Today is the day, I purchased my first DSLR camera. I had been looking into two cameras the Cannon Rebel xt and the Olympus E-volt 500. I went with the olympus as the rebel was a little too small in my hands and lacked some of the features that the olympus had. I purchased the 2 lens kit from CC for 699+tax great deal IMO. NOW waiting on this battery to charge is killing me, I cant wait to shoot some pictures with it. I will Do up a review in a week or so after I have had a chance to use it a bit.

Congratulations! It is an excellent camera (you know who has one too, huh). There are lots of automatic functions to choose from to keep you busy for some time; if you want to use the semi-automatic or manual functions, you may expect some learning curve. Here is a very good link about (using) the Olympus cameras and various accessories, or about customizing the camera's settings.., you'll find loads of useful information here: http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/oly-e/index.html And here's a dedicated link about the Olympus' Four Thirds system and the available lenses, among other interesting information: http://four-thirds.org/en/index.html I think you may want to bookmark them.. ;o)) Most of all..: Have fun with it..!!!

Attached Link: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v193/tobinse77/evolt.jpg

and I must say OMG I just took several quick shots and I am totaly amazed at pictures here is a shot of Mojo my pug from the Evolt 500 shot in TIFF format

Attached Link: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v193/tobinse77/fuji.jpg

Welcome to the Olympus "No Sensor Dust" club!  Ready to buy some nice Zuiko glass?  Let me help you spend your money...

ZD11-22 $627 (higly recommended)
http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=OM1122

ZD14-54 $399 (recommended)
http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=OM1454

ZD50-200 $789 (highly recommended)
http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=OM50200

ZD50 f/2 $399 (highly recommended)
http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=OM502

ZD90-250 f/2.8 $4,899 (goes without saying, just threw this in for shock value)
http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=OM90250

FL-36 $159 (if you can find the FL-50, it's a better flash)
http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=OMFL36

Don't forget your Lowepro bag, Bogen or Manfrotto tripod, monopod, heads, and quick release plates and a half-dozen 2-gig CF cards.

I highly recommend the 11-22, you can't go wrong, it's pin sharp.  It's my favorite walk-around lens with an E-1.  I also recommend the 14-54; I use that one on my E-500, it's sharp but not as sharp as the 11-22.  And I also highly recommend the 50-200.  I love that lens, it's sharp and light; I use it all the time.  Your kit lenses include a 40-150, which for kit lenses is a rather nice lens.  Dark, but nice.  Your other lens is a 14-45.  Some of these are reported as soft (mine is, I never use it) but some people have managed to get sharper ones, although I don't think you'll ever find a 14-45 that can be called sharp.  The FL-36 is a good value now, but the FL-50 is far better at recycle times.

You'll enjoy your E-500.  It's a very nice camera and you can carry your kit all day and not worry about a sore back.  Read the manual ten or twelve times to familiarize yourself with the camera.  Also, learn and understand White Balance.  While the E-500 has a fairly decent auto WB, you'll want to experiment with it in different lighting conditions.  Otherwise, get used to a lot of blue-ish tones...especially snow and water shots.  The only Oly dSLR that has dependable auto WB is the E-1, at least in my humble opinion, and even then, I usually manually adjust WB.  After you're comfortable with the camera in Program mode, start shooting in Aperture priority and then Shutter priority modes.  Then get brave and go full manual :)

The world needs no stinking scene modes! 

And I see you're already shooting RAW so I won't say anything about that, other than to say keep doing so, it's the American thing to do :)

You should also update the firmware on your camera and lenses.  This can be a nightmare.  If you struggle, go to the dpreview.com Oly SLR forum and ask for help.  Others there have already felt your upcoming pain.

And finally, before you buy anything else, buy this book...

http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Exposure-Photographs-Digital-Updated/dp/0817463003/sr=8-1/qid=1166245686/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-8734820-1432631?ie=UTF8&s=books

Everyone and his brother needs this book :)

See you in the gallery!  I like your work :)

@**TerraDreamer, 

**Thanks for all the information and sites to get some gear. Though right now I will have to shoot with the kit lens I plan on upgrading as money permits. I was happy to find a bonus in the box that I got a lens hood for each kit lens, that was 60 that doesnt need to get spent now. I cant wait to get out tomorrow and shot a few....err fill my 2gig card playing around with options and such.

:)

Trust me, I know how that goes...one toy at a time.  But unless you're looking for reach, I'd recommend you buy the 11-22 as your first upgrade whenever that may be.  It's a brilliant piece of engineering...

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/index.php?image_id=1340860&member

Again, I look forward to your posts!

Congrats on your new money pit! I can't wait to see how it does with some snake pictures.

May you use it in good health Remember, practice makes perfect. Take (& make) lots of photos and learn from them.

Welcome to the Oly club! From all I read, seen and played around with it a bit myself, it seems to be a great DSLR, especially for the price. Mojo makes a great first subject, hahaaha. Another Oly group to considering joining is MyOlympus.org...great bunch of Oly enthusiasts there. Also, Yahoo has a good group stemming from that site: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/MyOlympus/ As Fuzzy said, enjoy your new money pit! :)