The Olympus E620 is the new DSLR offering from Olympus. Care is taken to emphasise that it is not an upgrade of Olympus E420 and E520. It is not as costly as the Olympus E30 either. It incorporates the best of the features of the E520 and has many of the E30.

We all are painfully aware that time is relative and fleeting. But to capture beauty in its stillness and splendor – the frozen moments, the rapturous smile, enchanting colors being down right fastidious and to carefully stash them away you do need the Olympus E620.

There is still a whiff of nostalgia about the Olympus E620- it persists with the four third lens system when micro four thirds are gaining ground. At least you can use all the old lenses of the standard. For this purpose the Olympus E620 comes with a large optical view finder. The lens has 95% coverage and the magnification is 0.96. In spite of that the build is not over bearing.

To make it tick the way it does several of its features play their part. The True Pic III+ processor, the 12.3 mega pixel, Live MOS sensors, the attractive and eye catching 2.7″, 230KP, Hyper Crystal LCD that can swivel, the supersonic vibrating, sensor dust removing filters, the sensor correcting Image stabilization system that provides an effective extra 4 stops for shutter speed, the art filters, The IR focusing system that can be attached for night shooting and many more.

True Pic III+ Processor and Live MOS Sensors

The true pic III+ processor also found only in the Olympus E450, independently processes the signals generate by the Live MOS sensors for chrominance and luminance and applies the correction factor to the output of the sensors to make pale colors realistic. Individual colors are detected and evaluated and correction applied with out affecting the data of other colors. The True Pic III+ processor in Olympus E620 depicts colors in a manner that appeals to the human eye. Unlike the CCD sensors where noise reduction is carried out outside the sensors, the True Pic III+ processor successfully isolates the noise from the signal of the image and then the threshold is applied for noise reduction. It interpolates the signals coming out of the sensors and extrapolating them into image data applies two filters – one along the edges and the other perpendicular to the edges and smoothens the data so that the edges of the objects are crisp and not zig zag and no overlapping of colors happens. The Live MOS sensors also found in Panasonic and Leica have the sensitivity of the CCD sensors and consume energy like the CMOS sensors. But because noise reduction is applied at the sensor itself and not around the noise problems encountered in CCD sensors do not manifest them selves in the Olympus E620.

Auto Focus

The Olympus E620 has a 7 point AF and to the enthusiast it provides 3 option- Hybrid, Sensor and Image AF. To the experienced the E620 facilitates 20 optic calibration and flash control. Bracketing options cover exposure, flash, white balance and ISO. The metering options over the standard ones also provide “high light spot” and “shadow spot”. The focus is quicker and effective but perceptibly slower with non SWD lenses.

Image Quality

It is difficult to imagine an Olympus with out Art Filters but  the picturisation has to be RAW if you also want the unfiltered image because the effects cannot be removed in the camera.

The Olympus E620 is neutral to both high lights and shadows and both these can be extracted from RAW files. The inclination of the E620 is to under expose rather than over expose in low light but the metering of “High light spot” and “Shadow spot” can be effectively used.

The E620 has a one touch option for “white balance”. Then a reference point can be decided in the scene and then “white balance” can be applied.

Sharpening of images if required can be touched up by soft ware. The noise problems of the E620 are not akin to the CCD versions of other cameras which is IR related. Here it is the multiples of frequencies that the sensor is responsive to that find their way and are not prominent and evenat ISO 3200 levels the quality is not effected. Then the Image stabilization system provides that extra stop while controlling the shutter.

Conclusion

The Olympus E620 is  comparatively smaller in size but holds itself well in all the parameters when you see its compatriots. Then there is the micro four third standard which gives you access to the good old lenses still. But it is strikingly modern and the features advanced that lets you snap up memorable pictures.