e-420 first impressions...

[Raist3d]

So I decided to go ahead, get one. I started to get scared that they were going to be out of stock for an important event I need one for, as I see BHPhoto is not out of stock on them, though the body only and pancake kits are not around.

Anyone interested in a 14-42 e-410/420/510 kit lens? e-mail me, because I have two of those now.

Impressions:

• Olympus changed more than I expected in little details. For example, the LCD display now has not only brightness but color temperature. That was surprising.

• The LCD can be seen much better in daylight over the e-410's - big improvement here

• LCD can be seen better from different angles due to size

• Contrast/DR/color gamut of LCD is night and day different (in a good way) from e-410's

• Having the ability to set the drive mode button now as an ISO or metering button just makes the interface of the e-420 even more streamlined (pointed out before by mfbernstein)

• Lenses other than pancake, dual kit lens of the 410, can be used in hybrid live view autofocus. Basically contrast autofocus happens between 3 points and then when you fully press the shutter the camera quickly autofocuses again using the normal "DSLR" AF. For non moving subjects this speeds up the focusing when the time comes.. and at least you get AF in live view.. can help for manual focus as an assist - you can half press the shutter, let the lens AF and if you have the camera in one of the S-AF + M or C-AF + M then you can focus manually and then shoot- the camera won't refocus.

Interestingly enough this works even if you have the magnified live view to 7x to 10x- this is really nice indeed!

• Auto WB does seem improved

• Exposure is now more spot on when using automatic exposure over the e-410 in a notable way

• face detection is the "first version" of it- i..e people have to be facing the camera (Fuji has a version now that can track people from above or side ways). Not that I really care all that much.

• Color in jpegs is notably improved and noise a bit , over the e-410

• I was wrong about banding- I saw it, and when pushing an ISO 1600 photo in particular I saw it in an E-3esque way, but it still seemed to be a notch down (a tiny little notch down) from the E-3. Seems on average harder to find even if using SAT.

• Enabling sat in auto exposure modes, does not seem to change the exposure down (like the E-3) but I noticed highlights are still a bit more protected. Not sure if there's a special circuitry compensating for this at a very low level or is just a better use of the raw development.

• histogram/live view preview, etc works fantastically well

• When browsing over photos in thumbnails, the 'active photo' being seen sizes up a tiny bit to stand out, in an animated way (from small to a bit bigger, it animates). I found this slightly annoying as it slows down clicking around but somewhat usefull in seeing a bit better the photo you are potentially picking

• as said before, full E-3 remote flash control in full force, full feature set.

• The 4- thumbnail preview of white balance or exposure is more interesting than I thought, as those 4-small thumbnails are all in live view/realtime with what the camera is "seeing" and you can easily pick and choose a better white balance/exposure, etc.

• contrast autofocus speed becomes a bit faster with faster lenses. It does hunt noticeably with any of the lenses.

• another very nice tweak up- if you have anti-shock enabled, when you press on the super control panel on the drive mode icon, you get all the different options with and without autoshock enabled. This is great- no more digging to a menu to turn it on or off, and you can see from the super control panel if it's on or off. I don't believe the e-410 had either.

----------------- e-420 vs E-3 DR/etc.

I did some late night testing with my hallway, found my e-420 seems to run just a notch hotter than the E-3 - less than 1/3rd of a stop as trying to reduce the exposure by 1/3rd of a stop put it below the E-3 by that same notch.

Highlight recovery with Olympus studio 2, interpolating between those two exposures seemed right about the same. I did notice the e-420 seemed to have more shadow data than the E-3 giving that part of the histogram a bit more "taller" data. The e-3 seemed to have a bit more data from midrange to highlight before going up again on average. This makes for a very subtle difference.

Seems like the e-420 has been tweaked perhaps further to be able to produce a less constrasty image by default, while the E-3 probably gets a subtle notch up in the "3d" aspect of the image, thought the e-420 does seem to get that "3d look" over the e-410.

This was exposed to a tungsten light from the hallway, this is not full spectrum light, and I don't know if the E-3 or e-420 would do better than the other/etc. I still get the impression the E-3 has a "something" extra but the e-420 comes close.

I did some test shots (snaps all) in the afternoon, but it was with the kit lens. While the colors have improved a bit with it, I still notice this "muddying-browning" of the photo over the 14-54 or 12-60. I have noticed the e-410 jumps more to life with one of the high grade lenses and the E-3 great color deteriorates a notch with that kit lens. If one thing this kit lens is though, is sharp.

Ill try to post some shots when I can. I am again, soo busy... need sleep soon...

• Raist

--
Raist3d (Photog. Student & Tools/Systems/Gui Games Developer)
Andreas Feininger (1906-1999) 'Photographers — idiots, of which there are
so many — say, “Oh, if only I had a Nikon or a Leica, I could make great
photographs.” That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard in my life. It’s
nothing but a matter of seeing, and thinking, and interest. That’s what
makes a good photograph.'

 

[Danko]

Hi Raist,

First thanks for all your responses on my questions and for this nice review.

Could you be more detailed on 420 (compare to 410) in following areas:

- Auto WB, according to reviews and forums opinions 410 has quite good WB, especially when compare to competitors, where do you see improvement here?

- Exposure, is it much better than 410?, can it be adjusted on 410 to get the same results?

- Color reproduction, are there much differences between 420 and 410 compare kit lenses only? Where do you fill is improvement here?

Thanks in advance

--
Bohdan, CP 3100

 

[Shi Yali]

Thank you for these detailed observations. Very helpful. So, which liveview mode is the fastest and most "compact-like"? Is the LCD viewable for overhead shots?

--
http://www.sunshin.org

 

[Brian Mosley]

Great post, can you answer any of these questions for us?

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1022&message=27298062

Do you subscribe to Sean Reid's review site? he's just done an interesting review of the Y-strap - looks like an interesting way to carry your E-420 for street shooting?

http://figitalrevolution.com/y-strap/

I've just ordered mine.

Kind Regards

Brian
--



Coming soon, our March Safari Group Field Report from the National Parrot Sanctuary

Check out David Baron's Safari Group Field Report from Namibia :
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1022&message=27211847

 

[RoelHendrickx]

Roel

 

[JHaagsma]

thanks for sharing your impressions. How does the histogram of the E420 look in review mode? I always found it to be much too big with my E510. It obscures half the image, making it unusable as default review mode for me, and I hate to be cycling through all the review options all the time (I have now set blinking highlights as default, but this does not show you if some latitude exists in a shot to expose a bit more for the right).

 

[Raist3d]

Hi Raist,

First thanks for all your responses on my questions and for this nice
review.

Could you be more detailed on 420 (compare to 410) in following areas:

- Auto WB, according to reviews and forums opinions 410 has quite
good WB, especially when compare to competitors, where do you see
improvement here?

I see an improvement but have to do more testing. I would say in good daylight the e-420 seems to nail it down pretty good very well and in some lower mixed lighting too. But again, I need to do more testing.

- Exposure, is it much better than 410?, can it be adjusted on 410 to
get the same results?

Yes, I would say exposure is noticeably better. The e-410 I found that - it is my impression from my experience- if you use a 14-54 "high grade" or above seems like the exposure improves.. while the kit lens can go from ok to horrible if you zoom in at the end. The E-420 does handle this better.

- Color reproduction, are there much differences between 420 and 410
compare kit lenses only? Where do you fill is improvement here?

I think there are improvements even with the kit lens but not sure yet how big it is with the kit lens. It's tough to say... I got an e-410 shot from my F2 50mm that made the e-410 look close to the E-3 in a way.. but I would say the e-420 seems to nail down color better overall.

Thanks in advance

Sure, no prob.

I wouldn't say that if you are happy with your e-410 you should rush and buy the e-420. A better lens may be a better idea in a way. The reason I went for my e-420 is because I am selling my E-3.

--
Bohdan, CP 3100

--
Raist3d (Photog. Student & Tools/Systems/Gui Games Developer)
Andreas Feininger (1906-1999) 'Photographers — idiots, of which there are
so many — say, “Oh, if only I had a Nikon or a Leica, I could make great
photographs.” That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard in my life. It’s
nothing but a matter of seeing, and thinking, and interest. That’s what
makes a good photograph.'

 

[Raist3d]

Thank you for these detailed observations. Very helpful. So, which
liveview mode is the fastest and most "compact-like"?

Not sure what is the question you are asking me... you mean from the hybrid, pure AF sensor and contrast AF? Hmm contrast AF is the most compact like but it's not very fast. Hybrid is kinda weird. I would say the lens you put in makes the difference on these.

Is the LCD
viewable for overhead shots?

I think so, though I want to do testing in the daylight sun but it does seem like it. The e-410 was but in daylight it was impossible to see unless the sun was behind the camera.

--
http://www.sunshin.org

--
Raist3d (Photog. Student & Tools/Systems/Gui Games Developer)
Andreas Feininger (1906-1999) 'Photographers — idiots, of which there are
so many — say, “Oh, if only I had a Nikon or a Leica, I could make great
photographs.” That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard in my life. It’s
nothing but a matter of seeing, and thinking, and interest. That’s what
makes a good photograph.'

 

[Raist3d]

--
Raist3d (Photog. Student & Tools/Systems/Gui Games Developer)
Andreas Feininger (1906-1999) 'Photographers — idiots, of which there are
so many — say, “Oh, if only I had a Nikon or a Leica, I could make great
photographs.” That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard in my life. It’s
nothing but a matter of seeing, and thinking, and interest. That’s what
makes a good photograph.'

 

[Raist3d]

I got the e-420 because I am selling my E-3. The E-3 and I just didn't get along though the E-3 is truly a fantastic camera. It was a tough tough choice and I asked my two teachers about it, my photographer-student-friend, and thought about it long and hard.

Even right now if I had to keep the E-3 I wouldn't exactly mind but I still lean towards "sell" so it goes. It's been long enough. I tried but the E-3 is not for my style, even though I did want IS and weather sealing.

I keep saying this: Olympus, please release a weather sealed e-4xx.. at least Olympus is doing some listening- the e-420 interface is nicier to configure/use even than the e-410!

--
Raist3d (Photog. Student & Tools/Systems/Gui Games Developer)
Andreas Feininger (1906-1999) 'Photographers — idiots, of which there are
so many — say, “Oh, if only I had a Nikon or a Leica, I could make great
photographs.” That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard in my life. It’s
nothing but a matter of seeing, and thinking, and interest. That’s what
makes a good photograph.'

 

[Raist3d]

thanks for sharing your impressions. How does the histogram of the
E420 look in review mode?

Great, just like the e-410/510 but...

I always found it to be much too big with

my E510. It obscures half the image, making it unusable as default
review mode for me,

They moved it to the left/down side.. much more unobtrusive! Yet another "little change" that summing it all creates a bigger end result.

and I hate to be cycling through all the review

options all the time (I have now set blinking highlights as default,
but this does not show you if some latitude exists in a shot to
expose a bit more for the right).

Oh check this out- you will love this- I sure do. Shadow and Highlight are now one single screen. The over exposures are shown in pure red (blinks) and the pure blocked blacks in blue. All at once, no more cycle to highlights then to shadows.

Yet one more little thing!

--
Raist3d (Photog. Student & Tools/Systems/Gui Games Developer)
Andreas Feininger (1906-1999) 'Photographers — idiots, of which there are
so many — say, “Oh, if only I had a Nikon or a Leica, I could make great
photographs.” That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard in my life. It’s
nothing but a matter of seeing, and thinking, and interest. That’s what
makes a good photograph.'

 

[Raist3d]

The live view histogram is now at the bottom left, so it's much more unobtrusive on average to central subjects.

And a "small big one" for me: the highlights and shadows are now unified in a single screen. They blink and the blinks in red is the over exposures, the blinks in blue are the blocked blacks (the regions blink on/off at the same time- both red and blue). This is one of those "little things" that makes a big difference- less cycling through the screens and more info "at once." VERY USEFUL!

--
Raist3d (Photog. Student & Tools/Systems/Gui Games Developer)
Andreas Feininger (1906-1999) 'Photographers — idiots, of which there are
so many — say, “Oh, if only I had a Nikon or a Leica, I could make great
photographs.” That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard in my life. It’s
nothing but a matter of seeing, and thinking, and interest. That’s what
makes a good photograph.'

 

[Raist3d]

Answers start with a "> "

Thanks to pomsbz for inspiring question 30...

General Handling

1. How loud is the mirror slap on the E-420 relative to the E-1?

louder, just like the e-410.

2. Overall impression; build, handling, etc.

very good. Just like the e-410 but a bit better because of the new handle. Also the dials look much more professional and the LCD inspires confidence by its new more legible size, contrast, DR, color gamut and visibility in daylight.

3. How comfortable is it to hold with the left hand clutching the pancake?

no idea, don't have the pancake yet. Probably you don't want to hold the e-420 by the pancake.

4. Is it comfortable to hold the camera with 25mm lens single handed?

the 25mm will be so feather light that it will probably be as good as holding the e-410 / 420 stand alone or near so. So the answer is it depends- but again I don't have it. Just making a guesstimate.

5. Does it fit in the same (E400,410) UW housing

Don't know but I think it does. Contact Olympus

6. Does it improve on the E410's trunncated menu otuions

Absolutely. There are a couple new options. You can set the drive mode button to ISO/metering, whitebalance. The FN button now can toggle at once face recog/matrix metering/s-af/contrast AF/ gradation vs your settings at once as a group (as weird as that may sound, and I am not sure I understand it yet).

You also can now specify lens focus rotation like the other 4/3rds, reset the lens on turning off unlike the e-410 which will always reset, and a couple of other things.

But Olympus kept the overall simplicity though the menus took a step towards "the E-3" in one entry.

7. Does it re-introduce the cursor diamond direct functions we(?) wish the E410/410 (and the E-3 for that matter!) had.

Nope. I wish they allowed at least the up button to be used as FN 2, however, you can now program the drive button so that helps * a lot * while keeps the e-420 simple.

8. How big/small the viewfinder is

Just like the e-410's. This in my book means sharp and bright, a bit bigger than the e-330's/e-300/e-500. Same size of the e-510's.

9. Will it actually fit in a coat pocket with the 25mm pancake attached

A typical relatively big coat pocket yeah. How comfortable? Don't know.

10. How is the handling with the Olympus Leather case

no idea, dont' have it.

11. How are the strap lugs attached? can they be unscrewed?

Just like the e-410, nope, not that I know of.

12. Take a comparison shot with other cameras to give an idea of size.

It's the same size of the e-410.

Focusing

15. How easy can the back screen be viewed from an angle? How useful from different angles is live view? Is the new LCD as good as it sounds?

Yes, it is. It's a night and day difference vs the e-410. The color is there, the dynamic range makes you see the whites buttery smooth (or not as you captured), the color is far more accurate. To my surprise, not only you can set the LCD brightness but also its color temperature! I was surprised to see that. Not even the E-3 AFAIK has that.

16. What is the battery life with lifeview?

Take the normal battery life and about 1/2 it. This happened with the e-410 and in my experience, with the e-330.

17. Describe LiveView behaviour

Hmmm this can mean so many things... and I need to go to bed soon.. maybe later...

18. How quick it focuses when using live view

Slow. It takes about 1 sec to 1.5 secs or so.. it can hunt. Depends on the lens and available light. It's still usefull though, but it's still no e-330 live view mode A (but better than the current).

19. Does the E-420 use the same CDAF as in Panasonics nya DMC-L10?

Nobody knows. I still dont' buy it's the E-3 sensor before anyone asks.

20. How fast is contrast-detect or hybrid AF relative to a compact / bridge?

Depends on the compact/bridge but most compact/bridges of nowadays are faster. My 3-4 years old F810 Fuji ultra compact is decidedly faster by a factor of 2-4x with an average of 3x.

21. How does contrast-detect AF work with lenses other than the 25/14-42/40-150mm kit lenses?

It works but goes into "hybrid mode" and only 3 points. Basically it works as slow/fast as usual, but when you fully depress the shutter the camera focuses again using the phase detection DSLR autofocus. If the subjects are static it may speedup as it doesn't have to hunt. If the subjects moved a lot then it will auto focus from scratch but in the "DSLR" mode when you fully press the shutter.

The LCD does show interface whise this by a circle with a hollow part (donut?) meaning that it got contrast AF but still not done with the full flow- then when you press allt he way in and it fully focuses, then the circle gets fully green.

 

[Raist3d]

22. In Live view contrast detection AF, after you pre-focus, is there a mirror slap when the shutter is fully depressed?

Very unfortunately and to my chagrin, yes. This to me is probably the #1 thing that disappointed me (maybe the only thing though!). E-330, after all these years, you had gotten it right and everyone laughed at ya.

That said, it's better than what we had with the e-410 and dare I say, with the E-3. You can at least use the AF assist in manual focus and then tweak the result in manual when using S-AF + M. For moving subjects this won't help but for static subjects it can be a nice aid.

Performance

25. How does the 25mm's build compare to other zuiko lenses? Is it worth what the asking price?

I don't have it but from the shots I have seen, seems like it's relatively sharp but has chromatic aberrations at least in F2.8. Whether is worth the asking price that's another question.. I feel like it may be $50-$75 overpriced if the MSRP is $250 USD.. but that's just my opinion of course.

26. Explore the 25mm pancake behaviour in direct light? Is it prone to flare?

no idea, don't have it yet.

27. Does it have a lens hood? if so, show the lens hood in place. Will the lens cap fit it when extended?

no idea/ don't have.

28. Does the pancake lens have a mechanically coupled focus ring, a la 12-60?

no idea, don't have

29. Describe general handling in jpeg

E-3 like and you have to set the camera up just like the E-3 to use the Super Fine Jpeg compression (reviewers: take note!).

30. Describe Auto ISO configuration and operation. What does it consider a minimal hand holdable shutter speed before bumping up the ISO, can you customise upper/lower limits?

You can customize the upper limit and now goes all the way up to ISO 1600. As for minimal hand holdable shutter speed that completely depends on

• available light
• lens you are using
• aperture
• focal length
• you

31. What penalties are paid in terms of handling and speed versus the E3?

the E-3 focuses hyper fast. The e-420 focuses fast, not bad but certainly it's no E-3.

The E-3 will focus into more dark than the e-420. The E-3 5 fps certainly can be felt. Walking outside when it's rainy with the E-3 feels good in that it inspires confidence that you don't have to worry about losing your equipment.

However, as far as handling, I am biased. I loved the e-410, love the e-420 even more and hated hated hated the E-3 interface.

32. How does the wired remote work

Not sure about wired, I thought it only supported wireless, I could be wrong.

33. How does the wireless flash compare (versatility?) with that on the E-3?

Identical. Same full E-3 bells & whistles as far as I know. Maybe the distance to the flashes is less- have to read the manual. But the full controls are all there with the 3 groups/ auto/ FP / TTL/ TTL FP/ manual intensity of flashes, etc.

34. How does it cope with older vintage lenses? Will contrast detect give focus confirmation?

No idea, I am 100% legacy lens free

35. How does it operate with the Leica 14-50 and 14-150mm OIS lenses?

No idea, but I am sure just like the e-410.

--
Raist3d (Photog. Student & Tools/Systems/Gui Games Developer)
Andreas Feininger (1906-1999) 'Photographers — idiots, of which there are
so many — say, “Oh, if only I had a Nikon or a Leica, I could make great
photographs.” That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard in my life. It’s
nothing but a matter of seeing, and thinking, and interest. That’s what
makes a good photograph.'

 

[Raist3d]

Image Quality

45. Is it the E3 or E410/510 sensor?

Excellent question. I was leaning today towards a tweaked e-410/e-510 sensor. After examining some DR tests tonight seems like the DR may be closer to the E-3 than I thought. This may lend credence to being an E-3 sensor- it's possible it's a "lower bin" E-3 sensor (i.e. not capable of the higher ISO, etc.). In the end I am not sure. What I know is that the E-3 still has somewhere a notch up a slightly better something but it's really really small, from what I have seen so far.

The e-420 comes very close, or so close it's hard to tell.

46. Lots of Sample shots with 25mm lens on E-400, E-410, E-510, E-3 as well as E-420

dont' have the pancakes/ dont' have the time

47. How similar iq/files look to previous models

e-420 is E-3 like. The closest next model in that line would be the e-330.

48. Compare Image Quality to that of E-3... DR. in Raw, not JPG.

In RAw it seems to be pretty pretty close.. if maybe even identical. But the processsing of the E-3 jpeg is probably more refined in some respects.. but it's har to tell.

49. Does it have the same rich colour characteristics of the E-3

Yes, pretty much. I still think the E-3 has a "notch up" something but I didn't try a high quality lens today. I have seen shots from mfbernstein that suggest it's hard to tell as the e-420 is very close to the E-3.

50. 25mm f2.8 lens sharpness, destortion, contast, AF.

no idea, don't have it.

51. High ISO performance (noise, banding with NF off) in jpeg and RAW

I take back what I said, I did find some banding. But seems for some reason to me a little bit more controlled. Noise is E-3 like. High ISo performance is pretty good.

52. How is the noise performance in general (NF on and off)

Pretty good. A little bit better than e-410.

53. Assess Fine detail / AA filter

no idea, haven't looked for something like that

54. Dynamic range

near E-3 like or E-3 class for some situations

55. Shadow detail

pretty good, seems better than E-3 in the contrived test I did.

56. Highlight clipping

e-3 class or near so.

60. Demonstrate out of camera JPG quality (LSF preferably)

will post something later.

62. Is there any banding in low light with a light source and dark area in the frame.. Note : Ideally, the entire left or right side of the image (in landscape) needs to be in shadow,

while having the other side of the image well-exposed, and the shutter speed needs to be low (e.g., 1/20th).

Need to try that but seems like the E-3 or a notch better than E-3 (very small)

65. How does it differ from E410 exposure metering in its behaviour, clipping etc

Read answers above.

66. Test auto white balance performance in a variety of lighting situations

Need more time, haven't done so.

67. Perform a resolution test using http://www.graphics.cornell.edu/~westin/misc/res-chart.html

Er.. no.. no time.. :-0

68. Make all files available in RAW format.

Right. ;-) Maybe later if I have time.

--
Raist3d (Photog. Student & Tools/Systems/Gui Games Developer)
Andreas Feininger (1906-1999) 'Photographers — idiots, of which there are
so many — say, “Oh, if only I had a Nikon or a Leica, I could make great
photographs.” That’s the dumbest thing I ever heard in my life. It’s
nothing but a matter of seeing, and thinking, and interest. That’s what
makes a good photograph.'

 

[Shi Yali]

Thank you for these detailed observations. Very helpful. So, which
liveview mode is the fastest and most "compact-like"?

Not sure what is the question you are asking me... you mean from the
hybrid, pure AF sensor and contrast AF? Hmm contrast AF is the most
compact like but it's not very fast. Hybrid is kinda weird. I would
say the lens you put in makes the difference on these.

Sorry, I should have asked which mode is the fastest and acceptably accurate (with the 14-42 kit lens)

 

[Michael Meissner]

Not sure about wired, I thought it only supported wireless, I could be wrong.

In theory, it should support the RM-UC1 wired shutter release that plugs into the combo communication port which the E-400, E-410, E-510, SP-550UZ, SP-560UZ, and SP-570UZ use.

 

[windsprite]

I'm not likely to buy the E-420, but I'm glad to hear of the improvements. It's often the little things that count, and it sounds like Olympus really is listening to the voice of the customer.

Julie

 

[Danko]

Raist,

Thanks again for very interesting info about camera and again with question

To get the best from 410 you need properly set it: NR off, sharpness -2, etc… What about 420, do you feel the default setting are the best or you have to tweak little (consider the answer as an advise to potential user of the camera).

And enjoy your new camera

--
Bohdan, CP 3100

 

[Adam-T]

All you need is a couple of Keyrings and a webbing neck strap off a small Digicam case - 30 secs and a Y-Strap for nothing .. ideal for the E400's lugs once the triangular cleat is removed

--
Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist