Olympus E-500 Review

Name: Olympus E-500
Brand: Olympus

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Main Features

8MP - Four Thirds CCD Sensor

ISO 100 - 400( expands to 1600)

2.50" Fixed Type Screen

Optical (pentaprism) viewfinder

3.0fps continuous shooting

479g. 130 x 95 x 66 mm

Also known as EVOLT E-500

Replaced by Olympus E-510

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Olympus E-500 Overview

Launched in October 2005 , Olympus E-500 is a 8.0MP Advanced DSLR camera with a Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CCD sensor and Four Thirds lens mount. E-500 is also sold as EVOLT E-500 in some countries. Olympus later replaced E-500 with E-510. Follow the link to read our in-depth comparison of these cameras:
Compare Olympus E-500 / EVOLT E-500 vs Olympus E-510

Olympus E-500 Review - Click for Table of Contents

Overview
Pros and Cons
Lens Mount and Lenses
Sensor and Photography Features
Physical Specs
LCD and Viewfinder
Connectivity, Storage and Battery
Other Features
Photography Type Scores
Alternatives
Popular Comparisons
Frequently Asked Questions
Detailed Specifications

Olympus E-500 is a member of Olympus's Advanced DSLR class cameras. Below you can see the latest models in this class and how their main specs have changed with each new model.

Olympus Advanced DSLR Series History

Model	Release Date	Sensor	Max FPS	Dimensions	Weight
Olympus E-5 Compare	2011	12.0MP - Four Thirds	5.0 fps	143 x 117 x 75mm	800g
Olympus E-30 Compare	2009	12.0MP - Four Thirds	5.0 fps	142 x 108 x 75mm	695g
Olympus E-3 Compare	2008	10.0MP - Four Thirds	5.0 fps	142 x 116 x 75mm	890g
Olympus E-510 Compare	2007	10.0MP - Four Thirds	3.0 fps	136 x 92 x 68mm	490g
Olympus E-330 Compare	2006	7.0MP - Four Thirds	3.0 fps	140 x 87 x 72mm	616g

Check the link below to compare specs of the latest cameras in this series side-by-side:
Olympus E-5 vs E-30 vs E-3 vs E-510 vs E-330

Alternative Model names found for Olympus E-500: E500 and E 500.

**This post contains affiliate links, and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Olympus E-500 PROs and CONs Review

Now let's get in to more details of our Olympus E-500 review by analysing its specs and features and listing out its pros and cons compared to average competitor cameras in its class.

PROs

Optical Built-in Viewfinder

479g Light Body

Flash Sync Port

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Buy Olympus E-500 from AMAZON or B&H PHOTO

CONs

No Wireless Connection

No Sensor shift Image Stabilization

No Articulating Screen

No Full HD Video

No Touch Screen

0.45x magnification - Small Viewfinder

No Face Detection Focusing

Low Resolution Sensor: 8.0MP

Max Sensitivity only ISO 400

Only 3 Focus Points

Small LCD Screen ( 2.50")

Low Screen Resolution ( 215kdots )

Slow Continuous Shooting: 3.0fps

No Environmental Sealing

No AF Micro Adjustment

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Olympus E-500 Physical Specs

Olympus E-500 weighs 479 g (1.06 lb / 16.90 oz) and has external dimensions of 130 x 95 x 66 mm (5.12 x 3.74 x 2.6″). Considering that the average weight of DSLR type cameras is 773g, Olympus E-500 is a remarkably light camera for its class. With a thickness of 66mm, it has an average thickness for its class.

Weight Comparison

DSLR Cameras

Olympus E-500

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Thickness Comparison

DSLR Cameras

Olympus E-500

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Average

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In order to give you a better idea about the real life size of Olympus E-500, we have added an image of how it looks next to a credit card and an AA type battery.

Physical size of the Olympus E-500 Body Compared to a Credit Card and an AA Battery

Below you can find the comparison of the weight and thickness of Olympus E-500 with its main competitors:

Olympus E-500 Size Compared to Main Competitors

Model	Weight	vs E-500	Thickness	vs E-500
Olympus E-300 Compare	624g	145g heavier	64mm	2mm thinner
Olympus E-510 Compare	490g	11g heavier	68mm	2mm thicker
Olympus E-400 Compare	435g	44g lighter	53mm	13mm thinner
Olympus E-1 Compare	735g	256g heavier	81mm	15mm thicker
Olympus E-520 Compare	552g	73g heavier	68mm	2mm thicker
Olympus E-420 Compare	426g	53g lighter	53mm	13mm thinner
Olympus E-620 Compare	500g	21g heavier	60mm	6mm thinner
Olympus E-410 Compare	435g	44g lighter	53mm	13mm thinner

Weather Sealing

Olympus E-500 doesn't have any environmental sealings on its body so you got to be extra careful to protect it against water and dust. If you shoot under these conditions very often, consider checking Top DSLR Cameras with Weather Sealing page.

Olympus E-500 Lens Mount and Lenses

Olympus E-500 has a Four Thirds lens mount and currently there are 47 native lenses available for this mount. Unfortunately Four Thirds mount is not supported by any manufacturer anymore so no new lenses will be introduced.

Olympus E-500 doesn't have a sensor based image stabilization system but 3 of these lenses already comes with Optical Image Stabilization.

Weather-sealed Lenses for Olympus E-500

There are 13 lenses with weather sealing for Olympus E-500 but bear in mind that E-500 body doesn't have weather sealings.

Here are some of the most popular Olympus E-500 Lenses on Camera Decision:

Popular Four Thirds Mount Lenses for Olympus E-500

Model	Focal Length equiv.	Coverage	Weight	Focusing	Street Price
Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 70-300mm f4.0-5.6	140-600mm	FourThirds	620gr	AF	Amazon B&H Photo
Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 35-100mm f2.0	70-200mm	FourThirds	1650gr	AF	Amazon B&H Photo
Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 90-250mm f2.8	180-500mm	FourThirds	3270gr	AF	Amazon B&H Photo
Olympus Zuiko Digital 300mm f2.8	600mm	FourThirds	3290gr	AF	Amazon B&H Photo
Olympus Zuiko Digital 17.5-45mm f3.5-5.6	36-90mm	FourThirds	210gr	AF	Amazon B&H Photo
Olympus Zuiko Digital 25mm f2.8 Pancake	50mm	FourThirds	95gr	AF	Amazon B&H Photo
Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 18-180mm f3.5-6.3	36-360mm	FourThirds	435gr	AF	Amazon B&H Photo
Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 12-60mm f2.8-4.0 SWD	24-120mm	FourThirds	575gr	AF	Amazon B&H Photo

Here you can find the lenses that are compatible with E-500 classified by suitability to certain photography types:

Check our Olympus E-500 Lenses page for more detailed lens search.

Olympus E-500 Sensor and Photography Features

Olympus E-500 has a 8.0MP Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ) sized CCD sensor . You can shoot at maximum resolution of 3264 x 2448 pixels with aspect ratios of and 4:3. E-500 has a native ISO range of 100 - 400 which can be boosted to 1600 and it can save files in RAW format which gives you a wider room for post processing.

Olympus E-500 is not the highest resolution Four Thirds camera. Panasonic GH6 with its 25.2MP sensor is leading in this class. Check the comparison of Olympus E-500 vs Panasonic GH6 or take a look at Highest resolution DSLR cameras list.

Let's look at how the size of the Olympus E-500's Four Thirds sensor compares with other standard sensor sizes.

Comparison image of Olympus E-500 Sensor Size with other standard sensors

Olympus E-500 LCD and Viewfinder

Olympus E-500 has a Fixed Type 2.50-inch LCD screen with a resolution of 215k dots. At only 2.50", the screen is on the smaller side and 215kdot resolution is lower than most of the recent models in this class.

Unfortunately Olympus E-500 doesn't have a Selfie friendly screen. If this feature is important for your shooting style, check here the list of Best DSLR Cameras with Selfie Friendly LCD screen.

E-500 has a built-in Optical (pentaprism) viewfinder, making it easier to shoot in direct sunlight and in other situations where it might be difficult to view the LCD monitor. The viewfinder has a coverage of 95% and a magnification ratio of 0.45x. 95% coverage means that what you see in your viewfinder while shooting will slightly be different from the actual image.

Olympus E-500 Connectivity, Storage and Battery

Olympus E-500 has a USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) port to connect your camera to other devices.

Olympus E-500 Features Compared to Main Competitors

Model	Max Video	Battery Life	Wi-fi	Bluetooth	NFC
Olympus E-300 Compare	None	shots	No	No	No
Olympus E-510 Compare	None	shots	No	No	No
Olympus E-400 Compare	None	shots	No	No	No
Olympus E-1 Compare	None	shots	No	No	No
Olympus E-520 Compare	None	650shots	No	No	No
Olympus E-420 Compare	None	500shots	No	No	No
Olympus E-620 Compare	None	500shots	No	No	No
Olympus E-410 Compare	None	shots	No	No	No

Olympus E-500 Other Features

Max Shutter speed

Olympus E-500 can shoot continuously at max speed of 3 fps and has max shutter speed of 1/4000 sec.

Flash

E-500 has a built-in flash, and it also has a flash shoe to mount your external flashes too.

Focusing

Olympus E-500 features a Phase Detection autofocusing system. The AF system has 3 points to choose from.

What type of Photography is Olympus E-500 Good for?

In this section, we review and score Olympus E-500 in 5 different photography areas.

Olympus E-500 for Portrait Photography

Olympus E-500 has a score of 39 for Portrait Photography which makes it a POOR candidate for this type of photography. If Portrait We strongly recommend you to check our Top DSLR Cameras for Portrait Photography list and consider these alternatives over theE-500.

Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Optical Built-in Viewfinder

Good Ergonomics&Handling

Read the details of how we scored Olympus E-500 for Portrait Photography

Olympus E-500 for Street Photography

Olympus E-500 has a score of 42 for Street Photography which makes it an AVERAGE candidate for this type of photography. If Street is important for you, we recommend you to check our Top DSLR Cameras for Street Photography list.

Optical Built-in Viewfinder

Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor

Read the details of how we scored Olympus E-500 for Street Photography

Olympus E-500 for Sports Photography

Olympus E-500 has a score of 68 for Sports Photography which makes it a GOOD candidate for this type of photography. If you are looking for a camera that is better suited to Sports Photography, we recommend you to check our Top 10 DSLR Cameras for Sports Photography list.

Fast Max shutter speed: 1/4000s
Good Ergonomics&Handling

Optical Built-in Viewfinder

Read the details of how we scored Olympus E-500 for Sports Photography

Olympus E-500 for Daily Photography

Olympus E-500 has a score of 46 for Daily Photography which makes it an AVERAGE candidate for this type of photography. If Daily is important for you, we recommend you to check our Top DSLR Cameras for Daily Photography list.

Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor

Read the details of how we scored Olympus E-500 for Daily Photography

Olympus E-500 for Landscape Photography

Olympus E-500 has a score of 27 for Landscape Photography which makes it a POOR candidate for this type of photography. If Landscape We strongly recommend you to check our Top DSLR Cameras for Landscape Photography list and consider these alternatives over theE-500.

Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor

Read the details of how we scored Olympus E-500 for Landscape Photography

Olympus E-500 Alternatives

In this section, we analyse how Olympus E-500 compares with other DSLR cameras within a similar price range.

Read a more detailed analysis of Olympus E-500 alternatives.

Popular Comparisons of Olympus E-500

Here are the eight most popular comparisons of the Olympus E-500 amongst Camera Decision readers.

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Olympus E-500 Alternatives in Mirrorless Cameras

It would also be interesting to compare Olympus E-500 with Mirrorless Cameras. Below we have listed 4 highest ranked Mirrorless cameras in Olympus E-500's price range.

Panasonic GX1

Compare

Olympus E-PL1

Compare

Nikon 1 J3

Compare

Olympus E-500 Conclusion and Scores

Currently, Olympus E-500 has an Overall Score of 39/100 which is based on our evaluation of 69 different technical parameters. Our scores are dynamically updated whenever a new camera is added to our database or when we change our ranking algorithm and the maximum score is always 100. Olympus E-500 is ranked #189 out of 209 in DSLR cameras (Top 20 DSLR), and ranked #754 out of 1260 in all Cameras (Top 20 Overall).

#754 out of 1260 in Top Ranking Cameras
#189 out of 209 in Top Ranking DSLR Cameras
#81 out of 93 in Top Ranking Advanced DSLR Cameras
#84 out of 89 in Top Ranking Four Thirds Sensor Cameras
#15 out of 19 in Top Ranking Four Thirds Lens Mount Cameras
#378 out of 379 in Largest Viewfinder Magnification Cameras (0.45x)
#5 out of 19 in Lightest DSLR Cameras with Four Thirds sensor(479g)
#415 out of 918 in Top Ranking Cameras with Fixed Type Screen
Geek Score: 0

Main Scores

Imaging

Features

Value for Money

Portability

Overall Score

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Frequently Asked Questions about Olympus E-500

Does the Olympus E-500 have Image Stabilization?
Does the Olympus E-500 have RAW support?
Does the Olympus E-500 have Weather Sealing?
Does the Olympus E-500 have built-in GPS?
What is the Max ISO of Olympus E-500?
What is the Sensor Size of Olympus E-500?
is the Olympus E-500 a Full Frame (FF) camera?
Does the Olympus E-500 have Touch Screen?
Does the Olympus E-500 have built-in Wireless?
What is the Max Continuous Shooting Speed (fps) of Olympus E-500?
What is the Weight of Olympus E-500?
What are the Dimensions of Olympus E-500?

Olympus E-500 Detailed Specifications

General
Brand	Olympus
Model	Olympus E-500
Also known as	EVOLT E-500
Announced	2005-10-21
Body Type	Mid-size SLR
Lens
Manual Focus
Lens Mount	Four Thirds
Number of Lenses	47
Focal Length Multiplier	2×
Macro Focus Range	n/a
Screen
Screen Type	Fixed Type
Screen Size	2.50"
Screen Resolution	215k dots
Live View
Touch Screen
Viewfinder
Viewfinder	Optical (pentaprism)
Viewfinder Resolution	no electronic viewfinder
Viewfinder Coverage	95%
Viewfinder Magnification	0.45x
Photography Features
Min Shutter Speed	60s
Max Mechanical Shutter Speed	1/4000s
Max Continuous Shooting	3.0 fps
Shutter Priority
Aperture Priority
Manual Exposure Mode
Exposure Compensation	Yes
Custom White Balance
Image Stabilization
Built-in Flash
Flash Range	13.00 m (at ISO 100)
Max Flash Sync	1/180s
Flash Modes	Auto, Auto FP, Manual, Red-Eye
External Flash
AE Bracketing
WB Bracketing
Exposure Modes
Multi-Segment
Average
Spot
Partial
AF-Area
Center Weighted
DxO Sensor Scores
DxO Overall Score	not tested
DxO Color Depth	not tested
DxO Dynamic Range	not tested
DxO Low Light ISO	not tested
	Report a correction

Sensor
Sensor Type	CCD
Sensor Size	Four Thirds
Sensor Dimensions	17.3 x 13 mm
Sensor Area	224.90mm²
Sensor Resolution	8 megapixels
Max Image Resolution	3264 x 2448
Max Native ISO	400
Max Boosted ISO	1600
Min Native ISO	100
RAW Support
Autofocus
AF Touch
AF Continuous
AF Single
AF Tracking
AF Selective
AF Center
AF Multi Area
AF Live View
AF Face Detection
AF Contrast Detection
AF Phase Detection
Number of Focus Points	3
Number of Cross Focus Points	Unknown
Video Features
Max Video Resolution	None
Microphone Port
Headphone Port
Connectivity
Wireless Connectivity	None
HDMI
USB	USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec)
Physical
Environmental Sealing
Water Proof
Dust Proof
Shock Proof
Crush Proof
Freeze Proof
Weight	479g
Physical Dimensions	130 x 95 x 66mm
Other Features
Self Timer	Yes (2 or 12 sec)
Timelapse Recording
GPS	None
Storage Type	Compact Flash (Type I or II), xD Picture Card
Storage Slots	1