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Olympus E-520 dSLR debuts

Cue "The Price is Right" music -- Olympus E-520 dSLR, come on down!In today's news, Olympus announced their E-520 this morning, the replacement for the E-510.
Written by Andrew Nusca, Contributor

Olympus E-520Cue "The Price is Right" music -- Olympus E-520 dSLR, come on down!

In today's news, Olympus announced their E-520 this morning, the replacement for the E-510.

Notable improvements in the new body include sensor-shift stabilization (including an updated system with a mode that accommodates panning while vertically oriented), a larger continuous-shooting buffer and a deeper grip.

Like the E-420, the E-520 incorporates the same sensor as in the higher-end E-3, and may use the same viewfinder and LCD as well. The new body includes support for face detection -- still a rarity -- wireless flash and tonal-range correcting Shadow Adjustment Technology.

For you comparison-minded consumers out there, a small breakdown from Crave. The comparison is for the body only, but the links send you to the more-popular kit:

  Olympus E-420 (body only) Olympus E-520 (body only) Pentax K200D (body only)
Sensor 10-megapixel Live MOS 17.3 x 13.0 mm 10-megapixel Live MOS 17.3 x 13.0 mm 10-megapixel CCD 23.5 x 15.7mm
Sensitivity range ISO 100 - ISO 1600 ISO 100 - ISO 1600 ISO 100 - ISO 1600
Focal-length multiplier 2.0x 2.0x 1.5x
Fastest continuous shooting 3.5fps 6 raw/JPEG unknown 3.5fps 8 raw/JPEG unknown 2.8fps 4 raw/4 JPEG
Mechanical image stabilization No Yes Yes
Viewfinder 95 percent coverage 0.92x magnification 14mm eye point 95 percent coverage 0.92x magnification 14mm eye point 96 percent coverage 0.85x magnification Eye point n/a
Autofocus 3 points 11 points contrast detection 3 points phase detection 11 points
Live View Yes Yes No
Wireless flash controller Yes Yes Yes
LCD size 2.7 inches 176-degree viewing angle 2.7 inches 176-degree viewing angle 2.7 inches 160-degree viewing angle
Price (body only) $449.99 $599.99 $699
If that's not enough, here are direct links to other competition:

Canon's Rebel XSi kit (review here, pricing here at about $900); Nikon's D40X kit (review here, pricing here at about $800); and Sony's Alpha dSLR-A200 kit (review here, pricing here at an average of $600).

...as well as colleague Janice Chen's own impressions at the Digital Cameras blog.

The new Olympus camera is set to ship in July. A body-only version of the E-520 will run you $600, and a kit with an ED 14-42mm f3.5/5.6 Zuiko Digital Zoom Lens (24-to-48mm equivalent) will cost about $700.

Oh, and one more thing: in addition to the new camera, Olympus also announced a new, "affordable" f4.0-5.6 9-to-18mm wide-angle lens (19-to-36mm equivalent) shipping this fall at $599.

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