Olympus E620 diary

The Olympus E620 was announced on February 23 and in just a few hours it has generated enough interest and buzz that it has just been awarded with its own hot-camera diary! It is the first Olympus to get a "diary" at the green blog. The link to the diary has been added to the top of each blog page (the light-blue area below the blog name at the top). You can also follow the major posts on the camera by checking the "mini-blog", and check out its list of reviews at our DSLR Review Organizer.

Sun Oct 11
And some real-world fireworks, posted by a photographer at the Steve's digicam forums.

Sat Oct 10
With so many Olympus DSLRs and a new focus on M43rds with the E-P1, it may be creating some confusion in the market, but the E620 is not forgotten! A brand new review of the camera has been posted at Radiant Lite.

Tue Oct 6
UK Olympus users have some new special offers from Olympus with the purchase of the E620, E30 and lenses. Details now at dpnow now!

Mon Oct 5
DC Watch has posted part #3 of their on-going look at the Olympus E620. This update, complete with full-size sample pictures, was created using the Sigma 50mm f1.4 lens. Check it out - click on each picture to see the full-size JPEG version.

Wedn Sept 10
Something about a gift-horse in the mouth? This photographer won an E620, but he is a Canon photographer trying to save money for the upcoming 7D.

Fri Sept 4
Encouraging news for the E620 popularity! J&R World had a discount of the body-only ($540, down from $600), and they have sold out already.

Sun Aug 30: new cousin, the E600
Olympus has just revealed a brand new Four Thirds camera that is a younger cousin of the E620. Meet the new Olympus E600.

Wedn Aug 26
The E620 climbs the Sierras, using the dpreview forums as the ladder :)

Tue Aug 25
Some night-time shots with the E620, shared in the Oly dpreview forum.

And now some C&C, with the 70-300mm and hummingbirds.

Mon Aug 24
Hey, look, them Sony A380 has APS-C sensor, but it's not exactly the noise-free queen!

Sun Aug 16
The E-620 takes on two other Olympus cameras, the E30 and E-P1, in a scene-comparison test at DC-Watch. More via this front-page update.

Tue August 4
The two-lens kit has had a price drop, you can now get it for $720. Details at the Camera Deals blog.

Thur July 30
More from DC-Watch, they have a side-by-side picture-comparison of the E620 versus the E520. The samples you see in the page are available as full-size downloads. Enjoy!

Thur July 23
Japanese website DC-Watch has run some performance tests on the E620 and other dSLRs using four different memory cards for each type of camera. We have summarized them in this post.

Wedn July 15
Photographer Kirk Tuck has moved from the Nikon-mount to the Olympus E-system, and his new DSLR duo is the E30 and of course, the E620. Read about it in this long article.

Fri July 10
One more review is in the books! Jack Neubart has posted his findings on the E620 at Photo Crati. Conclusions, which we won't spoil, are at the bottom of the review, followed by Q&A by Photocrati readers.

Thur July 9
The Online Photographer opines on the dpreview review of the Olympus E620. Rave party of two? :)

Mon July 6: Party time - dpreview review is out!
Today is party day for E620 fans! The dpreview review is out and dpreview is singing the praises of the E620 like it never has before for an Olympus dSLR! Detailed review coverage on the front page of the blog in this impact review update.

Sat July 4: new review
No, not the dpreview review, but another one of the original Big Six has posted their review of the E620 - it is Steve's Digicams.

Fri July 3
One of our readers noticed this post in the dpreview forums, where dpreview reviewer (and singer) Richard Butler says that the E620 review is coming soon, and the E-P1 review is in the pipeline!

Mon June 29
The Imaging Resource review is getting closer, as they have added more sample pictures in their gallery. Dpreview is probably is also on the pipeline, as the E620 was part of the comparison trilogy with the T1i/500D and D5000, both of which got back to back reviews.

Friday June 26: new reviews
All apologies, but E-P1 ate up the E620 cycles, but we'll catch up with the latest news and backfill the posts below.

For now, here is a major review of the E620, posted by Jeff K at DC Resource. If you can't wait to find out, conclusions are on page #4.

But wait, there's more! Wrotniak.net has also posted their in-depth technical review. As usual, we won't reveal their findings here. But Wrotniak produces great reviews, so if you only read one review, this is the one to read!

Wedn June 17
The E620 is next-in-line to be reviewed at DC Resource. Their very handy review-calendar on the left-side of the screen shows the E620 as the next one, followed by the evil Canon T1i ;-)

Mon June 15
Which one of the "Big Two" will post their E620 review first? Imaging Resource has just posted their E620 sample pictures. Perhaps they are both "saving" them for after the E-P1 announcement?

Sun June 14<
Bring on the cars, bring on the dirt! The E620 is not afraid.

We are #1! We are #1! In the access rakings at the DC Watch website. Hey, interest is a good thing :)

Sat June 13
Another day, another review in the life of the E620. This time it is DIWA-member Let's Go Digital that reviews it. We pick up their review coverage at the sample images page.

Fri June 12
The Olympus E620 makes another guest-appearance in a dpreview review, this time the D5000, and as we speculated in that post, the Olympus E620 review is probably next, since the other two that were part of the main comparison set got back-to-back reviews!

Thur June 11
A picture shared in the dpreview forums turned into an interesting post-processing challenge, with different photographers contributing their variations. Some could say that this is one of the reasons why forums were created!

Mon June 8
And yet another review! Three days in a row! This time the review comes from Photography Blog. Were the noisy issues enough to bring it down? Or not? Read on to find out!

But that's not all! The E620 is also one of the "guest-stars" in the dpreview review of the Canon Digital Rebel T1i/500D posted today.

Sun June 7
Another day, another review! After posting a series of previews and ISO comparisons, Camera Labs has posted their E620 review!

Sat June 6
One more review, this time coming from a magazine's website, by Philip Ryan, not to be confused with Ryan Philippe, at Pop Photo.

Thur June 4
New E620 samples from Japan posted at DC-Watch by photographer Nishikawa Kazuhisa. Before you look at the page, please note that the page includes multiple close-up pictures of a female model in a swimsuit. So if you are browsing at work or from church or school, you have been warned! Here are the computer-translated sample pictures.

Wedn June 3
We have a new review and a new preview of the E620 today. The short review comes from Digital Outback, where they go straight to the point in their review, and avoid all the fluff and spec-rehashing. A bang for your reading buck type of a review :)

The preview comes from crowd-favorite PhotoZone.de, with their full review coming in the next few days.

Tue June 2
Camera abuse alert! E620 fans close your eyes and hide your cameras! Some dude on YouTube has put the E620 and the Stylus 7000 in a blender! Yes, a blender! I kid you not! It's unacceptable camera violence! We already have three chapters of "Mothers Against Blended Cameras" protesting this! See the video via the Imaging Insider.

Thur May 28
Via the Imaging Insider, we learn of a new short review of the camera at the Digital Trends website. Some may think that This review may have have a little of a CaNiKoN-establishment lean ;-)

Wedn May 27
Olympus fans rejoice! Olympus has taken over CIPA! And their deputy is Panasonic! Oh my!

And now some more E620 action, NeutralDay has posted many sample pictures taken with the E620 and the two kit lenses. The samples are available at full size via flickr.

We fixed (I think) some of the wrong dates below. It is not uncommon for our memory cells to fry due to excessive multi-tasking and put the wrong date in.

Mon May 25
A new day, a new review in the E620-land. We now have a jam-packed seven-page review of the E620 posted at Zone10.com. This is a loaded review and be sure to check each and everyone of the seven pages! It has been added to the list of reviews (see link at the opening paragraph of this diary).

Sat May 23
Neutral Day offers some more thoughts on the Olympus E620.

Thur May 21
Via the Imaging InsideR, we learn of new E620 review, this one posted at the tech-site InfoSyncWorld, and it includes a number of full-size sample pictures towards the bottom of the page. Click on the underlined links for them to load.

Mon May 18
Cover your eyes E620 diehard fans! Another ISO comparison is out! Check it out at NeutralDay, where the E620 is ISO-compared to the D90 and 5DMk2. Yes, of course we all know that the other two DSLRs are more expensive and are at a higher tier in their respective line-ups, but comparisons don't have to be between apples and apples.

Sun May 17
We have just noticed a $50 price-drop on all three kits. We prepared a deal alert on the front page of the blog. To make it easier to post updates, we are only posting it in one place.

Sat May 16
A new high-ISO comparison is posted at Camera Labs, this time the E620 goes against the latest CaNiKoNs, T1i/500D and D5000. Don't look! You have been warned :)

Thur May 14
It's raining reviews! Via the Imaging Insider, we learn of yet another E620 review, this one at DCI, which is short for Digital Camera Info. They have added a nice summary section up-front that can give you a quick snapshot of the camera. There are 17-pages in this review!

Wedn May 13
More E620 action! This time, a parting gift from DC-Resource as they are heading to Hawai'i. A new gallery of E620 pictures. The samples are available as full-size JPEGs, but please drink their bandwidth responsibly ;-)

Decisions, decisions! One photographer wants advice from fellow photographers. He is torn between the E620 and the Panasonic GH1. Read the discussion and add your 2-cents.

Tue May 12
French website Focus Numerique has posted sample pictures taken with the Olympus E620 and has made the RAW files available for download for your pixel-peeping and evaluation pleasure.

And a new review, in-print, on page #68 of the June 2009 issue of the print edition of Popular Photography and Imaging. I'm sure that eventually the review will also get posted on their website. It is the featured DSLR review in this issue, written by Philip Ryan, who also wrote the Pop Photo hands-on report in mid-April.

Mon May 11
Another in-stock update, the single-lens kit is also in-stock and shipping at B&H Photo for $700.

Sun May 10
We have an in-stock update. The popular 2-lens kit is now in-stock at B&H Photo going for $800 plus shipping and handling which depends on your zipcode.

Tue May 5: new review!
There is a new review out E620 fans with lots of Imatest graphs. Check it out throug our impact review update on the front page of the blog.

Sun May 3
Another day, another ISO shootout! This time Camera Labs squares off the E620 with two older CaNiKons. Featured in our new ISO Wars blog post.

You can learn a lot about the camera, not just by reading review-site reviews, but also paying attention to hands-on reports published by "real world" photographers. One such case is the detailed hands-on impressions posted by a photographer in the Olympus dpreview forum.

Sat May 2
The E620 participates in an ISO range shootout at DC-Resource. We recapped the action in this ISO Wars update on the front page.

Didn't you wish there was a website that provided an on-going review and feedback on the E620? Well, wish no more, because there is such a website, check out OlympusE620review.com. It has also been added to the list of reviews (see link for that in the intro of this page).

Fri May 1: $100 price drop!
Celebrate E620 fans! Today is $100 price drop day! The camera kits now available for $600, $700 and $800. See all the details at the Camera Deals blog. But it's not just the E620, the E3 and E30 have also been discounted. Check them all out at the 4/3rds and M 4/3rds deals mini-blog.

Wedn April 29
ISO testing galore to please les pixel-peepeurs at Focus Numerique. They have posted a new page full of ISO comparison shots.

Mon April 27
The E620 body only has started shipping! Yes shipping! Check out this in-stock alert at the front page of this blog for the latest status updates! And happy E620 shooting in advance :-)

Sat April 25
And now let's dive into the Olympus SLR Talk forum and see some more first impressions by actual real-world photographers who use the camera. Here they are:

+ more impressions
+ workout at the carnival
+ five samples shared as this photographer finds it very promising

Fri April 24
Just created is a review-cluster for the E620 at our DSLR Review Organizer. More reviews will be added there as they come out. If we missed any, please let us know!

Ryan Philippe (or is it Philip Ryan) has posted his first impressions on this lovely camera at the Pop Photo website.

And speaking of reviews, the E620 is the third camera in line for a published review the DC Resource calendar planned for May 2009.

Wedn April 22
This photographer picked up an E620 and he is sharing his first impressions in this flickr discussion.

An Earth-day review! And to save e-paper, it's a short one :) Pocket Lint has posted their findings on the camera. And why do they think is like the Tardis?

Tue April 21
Help this photographer chose! He is between the E620 and D5000. OF course not a whole lot is known about the D5000, so it's not yet an apples vs apples comparison.

And some comparison-talk among Olympus users, starting with a discussion of highlights as far as the E510/E520 and the E620 are concerned.

Mon April 20
Samples from Taiwan going all the way up to ISO 3200 are displayed and discussed in this forum discussion.

The E620 sold out all its stock on day #1 at a Montreal camera shop says this photographer. Alors!

Sun April 19
Yes E620 fans, it is time to celebrate! The E620 won the entry-level DSLR category at the 2009 TIPA Awards.

Sat April 18
Some early first impressions and sample pictures shared in the Oly dpreview forum. Short discussion follows.

Fri April 17
The E620's older but smaller sibling model, the E420 was picked one of the Top Ten cameras at The Online Photographer, coming in at #6 in their Top Ten! A very good showing for sure for Four Thirds!

Thur April 16
The Roberts Imaging blogger is thrilled with the backlit buttons of the E620 (can your CaNiKon do this?) but even more so, they are thrilled they have received E620 boxes in-store.

Mon April 13
The review is here! Check out the DP Interface review of the E620! The reviewer calls it "baby E30". This is based on a production unit of the camera. Conclusions and pros/cons are at the bottom of the page.

The sample review pictures gallery has been posted at DP Interface which could only mean one thing: Their review of the camera is imminent! They usually post the review shortly after the galleries, so stay tuned!

Come on feel the noise! This forum discussion talks noise among the Olympus 4/3rds DSLRs.

Sun April 12
We have a hard time classifying these bite-size drive-by "reviews" of digital cameras, especially when it comes to DSLRs. It's one thing to cobble along a one-page review of a $100 point and shoot, but when it comes to DSLRs, it's really hard to bite on some of these bite-size reviews. But some people may find them interesting, so here is a Techradar review of the E620, posted last week.

Sat April 11
New review by one of the 4/3rds sites! Check out the new review at 4/3rds Photo, which includes a comparison to the E30.

And here are a dozen pictures from Japan, via the dpreview forums.

Thur April 9
New sample pictures from Japan (Nikkei) are discussed in the dpreview Olympus forums. The pictures are available as full-size, so you can pixel-peep them to your liking :)

Thur April 2
The Imaging Insider spotlights a comprehensive review of the E620 by the Olympus-friendly biofos.com. Full-size samples are also available for those interested. Enjoy!

Wedn April 1
Confused by all the Olympus DSLR prices? Focus Numerique puts the European prices in perspective. This is in french, but you don't need a computer-translator since model names and numbers are the same.

Sun March 29
More samples from Osaka in Japan from this veteran dpreview-forum photographer. Enjoy the pictures and discussion. There are 14 images and they are available in the second post in the thread, so as to prevent swamping the browsers of people with slower internet connections. If you want to jump directly to the post with the 14 pictures, here they are.

Fri March 27
A well-known Olympus photographer in the UK has spent some time with the camera and he is sharing his experience in the Olympus dpreview forum.

Sat March 21
A new E620 owner in Japan shares sample pictures in the Olympus forum at dpreview, along with some early first impressions. And a discussion follows forum-style.

Fri March 20
dpreview has posted a long interview with Olympus, talking Four Thirds, Micro Four Thirds and of course the adorable E620!

Thur March 12
21 sample pictures are now available at dpreview. You can also download them as full-size JPEG. The lens(e) used for these was the 12-60mm f2.8-4. RAW files are not available. Gallery created by Richard Butler.

And of course the samples are discussed and analyzed in the Olympus dpreview forums. There are even a couple of comments from Richard Butler in the thread, responding to questions and such.

Wedn March 11
Olympus users are celebrating! The E620 was picked as the product of PMA 2009 by dpreview.com. By dpreview? Oh my :-)

Tue March 10
As they promised, Four Thirds User is back from PMA and they have 34 sample pictures taken with the E620 for us all to peruse. And what's really cool with Four Thirds User, they have made available both RAW and full-size JPEG versions of each file!

Mon March 9
With the lack of any new DSLRs at PMA, and the only tangible interchangeable lens camera being the GH1-HD, which is a G1-clone, the Olympus E620 has a pretty good chance to become a breakout commercial success as it is running "unopposed" by 2009 models.

In addition to the samples mentioned below, DigiCamReview has posted camera body pictures looking at the camera from multiple angles.

Sat March 7
Six new E620 samples have surfaced, this time at DigiCam Review, posted together with two E30 samples. These are not full-size however, they go up to 1600x1200.

Fri March 6
41 sample pictures, available for download at full-size have been posted at Photography Blog. The lens used for this is the new 14-54mm II f2.8-3.5 Four Thirds lens, a mid-range typical zoom. Remember, when you do the "2X" math, this is a 28-108mm "35mm equivalent".

Thur March 5
Four Thirds User visits the Olympus booth at PMA and is told by Oly-Japan that the Four Thirds future is secure with more stuff coming in the pipeline, and more importantly he has a production camera and he will post sample pictures after they finish their PMA trade show and return back to business-as-usual.

Tue March 3
Sample pictures with a production E620 taken in Vegas and available at full-size at Let's Go Digital.

Amazon has updated its shipping estimate to 3 to 5 weeks.

Olympus has announced no progress with their Micro Four Thirds projects, so that means, more spotlight and Olympus resources go to the E620 :)

Sun March 1
Samples from Japan (DC Watch) are discussed in this Oly SLR Talk forum discussion.

Sat February 28
With the Olympus E30 sharing the sensor and presumably more "insides" with the E620, it is interesting to check out E30 reviews until we start getting E620 reviews. So, you may be interested in a trio of E30 reviews that were posted in the last few days. You can find them all in our latest review round-up.

Thur February 26
An official unboxing ceremony of the E620 has been posted at Photography Review. This is a 6-minute video, recorded live when they received their preview unit! Coffee is included :-) This is an unboxing video for people who hate unboxing videos! A side-by-side body comparison with the E520 is included. This is a great inside look at the world of camera review sites and we would like to see more of this!

And if you like the unboxing video, vote for it on Reddit.

The Online Photographer had a major beef with the Art Filters :-)

Wedn February 25
The CEO of a camera store is thrilled with the E620 and they will be ordering a boat-load.

One Olympus forum user has spotted some tiny samples taken with the camera. The pictures are really small, but since this is so early in the camera's lifecycle, they might be of interest.

Is the E620 the only DSLR you will ever need? ;)

Tue February 24
The pre-order tracker is up and running. Currently Amazon.com is the only major retailer accepting pre-orders.

Monday February 23
The E620 is officially announced, with a handful of previews posted already. The latest update in that post is a link to the PDF user manual.