Used an e-420 today....

[Raist3d]

didn't buy it because they were only for sale with the 14-42 kit.

Anyway, I have to say, I am pleasantly impressed. I will post later some ISO 1600's I took on the store but basically:

- Camera dials look more pro, easier to use with the new color/dents
- LCD is definitively a night/day difference. Big, nice, great DR/color showing up, whites show subtleties.. didn't try in daylight so dont' know on that.
- I can say right now there's NO BANDING at high ISO. I even pushed a RAW from ISO 1600 to ISO 6400 (2 stops) and nothing!
- Dynamic Range seems indeed improved over e-410
- color is definitively more E-3 like for sure too.
- noise seems to have improved by 1/3 to 1/5 stop (probably 1/3rd) over the e-410


Contrast AF- unfortunately it's slow but what surprised me is that there's still a bit of "mirrod dance" when you fully depress the shutter. Maybe I had it in hybrid mode (don't think so), but it's not e-330 live view mode A. That said, it's faster than it was before in that lag, and competitive, perhaps even better than the E-3 prefocused in live view.

The contrast AF speed itself is slow. We are talking about 2-4 times the speed of a typical fast contrast AF P&S of nowadays (comparing vs Fuji F810). Not unusuable for candid shots of subjects that are not moving that much but not good for say sports.

- confirmed the remote flash command system of the E-3 is there, un full capacity with all the options

- view finder, as expected is the same size.
- Olympus seems to have increased some configuration options that were not on E-410
- didn't try face recoginiton :-P
- Shadow adjustment tech works as good as on E-3 pretty much. In fact, I would say better because there's no banding now!

Ill post the raw shots I did later.

- Raist

[dannn]

thanks for the info...

[Raist3d]

This snapshot is taken at ISO 1600, in RAW but the e-420 jpeg engine just like the E-3's (and e-410) is pretty good at giving a good result from the get go, so it's very close to these results. I did no more tweaking except turning the noise filter off, and the SAT on/off to show.

Keep in mind that turning SAT on/off is not the same as shooting with SAT on because the camera will protect the highlights even more when shooting by reducing the exposure by 1/3rd to 1/5th a stop and bring the shadows up.

First the link to a full conversion- noise filter off, ISO 1600:

http://raist3d.typepad.com/secretfil...s/P1013573.jpg

Conversion with SAT on/off. Sat on the left, normal on the right:



Examining the tonal range and DR using lightZone after the conversion from Oly Studio:



I find the e-420 seems to have done a better job and how it transitions the whites and make the output richer.

--
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]

Please note that turning SAT on/off in RAW won't give exactly the same result as having shot with it (unless you are using manual exposure) because the camera will underexpose by 1/3rd to 1/5th of a stop to protect the highlights even further and rely on bringing the shadows with SAT (i..e even more DR in the final JPEG).

The E-3 behaves the same.

[Paul Shields]

Hi Raist. I had a play with an E-420 today too - it had the pancake lens attached. Not much different to the E-400 in feel - I think there's a slightly more curvaceous shape but that was about it. The pancake lens was fun, and if I can find a converter for their ORF files I'll even post a few (Lighroom didn't seem to know what to do with it). I was in the wrong type of environment to really try out the pancake. The focal length was wider that I anticipated. Probably a great pocketable landscape lens, and would work well on the street I guess, though framing would need to be carefully done. There was also a Sigma DP-1 there but I wasn't able to prise it from the owner's bosom .

[Raist3d]

Originally Posted by Paul Shields

Hi Raist. I had a play with an E-420 today too - it had the pancake lens attached. Not much different to the E-400 in feel - I think there's a slightly more curvaceous shape but that was about it. The pancake lens was fun, and if I can find a converter for their ORF files I'll even post a few (Lighroom didn't seem to know what to do with it). I was in the wrong type of environment to really try out the pancake. The focal length was wider that I anticipated. Probably a great pocketable landscape lens, and would work well on the street I guess, though framing would need to be carefully done. There was also a Sigma DP-1 there but I wasn't able to prise it from the owner's bosom .

The latest free download of Oly Master and the latest upgraded Oly Studio handle it

- Raist

[alert_bri]

Hi Paul,

my offer stands... I'll swap the DP1 for an E-420 if you can get one! lol

If you fancy a trip down to Derbyshire next weekend, or maybe we could come closer to you... you could help with a test of the DP1 vs GRD2 vs GX100 vs LX1 vs D-LUX3?

Kind Regards

Brian

[Paul Shields]

Hi Brian

To be honest I'd be more interested in a DP-1 than the E-420 + pancake as I already have an E-400 and like it enough not to consider upgrading (maybe I'll pick up a pancake lens at a later date...).

Derbyshire hey? That's almost local compared to Skegness . You'll have to fill me in on the details mate - sounds quite intriguing .

[alert_bri]

I don't know - the 20MB RAW files are a bit tiresome... Olympus really should have offered a firmware upgrade. The E-420 is really nice and slick - I like the extra configurability and speed.

I'll e-mail you later when I know Rich's availability.

Cheers

Brian

[Mr. Pickles]

Don't listen to Paul. If he says he isn't going to upgrade, he will by weeks end....He said he was going all Canon too. Poof, week later the 5D was on the auction block...