The Olympus E400 - Reviewed

Meet the Olympus E400, Olympus' latest addition to the E-System range and the World's Smallest & Lightest D-SLR! This is Olympus' ultra-compact Digital SLR with an interchangeable lens system!

It may be small, but Olympus has certainly been busy filling the Olympus E400 with features. 

The Four Thirds Standard model features a new CCD with 10MP and a fast, state-of-the-art amplifier circuit to combat noise. 

The E-400 can shoot up to three frames per second with a five image RAW buffer in burst mode, and weighs in at just 380g with measurements excluding protrusions of W129.5 x H91 x D53mm.

Of course, Olympus' Supersonic Wave Filter is packed into the E-400 too, but with smaller dimensions and a higher frequency of vibrations, so it's even more effective. Olympus has made the E-400 especially beginner-friendly with 31 scene modes, including Underwater, Macro, High Key and Low Key, in addition to the usual full range of manual controls. The camera also features colour modes and allows you to apply various black and white filters to your images.

The E-400 takes both CompactFlash and xD-Picture Cards and is powered by a new high-power rechargeable battery. Beingreleased with the camera are two new compact Four Thirds lenses; the EZ-1442 ED 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 (28-8' equivalent) and the longer EZ-4015-2 ED 40-150mm f4.0-5.6 (80-300mm). 

These light lenses weigh 190g and 25 respectively and feature a blue ring design, which is the new insignia fort) E-system lens line-up.

As well as these new lenses, almost all of the existing optics and all accessories in the E-System range can be used with the E-400.

Olympus is also releasing an underwater case for the camera, the PT-E03, which allows you use it as deep as 40 meters. 

Timing can be very important. 

If the E-400 had been introduced two years ago, before the E-300 launch, it would've been very impressive to see its features in such a small package.

This may just make the Four Thirds format look like the next big thing. A small, compact, high-resolution digital SLR with dust prevention technologies. Sounds great eh? However the E300 was first, and so only time can tell if the impressive size and features of the E400 will really compete with its predecessors.