Rating: 
Summary: OLYMPUS BUILDS GREAT PROFESIONAL SLR
Review: I OWN AN E10 , E20 AND E1 . THEY ALL PRODUCE THE FINEST IMAGES I'VE EVER PRODUCED I'VE WORKED IN A STUDIO FOR 30 YEARS AND USED MANY CAMERAS INCLUDING AS LARGE 11 X 14 VUE CAMERAS . THE IMAGE QUALITY OF THESE CAMERAS IS HARD TO BEAT-THIS IS A GOOD CHOICE FOR ANYONE WHO IS WILLING TO READ THE MANUAL.-- THE OPTICS ARE THE ( BEST ) I'VE EVER HAD.INCLUDING NIKON OR CANON.IF I HAD TO PICK ONE IT WOULD BE THE E1 BECAUSE OF THE CHOICE OF OPTICS BUT FOR ALL AROUND WORK ITS A DRAW.
Rating: 
Summary: Great pics! Some performance issues.
Review: If you're looking for a great snapshot camera, look somewhere else. This isn't it. This Olympus is a workhorse of a camera good enough to replace your film cameras. After years of shooting 35mm, this is the camera I picked to test the digital frontier. My main concern about going digital was photo quality but I have been impressed. Shoot at (near) top quality, run through Photoshop Elements, download to a CD-R, CompactFlash or SmartMedia and run it through your local photo lab at Ritz or even Wal-Mart. The quality is admirable. I took this camera on vacation to Canada and was not disappointed. Could you do better? If you already have Nikon or Canon lenses, spend the extra cash and buy their latest models. But for the money, you'd be challenged to find a better overall camera that will let you explore your own photographic passions.The best features:
* True photo-quality at 8x10-plus (gives you room to crop)
* Feels like a real camera
* Bright lens with decent telephoto range * Variety of settings to let you go totally automatic or manual The worst features:
* It is somewhat heavy (although the weight does give you a sense of comfort)
* Slow write times to memory
* Small cache that fills up with about 5 high-quality tiffs
* Lens range (without extensions) is a bit limiting, especially outdoors.
Rating: 
Summary: Five megapixels, sharp lens, but SLOOOWW write-speeds
Review: The E-20 is an improved model over last year's E-10 (only 4 megapixels), but the seriouss flaw of the VERY slow write-speeds to card from its memory buffer is a major drawback. Some people would argue that it's not too bad due, but if you need somethign quick once in a while, this is NOT the camera to get. For instance, press photographers and photojournalists who need to fire off 30 shots in rapid succession will be VERY frustrated by this camera. Even parents who want take shots of their child as s/he runs about will be annoyed at constantly WAITING for the camera to write, and will miss many shots. On the positive side, the lens, F2.0 - F2.4 4x with a mechanically linked zoom ring, 5 megapixels of resolution, a professional 'locked control' system, a wide variety of manual control and a robust metal case. But all those positives are knocked out by the slow write speed. Skip this camera.
Rating:
Summary: Nice Features, Excellent Images, Slow Performance
Review: The Olympus E20N replaced their E10 and now can capture 5 meg images. This is a key upgrade to what was already a very fine digital camera. The construction and materials of this camera put it into the upper echelon of consumer digital cameras and some would argue that this is a strictly professional tool. What I like about it is the balance of features, quality and design. Once Olympus manages to speed up the image storage process, the E20N will be worthy of 5 stars. Many digital camera designers are scrambling to improve optical performance of the camera lens. The need for a zoom lens that covers a wide range is hamstrung by the small size of even a 5 megapixel CCD. This in part explains the poor image performance of many inexpensive digital cameras, but even in the lower price regime, Olympus has been an industry leader for years. But a designer of a more expensive camera like the E-20N ... has more latitude in designing optics and herein lies a key strength of this camera. The lens of the E-20N has a zoom range equivalent to a 35-140mm lens on a 35mm camera, with an aperture of f 2 to 2.4. One can sight through an optical TTL viewfinder or via a swivelable LCD screen. Excellent optics! The control features of the E20N are also excellent, yet not perfect. Many adjustments are set by holding down a dedicated button while rotating the camera's control wheel, which can be difficult to do one-handed. The built-in flash has fairly decent range, but since the camera has a hot-shoe, an external flash can be added if necessary. I like the ergonomic feel of the E-20N and I also like that it has four available operating modes: automatic, manual, aperture priority and shutter priority. By using the new progressive scan mode, one can take images with a shutter speed of 1/18000th of a second, but the image resolution is reduced by a factor of two. This might make you think this is an ideal camera for sports photography, but I'd disagree. The camera is just too slow at storing image data. It often takes over 8 seconds to store a high resolution image with the E-20N and this is the camera's most serious fault. The bottom line for most folks is image quality and in this department, the E-20N does not disappoint. If you ever make the move up to a large-format printer, you'll want a camera of this quality. You can achieve excellent prints at 11x17" with the E-20N. For pictures requiring a slow shutter speed, the noise-reduction filter is very useful.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect digicam for adv amateurs/semi pro with some quirks
Review: The Pros: EXCELLENT IMAGE QUALITY and control. Very solid grip and feel - actually feels like a real camera. The lens is bright and sharp, image quality is probably the best I've seen. The focal length of the camera is great. Best thing compared to most digicams I've used: there is no shutter lag - the time it takes between you pressing the button (click) and the actual picture being taken. I hate that on some Sony cameras I've used in the past - by the time the camera actually takes the picture a person's expression or light conditions can change... :-(
All in all, a great camera for this price and probably the cheapest in its class of SLRs (compared to Nikon D1X).
The Cons: SLOW WRITE TIMES, but you can get used to that and learn to live with it. FIXED LENS - you cannot change lens with is good and bad. Good because the CCD elements are protected at all times and don't get dirt.. a problem with some digital SLRs. You can also get attachments that go on top of the lens for macro or wide angle, etc. The LCD screen is HORRIBLE - don't use that for composing shots too often.
I am waiting for the new models to come out at PMA end of Feb. 2002. At that time E20 should get cheaper - hopefully.
You probably must've read a lot of reviews by now. ....
Rating:
Summary: Most fun I've had with a camera, but get a real memory card.
Review: This is the only digital SLR I have owned, and it is the only camera I have had that is actually fun to use. My film SLR left me gnashing my teeth outside the developer when I found out all too late I blew every shot on the roll. That said, I have two gripes. First,the 32MB card is a joke --holds 7 pictures at maximum resolution and highest quality compression. If you don't upgrade the card, the only way it is manageble is to drop the resolution to 1 megapixel and 8x compression -- if that is all you'll use, what's the point of getting a 5 megapixel camera. 1GB compact flash cards seem to be the best value today at less than $200 and they will hold 260 shots at the highest quality level. 256MB Cards may be doable at 75 shots, but smaller cards will certainly drive you to sacrifice on resolution and quality to get more shots on the card. Second, rapid shooters will be disappointed since the buffer will hold 4 pictures, and this limit does not change with resolution oddly. After the buffer is full, it takes up to 10 seconds for it to write each shot to the card. You can shoot as soon as 1 slot is open, but to do a 4 shot burst again, you have to wait 30-40 seconds for the whole buffer to clear. This will bother some users but not others. The write time seems the same regardless of whether you use Smart Media or Compact Flash.
Rating:
Summary: Most fun I've had with a camera, but get a real memory card.
Review: This is the only digital SLR I have owned, and it is the only camera I have had that is actually fun to use. My film SLR left me gnashing my teeth outside the developer when I found out all too late I blew every shot on the roll. That said, I have two gripes. First,the 32MB card is a joke --holds 7 pictures at maximum resolution and highest quality compression. If you don't upgrade the card, the only way it is manageble is to drop the resolution to 1 megapixel and 8x compression -- if that is all you'll use, what's the point of getting a 5 megapixel camera. 1GB compact flash cards seem to be the best value today at less than $200 and they will hold 260 shots at the highest quality level. 256MB Cards may be doable at 75 shots, but smaller cards will certainly drive you to sacrifice on resolution and quality to get more shots on the card. Second, rapid shooters will be disappointed since the buffer will hold 4 pictures, and this limit does not change with resolution oddly. After the buffer is full, it takes up to 10 seconds for it to write each shot to the card. You can shoot as soon as 1 slot is open, but to do a 4 shot burst again, you have to wait 30-40 seconds for the whole buffer to clear. This will bother some users but not others. The write time seems the same regardless of whether you use Smart Media or Compact Flash.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent VeriPic compatible camera
Review: We tested this camera for compatibility with VeriPic. We put it through its paces in all the modes including adjusting manual white balance, IS, PS and Noise Reduction mode, sharpness filter, all combinations of the 5 resolutions and 3 compression modes. The camera performed flawlessly and what amazed us is the camera was very frugal on the batteries. Once set of charged 1600 mah NiMH AA batteries actually got us through 350 pictures! This was a very pleasant supprise. The technical specs also don't mention another gem...There is a large RAM buffer that allows you to take up to 5 FULL mode resolution (5 MegaPixel) photos one after another without waiting for the photos to write to the Compact Flash card! This means you can take photos quickly without having the normal digital camera wait between photos that other cameras have. (The manual lists a 60 ms wait between shutter press and photo capture. This is almost too small to notice and the user will think this camera responds like a 35 mm SLR). The photos look great in FULL resolution JPeg at 1:2.7 compression. Don't use the two TIFF modes because you'll run out of memory card soon and there is no noticable quality difference between the TIFF and JPeg mode so you might as well use JPeg and save some memory. Additionally this camera is VeriPic compatible! That means it is suitable for professional insurance or evidence photography work. We would have given this camera 5 stars instead of 4 except for two things we didn't like about it. The camera is a bit too heavy and hard to lug around unlike the direct competitor (Minolta Dimage 7 which is significantly lighter) and the second drawback is that it is significantly higher price than the Dimage 7. Otherwise it is a great camera!
Rating:
Summary: Quality Product
Review: Well, after 3 years of serious consideration, I finally went digital. I spent hours an hours considering which camera to buy, and since I've had great experience with Olympus in the past, I looked at the E10 and E20. Once I got relatively acquainted wuth these two, I looked at other models.
I went with the E20 and I could want little else. It is easy to use, and easy to learn all the functions and I find it very user friendly. On top of that the images are amazing. The program mode is almost fool proof, and you get great results all the time if you are just taking quick shots for WYSIWYG images.
For tose fearful of the woeful reports of battery consumption, just go out and get three sets of Nickle Metal Hydride batteries and a rapid charger and you'll be set. If you plan on going on a trigger-happy outing and do that often, you might want to consider Olys Lithium Polymer battery setup. It is an investment, but it will ultimately pay for itself.
Rating:
Summary: Quality Product
Review: Well, after 3 years of serious consideration, I finally went digital. I spent hours an hours considering which camera to buy, and since I've had great experience with Olympus in the past, I looked at the E10 and E20. Once I got relatively acquainted wuth these two, I looked at other models.
I went with the E20 and I could want little else. It is easy to use, and easy to learn all the functions and I find it very user friendly. On top of that the images are amazing. The program mode is almost fool proof, and you get great results all the time if you are just taking quick shots for WYSIWYG images.
For tose fearful of the woeful reports of battery consumption, just go out and get three sets of Nickle Metal Hydride batteries and a rapid charger and you'll be set. If you plan on going on a trigger-happy outing and do that often, you might want to consider Olys Lithium Polymer battery setup. It is an investment, but it will ultimately pay for itself.
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