Olympus Evolt E-510

This is my first SLR and I am more than pleased with the quality of the photos. I took it out of the box, took a few minutes to sort of familiarize myself with the basic functions, then began taking some of the most gorgeous photos I've ever seen! After reading some of the rave reviews on the internet I was so confident in this camera I did a photo shoot at a wedding after only owning it for a few short hours. I was not disappointed! The color saturation is extremely nice and the contrast is great. I used the 'Normal' color setting which gave me vivid greens and reds, with all the other colors being just as wonderful. If you take photos of children this Olympus could not be beat for color. I haven't tried the Vivid so I can only imagine what the colors are with that setting. Nothing comes out overly sharp which is another plus for me. Skin tones were a little too warm for my taste, but beautiful none-the-less. (Maybe there is a way to change that in the settings, I haven't gotten that far yet.)
The 'Scene Mode Dial' takes you to 18 scenes which also include panorama and landscape portrait which is awesome for the color.
Can use it in manual or auto mode so don't be afraid to shoot in auto mode, or use the scene modes, until you learn how to use the other settings. I could see right off the bat this is a camera I can grow with and I don't have to worry about purchasing another DSLR for awhile now since it's pretty well loaded. Especially considering you get a lot of camera for a low price.

I saw very little 'purple fringing' and no vignetting.

The E-510 does a nice job of focusing in low light without a lot of noise. When using ISO 1600 I could detect very little noise. I'm still trying to pick out the photos I shot at 1600. To the naked eye the photos all look the same to me whether I used ISO 100 or ISO 1600. Loving it!

One thing I almost forgot to mention is that it's smaller and lighter than the Canon EOS 30D, which was a plus for me since I have problems with my back and muscles in general. I had the Canon and returned it and guess what? I'm not regretting it for one moment. This Olympus is fast becoming my "Little Jewel" and I can't wait to get to know it better.
In my opinion, the photos are much nicer overall than what the EOS 30D produces. Plus the Canon functions poorly in low lighting which is not a good thing if you take a lot of pictures in churches, or indoors in general.

Ahhh, so many features, so little time to explain. :-)
Actually I have a lot to learn about this camera but I will thoroughly enjoy every minute learning about the wonderful ways to use it!

Pros:
First "live view" LCD made for an SLR camera. LCD screen is 2 1/2".
10MP means you can print very large photos without losing quality. Supersonic wave sensor cleaner which shakes off the dust. Image stabilizer built right into the camera so there is no need for special lenses which can be expensive. The kit comes with two Zuiko lenses; 14-42 mm & 40-150 mm. Control panel on the LCD allows you to quickly change the ISO, WB, flash, etc. without pulling up the menu. Nice price, at under $1,000 especially considering you get not one, but two lenses.

Cons:
Viewfinder could be a little larger. The "pinch type" lens cover is a little annoying to take off and put on. No movie mode.