Olympus E-420: World's Smallest Digital SLR
by Wesley Fink on March 5, 2008 6:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Digital Camera
E-420 Lenses
A new tiny 25mm f2.8 pancake lens will also launch with the E-420. The lens is very reminiscent of the pioneering Pentax 40mm f2.8. It is offered as a kit option for the E-420. The focal length of 25mm is the 35mm equivalent of 50mm on the 4/3 sensor since the lens factor is 2X, instead of the 1.6X/1.5X common with competing APS-C sensors.
As you can see from this top view, the E-420 with the 25mm lens is truly small enough to fit in a small purse or a large pocket. The E-420 is also available with the 14-42mm (28-84mm equivalent, left below) zoom lens, which is the smallest and lightest kit zoom you can buy at 65.5mm diameter by 61mm length and a weight of 190g.
For the past 6 months two of the great kit values on the market have been the two-lens E-410 or E-510 kits. Both included the 14-42mm (left) and 40-150mm (center) lenses which have shown excellent quality in performance testing. Olympus has not announced a similar two-lens kit version of the E-420, but the 40-150mm (80-300mm equivalent) telephoto zoom is available separately.
Like the diminutive 14-42mm, the 40-150mm is the smallest and lightest lens in its class at 220g with a diameter of 65.5mm and a length of 72mm. Another Olympus record holder for smallest lens is the 35mm (70mm equivalent, right) f3.5 macro lens with a street price of $199. This tiny macro lens goes to true 1:1 macro without any extension tubes or special lenses (2X life-size 35mm equivalent) but weighs just 165g and is only 53mm long.
The new E-420 will mount any Olympus Digital lens or any 4/3 lens from Leica, Panasonic or Sigma. Some Leica zooms lenses also include Optical Image Stabilization which should work fine on the new E-420. It should be clear, however, that Olympus has both the camera body and lens options to allow those interested in a truly compact Digital SLR system to put together an amazingly small but complete DSLR system.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
16 Comments
View All Comments
punchkin - Sunday, March 9, 2008 - link
I like the small size, but a 50mm f/5.6 equivalent lens is only really suitable for outdoor work IMO. I'd still take this over a DP-1 any day.Wesley Fink - Monday, March 10, 2008 - link
Where do you get 50mm f5.6? It's a 25mm f2.8 and the speed does not change just because it is equivalent to a 50mm lens. This is not like teleconverters. The pancake is a 25mm F2.8 and the camera can also mount any lens designed for 4/3 including the Leica 25mm F1.4 (equivalent 50mm f1.4). The Leica 25mm, however, is very large and heavy compared to the small pancake lens.punchkin - Tuesday, March 11, 2008 - link
Because on a 2X crop camera, the lens/camera system is slower. So you have an f/2.8 lens with the DOF of f/5.6 on full frame, an equivalent angle of view, and equivalent performance. TANSTAAFL. Nice camera-- with stabilization to help compensate for the slowness it'd be better.v1001 - Sunday, March 9, 2008 - link
Yeah this is exactly something I'd like too. A lot of people would love it. Most people don't like lugging around a big ugly camera. Thats why I got rid of 35 mm SLR a long time ago. Took great pictures but it was to big and in the end I ended up missing a lot of shots because I hated carrying it and packing it everywhere. I passed on the DSLR for the same reason and went straight to a compact digital. I carry it everywhere in my back pocket and whip it out all the time. Got many many shots I'd never have. And done right I get many shots that I'd put against these guys with $1000 DSLR's. But I'd still like a little more and to have a better camera. This small one is getting in the perfect compromise.By the way Dailytech when you post anything that is promoting size you need to have it next to something to compare. We have NO sense of scale from these pictures when it's just by itself. Looks like any other full sized DSLR.
gipper51 - Thursday, March 6, 2008 - link
I think this little camera would appeal to alot of people, myself included. I currently have quite a bit wrapped up in a Minolta/Sony DSLR system, but I really like what Oly is doing lately. I'd love to own an E-3 with 12-60mm/50-200mm combo. I'm considering picking up an E410 with a 2 lens kit because they are going for so little. It's a great travel camera with the basic kit.haplo602 - Thursday, March 6, 2008 - link
I realy wonder who is the target audience for this kind of SLR.let's sum up:
1. small, light (but this is offset by the lenses)
2. mostly live view scene composition as it has poor AF otherwise (3 points are inadequate for anything bu static pistures)
3. no image stabilisation to speak about
it looks like a gadget for the posh folks to brag "look I have a SLR and how small it is"
it has a hybrid AF system that favors live view. it has no image stabilisation. it is an olympus 4/3.
I mean the nikon D40 has the same (ok it's larger and no live view) yet it at least has the complete nikon system available.
the only nice thing is the new pancake 25mm lens. it seems it is the old tessar design (judging by the 2.8 aperture).
Johnmcl7 - Thursday, March 6, 2008 - link
Disagree on most of your points - this camera gives you the flexibility to go very compact with the 25mm compact lens, reasonably compact with the 14-42mm and 40-150mm lenses or high pro performance if you need the 35-100mm F2 or similar.It is not 'mostly liveview composition', I've never had trouble with the three point Olympus AF system with high motion subjects. I prefer this because you know what you're getting, on my current camera I have an 11 point AF system but only have the centre AF point enabled because I want to choose what to focus on, not the camera.
As for your comparisons to a point and shoot, you completely forgot about the sensor size - most point and shoot (the S100FS looks to be about the only exception right now) use small, pixel stuffed noisy sensor where the main focus on the camera is markettable features rather than actual image performance. I have tried taking point and shoot cameras on social nights out to take advantage of their more discrete form but always find myself frustrated by their poor low light performance. Not only does the larger sensor give far better high ISO performance, you also get more depth of field options.
The lack of IS is more the killer for me at the moment, that and I'd prefer a 28mm equivalent pancake lens as 50mm is not wide enough.
John
taleril - Thursday, March 6, 2008 - link
This might not be the best place to ask this, but do you think this would be a decent first DSLR for someone? I'm thinking about this as a gift for my girlfriend.It seems like the smaller form factor would be nice. She's never had an SLR or DSLR.
Hope this isn't too far off topic.
Wesley Fink - Thursday, March 6, 2008 - link
The current E-510 is also quite small. It is the same basic camera with a larger grip and image stabilization built into the body. It does have Live View but the Live View isn't as versatile as that on the E-420. If you can wait until May the E-420 might be a good choice. If you plan to get something before then the E-510 two lens kit with these same small lenses is a good value, small, and a very capable outfit.haplo602 - Thursday, March 6, 2008 - link
ah there is no edit function on this forum :-((I forgot to add: a p&s offers the same today with more versatility (zoom lens, IS, movie recording etc.) for less price, no dust worries (closed system).
I realy do not see any advantage about this SLR.