Olympus E-410 and E-510 preview

Live View

Both the E-410 and E-510 share the same new 10 Megapixel N-MOS sensor, although Olympus wouldn’t confirm the manufacturer. They deliver the same number of pixels and standard 2x Four Thirds field reduction factor as the E-400, but of course with the addition of Live View.

First seen on the E-330 and later on the Panasonic L1 / Leica Digilux 3, Live View allows you to use the main colour screen for composition. This is a fairly unique facility for a DSLR, although sadly neither the E-410 or E-510 take the logical step of fully exploiting it with a flip-out screen like the E-330; at least the screens on the new DSLRs have wide viewing angles though. It’s also worth mentioning despite having a live-video feed from the sensor, there’s no movie recording facility. This is the same as previous Live View models though.

While the E-330 offered two different Live View modes, Olympus has now followed Panasonic and Leica by just implementing just one on the E-410 and E-510. Previously known as Mode-B, this uses the main sensor to deliver the live video feed, and offers 100% coverage on-screen, along with overlaid grid and live histogram options.

Like previous models, this Live View implementation can only auto-focus by momentarily flipping the mirror down and blacking out the screen. It slows you down a little, but is an acceptable compromise considering the optical path of an SLR. You can see a demonstration of how this works in practice in our Panasonic Lumix L1 video tour.

The new models also employ a more powerful image processor than the E-400, which Olympus claims delivers better colour tones, noise characteristics and overall image quality. We’ll of course put this to the test in our forthcoming full reviews of both models. Check our Olympus E-400 results to see how it performed against key DSLRs in terms of noise.

Anti-shake

The Four Thirds standard is long overdue a practical anti-shake option. So far only Panasonic and Leica have addressed the problem with their optically-stabilised Leica 14-50mm lens, but this is expensive and not widely available by itself for existing Four Thirds owners.

Sadly the new Olympus announcements won’t bring anti-shake lenses to owners of previous E-Series cameras, but at least there’s now an in-camera option. With the E-510, Olympus now joins Sony and Pentax by offering built-in anti-shake by physically shifting the sensor. The benefit being any lens you attach effectively becomes an anti-shake model, although unlike lens-based solutions, you won’t see the effect through the viewfinder. Lens-based systems are arguably also more effective at longer focal lengths.

The E-510’s Image Stabilisation employs an ultrasonic wave motor to adjust the sensor’s position in the x and y axes, and can be set to either apply both for normal use, or ignore the x axis when panning horizontally. Olympus claims 2 to 4 stops of compensation.

It will be interesting to see if any of Panasonic’s future DSLRs will be based on the new Olympus models. Panasonic has traditionally backed lens-based stabilisation, so the question is whether it will go to the effort of designing new optically-stabilised Four Thirds lenses, or simply reuse much of the E-510’s internal technology as it did with the E-330 for the Lumix L1.

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Kits and pricing

The E-410 and E-510 bodies will be available alone or in one of two kits bundled with either the 14-42mm or both the 14-42mm and the 40-150mm lenses; due to the size of the Four Thirds sensor, these lenses deliver 35mm-equivalent ranges of 28-84mm and 80-300mm.

The two kit lenses are the latest redesigned versions, introduced for the earlier E-400, and are smaller and lighter than previous Olympus kit lenses. Despite this, they actually perform slightly better. To see how this Olympus 14-42mm lens performs, check out our E-400 review.

The E-410 body, single lens and twin lens kits are expected to cost around $499, $599 and $699 respectively, while the E-510 body, single lens and twin lens kits should weigh-in around $799, $899 and $999 respectively. We’re told the E-400 should remain on sale, although unless the new sensor is awful or the E-400’s heavily discounted, we can’t imagine anyone not going for the new version, or better still, the E-510.

Verdict

During the four and a half years since Four Thirds was first launched, it’s certainly introduced us to some interesting technologies including the first attempt to actively combat dust and a DSLR which could compose with its colour screen. Additionally, a number of outstanding, albeit pricey lenses confirmed the optical benefits behind the Four Thirds standard.

Yet until late last year, it’s fair to say Four Thirds was looking weak against its rivals. Olympus remained the only manufacturer of bodies, there were no anti-shake options, Live View only existed on a pricey and unconventional body, the highest resolution model had ‘only’ 8 megapixels, and the so-called flagship body languished with just 5.

Then towards the end of last year, Panasonic and Leica finally released their Lumix L1 and Digilux 3 models complete with a quality image stabilised lens, while Olympus brought out the small, but perfectly formed E-400 and matched the resolution of its rivals. With over 30 lenses now also available in the Four Thirds fit, things were definitely looking up.

Now with the new E-410 and E-510, Four Thirds should find itself seriously considered by any DSLR buyer. The E-510 in particular looks very strong, and for the first time all the key Olympus / Four Thirds technologies are available in a single, sensibly-designed, compact and affordable body, and it’s fair to say unless there’s a serious problem with the new N-MOS sensor, Olympus will have one of the most important DSLRs this year.

The only bitter taste could be from existing E-400 owners who’ll understandably feel a little cheated by Olympus having seen the successor to their camera launched only a few months later. Was Europe used as a test-bed for the compact body? Was the Live MOS sensor not ready for Olympus Europe’s Christmas 2006 timeframes? We may never know.

The bottom line though is the E-510 ticks virtually every box a new DSLR owner looks for, and again unless there’s serious image quality issues with the new sensor and image processor, it should sell very well. Indeed if it lives up to expectations, it could easily place Olympus in the top three DSLR systems ahead of both Pentax and Sony’s current line-up.

Look out for our full reviews of the E-410 and E-510 in the near future, but for a preview of how they’ll look and feel, along with how their standard 14-42mm kit lens performs, take another look at our Olympus E-400 review and video tour. See the complete Olympus DSLR range for more details. Finally, for news on the latest Four Thirds lenses along with a look at the forthcoming professional E-Series DSLR, check out our Olympus P-1 preview.

UPDATE: See our Olympus E-410 full review and video tour.