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By Leonard Goh
Jul 14, 2008

Although it didn't raise a ruckus when it was announced in April, the Olympus E-420 still caught our attention with its petite size. The company claims this dSLR is the smallest and lightest in its class. When we first unboxed the shooter, we thought it was a dummy set--the size and weight were just not what we expected in a dSLR. This camera succeeds the E-410 and carries with it the legacy of being extremely portable.

To complete the outfit, we got our mitts on the new 25mm F2.8 (50mm 35mm-equivalent) pancake lens, too. This is described as such because of the flat design that doesn't protrude out much from the camera body.

We put the body and lens together and brought them out for a spin over the weekend. Gotta say though, the camera and lens were so light we forgot they were in the bag at times.

Design

Unlike most dSLRs, the E-420 wasn't designed with a curvy grip or body. The boxy profile lends an impression of a point-and-shoot, with only the lens mount indicating its class.

There is hardly any handgrip to speak of and this can be a double-edged sword. While the absence of a proper grip slims down the dSLR, we had comments that it was difficult get a good hold on the body. There is the standard textured rubberized thumb and finger grip, but we still felt a little bit insecure when shooting with it.

The button layout is generally quite intuitive, so even first-time Olympus users should have little problems navigating the menus. You will find most of the important knobs and buttons on the right side for easy access while snapping. However, the mode dial on the top doesn't turn 360 degrees, which means that if you are in Scene mode and wish to revert to Manual, you have to go through all the other modes even though they are next to each other on the dial.

We rarely write about lenses, but the 25mm F2.8 lens is truly one-of-a-kind in modern optics design. Measuring a mere 23.5mm in thickness, it is easy to mistake the lens as an extension tube or a teleconverter. When mounted on the E-420, the entire system is only 76.5mm thick, making this easily one of the slimmest combinations we've come across.

There is no switch to change the focusing mode. If you want to go from auto to manual focus, you'll have to access the menu. We found that quite a hassle and would have preferred if there was a knob for this function instead.

We would have given this lens a higher rating if it came with the usual clip-on cover. But in place was a screw-on cap which was a hassle to remove. Also, the metal cover's size is very small, making it really easy to misplace.

Although this camera-lens combination isn't eye-catching, the form factor is something to shout about. The system barely tips the scales at about 500g with the battery and memory card. Most typical dSLRs in the market today weigh about 800g to 1kg.

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