) Approx. 13.9MB
Large: 4032 x 3024 Super fine (1/2.7 compressed) Approx. 8.2MB
4032 x 3024 Fine (1/4 compressed) Approx. 5.7MB
4032 x 3024 Normal (1/8 compressed) Approx. 2.7MB

Viewfinder

Eye-level single-lens reflex viewfinder

Field of view

Approx. 95%

Viewfinder magnification

Approx. 0.96x (-1m-1, 50mm lens, infinity)

Live View

High speed Live MOS Sensor for still picture shooting, 100% field of view

AF

High speed imager AF, Phase-difference detection AF

Image Stabilizer

Built in (Imager shift image stabilizer)

Effective compensation range

Approx. 4EV steps (in maximum effect)

Shutter speed range

2 - 1/4000 sec.

LCD Display

2.7 inch HyperCrystal LCD (transmissive TFT color LCD) with approximately 230,000 dots

AF system

TTL phase-difference detection system, Contrast detection system (with certain lenses)

Focus mode

Single AF (S-AF) / Continuous AF (C-AF) / Manual Focus (MF)/
S-AF + MF / C-AF + MF * C-AF mode is not available with the contrast detection system

Focusing point

7 point AF sensor

Metering range

EV 1 - 20 (Digital ESP metering, Center weighted average metering, Spot metering)

Exposure mode

(1) Auto (2) P: Program AE (3) A: Aperture priority AE (4) S: Shutter priority AE (5) M: Manual (6) Scene program AE (7) Scene select AE

Scene program AE

Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Sport, Night + Portrait

Scene select AE

Children, High Key, Low Key, DIS mode, Nature Macro, Candle, Sunset, Fireworks, Documents, Panorama (only available when using Olympus xD-Picture Card media), Beach & Snow, Underwater Wide, Underwater Macro

ISO sensitivity

ISO 100 - 3200, 1/3 or 1 EV steps

Exposure compensation

±5 EV in 1/3, 1/2, 1 EV steps selectable

Exposure bracketing

3 or 5 frames in 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 1EV steps selectable

ISO bracketing

3 frames in 0.3, 0.7, 1EV steps selectable

White balance

8 pre-sets, Auto, Kelvin, Custom

White balance compensation

±7 steps in each A-B/G-M axis (in Auto WB / Preset WB mode / One touch WB)

White balance bracketing

3 frames in 2, 4, 6 steps selectable in each A-B/G-M axis

Color space

sRGB, Adobe RGB

Picture Mode

Vivid, Natural, Portrait, Muted, Monotone, Custom

Shutter speed

60 - 1/4000 seconds, bulb up to 30 minutes

1/3, 1/2, or 1EV steps selectable

Self-timer

Operation time: 12 sec., 2 sec. (cancel available)

Remote cable release

Available (with optional RM-UC1 Remote cable)

Anti shock mode

Available (1 to 30 sec. selectable)

Drive mode

Single-frame shooting, Sequential shooting H, Sequential shooting L, Self-timer, Remote control

Sequential shooting speed

Approx. 4 frames/sec. in sequential shooting H, 1 to 3 fps selectable in sequential shooting L

Max. recordable pictures on sequential shooting

RAW mode: Max. 5 frames.
JPEG mode: approximately up to card capacity with SanDisk Extreme IV 4GB

Built-in flash

Retractable flash, GN=17 at ISO200, (GN=12 at ISO 100.m)

Flash mode

Auto, Red-eye reduction, Red-eye reduction slow sync., Slow sync at 1st curtain, Slow sync at 2nd curtain, Fill-in, Manual (1/4, 1/16, 1/64), Off.

Synchronization speed

1/180 sec. or less

Flash intensity control

Up to ±3 EV in 0.3, 0.5, 1 EV steps

Flash bracketing

3 frames in 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 1 EV steps selectable.

Art Filters

Pop Art, Soft Focus, Pale&Light Color, Light Tone, Grainy Film, Pin Hole

Multi Exposure

2 pictures

Aspect Ratios

4:3(Default)/3:2/16:9/6:6/3:4

Playback modes

Single-frame, Index (4/9/16/25/49/100 frames), Calendar, Close-up ( 2 - 14X), Slideshow, Picture rotation (auto mode available), Light box

Copy between media

Single frame, All frames, Selected frames

JPEG editing

Shadow adjustment, Red-eye fix, Cropping, Monotone, Sepia, Saturation (color depth), Resize (producing another file), Aspect Change

Merge function

2-4 pictures, merge gain step 0.1-2.0 0.1 step

PC interface

USB 2.0 High Speed for storage and camera control (MTP mode is available)

USB/Video connector

Dedicated multi-connector (Video: NTSC/PAL selectable, Optional Remote cable RM-UC1 is available)

Battery

BLS-1 Li-ion battery (included)

Number of recordable pictures

Approximately 500 shots (optical viewfinder)

Dimensions

5.11" (W) x 3.7" (H) x 2.36" (D) (excluding protrusions)

Weight

1.04 lbs (body only)


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