Olympus E-410

Design, Control panel, Battery, Build quality, Black level, Color

Extremely compact. Fine picture quality. Uses both XD and CF cards. Reasonably priced underwater housing available ; Memory card not included. Using Live View creates long shutter lag. Documentation could be clearer

Memory card not included. Using Live View creates long shutter lag. Documentation could be clearer

If you shoot a lot of candid action at normal- to wide-angle settings and want a lightweight, compact SLR, the Evolt E-410's for you. If your telephoto is usually racked out to its limit to capture that winning touchdown or elusive mountain goat, then...

Overall, the Olympus E-410 is a great camera to move on to from a superzoom, but if you have used a D-SLR before, then the camera will only seem like its slowing you down. In all honesty, I could hardly ever be comfortable using the live preview...

The E-410's big and bright 2.5-inch LCD display with approximately 230,000 pixels includes HyperCrystal™ technology, which offers many times the contrast of conventional LCD monitors, and enables images to be beautifully displayed in vivid color - both...

Compact and lightweight digital SLR which is comfortable despite the lack of grip ; Good image quality and resolution if not optimum straight out of the box ; Low noise across the ISO range by default, turning down noise filter doesn't spoil images ;...

Dynamic Range less than competition (highlights by about three quarters of a stop; 0.7 EV) ; Small viewfinder (difficult to see fine detail, difficult to check focus) ; Live View usefulness countered by LCD which doesn't tilt, not bright enough...

We first got our hands on the E-400 back in August last year, and were very excited that Olympus had delivered a small, lightweight digital SLR with echoes of the great compact film SLRs of the past (the Olympus OM-10 comes to mind). This was after all...

Excellent photo quality if you tweak the settings ; Minimal noise until ISO 1600 (unless you turn off the noise filter) ; Very compact body (by D-SLR standards); well built for the price ; Live view on LCD allows you to see 100% of the frame, preview...

Soft photos at default settings (adjust the noise filter to fix that); colors a bit muted as well ; Camera tends to underexpose, sometimes by a lot ; Lack of right hand makes camera difficult to hold (in my opinion) ; Live view feature not as robust as...

In some ways, the Olympus EVOLT E-410 reminds me of the Pentax K10D. Both cameras are capable of taking great photos, but you'll need to adjust some settings first. It would've been nice had Olympus not applied so much noise reduction at the default...

Of course the Olympus E-410 is replete with Scene modes, 20 in all. I managed to make good use of the Fireworks mode this past Fourth of July. This one earned a place on my wall, but there's another in the Gallery. I was pleasantly surprised by how...

Small and light, easy to bring along ; Excellent lens beats others in its class ; Lens is sharp corner to corner ; Wide range of optics to choose from ; Live LCD preview allows shots from odd angles ; Good resolution ; Good control of chromatic...

Slow startup and shut-down times, Grip is fine for the camera only, but is insufficient for added accessories, Live View mode is very slow, introducing extreme shutter lag, Optical viewfinder is small and information is displayed off to the right,...

Generally low image noise until ISO 400, Noise reduction under user control selects between increased noise and detail retention, Good white-balance system, Speedy and responsive, Great build quality, Effective dust reduction system

Colors oversaturated by default, High-ISO noise reduction introduces above average image softness, Below average dynamic range, Tendency to under-expose, Only 3 auto focus points, Live-view requires mirror action for exposure and focusing