By Leonard Goh
14/07/2008
URL: http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/digitalcameras/0,39005881,42835953p,00.htm

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.

Features

Although the E-420 is an entry-level unit, it still has a host of features that distinguish it from the rest of the pack. First-time dSLR users will find some functions handy in helping them operate a dSLR.

A trend for recent dSLRs is Live View, which allows you to view the scene on the LCD like a point-and-shoot camera. While some people may find it amateurish or unprofessional, we think this is a nice implementation and a good tool for beginners to start getting some great shots. The Live View feature in the E-420 is coupled with autofocus so you can make adjustments in real time. Another advantage we discovered using Live View is that you won't have to plaster your nose against the LCD and leave unsightly stains on it.

Like most compact cameras, this shooter also has face detection which kicks in when you switch to Live View mode. Olympus states that it can detect up to eight faces. But in our tests, the E-420 had some difficulty recognizing beyond four faces. However, we think the lighting situation has an effect on this as well.

Spotted on the mode dial is a Scene mode function, which is what you'll find on most compact shooters. There are the usual Portrait, Landscape, Low-light and Fireworks mode, among others. Although it does lend a hand in helping beginners to snap, we think that overrelying on this feature may defeat the purpose of using a dSLR, which is about being creative with the manual controls.

The three autofocus points may seem a tad stingy, but we think it should be able to handle most holiday snaps or portraits with ease. But if you are considering using the E-420 for action shots, you might find the lack of autofocus points limiting your creativity.

The 2.7-inch LCD is clear and easy to view even under direct sunlight. Although the trend is moving toward larger displays, we think the screen's size is just right for the shooter's petite size. The scene through the viewfinder is bright and we found it easy to frame the shots.

What is lacking on the E-420 is an image stabilization (IS) system. While most of its siblings are coupled with sensor-shift IS, this model doesn't sport any. It doesn't help that Olympus doesn't manufacture any lenses that are equipped with optical IS, so this means the E-420 will not be really suitable for handheld shooting at slow shutter speeds (unless you have really steady hands). Our advice? Use a flash or tripod. But if you think an image stabilizer is important, its brother, the E-520, comes with sensor-shift IS.

Olympus pioneered the Super Sonic Wave Filter (SSWF) which shakes dusts off the sensor with high frequency vibrations. We are glad this feature is present in the E-420. Everytime you power up the camera, a blue light near the shutter will flicker to indicate that sensor cleaning is in progress. It takes less than 1 second for it to complete the operation.

The 25mm F2.8 lens has five glass elements set in four groups, and the minimum focusing distance is 20cm. Like any typical 50mm prime lens, it makes use of seven aperture blades which ensure a relatively nice "bokeh" effect in the background. The E-420 is powered by a Lithium-ion battery and it accepts both CompactFlash and xD-Picture Card. We think this dual-expansion slot is a nice touch, but unlike some high-end systems that allow you to shoot to two cards at once, this Olympus is capable of recording on only one media at a time.

Performance

The E-420 was zippy in powering up, which included the time for the SSWF to kick in. Shutter lag measured slightly less than 0.5 second, and if we included the time the shooter needed to boot up, the first shot was captured a mere 0.8 second after flipping the switch to On.

The Olympus is capable of shooting at 3.5 frames per second (fps) in burst mode, but this is restricted only to JPEG capture. If you are shooting RAW, the shooter chugs along at about 3fps.

Autofocus with the 25mm F2.8 lens can be frustrating for low-light photography because it took a while for it to hunt down something to lock the focus on. However, with ample lighting, the autofocus was responsive and accurate most of the time.

The Lithium-ion battery is rated at approximately 500 shots. We gave the juice pack a full charge, and after 300 shots, the battery gauge indicated that the remaining power was at about half. This was quite impressive and we think the figure could be better if we reduced the times we used Live View.

Image Quality

We shot with the 25mm F2.8 lens, but the image quality in terms of color and distortion may vary with different lens. As such, we will look more in-depth at the noise level for the camera body and detail rendition for the lens.

At ISO 100, the image is clean from digital artefacts. The lens did a good job in capturing details and fine lines were distinct without any signs of smudging. However, the image quality started to dip as we increased the ISO sensitivity. At ISO 200 and 400, the noise level was acceptable but we noticed that details were starting to get blurred. When we hit ISO 800, the pictures were smudged when the noise suppression kicked in. We'd advise against using ISO 1,600 because it would leave you with pictures that may be good only for prints smaller than 8R. Although the lens was capable of delivering a good amount of details, the noise suppression algorithms didn’t do justice to it.

White balance was accurate and consistent throughout our tests. We snapped some shots outdoors, under fluorescent lighting as well as tungsten. The skin tone was accurate even when we used the built-in flash.

Conclusion

The E-420 is a no frills dSLR that we think will go well with people who are looking to advance in photography but don't wish to bust a hole in their pockets. At S$999 with the 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 lens or S$1,199 with the 25mm F2.8 lens, we think it is a steal. While there aren't many budget dSLRs on the market today, we think the competition will heat up when Canon launches the EOS 1000D. There are slightly older models like Nikon D40 which is going for about the same price, but you won't get the same form factor. Much as we like the size of the E-420, the lack of image stabilization didn't go quite well with us. Hopefully, the next generation of this shooter will come more features.