Olympus E-620 – The Only New DSLR At PMA 2009

For the past 6 years or so, the annual PMA tradeshow has mostly been about digital SLRs. Every manufacturer had to have one or two new ones to show off at the show. This year was different. The bad economy is no news but it was still a surprise that there was only one new digital SLR at the show this year. I was expecting Canon or Nikon to pull something out of their sleeve at the show – at least an entry-level camera. But the only manufacturer to introduce a new digital SLR at PMA in 2009 was Olympus. No doubt, all the manufacturers are working on new digital SLRs, and they’ll likely all have video from here on out. But the 12-megapixel Olympus E-620 was the only new DSLR at this PMA show. Good job, Olympus!


I was lucky to get a pre-production E-620 from Olympus, before it was even announced. So it wasn’t new to me when I saw it at the show. However, Olympus always has a bunch of cool tech stuff to share at the show. This year was no different. The E-620 is currently the world’s smallest digital SLR with built-in image stabilization (sensor shift) and fully articulated tilt / swivel LCD display. So they have to be doing some tricky stuff inside the camera to keep it so small. Olympus product manager Sally Smith Clemens had a bunch of camera components to show us some of the things they’ve done to shrink and lighten the E-620. The sensor unit is smaller with a lot less metal and the processor / PC board is incredibly small. The E-620 is also the first digital SLR to have lighted buttons – sort of a no-brainer when you think about it. Many compact cameras have had them for a long time. But this is the first time they’ve been used on a DSLR. And after using the production camera for a week or so I can tell you, I don’t want to be without them now.

There’s a lot of skepticism about the smaller Four Thirds sensor that Olympus uses in their digital SLRs. I think I may be one of the few reviewers that really love the Olympus E-System. And I admit I have a bit of a niche interest. I love the Olympus digital SLRs because the smaller sensor means smaller camera bodies and lenses. Smaller is better for my backcountry photography where I have to carry everything on my back. The E-620 uses the same 12-megapixel sensor as the Olympus E-30 and Panasonic’s Lumix G1 Micro Four Thirds camera. I’ve been shooting ski photos and landscapes with the Olympus E-30 all winter and I’ve found the sensor delivers great image quality in all kinds of conditions. In fact, all of my PMA tradeshow photos were shot with the E-30 – handheld at ISO 800 – most without flash. So I have high hopes that the E-620 will be the best backcountry camera yet. Many photo industry journalists seem stuck on the image quality differences without admitting to or even noticing the real benefits of the compact bodies and lenses. But I’m telling you, if you want a small, high-quality camera kit, you can’t go wrong with Olympus – especially with the current image quality. Can other DSLRs give you better image quality? Yes. But that doesn’t make the Olympus bad. It’s just a different kind of compromise.

For more on the new Olympus E-620, read my Olympus E-620 First Impressions article. It compares the E-620 body to other digital SLRs and I just updated it with high-res studio sample photos taken with a production camera:

Olympus E-620 First Impressions >>

Olympus E-620 Related Content:
Olympus E-620 First Impressions
Olympus E-620 Video Introduction
2009 PMA Tradeshow Coverage
All Olympus Digital SLR Reviews
Olympus Cameras Forum
Digital SLRs Forum
Olympus Digital Cameras Web Site