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Olympus E-500 / EVOLT E-500 review with Zuiko Digital 14-45mm f3.5~5.6 Gordon Laing, February 2006


 



 




Outdoor
/ Resolution / Noise / Corner sharpness / Fringe and macro / Geometry / Vignetting

Olympus E-500 wide-angle geometry comparison

  To measure geometric distortion we photographed a custom test chart consisting of a grid pattern with perfectly straight lines. Here are the results for the cameras at their widest focal length with an aperture of f8 in Aperture Priority mode. The images were analysed with Imatest using 5th Order line calculation and the full areas presented here at a reduced resolution.

The image left was taken with the Zuiko Digital 14-45mm at 14mm f8 (equivalent to 28mm). Barrel distortion was measured at 3.28% which is comparable to its rivals.

Canon EOS-350D
Konica Minolta Dynax 5D
Nikon D50
18-55mm EF-S at 18mm f8
Distortion: 3.35% barrel
  18-70mm DT at 18mm f8
Distortion: 3.49% barrel
  18-55mm DX at 18mm f8
Distortion: 3.51% barrel


Olympus E-500 telephoto geometry comparison

  To measure geometric distortion we photographed a custom test chart consisting of a grid pattern with perfectly straight lines. Here are the results for the cameras at their longest focal length with an aperture of f8 in Aperture Priority mode. The images were analysed with Imatest using 5th Order line calculation and the full areas presented here at a reduced resolution.

The image left was taken with the Zuiko Digital 14-45mm at 45mm f8 (equivalent to 90mm). Barrel distortion was measured at 0.48% which is similar to the degree of distortion of the Canon and Konica Minolta lenses, although interestingly in the other direction; they both suffered from pincusion instead. The Nikon D50's bundled lens performed best here.

Canon EOS-350D
Konica Minolta Dynax 5D
Nikon D50
18-55mm EF-S at 55mm f8
Distortion: 0.389% pincushion
  18-70mm DT at 70mm f8
Distortion: 0.309% pincushion
  18-55mm DX at 55mm f8
Distortion: 0.169% barrel

Results continued...

Outdoor / Resolution / Noise / Corner sharpness / Fringe and macro / Geometry / Vignetting

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