Truly compact 4/3 DSLR at last

"Camera contraction continues as Olympus announces its latest baby DSLR,
the E420 and a compact lens to combine with it. The E420 is a 10 megapixel
digital camera featuring the now-widespread Live View feature that Olympus
pioneered. Alongside the diminutive DLSR is the equally bijou 25mm f2.8
pancake lens, creating a near pocket-sized combo."

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0803/08...lympuse420.asp

Cheers,
David

"David J Taylor"
wrote in
message m...
"Camera contraction continues as Olympus announces its latest baby DSLR,
the E420 and a compact lens to combine with it. The E420 is a 10 megapixel
digital camera featuring the now-widespread Live View feature that Olympus
pioneered. Alongside the diminutive DLSR is the equally bijou 25mm f2.8
pancake lens, creating a near pocket-sized combo."

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0803/08...lympuse420.asp

Cheers,
David


Be interseting to see how they go, looks to me like the punters now want
14MP and at least 12 times zoom.

David J Taylor wrote:
"Camera contraction continues as Olympus announces its latest baby DSLR,
the E420 and a compact lens to combine with it. The E420 is a 10 megapixel
digital camera featuring the now-widespread Live View feature that Olympus
pioneered. Alongside the diminutive DLSR is the equally bijou 25mm f2.8
pancake lens, creating a near pocket-sized combo."
Why, FFS, would they make a 25mm F2.8 lens? For years, the
kit lens on FSLRs was a 50mm, but with max aperture of
1.7-2, or pay a little more to get a 1.4 lens. 25mm on 4/3
is the basically the same FOV as 50mm on 35mm, so why
wouldn't they go to F2 or faster? Especially considering the
smaller sensor size means more DOF, and less scope to use
high ISO.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0803/08...lympuse420.asp

Cheers,
David

On Sat, 8 Mar 2008 19:12:24 +1100, "Pete D"
wrote:

Be interseting to see how they go, looks to me like the punters now want
14MP and at least 12 times zoom.

Olympus as never been scared not to run with the crowd;
historically they pioneered for semi-niche markets that
nobody bothered to explore and often proved to be a strong
influence on the market as a whole. This was the case with
the OMs in the 70s and arguably with "live view" in dSLRs
today.

On a side note, the 25mm Zuiko pancake looks rather good. A
true normal focal length is so much better than the long-ish
40mm version that Pentax make. I use both Pentax and Olympus
cameras and was disappointed that my DS/40ltd combo wasn't
as useful as I'd hoped because of the awkward focal length,
so I think I feel an urge to spend coming on...

--
John Bean

On Sat, 08 Mar 2008 19:24:59 +1000, Doug Jewell
wrote:

Why, FFS, would they make a 25mm F2.8 lens?

Size. It's all about size.

I think it's a good choice in this case.

--
John Bean

John Bean wrote:
On Sat, 08 Mar 2008 19:24:59 +1000, Doug Jewell
wrote:

Why, FFS, would they make a 25mm F2.8 lens?

Size. It's all about size.

I think it's a good choice in this case.

Even going one stop faster to F2 wouldn't add a great deal
(if any) size to it.
The olympus lens is 23.5mm long.
Compare this to the Pentax 43/1.9 at 27mm, and there isn't a
lot of difference in size, but the Pentax is not only a stop
and a bit faster, but has almost double the FL, and double
the image circle - both requirements that will add size.

I'm sure Olympus could at least go to F2 without increasing
size by anything substantial.

"David J Taylor"
a écrit dans
le message de news: ...
"Camera contraction continues as Olympus announces its latest baby DSLR,
the E420 and a compact lens to combine with it. The E420 is a 10 megapixel
digital camera featuring the now-widespread Live View feature that Olympus
pioneered. Alongside the diminutive DLSR is the equally bijou 25mm f2.8
pancake lens, creating a near pocket-sized combo."

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0803/08...lympuse420.asp

The baby Canons (400XTi) and Nikons (D40x) are about the same size (L x H)
and only 10mm thicker and 100 grams heavier. To me the only advantage this
camera has is the pancake lens.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/comp..._e420&show=all

Jean

On Sat, 08 Mar 2008 21:48:06 +1000, Doug Jewell
wrote:

I'm sure Olympus could at least go to F2 without increasing
size by anything substantial.

I'm equally sure they couldn't.

Usenet is full of people with diametrically opposed
viewpoints, so nothing new in this discussion then ;-)

--
John Bean

John Bean wrote:

On Sat, 08 Mar 2008 21:48:06 +1000, Doug Jewell
wrote:

I'm sure Olympus could at least go to F2 without increasing
size by anything substantial.

I'm equally sure they couldn't.


The Sigma 30mm f/1.4 and Leica (Panasonic) 25mm f/1.4 may provide
indications as to the possible size of a 25mm f/2 lens. Both are
available in Four Thirds mount:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0502/05021404sigma30dc.asp
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0703/07...ca50mmsumm.asp

Doug Jewell wrote:
John Bean wrote:
On Sat, 08 Mar 2008 19:24:59 +1000, Doug Jewell
wrote:

Why, FFS, would they make a 25mm F2.8 lens?

Size. It's all about size.

I think it's a good choice in this case.

Even going one stop faster to F2 wouldn't add a great deal (if any) size
to it.
The olympus lens is 23.5mm long.
Compare this to the Pentax 43/1.9 at 27mm, and there isn't a lot of
difference in size, but the Pentax is not only a stop and a bit faster,
but has almost double the FL, and double the image circle - both
requirements that will add size.

I'm sure Olympus could at least go to F2 without increasing size by
anything substantial.

Cost