Olympus E-420 review

There are drawbacks to the compactness afforded by the Four Thirds system too. As well as noise, a further price to pay for the small sensor is in depth of field. It's a fact of optics that smaller focal lengths increase depth of field for a given aperture, which makes it harder to take shots that bring out the subject by blurring the background. Depth of field is a key creative device that sets digital SLRs apart from digital compacts (the extremely short focal lengths of compacts make depth-of-field effect all but impossible to achieve) which limits the E-420's appeal for creative photographers.

As far as quality is concerned, that small sensor does mean it's wise to keep to lower ISO sensitivities, with a fair bit of detail lost to noise reduction at ISO levels above 400. Below that though, the stock lens impresses with an absence of chromatic aberrations and decent sharpness in the corners. While it may not be up to professional levels, quality doesn't ever seriously disappoint and it's certainly leagues ahead of a digital compact.

The E-420 is a rare thing these days: a camera with character. Despite being a little underwhelmed initially, after a week or so we found had become genuinely fond of it. With the price so low it's almost worth buying one as a backup to pop in your suitcase. And if you partner it with the pancake lens, you get an old-school-style fixed-lens SLR that's actually fun.

Author: David Fearon