Olympus Camedia D-510 ZoomOlympus updates its popular 2.1 megapixel D-490 model with a new user interface and improved features.<<Video, Power, Software :(Previous) | (Next): Reference: Datasheet>> Page 12:Test Results & ConclusionReview First Posted: 6/18/2001 |
Test Results
As always in our reviews, we strongly encourage you to view the sample pictures we shot with the D-510 Zoom. If you're shopping for a camera, there's simply no substitute for looking at and directly comparing images from various cameras you may be considering. What makes a "good" picture is almost entirely subjective, and it's ultimately up to each person to decide what makes them happy. (Kinda like life, that way... ;-) View the pictures on the D-510 Zoom sample photo page, and compare them with ones shot under similar conditions by other cameras, in the Comparometer(tm). Download images and print them out on your printer, since appearances on-screen can be deceiving. Then make your decision, based on what you see!
A worthy update to its predecessors, the Olympus D-510 Zoom offers a simple user interface with fewer external buttons, while providing improved image quality in virtually every area. Most colors are brighter and more accurate (although greens are a little subdued), color saturation is correct in more instances, and the lens seems sharper as well. Providing 2.1 megapixels of resolution, a true 3x optical zoom lens, and excellent exposure control, the D-510 is a strong entry in the middle range of the current (June 2001) digicam market. Apart from slightly weak green hues, color accuracy is very good, and images are sharp with excellent contrast. One consequence of the higher contrast (and snappy-looking pictures) though, is that the D-510 tends to lose detail in strong highlights and shadows, as you'll observe in our outdoor portrait test. However, we felt it offered a subtle improvement in detail relative to its immediate predecessor, the D-490. Part of this excellent detail is that the camera seems to do a just-right job with the in-camera sharpening, making edges nice and crisp, but showing no evidence of the "halo effect" produced by over-sharpening.
In our laboratory resolution test, the D-510 turned in a pretty typical performance for a 2-megapixel digicam, showing visual resolution of about 500 lines per picture height before aliasing set in. You can still distinguish the target lines quite a bit beyond that point though, reaching past 850 lines vertically and 800 horizontally.
The D-510 also did a very good job in the macro category, capturing a minimum area of just 2.78 x 2.09 inches (70.7 x 53.0 millimeters). Color balance and detail look great, with just a hint of softness. The D-510's built-in flash does a pretty good job of throttling down for the macro area, though it's just a little tricked by the shiny coin.
The D-510 turned in an adequate if not outstanding low light performance, capturing bright, usable images at light levels as low as one foot-candle (11 lux) at the 400 ISO setting. As the camera's ISO sensitivity setting decreased, so did its low-light shooting capability. At 200 ISO, we only obtained a reasonably bright image at the two foot-candle (22 lux) light level, and at 100 ISO, images were bright only as low as four foot-candles (44 lux). The D-510 does a good job with noise level, as noise is moderately low at the 100 ISO setting, and increases only to a moderately high level at the 400 ISO setting. To put the D-510's low-light performance into perspective, an average city night scene under modern street lighting corresponds to a light level of about one foot-candle, so darker shooting situations will require the camera's built-in flash, particularly at lower ISO settings. (The availability of variable ISO in a relatively inexpensive digicam is laudable though: We wish more manufacturers would incorporate this capability at the lower end of their product lines.)
The D-510's optical viewfinder is a little tight, showing approximately 90 percent frame accuracy at wide angle, and about 88 percent at telephoto. Images framed with the optical viewfinder are slanted a little toward the lower left corner, and shifted toward the upper left corner in position. Still, the D-510's optical viewfinder is more accurate than many we've seen in the past. The LCD monitor fares a bit better, showing approximately 95 percent of the image area at wide angle setting, and approximately 96 percent at telephoto. Since we generally like to see LCD monitors as close to 100 percent accuracy as possible, the D-510 performs fairly well in this respect. Flash distribution is fairly even at the center of the target in wide angle, with some falloff at the corners of the frame. At the telephoto setting, flash distribution is more even, with a tiny reflection in the center of the target.
Optical distortion on the D-510 is fairly high at the wide angle end, where we measured an approximate 1.0 percent barrel distortion. The telephoto end fared much better, as we measured a .25 percent pincushion distortion. Chromatic aberration varies from low in the upper left-hand corner to moderate in the lower right. (This distortion is visible as a very slight colored fringe around the objects at the edges of the field of view on the resolution target.) We'd like to see less geometric distortion in the lens, but it turns in a good performance otherwise.
Overall, the D-510Zoom offers good value in the "easy to use but full-featured" 2 megapixel camera category, with good image quality and a useful range of exposure options at an affordable price.
Conclusion
Overall, we found the D-510 Zoom an excellent camera for consumers accustomed to the point-and-shoot style. There are some manual controls available, but the majority of the exposure settings are automatically selected. The straightforward user interface and the uncomplicated LCD menu system mean you won't spend too much time flipping through the manual. We still find the need to pause as you shut the camera down annoying, but the resulting smooth, pocket-friendly contours make up for it. Compact and very portable, the D-510 Zoom's low price, nice assortment of features, and good image quality make it a great solution for those who want a good digicam that'll go just about anywhere.
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