CCD sensors as we know them, were the gold standard for camera sensors from the early 80s till the late 2000s. These sensors were valued for images that had a unique, film-like look. While the use of these sensors on digital cameras diminished as they were replaced by the much improved CMOS variety with lower power consumption, high ISO performance, and extended video capabilities, CCDs are still used in areas of specialized photography including Optical Microscopy, Space Photography, and Near-Infrared Imaging.
Photo enthusiasts who want to move to the CCD genre, as a means for deviating from the ever-increasing cost of film photography, the astronomical cost of acquiring advanced digital cameras that could as well be too complex to handle, or just out of pure curiosity, will find cost-savings phenomenal. Cameras with CCD sensors, be it a point-and-shoot, a digital bridge, or the ubiquitous DSLR, are readily available, priced for the asking, with a selection that varies from hardly used near-mints to parts for repair or spares.
My enthusiasm for the genre led me to acquire a low-priced 8MP CCD Olympus E-500, which was listed as untested due to a dead battery and comes with no charger. Having used the E-510 and E-520 previously, with their chargers and batteries still in good working condition, replacing the battery on the E-500, which uses the same BLM-1 model as the E-510/520, was easy enough. The E-500, still in a near-mint used condition with only 1787 shutter counts to its credit, spurted and came to life as soon as the replacement battery was installed.
It did not take long to mount the camera with a Zuiko Digital 17.5-45mm 1:3.5-5.6 I already had, and I was out of the door in no time for the first test shoot.
The Olympus (EVOLT) E-500
The 8MP CCD Olympus E-500 (Olympus EVOLT E-500 in the US), a well-regarded consumer-orientated Four/Third digital SLR camera system, was introduced by Olympus in 2005. The camera, fitted with the much talked about Kodak KAF-8300CE CCD sensor updates the E-300, which was previously introduced with the same sensor in 2004. Unlike the E-300, however, which has a flat top fitted with an unusual Optical Porro Finder, the E-500 is back to a traditional SLR built with a pentamirror viewfinder, and a hump on top of the camera which also houses the camera's built-in flash, hot shoe, and the diopter correctable viewfinder eyepiece.
The compact and robust camera is a nice fit in the hands and balances well with the Zuiko D. 17-5-45mm lens mounted. Button functions and functional layout are convenient for the user to access and use. On the top plane, aside from the shutter release button, are the Mode and main Command dials, with the Power switch lever and the Exposure Compensation button thrown in. On the back, to the left of the LCD, are the Flash pop-up, Playback, Erase, Menu, and Info buttons, while the clusters on the right include the 5-way Joystick cluster, AE/AF lock, Remote Control/Self Timer/Drive, and AF frame selection buttons. The Joystick cluster doubles for White balance, AF, ISO, Metering, and OK functions.
An interesting item look in the E-500 is the Supersonic Wave Filter (SSWF) system which debuted on the Olympus E-1 in 2003. This was done by applying a conductive coating to the glass protecting the sensor, and generating vibrations uniformly across the surface to remove dust particles deposited. The system has since provided Olympus interchangeable lens camera users with clean and crisp images, accolades, and high praise from Olympus enthusiasts. The E-500 also features a pop-up flash, playback red-eye reduction, and custom setting exposure modes. Metering is full-aperture with selectable Digital ESP (49-segment multi-pattern), Center-weighted, and Spot metering options.
Exposure selections on the E-500 include Program AE (with shift), Aperture priority AE, Shutter priority AE, Manual, Creative Modes with Auto, Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Sports, and Night Scene + Portrait, and a further selection of 15 different Scene modes with options for Portrait, Landscape, Landscape & Portrait, Night Scene, Night Scene & Portrait, Firework, Sunset, Macro, Sports, High Key, Low key, Document, Beach & Snow, Candle, and Children. Drive mode is Single-frame, Sequential shooting @ 2.5 frames/second, Self-timer (12 seconds, 2 seconds), and Remote control. Exposure can be adjusted in 1/3, 1/2, or 1 EV step within a range of ± 5 EV. Focusing is via a selectable 3-point multiple AF (left, center, and right).
The E-500 is also fitted with a 2.5-inch 215,250 dot LCD, has a shutter speed range from 60 - 1/4000 second, and Bulb (up to 8 mins) in Manual mode (1 - 1/4000 sec in AE mode), and a manual ISO speed range from 100 to 1600 (100 to 400 on Auto) is also available. If you are a regular user of mirror lock up with your previous film cameras mounted on a tripod, you can do the same with the E-500 by activating the camera's Anti-Shock option (from the menu system) to activate the shutter up to 30 seconds after the mirror is locked up. Images on the E-500 are recorded on CF or xD card in RAW and JPEG file formats, the camera is powered by a BLM-1 Li-ion battery, and its body weight is 435 grams.
Zuiko Digital 17.5-45mm 1:3.5-5.6
The Four/Thirds mount 2.6x Zuiko Digital 17.5-45mm 1:3.5-5.6 zoom, not often seen in reports or reviews on the Net, is the lesser of the two standard zoom lenses designated as kit lenses for the Olympus E-500. While the Zuiko Digital 14-45mm was the standard zoom for the two-lens kit and can be purchased separately, the 17.5-45mm (35-90mm equivalent on a full-frame camera) was only available with the Olympus E-500 SE Kit.
The lens is compact and lightweight, comes with 7 elements in 7 groups including two aspherical elements, a plastic mount, measures 70mm in length, has a maximum variable aperture of 3.5-5.6, weighs 210 grams, and takes 52mm filters. Aside from being used generally as a medium wide angle to a classical telephoto portrait, the lens, which has a minimum focusing distance of 0.28 meters, is also usable as a close-up lens, as seen from the early images posted here.
A Short User Overview
This section details a brief overview of the camera's functionalities. Unlike modern mirrorless where the LCD doubles as the camera's viewfinder, shooting with the mirrorless held at arm's length, capturing images with the SLR E-500 is still the conventional setting of the exposure parameters, framing, and focusing the scene through the viewfinder, before releasing the shutter technology.
The rather small and diminutive viewfinder readout is a screen-etched center metering circle with indicators for the three AF areas, which can be set to Auto, Left, Right, or Center. On the right of the screen is an LCD status screen displaying the Aperture value, Shutter speed, Record mode, AF confirmation mark, Flash, White balance, AE lock, Number of storable still pictures, Exposure compensation, Metering mode, Battery check, and Exposure mode.
In normal shooting mode, the LCD screen can be set as the Control Panel with the display set to Normal, or Detailed by cycling the Info button. Access to the control is activated by pressing the OK button and the Up, Down, Left, and Right joystick buttons to navigate the selection set. In Display mode, the Info button cycles the various image display options.
Early Images
As mentioned earlier, it was a scoot out of the door as soon as the camera was up and running, with these early images coming from the garden and across the road at the children's playground.
While the Zuiko Digital 17.5-45mm 1:3.5-5.6 may not be the optimum pick for the take, with images that tend to be on the soft side, these test images do show the better side, and the versatility of the 8MP Kodak KAF-8300CE CCD sensor, and adds to what CCD images are already about.
Being closer to old-school AF 35mm SLR film cameras than current mega-electronically controlled DSLRs, the camera is practical enough to get you up and running in no time, almost without the hassle of having to refer to the instruction manual for indications on how the dials and function buttons work.
The camera is quite fast on the start-up, and shut down is almost instant. The soft-touch electronic shutter release is impeccable, the capture lag is negligible, and the autofocusing is fast and accurate. Saving the images in RAW format is a tad longer than normal, while burst modes do take time to clear the buffer. The sequential drive mode captures up to 2.5 frames per second.
End Note
For a camera and sensor that is two decades old, and classified as vintage with its manufacturing technology considered redundant and has been bypassed, I do believe that the E-500's robust build, ease of use, reportedly effective dust reduction, decent image quality, and easy adaptability to other make and models of lenses, especially legacy M42 lenses (my next project), does make it an enviable option for beginners and enthusiasts wanting to move to the CCD genre, and is still a stand-out even in today's advanced technology environment.
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