Olympus E420 - Thumbs up or down?
- Thread starter spashum
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- Mitch
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Oooohhh what a great question! I am also after the answer. 
No DSLR is inherantly bad. It's whether or not it's right for you that's the question. What features do you want? what features do you need? What upgrades might you want? Is there enough of a range of lenses for you? What kind of stuff will you use it for, what kind of conditions will you use it in? It would be a shame if for example you decided you wanted a certain type of lens that just does not exist for the olympus (or will cost you a bomb...) or that you wanted good high iso performance that another camera might have delivered better. If you've thought about these and compared it to other similarly priced models then go for it. If you're not too sure what you want but you just prefer that camera for any reason, also go for it.
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- Ned
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Why not wait and see what equipment the college has and then try to guy a camera so that you can borrow the college kit?
But, to answer your question, the Oly 420 is a decent camera, I was slightly put off by the 4/3 ratio so went for something else. The Olympus kit lens is very nice though.
All the entry level cameras have comparable performance, what really counts is how it feels in your hand to the best advice is to go to a shop and handle a few.
But, to answer your question, the Oly 420 is a decent camera, I was slightly put off by the 4/3 ratio so went for something else. The Olympus kit lens is very nice though.
All the entry level cameras have comparable performance, what really counts is how it feels in your hand to the best advice is to go to a shop and handle a few.
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- Paul
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As an Oly user I can say the 4/3 system is excellent, I have an E520 and an E3 and I have no issues with the quality of the images what so ever, some folk will tell you the noise at higher ISO values is a problem but in reality it's not, I have taken many shots at higher ISO's and they are fine.
The E420 is a great camera, it's lacks the image stabilisation of the E520 and up but it is a small compact and very competent camera. It has been superceeded by the E450 recently so you may want to look at that although I'm not sure of it's specs.
The Oly kit lenses are very good, quite possibly the best kit lenses available and if you want to upgrade to better lenses the Oly Zuiko range has a great focal length selection and the lenses are amongst the best you can buy. Although the after market lens selectionis pretty much limited to Sigma.
The 4/3 system results in a 2x magnification factor (compared to full frame or 35mm film cameras) so the standard kit lens (14-42mm ) is the equivilent of a 28 - 84mm in full frame or 35mm terms, (Canon are 1.6 x and Nikon 1.5 x for their cropped sensor cameras).
Personally I'd say the E420 is a great camera to start out with although if you can either stretch your funds or buy one second hand the E520 may be preferable.
Paul
The E420 is a great camera, it's lacks the image stabilisation of the E520 and up but it is a small compact and very competent camera. It has been superceeded by the E450 recently so you may want to look at that although I'm not sure of it's specs.
The Oly kit lenses are very good, quite possibly the best kit lenses available and if you want to upgrade to better lenses the Oly Zuiko range has a great focal length selection and the lenses are amongst the best you can buy. Although the after market lens selectionis pretty much limited to Sigma.
The 4/3 system results in a 2x magnification factor (compared to full frame or 35mm film cameras) so the standard kit lens (14-42mm ) is the equivilent of a 28 - 84mm in full frame or 35mm terms, (Canon are 1.6 x and Nikon 1.5 x for their cropped sensor cameras).
Personally I'd say the E420 is a great camera to start out with although if you can either stretch your funds or buy one second hand the E520 may be preferable.
Paul
As one poster stated, go and handle them all and see which 'feels' right with you - you may be surprised how different the various makes do actually feel in your hands.
I remember the Oly E410 & E420 feeling pretty small in my hands. Also, the strap lugs interfered with its handling - but that may be just me
I remember the Oly E410 & E420 feeling pretty small in my hands. Also, the strap lugs interfered with its handling - but that may be just me
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Just another thought, the current E series cameras are not the best at low light photography, they can be a bit noisy depending on the shot etc, usually the noise can be reduced effectively by noise reduction software however so it's not a major problem but just something to be aware of.
Paul
Paul
