Strengths: Fast and great auto focus.

Weaknesses: Viewfinder takes more time to manual focus, but Olympus is coming out with a new ME-1 eyecup to correct this issue.

Summary: This camera is a suprise for the money being asked. It's light weight with a good hand hold design. The start up time and speed in taking a picture is fast. I usually go with manual focus, but I have found the auto focus to be most accurate. The two lenses included with the kit is quality constructed for a lense. I very much like both lenses with this camera. For the price being asked, this is a good deal and I would buy it again. I've used the Olympus E-1 before buying this camera, so I would highly recommend buying this camera with two lenses.

Strengths: best kit lenses, solid construction, great value, an open four thirds standard

Weaknesses: poor high ISO performance, smallish viewfinder (soon to be corrected with the ME-1 eyecup)

Summary: In the market fot an entry level DSLR? Don't overlook this little gem from Olympus. The proof is in the pictures. Spend some time on www.pbase.com or www.myfourthirds.com and you'll easily see that the photos taken by people with varying expertise and experience with Olympus entry DSLRs (E-300, E-500) are far superior to their Canon, Nikon, Pentax and Konica-Minolta counterparts. There are a couple of good reasons why this is so... First, the 2 kit lenses are far superior to the usual coke bottle lenses that come with competitor entry level DSLRs (D50, 350D, 4D, istDS). One would literaly have to spend 2x the $$$ with these other brands to match this kit. For example, in order to equal the performance of the Oly 40-150 kit lens with the Canon Digital Rebel XT, one would need at least the 70-200/f4 L series glass ($600). Don't take my word for it... again take a look at pbase or myfourthirds. The 14-45mm is easily runs circles around the other kit lenses as well. Rhe 2 lens kit comes at a $$$ that is equivalent or a little more than others' single lens kit. How's that for value! Second, the E-500 produces images that are great straight from the camera. Many olympus DSLR owners shoot JPG over Raw simply because they find no need to Post Process the images to get good results. While the other DSLRs, given good glass and some effort can produce images close in quality to the Oly's, most folks just don't bother... again let the pictures speak here. The E-500 and the lenses are built very solid. Compare it to a 350d side by side and it's no contest. It also has the perfect balance between compactness and ease of handling. The camera just "feels right". I like the fact that the four thirds standard is an "open" one. Next year, Panasonic will introduce a body, perhaps Fujitsu, Sigma and Kodak as well. Bodies and lenses from ALL of these manufacturers will be interchangeable. There'll be real competition. Compare this to the Canon/Nikon system where they sucker you with an inexpensive body+lens kit and hit you with exorbitant $$$ for good glass once they have you locked in. OK... now for the not so good... The four thirds sensor is slightly smaller than the APS sensor used in all of these other entry DSLRs. As a consequence, the sensitivity is not as good so high ISO performance suffers. Up to ISO400 there is little difference amongst all of these DSLRs but there is notieable noise at ISO 800 and ISO 1600 for the Oly. This is not a problem for me since I rarely shoot above ISO200. Additionally, the Viewfinder is a bit small... but this is not a problem as Olympus has announced a magnifying eyecup (ME-1) for the E-500. Once again... in the end... let the pictures do the talking. www.pbase.com www.myfourthirds.com

Strengths: good ergonomics, fast memory card writing, both xD and Compact Flash slots, image quality excellent

Weaknesses: small viewfinder, no separate information LCD window,ISO only usable up to 800 with 1600 too soft

Summary: I bought this two lens kit and have been happy with it from day one. Compared to the main competition, the Canon Rebel XT, this camera is more ergonomic with a better size (not too small) and better hand grip. When you pick it up it feels like you are using a traditional 35 mm film camera, which is important to people changing over to digital for the first time from a film SLR. The pictures are excellent and can be viewed nicely through that big 2.5 inch LCD TFT screen even in fairly bright conditions. The writing to a fast Compact Flash card is really fast, so be sure to get a Fast one like the Lexar Pro wWA, etc. The xD card writing is much slower. Overall, for the price you can't get a better dSLR camera with the ergonomics, the features, and the two lenses in this kit!

Strengths: Fast camera, beautiful pictures, easy download.

Weaknesses: software could be better for a camera of this price.

Summary: My other camera seemed to always have red eye and had shutter lag. This camera takes beautiful detailed pictures that you can zoom way in. It was fast and easy to download pictures to my computer without a card reader.Just plug in the usb cable, turn the camera on and it shows up like another drive. I didn't know that you have to look through the eyepiece to take a photo as with all SLRs. I called tech support about this issue. I was not on hold for very long and understood the person I was talking to, a big plus. I like the idea of the dust reduction feature.The lcd is large and clear. This camera is packed with features! The camera came with a nice strap and two lenses for a better price than the competitors. It feels very professional. The only thing I need is a fast compact flash card and a nice bag.

Strengths: Lightweight, fast action, dead-on autofocus, and a good price on the 2-lens package.

Weaknesses: Getting used to a smart flash, which will light the nearest of two small items in macro leaving the back on dark. This is a "feature" not a fault.

Summary: I migrated from a very heavy, very expensive Leica 35mm system and was somewhat hesitant to gone the DSLR route, having had a few point-and-shoot digital cameras of the medium-priced variety. Those digital cameras suffered from a lag before snapping a picture. Fast action and quick moving subjects were lost. With this camera, you think you're using a high grade 35mm. It is a wonder. I recommend a fast CompactFlash memory card like the SanDisk Extreme III 1 gig for the best performance.

Strengths: Professional action shots right out of the box, fool proof metoring, strong battery

Weaknesses: Can't edit photos in the camera, i.e. resize, change exposure, also must purchase large memory card to get full advantage and the battery takes awhile to charge

Summary: I received this camera on Friday, bought a 2 GB memory card, and set the shutter at four exposure mode and off I went off to my daughter's soccer game he next morniing. 200 great action photos later I was a very happy consumer. The auto focus was fast, the shutter was right on, (no lag) and the exposure was awesome. I tried different modes, shutter priority, sports and even did "program" where you can adjust for shutter or aperture. The Evolt has met my expectations although I was surprised I could not resize and save images in the camera like can with my point and shoot Optio 550. I am glad this is not my first digital camera becasue the menu can be daunting if you are not familiar with the various options. Also, the manual could certainly use a few more references in the index so you can find the questions faster and easier. If you want to shoot like a pro at a very solid price you can't beat this camera