Olympus E-410 EVOLT Review,
June 2007, Phil Askey

Review based on a production E-410

The Olympus E-400 was announced on the 14th September 2006, just before the Photokina show in Cologne, Germany. At the time there was much excitement about this compact and lightweight camera however this turned to disappointment for many of our readers when we discovered the camera would not be available in North America. Fast forward six months and we have the solution, the new E-410, gone is the Kodak CCD replaced with a (Matsushita) Live MOS Image Sensor which can provide Full Time Live-View on the LCD monitor, an updated image processor and a few other added features. So finally an affordable, compact, lightweight 4/3 digital SLR for everyone, including those who live in North America.

New features (compared to the E-400)

• Ten megapixel Live MOS Image Sensor (provides Full Time Live-View)
• Auto Focus in Live View (although still requires live view freeze and mirror flap)
• TruePic III processor (faster, better image quality, better noise reduction)
• Improved continuous shooting; still 3 fps but unlimited at JPEG HQ or 7 RAW
• No warning message at higher sensitivities (E-400 warned from ISO 800 upwards)

Two new ZUIKO Zoom Digital lenses

In conjunction with their announcement of the E-410 Olympus also announced two more ZUIKO Zoom lenses. There is a new kit lens in the 14-42 mm F3.5 - F5.6 which provides a nice wide angle three times zoom coverage equivalent to 28 - 84 mm on a 35 mm camera, next up is the 40-150 mm F4.0 - F5.6 which when combined with the kit lens would give you a full 28 - 300 mm equiv.

ZUIKO Digital 14 - 42 mm F3.5 - F5.6 (28 - 84 mm equiv. FOV, 3.0x zoom) (Kit lens for E-410 and E-510)	ZUIKO Digital 40 - 150 mm F4.0 - F5.6 (80 - 300 mm equiv. FOV, 3.75x zoom)

If you're new to digital photography you may wish to read the Digital Photography Glossary before diving into this article (it may help you understand some of the terms used).

Conclusion / Recommendation / Ratings are based on the opinion of the reviewer, you should read the ENTIRE review before coming to your own conclusions. Images which can be viewed at a larger size have a small magnifying glass icon in the bottom right corner of the image, clicking on the image will display a larger (typically VGA) image in a new window. To navigate the review simply use the next / previous page buttons, to jump to a particular section either pick the section from the drop down or select it from the navigation bar at the top. DPReview calibrate their monitors using Color Vision OptiCal at the (fairly well accepted) PC normal gamma 2.2, this means that on our monitors we can make out the difference between all of the (computer generated) grayscale blocks below. We recommend to make the most of this review you should be able to see the difference (at least) between X,Y and Z and ideally A,B and C.

This article is Copyright 2005 Phil Askey and the review in part or in whole may NOT be reproduced in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the author. For information on reproducing any part of this review (or any images) please contact: Phil Askey