Photo of the Day

Olympus E-500, Zuiko Digital 40-150mm 1:3.5~4.5

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Vintage Camera Marketplace by ImagingPixel

Malaysia's Online Marketplace for Vintage Film and Digital Cameras, Lenses,
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Photo of the Day

Olympus E-500, Zuiko Digital 40-150mm 1:3.5~4.5

<< Click on image for enlarged Lightbox display >>

Vintage Camera Marketplace by ImagingPixel

Malaysia's Online Marketplace for Vintage Film and Digital Cameras, Lenses,
and Camera Accessories. Follow ImagingPixel on Facebook, Pinterest, and X.

Photo of the Day

Olympus E-500, Zuiko Digital 40-150mm 1:3.5~4.5

<< Click on image for enlarged Lightbox display >>

Vintage Camera Marketplace by ImagingPixel

Malaysia's Online Marketplace for Vintage Film and Digital Cameras, Lenses,
and Camera Accessories. Follow ImagingPixel on Facebook, Pinterest, and X.

Photo of the Day

Olympus E-500, Zuiko Digital 40-150mm 1:3.5~4.5

<< Click on image for enlarged Lightbox display >>

Vintage Camera Marketplace by ImagingPixel

Malaysia's Online Marketplace for Vintage Film and Digital Cameras, Lenses,
and Camera Accessories. Follow ImagingPixel on Facebook, Pinterest, and X.

CCD Resurgence, Preserving The Cult

A look at a low-cost vintage digital SLR camera and lens kit for CCD enthusiasts.

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If there is a call for a camera and lens kit that CCD digital SLR camera enthusiasts would want to keep longer in their collection, rather than letting it go when they are looking for a change or upgrade to the camera and lens they are using, my nomination for such a setup will have to be an Olympus (Evolt) E-500, a Four/Thirds System digital SLR camera introduced in 2005, and an Olympus Zuiko Digital 40-150mm 1:3.5-4.5 telephoto zoom lens, introduced in 2004. This low-cost setup will not cost you an arm or a leg, and is a pleasure to use.

The Olympus (Evolt) E-500, a re-find in the resurgence of interest for the unique image characteristics, is a 10MP CCD Kodak KAF-8300CE Four/Thirds entry-level digital SLR camera designed to provide professional-quality features at an accessible price point. The camera, with a sensor's performance that is particularly noteworthy for its generation, is compact and lightweight, praised for its solid build quality and ergonomic design, and image quality equated with excellent sharpness, color reproduction, and tonality.

The camera features a 2.5-inch LCD screen with 215,000 dots, with an active control panel that allows for quick access to most camera settings without diving into the menu system, a 49-zone metering system with Digital ESP, center-weighted, and spot metering modes, and a basic autofocus system with three focus points. ISO range is from 100 to 400 as standard, with extended settings up to 1600, shutter speed range is from 1/4000 to 60 seconds with a Bulb, and flash sync speed is 1/180 second. In burst mode, the E-500 can capture approximately 2.5 frames per second for up to five frames in Super High Quality JPEG mode.

The Olympus Zuiko Digital 40-150mm 1:3.5-4.5, a very affordable Four/Thirds mount option for vintage enthusiasts looking to add basic telephoto capabilities to their kit, is a versatile lens that offers an equivalent focal length of 80-300mm in 35mm terms on the 2x crop sensor E-500. The lens is suitable for photography genres including portraits, sports, landscapes, and wildlife, and has also been a popular choice among Olympus DSLR users for many years.

The 13 elements in 10 groups lens, which offers impressive sharpness across most of its focal length range, more so when stopped couple of f-stops down, has an aperture range from 1:3.5-4.5 to 1:22, 7 diaphragm blades, is 107mm x 77mm in size, weighs 425 grams, has a minimum focusing distance of 1.5 meters, and takes 58mm filters. Though designed for smaller Four Thirds sensor cameras, this metal mount lens is comparatively large and heavier than some APS-C lenses as found on the market. What it does, however, is provide a positive feel when attached to the camera.

Olympus E-500, Zuiko Digital 40-150mm 1:3.5~4.5

Using the camera and lens combination is easy and convenient. The E-500 has the standard PASM (Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, and Manual) exposure modes, an additional 15 scene modes, three color (Vivid, Natural, Muted), and two monochrome modes (Black & White, Sepia) that can be customized for contrast, saturation, and sharpness. The lens, though slightly bulky, works well in good lighting conditions, delivers fast autofocus performance, produces sharp, high-contrast images with signature Olympus colors and pleasing background blur, particularly with subjects at longer focal lengths.

Note: CCDs, known for producing images with a distinct color profile that many describe as more natural, vibrant, and film-like, with a smooth highlight roll-off, were the gold standard for camera sensors from the early 80s till the late 2000s. While they have been largely displaced by the CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor) variety in consumer digital cameras, CCDs are still valued for certain specialized applications, including Optical Microscopy, Space Photography, and Near-Infrared Imaging.

Vintage Camera Marketplace by ImagingPixel

Malaysia's Online Marketplace for Vintage Film and Digital Cameras, Lenses,
and Camera Accessories. Follow ImagingPixel on Facebook, Pinterest, and X.