Monday September 1, 2008
Little DSLR that could
The Olympus E-420 is one of the smallest DSLR cameras in the market but it’s pretty big on features.
By CHONG JINN XIUNG
EVEN though DSLR cameras take better quality photos, some semi-pro photographers still shy away from getting one because they are usually big and heavy to carry around.
Fortunately, that’s not the case with the Olympus E-420, a compact and lightweight entry-level camera that is smaller than most DSLRs but still retains many qualities of bigger DSLRs such as faster focusing speeds, clearer pictures and the ability to switch lenses.
Design
One of the defining features of the E-420 is its ultracompact and lightweight design that makes it ideal for overseas trips or for taking photos around your neighbourhood.
Weighing no more than 445g with the battery, the camera body is really light and easy to carry around. Even with the camera’s 14mm-42mm kit lens attached to it, the E-420 is still light enough to be carried around.
On the outside, the E-420 is a very simple-looking camera that looks very much like an old film camera except it comes with a couple of modern features such as a Live View mode and sensor cleaning.
The E-420 has slightly improved ergonomics with the inclusion of a handgrip located directly below the shutter button. However the handgrip is a tad small and people with bigger hands might find it uncomfortable to hold.
On the back of the camera, you’ve got a large 2.7in LCD display with a resolution of 230,000 pixels that’s great for reviewing pictures and serves as the camera’s viewfinder in Live View mode.
The buttons and controls are fairly easy to understand and get used to. There’s a directional pad for navigating through the menus and a playback and delete button on the side.
On the top, there’s the familiar dial with all the various shooting modes available, a release button for the pop-up flash and also a separate dial for adjusting camera settings as well as zooming into pictures in playback mode.
Camera performance
Looking back at the camera’s onboard features, I found the E-420’s user interface and button layout fairly easy to use.
Starting up the camera for the first time, the E-420 took approximately one second to start up as it performs its dust reduction “shake off.”
Annoyingly, there is no option to turn the Supersonic Wave Filter (SSWF) option off thus you will be stuck with this otherwise minor delay.
Relying mostly on its LCD display to give you an overview of the various camera settings, the interface is laden with shortcuts to essential shooting settings, such as white balance, ISO, auto focus mode and metering mode, that you can change by simply selecting the setting and twisting the dial on top.
The E-420’s viewfinder view lacks any sort of magnification thus making images to appear really small with a lot of black space around the focusing screen.
As a result, framing shots via the E-420’s viewfinder proved to be a challenge as objects appeared small. This also makes it near impossible to manually focus the camera using the viewfinder.
Alternatively, if you are used to shooting using using an LCD screen, there’s the Live View mode which gives you a better view of the action. Using the camera’s Live View mode also opens up the camera’s face detection option which basically gives you better focus and exposure of a subject’s face.
Another benefit of using Live View is you get to preview the effects of different exposure compensation or white balance settings of your picture before taking it.
This feature will definitely come in handy if you aren’t sure of the right settings to use.
However, the problem with Live View is that it takes a longer time to capture a picture, no thanks to its slower autofocus speed that takes almost three seconds to snap a picture.
Needless to say, taking pictures of fast moving subjects is really difficult using Live View.
On the flip side, using the autofocus on the viewfinder was quick and snappy — it takes just a fraction of a second to focus on a subject in a bright environment. Shots in low-light conditions generally takes around one second before achieving lock-on.
The camera was good at capturing fast moving subjects, boasting a faster continuous shooting speed of 3.5fps (frames per second) as compared to 3fps on the E-410.
Surprisingly, the E-420 has a rather long-lasting battery. We managed to get roughly 300 shots with the camera on a single charge.
Picture quality
The E-420 produced some of the pretty nice-looking pictures with punchy contrasting colours and lots of detail.
Dynamic range on the E-420 was exceptionally good. Even under direct sunlight or with subjects standing in the shade on a bright sunny day, pictures turned up nicely exposed without too many burned-out highlights.
The only problem I had with the overall photo quality is that the E-420 often underexposes photos by default even with the exposure compensation set to 0.
A quick adjustment to the exposure compensation settings should result in better exposed pictures. Like any standard DSLR camera, the E-420 can capture images in either JPEG or RAW formats.
Disappointingly, the E-420 suffered from poor ISO performance. Noise is barely noticeable at ISO 100 but pictures showed some significant amount of noise at ISO 400. Needless to say, pictures were quite noisy at ISO 800 and above.
Conclusion
All in all, the main advantage the E-420 over other entry-level DSLR is its size and weight.
It is compact and light enough to be carried around for every day use, making it ideal for amateur photographers looking to practise their skills.
The Live View mode comes in handy for those transitioning from a compact camera to a DSLR, and is great for capturing pictures at odd angles.
On top of that, the E-420 produces decent pictures and has great dynamic range for shots in difficult lighting situations.
However, the camera suffers from poor ISO performance with noise creeping up at ISO 400. Also, the camera’s slow autofocus in Live View mode makes it impractical for shooting moving subjects.
The viewfinder view also lacks any magnification, making it difficult to gauge if the image is in focus.
While the E-420 has its strengths and weaknesses, the fact that the camera is one of the cheapest, smallest and lightest entry-level DSLR makes the E-420 a great option for photographers looking to purchase their first DSLR.
Pros: Compact and lightweight design; Live View is great for taking shots at difficult angles; good dynamic range; dust reduction system.
Cons: Poor ISO performance; slow focusing in Live View mode.
E-420
(Olympus)
DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) camera
Sensor: 10-megapixels LiveMOS
Lens: Interchangeable Olympus Zuiko Digital 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 ED
Shutter: 60 - 1/4,000 sec ISO range: 100 -1,600
Exposure modes: P, A, S, M, full auto, 18 scene modes
Viewfinder: Optical, 2.7in external LCD
Battery: Lithium-ion
Storage: xD and CF cards
Interface: USB 2.0, Video-out
Other features: Dust reduction system, Live View mode
Dimensions (w x h x d):129.5mm x 91mm x 53mm
Weight: 380g (without battery)
Price: RM1,999 (with kit lens)
Review unit courtesy of Olympus (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, 03) 6203-3882
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