I bought this kit (E-510 plus two lenses included) not because it was 'best in class' (it wasn't) but because I thought it was the best appeared in terms of value for money. (focus on landscapes, recreation, people; not sports or formal portraits). The price of this outfit went from $1,000 to $620 in less than a year and a half. When Olympus introduced the modified E-520, the 510 was old hat. An example of excellent (but not cutting edge) technology that has been heavily devalued. As for the camera itself, here are its notable attributes that may not be obvious upon first studying the specs: A) Image stabilization on the body (as opposed to the lens). Take a look at the prices of Nikon or Canon lenses and compare them to their Olympus Zuiko counterparts. Nikon and Canon boast of lens stabilization - at a premium price. B) High optical quality ratings for these kit lenses - at almost any aperture setting. They're also surprisingly light. C) The four-thirds sensor functionally doubles the magnification factor equivalent to 35mm lenses. So a 150mm kit lens magnifies to the 300mm equivalent - roughly 8x magnification. D) Relatively light but ergonomic. E) The overall picture quality at different settings is really very good! Workaround: A) The default noise reduction and sharpening settings are not that good. I prefer results with noise filter set to "low" and sharpness set to "minus one". B) Speed: If a frigid sport or fast-paced action is important to you, look elsewhere. The best ISO value is 100-200. Up to 400 everything is fine. From 400 to 800 everything is fine - too detailed, in my opinion. Above 800 - forget it - the noise is obvious. C) The only disadvantage of kit lenses is their maximum aperture of f3.5 and f4.0. (Actually, I'd like f2.8.) Still pretty typical for this class. D) The built-in flash is what you would expect from a camera in this class - adequate at best. Consider getting an Olympus FL-36 - I wouldn't travel without it! In general I am very happy with this camera, especially at this price!
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