Olympus E-510 Flash

Coverage and Range
A fairly powerful flash, but insufficient for the wide angle lens setting. Our indoor shots required slightly more than average positive compensation in the normal flash mode.

Coverage. Flash coverage was quite uneven at wide angle, though results at telephoto were more uniform. In the Indoor test, the Olympus EVOLT E-510's flash underexposed our subject at its default setting, requiring a higher than average +1.3 EV positive exposure compensation boost. The camera's Slow-Sync flash mode resulted in a more even exposure and a brighter overall image, at +1.0 EV, though the longer shutter time resulted in an orange color cast.

ISO 100 Range. Flash power remains pretty strong to about 15 feet at wide angle, though coverage and power is actually less at the closer 6 and 7-foot distances. At telephoto, the flash is bright to about 10 feet, drops off gradually from there and is quite dim at the 16-foot point.

Manufacturer Specified Flash Range. The E-510's flash is rated with a GN of 12m at ISO 100. That works out to 11.2 feet at f/3.5, and 7 feet at f/5.6. In the wide angle shot above, the E-510 seems to perform every bit as well as Olympus says it will, producing good exposures at the rated distance with its ISO set to 100. At telephoto however, results were a bit dim.

Note: Our standard test method for flash range uses a fixed setting of ISO 100, to provide a fair basis of comparison between cameras. We've now also begun shooting two shots using the manufacturer-specified camera settings, at the range the company claims for the camera, to assess the validity of the specific claims.