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The result is rather more a tweak on that design than a fully-blown new camera, but Olympus has tried to correct some of the failings with the E-410. One of the complaints we had when we reviewed the E-410 is that its small body was difficult and uncomfortable to hold. With the E-420, Olympus has improved the front grip. It's certainly more comfortable to hold, but we still found it a little small and not as comfortable as Nikon's D40 or Canon's EOS 450D.

The big change to the E-420 is the improved live view mode, where you can use the 2.7in (0.2in bigger than on the E-410), 230,000 pixel screen to line up and take shots just like on a compact camera. The screen's improved brightness and contrast help matters, but this is the first digital SLR we've seen to have a live-view auto focus. Pressing the shutter button half-way focuses the camera and displays the results on the screen. With the E-410, only pressing the shutter button all the way in would trigger the focus. This makes it easier to take shots

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where using the viewfinder is tricky and we were impressed with the results.

Face detection's the current technology that every camera's got to have, and the E-420 doesn't disappoint with a mode that can focus on up to eight faces when the camera's in live view mode. It struggled to detect faces that weren't straight on, but had no problems picking up faces otherwise. For serious photographers, though, this mode is unlikely to get used.

Olympus' Shadow Detection Technology is designed to pick up more detail in dark areas of a picture. Taking two shots from the same location using the E-410 and E-420 we noticed that there was slightly more detail in the E-420's shadows.

Picture quality is otherwise very similar to the E-410's. ISO modes from 100 to 1600 are available, with 1600 being usable where needs must, but not up to the same quality as we'd expect from Canon's cameras, and higher ISO modes reduced detail and made pictures look a little soft. We were a little disappointed to find that there's still no SD card slot, although you do have a choice between the incredibly slow xD and Compact Flash slots.

There's still no sensor-based image stabilisation, although there's a dust-removal feature that vibrates the sensor when the camera's turned on. This adds a couple of seconds to the power-up time, but it shouldn't be enough that you'd miss an important shot.

The camera's controls remain pretty much the same, with a combination of the on-screen menu and cursor keys giving you quick access to common settings, including ISO speed, face detection and white balance. The E-420 will cost around £379 and we'll review the full product soon.