have had an e 10 and e 520 in the past (still own them). the auto focus and dynamic range seem much improved relative to the 520. my 12-60 and 50-200 swd lens are much better balanced. with the weather sealing, i am no longer fearful of shotting out in the rain.

I'm so amazed at how many features that are on this camera!!! You can truly customize your photos in so many ways to make them the way that you invision them!! I love the live screen the most to be able to view my photo before I take it with the adjusted settings and to see how my photo changes such as WB, ISO, Aperature ect.....
The reviews that I read so far said that this camera did not have a lot of updates to this new model but I totally disagree!!! I love my e-5!!!

THE ONLY SLR CAMERAS I HAVE USED ARE
OLYMPUS WHEN A NAT GEO PHOTOGRAPHER
SHOWES YOU HIS CAMER AND PICTURES YOU
GET TO SEE THE RESULTS FIRST HAND AND FROM
THAT POINT ON IT HAS BEEN OLYMPUS ALL THE
WAY. NOW WHEN I SHOW PEOPLE MY E5 THEY ARE
WOWED BY HOW BRIGHT THE IMAGE IS AND HOW MANY THINGS YOU CAN DO IN THE CAMER AND DONT HAVE TO DO IN POST. I SHOOT PART TIME
FOR PAY AND HAVE NEVER HAD A COMPLAINT FROM SMALL JOBS TO THE WHOLE SHOOT OF THE MAKING OF THE DARWIN EXHIBIT. I USE OLYMPUS LENSES
FOR ALL MY SHOTS FROM 7-14 TO 35-100 AND OTHERS.

I have owned and used an Olympus camera starting with my OM-1 film camera almost 40 years ago. I started the digital age with an E-410 and used that camera until I started shooting professionally. I still have it and use it as my backup and fun on the run shooter. The transition into the E-5 from the 410 was seamless with just a short adjustment to relocate the control buttons and dials. I am still growing into this camera and loving every minute of my growth. My art photograph has expanded as well as my environmental work. With this camera I can go from studio to the great outdoors fully prepared to get the shot.

E-30 owner who traded up to E-5, extremely satisfied. Happy with increased satisfactory ISO and noise reduction for low light shooting. Auto Focus incredible with the outstanding Zuiko glass. Colors and sharpness due to processor is amazing.

This E-5 replaced an E-3. Work is product documentation, architectural, and fire department; hobby is nature, environment, etc.

The E-5 brings everything I liked about the E-3: extremely fast auto-focus, ergonomic grip and controls, rugged construction, in-body IS, and no worries in inclement weather. For me, the E-5 adds more accurate auto-focus in low-light, larger articulating screen, higher resolution, and video.

My lenses are all Zuiko ‘high grade’, the favorite being the 12-60mm. In real-life subjective comparisons to peers’ N and C models, the E-5 easily matches — and usually exceeds — for image quality. For outdoor night work, the E-5 does a great job auto-focusing, with minimal need to manually touch-up.

I used to use a compact video camera to shoot an establishing clip, helpful when piecing things together during image processing. With on-board video, the E-5 can do it without switching cameras.

Still using my collection of BLM-1 batteries without upgrading to the new BLM-5. Excellent battery life nonetheless.

Slightly faster sequential shooting and less noise at higher ISOs would be nice, but not a deal-breaker.

Overall, the E-5 is a great, rugged workhorse that can produce highest-quality images, even when shooting at night or bad weather.

Overall the E-5 is an a very good camera. The feel of the camera is just perfect. There are just a few things I though Olympus cam improve upon like low focus, faster frame rate, the 4 way button is too small and noise.

The Best Camera Ever Best Images , High Quality Images .

I would like to see some changes for the future (E-7): The same finish like E-1, the E-5 finish looks like an industrial tool, not very elegant. Get read of the mirror. Would make the camera silent. After having live view you don't really need it any longer. For sunny days you can include a sun screen. The screen should be De-touchable and usable as remote control. You have already the wireless flash, so what is the big deal with the screen ? Of course it should be a touch screen. All camera adjustments are done on the screen. You can get read of all the buttons and wires inside. Saves a lot of money since the camera is better protected (no openings). Since you have now more space, make the screen larger. The art filter is not necessary, when I want change the picture I can do this on the computer. It's like the function to print direct from the camera, nobody is really using it. A function to put a voice tag to each picture (like other cameras have) would be a good addition. Better adjustment to light condition, if you make photos with flash of people from different races (black and white), the white faces are often totally wiped out. What is with tethering - would be a good idea. When attaching the HLD-4, it should also supply the flash with power when the batteries are empty (by choice) and perhaps other way around.

¶ Background: My first Olympus camera was the incredible and revolutionary C2100UZ, which I still consider was the best digital camera for its size and price that anyone ever built up to that time. It was way ahead of anything else on the market. It went with my wife and I on a trip to Hawaii and gave us hundreds of gorgeous images. My only complaints were (and still are) the long shutter lag and limited ISO settings. I wish I hadn't sold it to a person who refused to learn how to use it! But I digress.

¶ Over the years I worked my way through a number of consumer level Olympus point/shooters until I traded up to an E-500 (which I later sold) and then a pair of E-510s that, ever since their release until now were my main cameras as a freelance photographer (now I use them as backup cameras). However I found myself needing some features that they didn't have (such as high noise-free ISO settings, swing-out swiveling view screen, fast focusing in extreme low light, weather resistant body), and finally it came -- the E-5! It was time to trade up again.

¶ My first substantial shoot with the E-5 was a big banquet at a Los Angeles university faculty center. I used it with an 18-180 (36-360 2xFOV) Zuiko zoom, which I keep on the camera all the time. The only exception is when I need my 70-300 (2xFOV 140-600) which I usually leave on one of the 510s. I noticed right away how the AF was faster. The images on the monitor have even more gorgeous color than my 510s (that color palette is one of the reasons I went with Olympus in the first place). With the E-5's special new circuitry, the image details are superb. (I also used an FL-50 flash with a bouncer, which made for a lovely diffuse umbrella-like lighting effect.)

¶ One surprise was the Level Gauge! I didn't realize that the camera even had that feature until it popped up! One of the "problems" I have is my bad habit of tilting the camera slightly, and as a result I was constantly having to rotate the image back to horizontal in Photoshop. No more of that, thank you very much!

¶ Another refinement: Sometimes the nature of the shot needs you to stop even the least amount of camera shake. Enter anti-shock. You can control mirror vibration from interfering with the shot by delaying shutter opening until the mirror has ascended and completely stopped vibrating. Perfect for astrophotography.

¶ One thing that distracted me -- until I learned how to turn it off (I thought something was wrong with the camera) was a special feature that makes the LCD monitor picture switch back and forth among dim, normal and bright according to the light falling on a special sensor. Some may like that (it saves battery life), but I like the image brightness to stay constant.

¶ Another thing I found extremely useful that I at first thought was going to be one of those silly "bells and whistles" is the facial recognition feature, which I now use when subjects are shifting and moving fast. I found out that when I turn it on, along with selecting the "all target AF mode," it will quickly glom on to faces wherever they are in the shot and focus on them (or at least the first one it comes to), enabling me to take pictures quickly "on the fly" without having to take the time to pick a face to focus on and then recompose the shot. All I have to do is grab the shot and trip the shutter.

¶ And speaking of shutters, one of the very greatly appreciated features of this camera (which I think should be standard on all DSLR cameras) is the eyepiece shutter, which, with a flick of a small lever, blocks excess light from shining through and spoiling the exposure. This is essential when using Live View, and especially useful when the camera is mounted on a tripod for long exposures or self-timer shots. Thank you, now I don't have to jam a piece of black cardboard into the eyepiece any more!

¶ I find the one-touch white balance feature essential for when I'm in a situation with a weird light source. That feature is so important that I assigned it to the Function Button. All I do is aim the camera at something white and trip the shutter. Presto, the camera is perfectly white balanced. There's even a preset I can select for using a flash as the primary light source. On the other hand, if there's no "something white" around and the light source falls in the cracks between what the presets can provide, I use a device that fits over the lens that blends all the light sources into one, so the camera absorbs the exact blend of light, thereby giving me a spot-on accurate white balance.

¶ Yet another totally unexpected and welcome goody from the whistle/bell list is the ability to enter my name (invisibly) into the Exit information of each and every shot as the copyright owner! For me, this is extremely important in this digital age of email and the web, where pictures go out and land who knows where.

¶ Also another very neat refinement: the camera can set the images to the optimum dpi for one's printer (in my case, 240). It is truly amazing what the E-5 is capable of.

¶ Another important feature (on all E-System cameras) for me is the way that the four thirds system allows for a smaller sensor and therefore a smaller lighter camera and lens combination. I did a major shoot for a local railway with my 510s that lasted three years. During that time I had need of my 70-300 (2xFOV 140-600) zoom lens much of the time. I was able to take shots that would have been impossible had I been using other brands of cameras that, because of the size and weight of their zoom lenses mandated the use of cumbersome tripods and monopods. The Olympus cameras and lenses allowed me to get shots without all that burden. All I had to do was get into position, aim the camera, and take the pictures.

¶ Lastly: One of the more astonishing surprises on the E-5 bells and whistles list is that this camera plays music! You can set it up to play a slideshow through your TV and select music to match the mood: NOSTALGIC, JOY, MELANCHOLY, and a few others. Wow!

¶ I look forward to incorporating more and more features of this superb feature-rich camera into my photography. Needless to say, I recommend it to one and all.