Olympus E420 or E520 ??

F

freddisu

Suspended / Banned
Messages
291
Name
Su
Edit My Images
Yes
Hi, i am thinking of buying an olympus camera , and i was wondering if it is worth paying the extra for the E520 with IS or would i be as well off with the E420 , i was just wondering if it would make a lot of difference .
Thanks .:)
 
I guess it depends on how much the difference is and how much you need the IS. It certainly comes in handy especially in low light where the smaller sensor tends to suffer more. To prevent noise in such situations exposing to the right (over exposing compared to what the meter sets) works great but in order to do that then exposure times become longer making hand holding more difficult.
If you are going to mainly be shooting outside in daylight then IS won't be getting used so much. In fact you should be turning it off in that situation as it can cause problems.
If the extra cost is not a hardship I would get the 520 as it has many other additional features over the 420, not to mention a much more comfortable grip. Again though you need to weigh up if you need (or anticipate needing) those features because after all the sensor is the same in both.
Recently on a shoot (sunny day) I was using my E3 with high grade lens and my wife was using a 410 with kit lens and you would never tell the pictures apart. Once the sun starts setting however .... :)
 
Last edited:
hi su, it does make a difference, especially at low shutter speeds, or long focal lengths.
i've had my 520 for two years now and rarely turn IS off. even in good light and on a monopod, you can see a difference, the only time i do turn it off, is when on a tripod, or panning.
With the 2x crop factor of the sensor, even with the 40-150 kit lens, you need to keep the shutter speed at 1/300 or higher, to avoid camera shake.
Keeping the shutter speed above the focal length can be difficult at times without raising the iso too high (which can introduce noise) so IS is good in more ways than one.
 
Thankyou for your replies, :thumbs: i was undecided as i have seen a 420 at a very good price , but was unsure as had no IS . As a lot of what i do is usually hand held i think the 520 would be the more sensible buy. :)

Thanks again , i now need to rethink and recalculate . su ;)
 
.....if size is important, remember the 520 is considerably larger physically than the 420.
 
Speaking from my own experience, I'd go for the e520 and the IS.

It really does make a difference.

Janet
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top