Olympus E-520 Specs, Sensor Size & Crop Factor

Q: What is the crop factor of the Olympus E-520?

The Olympus E-520 has a crop factor of 1.92× relative to 35 mm full frame (diagonal 22.5 mm vs 43.3 mm).

1.92×

Crop factor

18.0×13.5 mm

Sensor size

243 mm²

Area · 28% of full frame

10 MP

Resolution

4.93 µm

Pixel pitch

f/7.4

Diffraction-limited aperture

2008

Release year

Specifications#

Brand: Olympus
Model: E-520
Camera type: DSLR
Released: 2008-01-01
Lens mount: Four Thirds
Sensor size: 18.0 × 13.5 mm (1.5" sensor)
Crop factor: 1.92×
Resolution: 10 MP (3,648 × 2,736 px)
Continuous shooting: 3.5 fps
Weight: 475 g (16.8 oz)
Sensor: 18.00 x 13.50 mm Live MOS
Storage: CompactFlash (CF) (Type I or Type II) + xD Picture Card
Viewfinder: Optical TTL
AF points / area: 3-point TTL Phase Diff
Exposure modes: ESP multi-pattern, Center-Weighted, Spot, Highlight based spot, Shadow based spot
Battery: BLM-1 Lithium-Ion rechargeable
Lens: Interchangeable Four Thirds System
Drive: 3.5 frame/s

Specifications merged from Wikipedia, Wikidata, Lensfun and openMVG. Spot an error? Tell us.

Sensor size compared#

The Olympus E-520 sensor (highlighted) drawn to scale against common formats. Its area is 28% of a full-frame sensor, which collects about 1.8 stops less total light at the same exposure.

Focal length equivalents & field of view#

Multiply any focal length by 1.92 to get the full-frame field of view. Angles are for a rectilinear lens focused at infinity.

Lens on this camera	Full-frame equivalent	Horizontal	Vertical	Diagonal
8 mm	15 mm	96.7°	80.3°	109.2°
10 mm	19 mm	84.0°	68.0°	96.7°
12 mm	23 mm	73.7°	58.7°	86.3°
14 mm	27 mm	65.5°	51.5°	77.6°
16 mm	31 mm	58.7°	45.7°	70.2°
18 mm	35 mm	53.1°	41.1°	64.0°
20 mm	38 mm	48.5°	37.3°	58.7°
24 mm	46 mm	41.1°	31.4°	50.2°
28 mm	54 mm	35.6°	27.1°	43.8°
35 mm	67 mm	28.8°	21.8°	35.6°
40 mm	77 mm	25.4°	19.2°	31.4°
50 mm	96 mm	20.4°	15.4°	25.4°
56 mm	108 mm	18.3°	13.7°	22.7°
70 mm	135 mm	14.7°	11.0°	18.3°
85 mm	163 mm	12.1°	9.1°	15.1°
100 mm	192 mm	10.3°	7.7°	12.8°
135 mm	260 mm	7.6°	5.7°	9.5°
200 mm	385 mm	5.2°	3.9°	6.4°
300 mm	577 mm	3.4°	2.6°	4.3°
400 mm	769 mm	2.6°	1.9°	3.2°
600 mm	1154 mm	1.7°	1.3°	2.1°

Depth of field table#

Total depth of field at each subject distance, using a circle of confusion of 15.6 µm (the 0.030 mm full-frame standard scaled by the crop factor). Detailed tables: 24 mm f/1.8, 24 mm f/2.8, 35 mm f/1.8, 35 mm f/2.8, 50 mm f/1.8, 50 mm f/2.8.

Focal	Aperture	50.0 cm	1.00 m	2.00 m	3.00 m	5.00 m	10.0 m	Hyperfocal
11 mm	f/1.8	11.5 cm	48.5 cm	2.35 m	8.02 m	∞	∞	4.32 m
11 mm	f/2.8	18.2 cm	81.8 cm	5.93 m	∞	∞	∞	2.78 m
11 mm	f/4	26.9 cm	1.38 m	∞	∞	∞	∞	1.95 m
11 mm	f/8	67.6 cm	∞	∞	∞	∞	∞	98.0 cm
22 mm	f/1.8	2.8 cm	11.4 cm	46.5 cm	1.07 m	3.15 m	17.4 m	17.3 m
22 mm	f/2.8	4.3 cm	17.8 cm	73.8 cm	1.74 m	5.63 m	95.3 m	11.1 m
22 mm	f/4	6.2 cm	25.6 cm	1.09 m	2.70 m	10.9 m	∞	7.78 m
22 mm	f/8	12.5 cm	53.9 cm	2.76 m	11.2 m	∞	∞	3.90 m
37 mm	f/1.8	0.9 cm	4.0 cm	16.1 cm	36.6 cm	1.03 m	4.27 m	48.8 m
37 mm	f/2.8	1.5 cm	6.2 cm	25.2 cm	57.2 cm	1.62 m	7.07 m	31.4 m
37 mm	f/4	2.1 cm	8.8 cm	36.1 cm	82.5 cm	2.38 m	11.4 m	22.0 m
37 mm	f/8	4.2 cm	17.7 cm	74.0 cm	1.75 m	5.69 m	104 m	11.0 m
62 mm	f/1.8	0.3 cm	1.4 cm	5.7 cm	12.9 cm	36.1 cm	1.46 m	137 m
62 mm	f/2.8	0.5 cm	2.1 cm	8.8 cm	20.1 cm	56.3 cm	2.29 m	88.1 m
62 mm	f/4	0.7 cm	3.0 cm	12.6 cm	28.7 cm	80.7 cm	3.31 m	61.7 m
62 mm	f/8	1.4 cm	6.1 cm	25.3 cm	57.8 cm	1.65 m	7.20 m	30.9 m

Equivalent aperture#

Exposure is identical at the same f-number on any format; equivalence only describes depth of field and total light.

Aperture on this camera	Full-frame equivalent (depth of field)	Hyperfocal at 22 mm
f/1.2	f/2.3	25.9 m
f/1.4	f/2.7	22.2 m
f/1.8	f/3.5	17.3 m
f/2	f/3.8	15.5 m
f/2.8	f/5.4	11.1 m
f/4	f/7.7	7.78 m
f/5.6	f/10.8	5.56 m
f/8	f/15.4	3.90 m

Diffraction & pixel pitch#

With 4.93 µm pixels, diffraction starts to soften pixel-level detail around f/7.4. For maximum sharpness keep landscapes between f/4.0 and f/7; stopping down further trades detail for depth of field.

Aperture	Airy disk diameter	Spread over	At 100% view
f/2.8	3.8 µm	0.8 px	sharp
f/4	5.4 µm	1.1 px	sharp
f/5.6	7.5 µm	1.5 px	sharp
f/8	10.7 µm	2.2 px	slight softening
f/11	14.8 µm	3.0 px	slight softening
f/16	21.5 µm	4.4 px	visibly soft
f/22	29.5 µm	6.0 px	visibly soft

Maximum print sizes#

At 10 MP the Olympus E-520 produces 3,648 × 2,736 pixel images. See the 10 megapixel guide or the print size calculator.

Resolution	Typical use	Inches	Centimetres
300 DPI	Photo-lab quality	12.2 × 9.1 in	31 × 23 cm
240 DPI	Fine-art inkjet	15.2 × 11.4 in	39 × 29 cm
200 DPI	Wall print	18.2 × 13.7 in	46 × 35 cm
150 DPI	Poster, viewed from 1 m+	24.3 × 18.2 in	62 × 46 cm

Night-sky exposure limits#

Longest exposure before stars trail. The NPF rule accounts for pixel pitch and is stricter than the classic 500 rule — use it for pin-sharp stars on high-resolution sensors.

Focal length	500 rule	NPF f/1.8	NPF f/2.8	NPF f/4
7 mm (13 mm eq.)	37.1 s	30.1 s	35.1 s	41.1 s
10 mm (19 mm eq.)	26.0 s	21.1 s	24.6 s	28.8 s
12 mm (23 mm eq.)	21.7 s	17.6 s	20.5 s	24.0 s
18 mm (35 mm eq.)	14.4 s	11.7 s	13.7 s	16.0 s
26 mm (50 mm eq.)	10.0 s	8.1 s	9.5 s	11.1 s

Open the NPF / 500 rule calculator →

Handheld shutter speed guide#

The reciprocal rule uses the equivalent focal length. High-resolution sensors may need one stop faster than this for pixel-sharp results.

Focal length	No stabilisation (1/equiv. focal)	With 3-stop IS	With 5-stop IBIS
12 mm	1/25 s	0.3 s	1.3 s
26 mm	1/50 s	1/6 s	0.6 s
52 mm	1/100 s	1/13 s	0.3 s
104 mm	1/200 s	1/25 s	1/6 s

Lenses for the Olympus E-520#

Native Four Thirds lenses in our database (33 total). Also adaptable: T-mount (T2), M39 / LTM (Leica thread), M42 screw mount, Deckel (DKL).

Samyang 8mm f/3.5 Fish-Eye CS 8 mm
Samyang 14mm f/2.8 AE ED AS IF UMC 14 mm
Samyang 85mm f/1.4 IF UMC Aspherical 85 mm
Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 7-14mm f/4.0 7–14 mm
Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 9-18mm f/4.0-5.6 9–18 mm
Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC 10–20 mm
Olympus Zuiko Digital 11-22mm f/2.8-3.5 11–22 mm
Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 SWD 12–60 mm
Olympus Zuiko Digital 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6 14–45 mm
Olympus Zuiko Digital 14-54mm f/2.8-3.5 14–54 mm
Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 14-35mm F2.0 SWD 14–35 mm
Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 14–42 mm
Panasonic Leica D Vario-Elmar 14-150mm f/3.5-5.6 Asph. OIS 14–150 mm
Sigma 18-125mm f/3.5-5.6 DC 18–125 mm
Sigma 18-50mm f/3.5-5.6 DC 18–50 mm
Olympus Zuiko Digital 25mm f/2.8 25 mm
Tokina RMC Tokina 28mm f/2.8 28 mm
Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM 30 mm
Olympus Zuiko Digital 35mm f/3.5 Macro 35 mm
Olympus Zuiko Digital Pro ED 35-100mm F2.0 35–100 mm
Olympus Zuiko Digital 40-150mm f/3.5-4.5 40–150 mm
Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 40-150mm f/4.0-5.6 40–150 mm
Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5 50–200 mm
Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5 SWD 50–200 mm
Olympus Zuiko Digital ED 50mm f/2.0 Macro 50 mm
Sigma 50-500mm f/4-6.3 EX DG HSM 50–500 mm
Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM 50 mm
Sigma 55-200mm f/4-5.6 DC 55–200 mm
Olympus Zuiko Digital 70-300mm F4.0-5.6 70–300 mm
Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro HSM II 70–200 mm
Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM 70–200 mm
Tokina TELE-AUTO 135mm f/2.8 135 mm
Sigma 150mm f/2.8 EX DG APO HSM Macro 150 mm

Similar cameras#

Other 1.5" cameras from around the same time.

Frequently asked questions#

What is the crop factor of the Olympus E-520?

The Olympus E-520 has a crop factor of 1.92× relative to 35 mm full frame (diagonal 22.5 mm vs 43.3 mm).

What size is the Olympus E-520 sensor?

18.0 × 13.5 mm (1.5"), an area of 243 mm² — 28% of full frame.

Is the Olympus E-520 full frame?

No — its sensor is 1.5", which is 3.6× smaller in area than full frame.

How many megapixels does the Olympus E-520 have?

10 megapixels (3,648 × 2,736 pixels), enough for a 12 × 9 inch print at 300 DPI.

What lens mount does the Olympus E-520 use?

The Olympus E-520 uses the Four Thirds (flange distance 38.67 mm).

How long can I expose the night sky with the Olympus E-520?

With a 10 mm lens (19 mm equivalent) the 500 rule gives 26 s and the stricter NPF rule at f/2.8 gives 25 s.

Sources & licences#

Last updated October 03, 2026 · How we calculate · Sources