Olympus 'Pancake' Digital Lens

With Sigma's fixed-lens, large-sensor compact just now reaching the market, Olympus has countered with a plausible alternative in a serious DSLR compact. The new 10MP E-420 with live view and the new-style high-resolution LCD screen updates the E-410—and this time comes with a matching lens, the system's first "prime" or single-focal-length compact lens. Of the E-420 sensor, Pop Photo says, "Olympus says color reproduction should be on a par with the pro-level E-3, which hit stellar color accuracy numbers in the Pop Photo Lab (February 2008)."

The new Zuiko Digital 25mm ƒ/2.8 (50mm-e), part of the lowest-grade or "standard" lens lineup (Olympus divides its lens line into "Super High Grade," "High Grade," and "Standard"), has five elements in four groups, including one aspheric element. It is less than an inch thick and weighs a mere 95g. Curiously, it has never appeared on the Olympus Digital Lens Roadmap. It will be available in April with an as-yet-unannounced street price (probably less than $300).

Longtime Olympus photographers will note the similarity to the old E-Zuiko 25mm ƒ/2.8 for the Maitani-designed Pen-F half-frame camera.

___________________

Mike

Comments

[Hugo]

I can't work out why they left sensor-shift image stabilization out of the E-420 (whereas almost all of the other Olympus models have it). If it had stabilization, I would probably buy it.

[Robert Roaldi]

A digital Pentax MX with small "normal" lens. They must have photographers on their design at Oly instead of facilitators and team motivators.

[charlie d]

patience is a virtue...............or a sign of laziness.

I could not be more pleased.

[iwert]

I really like the lens announcement. I hope this might be the start for more primes. This makes a nice companion for the 50f2 macro, now where's that 10-12mm prime?

iwert

[Carl Leonardi]

This looks like a great little camera and with the pancake lens, a street shooters dream. The price is not a killer and it takes CF cards. The other big plus is it's all black.

[Matthew Allen]

Neat! I wonder how this combination compares in size to a Pentax ME Super or MX with the 40/2.8 pancake. Granted, the optical qualities of the 40/2.8 might have been a wee bit exaggerated by some but they're still to my mind the benchmark for a compact full-function SLR/lens system.

Yes, I know there are smaller systems like the Pentax 110s and the Olympus Pen-Fs but they have too many drawbacks to be really practical these days.

Matthew

[Wojtek]

Fantastic. Ideal holiday camera! Let's hope the tonal range of the sensor has been improved somehow over the older models... Hell, I am going to buy it anyway. It's sweet :)

[mcananeya]

Re: Pricing

The body only is priced at $450, and the body plus the pancake lens is priced at $650 ($200 difference, though stand-alone price will likely be slightly higher).

Best regards,
Adam

[Fred Morrison]

Just as I was prepared to dismiss Olympus for ignoring their grand history of small photographic tools, they have made a digital SLR I actually want to buy. Yeah, I'd love to see an image stabilizer, but they have me with that 25. May can't get here soon enough for me.

[charlie d]

Hugo: I can't work out why they left sensor-shift image stabilization out of the E-420

It seems that compact size is the paramount design concern of the 4xx series cams. E510 and likely soon to be E520 are more "feature rich" and really not much bigger.

Olympus is looking hard to beat right now if you really look at all the innovation that has come from them of late. Add to that the aggressive pricing structure and oh boy!

[David]

And my wife has been thinking about getting a Nikon D40. Having admired Olympus cameras from their 35mm rangefinders to my now 31-year old OM-1 I am very tempted to get her this. And I won't have to deal with Nikon's syrupy slow, buggy software nor their regionalized denial of service.

[Gordon Lewis]

According to the article in Pop Photo, "The E-420 will also be sold with the 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 ED Zuiko Digital kit zoom for a projected $600, street. The 25mm lens will be available separately for $250, estimated street." The article also states that Olympus will soon follow-up with an E-520 which, like the E-510, will be slightly larger than the E-420 and will have image stabilization.

[Peter]

I know I'm probably going to be flamed for being the wet blanket, but why couldn't they make the lens at least f/2?

Given their sensor's weaknesses (low-light, large DOF) it seems that f/2.8 is kind of weak.

[Thiago Silva]

And Pentax just got slapped in the face! How long have we been asking for a compact body to go with the Pancake Limiteds. Sigh...

[Milo Di Mattia]

Peter, I think that a 25mm f2 (with good optical quality) wouldn't have been a pancake lens (faster Pentax "pancake" is f2.4).

[sevres-babylone]

A couple of questions for those who know more about Olympus digital SLRs than me (i.e practically anyone.) Will old OM lenses work with an adapter, and does livescreen make this combination more workable than trying to use them using the viewfinder? As I understand it, hassles discouraging people from going this route were the difficulties in trying to focus through a tiny VF and the stop-down issues. Are these problems mitigated by the latest live screen developments?

As for the 2.8 with the 25mm; while a faster lens would have been nice, I find myself using ISO 800 with digital in a lot of circumstances where I would have used ISO 400 with film, so speed is not an issue. Depth of field is, to some extent, but if the camera is seen is an alternative to the new Sigma, then a 50mm with F2.8 is a better option (for me) than Sigma's wider angle lens with F4.

And finally, given the Olympus-Panasonic-Leica triangle, can we expect to see scrapping the SLR-mirror stuff in a quasi-rangefinder camera, using live view and a provision for shoe-mounted VFs (like the GRD) in the fall?

[ggl]

> I know I'm probably going to be flamed for being the wet blanket, but why couldn't they make the lens at least f/2?

Because that would totally miss the point of a compact lens. Check out the size and weight of the Leica 25/1.4 and compare that with the 25/2.8.

[Adam Maas]

@David: Everybody's 1st party software sucks, except Phase One (whose big business is selling their RAW converter as a 3rd party converter). DOn't expect Oly's software to be any better than ViewNX or CaptureNX. The D40's a killer little body though, especially paired with a Voightlander 40mm f2 SLII. No AF in that combo, but it's as small as the E-420/25mm, a stop faster and offers ISO3200. No live view though. It's also within a couple mm of the E-420 in actual functional size (the different depth is due to the grip, which does not extend past even a pancake lens).

As to the E-420 & 25mm f2.8, this is the combo that Oly should have introduced years ago. Bravo to Oly, but is it too late? And too slow? Not exactly a low-light capable setup.

[Joshua Waller]

Prices are definitely interesting, if UK prices are anything to go by, the official UK prices are:

Sigma DP1 £549
Olympus E-420 body only: £339
Olympus E-420 with 25mm lens: £449
Olympus 25mm lens: £189

The Sigma DP1 is still a much more pocketable camera (similar in size to the Ricoh GR Digital, and Panasonic LX1) - it should still fit in baggy trouser pockets, whereas the E420, is still a DSLR and probably won't fit in trouser pockets...

http://www.digicamreview.com/2008/02/sigma-dp1-hands-on-preview-at-focus.html

[Ken White]

I managed to leave a reply about E-420 camera in the sensor size thread before this post was up.

I'd like to get a small camera for street photography. The DP1 looked like a good prospect but this one seems to be a better bet if the build quality is good.

Also the form factor of the body and lens do show that the 4/3 system can facilitate smaller and lighter equipment.

[Eric]

Kudos to Olympus. That lens looks fun as hell, especially coupled with an E-510. I wish Nikon made something like this for the D40.

[Ken Sky]

I wonder if all my Olympus Pen F lenses (including the pancake) could be retrofitted to this camera? Or will they have to stay in my display case?;)

[John Camp]

I think net photographers tend to take great joy in engineering feats, but this camera reminds me a bit of the Mac Air -- small, but somewhat crippled. No IS, somewhat smaller sensor than its rivals, somewhat slower lenses. If the 510 does have IS, and is somewhat bigger, than it'll be the same size as its rivals, but still have the smaller chip, slower lenses, etc.

The Pentax K10 and the up-coming K20 are just about 1/2 inch bigger than this camera in each dimension -- in other words, they're both small. In handling, I don't think many people couild really tell the difference. The Pentax has a whole range of compatible lenses, including some of the neatest little pancake primes, in-body IS, and weather sealing.

If you like Olympus, that's fine; but this isn't exactly a revolutionary camera, or even, IMHO, a particularly interesting one.

JC

[andre moreau]

Looks like a neat street shooter. I'll probably get the pancake lens to use with my E-510.

Only two things missing from the E-420: Vibration reduction and AE Bracketing with 3 frames in up to 2 EV steps.

[Amin Sabet]

I sold my E-410 because such a lens wasn't available, and I couldn't be more pleased about this announcement. Somewhere, Maitani is smiling. Thank you Olympus!

Fred Morrison said it. "May can't get here soon enough for me."

[Zoltan]

Quote: 'the system's first "prime" or single-focal-length compact lens'

First pancake yes, first "compact" prime it is not. I would argue that the 35mm f/3.5 and 50mm f/2 macro lenses are compact too. But they are no pancakes, that is true.

[Gordon Lewis]

On close inspection, the "MTF Chart" Olympus provided is not particularly useful without knowing what aperture it applies to. If it's at f/2.8 it's pretty good. Even so, keep in mind that even an MTF chart provides no information about light fall-off, distortion, color, bokeh, and so on. We'll have to wait for a real-world test to see how good this lens really is.

[Carl Leonardi]

Even the best lenses don't come close to being sharp wide open. Wide open you're not only getting shallow depth of field but images you could have gotten with a $50 camera and lens. Remember this is a $300 or less lens. an F/2 or better would probably cost over a grand to be the same size.
It does go to ISO 1600, 800 is probable great and will look like Tri X film. The original Leica had an f/3.5 lens and film was under ASA 200 back then. How did those photographers make such great photo's back then with such poor lenses, lousy film and none of the other fancy things we have today?
The P&S cameras just take to long to focus and you lose the moment.

[robert e]

Leave it to Mike to put the announcements and specs in perspective. Fred said it, too. Olympus made a surprise move to reclaim a legendary mantle and take itself forward. I notice also that the e-420 gains live mode autofocus, sans mirror flip.

[Ken Tanaka]

I'm tempted to try this little Oly, even though I don't own (or plan to own) anything else from Olympus. This looks like a cute camera with that little lens. I'd like to see a image of it in someone's hands for reference.

Comparing it to, say, the Canon G9's dimensions and weight presents a rather startling picture.

Canon G9:
Dimensions: 4.2" x 2.8" x 1.7"
Weight: 11.3 oz

Olympus E420:
Dimensions (w/o lens): 5.1" x 3.6" x 2.1"
Weight: 13.4 oz

I need another camera like I need a boil on my butt. This has been a bumper year for camera gear additions for me ... and it's only early March! Common sense tells me that this is going to be a middling performer, at best, with noisy images above ISO 400. But I still feel an itch in my hindquarters. Hopefully it will quiet by May.

[David Bennett]

Canon 450D - 475g
Nikon D40, D40x, D60 - 522g
Olympus E420 - 440g

Nikons don't auto focus etc, except with AF-S lens and Nikon don't make a small AF-S prime.

The Canon is untried but it is probably wonderful and there are oodles of small, fast Canon primes it will work with.

So why get excited about the Olympus? This is a part-rhetorical and part information question.

[Nick]

Maybe this is the moment to sell that 5d I'm lugging around everyday and switch to Olympus (520?)... Like many readers I was thinking about the DP1 as an extra camera with the 5d but with that pancake lens and a good zoom from Olympus I have all I need. With the money left over from the 5D + lenses I can pay for a trip to New York to buy the Oly camera for cheap US dollars and spend a week there taking pictures.

I must admit part of this 'rationale' is based on getting all sorts of positive vibes from the Olympus brand I just don't seem to get from corporate Canon...

[Bernard Piechal]

Well, I did checked this camera's OLDER sister (E-410) as well as its BIGGER sister (E-510) and have to say that being the APPROPRIATE size they certainly lack one CRUCIAL thing.
The FINDER.
Mike! You WROTE about this few years ago and said that those days consumer film AF cameras have really BAD finders. And todays consumer DSLRs have finders which are mediocre even in comparison with that ones.
As I said. The camera has finally GOOD size. The size crafted for the SMALL lenses. But its finder is just tiny! OK, I compare it to my main cam, which has really good one (OM4) so my thinking is distorted (I find the finder of the Sony a700 just usable, for example). Ok, I know that the Oly has more difficult task than the players with bigger sensors (THIS is the REAL drawback of the small sensor).
But still, I have to say that. The OLY's finder is SO BAD, so PATHETIC, that is simply UNUSABLE. Sorry.

And the second sin. According to the official Oly-Poland's press release this camera has... Face Recognition system!
Well, I would never ever buy a camera with this crap!
These two makes this camera nothing more than the toy cam. Just a toy with real-cam-look.
Oly, Please! Make REAL cam in this size! With REAL finder and exchangable screens (REALY exchangable, not by service)! And WITHOUT the toy features!
I'm waiting or sch thing as much, as Mike's waiting for his DMD.

[Andre]

I'm glad to see Olympus start to make good on the promise of small yet capable 4/3 cameras. But I'm not sure this is really groundbreaking.

By way of comparison:

-SIGMA DP1-
Body/Lens = 113.3mm x 59.5mm x 50.3mm at 250g

-OLYMPUS E420-
Body = 129.5mm x 91mm x 53mm at 380g
Olympus 25mm f2.8 = 23.5mm x 64mm at 95g

-PENTAX K100D SUPER-
Body = 129mm x 93mm x 70mm at 565g
Pentax 21mm f3.2 = 25mm x 63mm at 140g
Pentax 35mm f2.8 = 46.5mm x 63mm at 215g
Pentax 40mm f2.8 = 15mm x 63mm at 90g
Voigtlander 40mm f2.0 = 24.5mm x 63mm at 200g
Pentax 70mm f2.4 = 26mm x 63mm at 130g

-NIKON D40(X)-
Body = 126mm x 94mm x 64mm at 475g
Voigtlander 40mm f2.0 = 24.5mm x 63mm at 200g

I continue to await a pocketable large sensor digicam to replace my much loved Leica minilux. *fingers crossed for a Sigma DP2 with 40mm-e lens*

-Andre

[Mike Johnston]

"...and have to say that being the APPROPRIATE size they certainly lack one CRUCIAL thing. The FINDER. Mike! You WROTE about this few years ago and said that those days consumer film AF cameras have really BAD finders."

Bernard,
This is very true. N.b. that when I said the E-510 was the perfect size, shape, and weight, I didn't say it was perfect in all respects--just that it was the perfect size, shape, and weight. The finder is indeed woeful. I wonder if the various permutations of Live View on the E-420 change the game, however. Not saying I know. But I suspect that if I owned that camera I would at least try to get into the habit of using the Live View, like I would with a digicam. Such a thing has the potential to change the meaning of the finder.

I'd have to try it to actually know.

Mike J.

[Gordon Lewis]

"The OLY's finder is SO BAD, so PATHETIC, that is simply UNUSABLE."

Unusable? That's a rather harsh assessment of a camera you don't own and have never used, isn't it? I agree that Olympus E-series cameras don't have the greatest viewfinders, but if their 0.92X magnification is "unusable," then what about their competitors:

Nikon D40 -- 0.8X
Canon Rebel XTi -- 0.8X
Pentax K100D -- 0.85X
Sony Alpha 700 -- 0.9X

I know that Olympus has a slightly smaller sensor than its competitors, and that the effective magnification is slightly less than it would appear based on these numbers. That doesn't change my basic point: All APS DSLRs have smallish viewfinders. If you want a DSLR with a viewfinder comparable to your Olympus OM-4, you're going to shell out at least $2000 for a full-frame model.

[Dennis]

The finder & small size contradict each other. The promise of 4/3 (compact interchangeable cameras) is realized through live view, as implemented currently and possibly one day through EVF. The E-3 has a nice VF; comparable in size to the A700/D300/40Ds of the world (with better coverage) but in a camera of comparable size. I actually poked around recently to see what's available for the E-410 and the Nikon D40 and found the Oly OM 24/2.8 (and from Nikon, 28/2.8 would do nicely) but this beats them both by a tad. I'll have to see it in person to get a sense of just how compact it will be - specs say it's a "bit" bigger than my old HiMatic 7sII but I'm curious enough to take a look. Though I really do wish it (the E-420) had image stabilization.

[Dennis]

Also re: finder, the viewfinders in compact rangefinders of the 70's were small and could be challenging to focus, while the DP-1 offers no optical VF AFAIK. I'm content to sacrifice here to get a compact setup; I'm still watching for Oly to go EVF and lose the mirror on some future model.

[David Bostedo]

"And the second sin. According to the official Oly-Poland's press release this camera has... Face Recognition system!
Well, I would never ever buy a camera with this crap!"

I don't understand this "logic". Why would you refuse to buy something because of an extra feature that can be completely ignored? Does it bother you that much that other people might know you have a - oh my God! - point and shoot feature in your SLR? I'm certain the cost increase in the 420 due to this feature is negligible.

I personally wish there was an SLR that had all of my point and shoot's features, especially the same type of full time live view and screen and built-in stabilization.

[Ben Marks]

Can someone please explain to me what 0.92 magnification means on an APS or 4/3 camera? Does this mean that I am seeing everything in the VF at 0.92 times life size or that the finder is showing 92% of what will wind up on the chip or that the finder is 0.92 times the size of the chip? I have only looked through two finders of DLSRs that made me say "wow." One was the Canon 5D and the other was the Nikon D3. I looked through the Pentax K10D finder and thought I could focus a manual lens on it; but I did not think the same thing about the Digital Rebel (proof, sadly, in the pudding) or the E-510.

Ben Marks

[michael]

I'm interested to see what happens to the DP1's price, now that this new Oly is out.

Plus, can't wait for Photokina.

I'm committed to the 4/3 system.

[Flaneur]

Wow, lovely lens (and camera). I would love to see a Nikon one for my D40.

[Rudi]

The best viewfinder that I ever used was on a second-hand Oly OM-1 that I bought on eBay. That thing was incredible! You put your eye to the camera and you "fell" into the scene - it was that good!

While, like many here, I also got all excited about this camera when I first heard about it, after taking some time to think about it, I would have to say that it will be hard to justify purchasing one (for me). Why? I'm primarily a Canon shooter, and the 5D is my main camera. The 5D without grip is not that large, the viewfinder is about as good as it gets these days, and I have a plethora of fast (or not so fast) primes to choose from. Not only that, but if I want to go more compact, I can purchase a relatively cheap 350D, 400D, or 450D, and mount the same lenses on that body. Yes the viewfinder will be somewhat dimmer, but that would be the case with the Oly as well!

So... I'm wondering whether Olympus have left their run too late! With my Canon setup I know what I'm getting - great high ISO performance, larger sensor, fast AF, great selection of lenses (true, no pancakes), etc, etc. Then again, the mere fact that I am posting my opinion here shows that Oly did get my attention with this camera, just as Sigma did with their DP1. Oh dear! To quote Ken Tanaka: "I need another camera like I need a boil on my butt." Sigh...

[Archer]

Two points:

1. As a (25th year senior) college student, I love the name "E-420."

2. I'm sick and tired of hearing "BUT CANIKON has a 50/1.4 for < $300!?"

Canikon do not make normal primes for their aps sized sensors. FULL STOP. Sigma makes a 30/1.4 that's a hair wider than the official "normal." Those 50/1.4's are only normal on 135 sized sensors.

Olympus has just become the first to put out a reasonably fast normal prime for a dSLR. Take that, Canikon!

[Ctein]

Dear Carl,

My experience with testing film cameras and lenses is that most lenses are quite sharp wide open. Very good ones (not only the best ones) are extremely sharp wide open.

What turns out not to be sharp are the camera bodies! It was rare for me to find a camera where the distance from the lens to the focusing screen (or the auto focus mechanism) was identical to the distance to the film plane. Many cameras, even after proper focal plane adjustment, drifted with time. The random vibrations from normal use caused mechanical shifts and you'd have to periodically adjust the body again.

With proper adjustment, most cameras/lens combinations would produce very sharp results even wide open.

Let me give you a numerical example. Let's suppose some 35 mm body manufacturer held tolerances well enough so that the focus fell within the depth of field for an f/1.2 lens. (I rarely saw camera bodies come from the manufacturer this well adjusted.) At f/2.8, focus error would limit the resolution of that camera to about 75 lp/mm. So let's suppose you loaded up that camera with Kodachrome II and put on a lens that wide open (f/2.8) resolved 125 lp/mm. What you'd wind up with on film would only be about 55 lp/mm! Stopping the lens down would improve sharpness markedly, mostly because the focus error would become less important. Even if the lens didn't improve one bit, you would get over 80 lp/mm on film at f/11. So if you were unaware of the camera body problems, you'd conclude that the lens wasn't very sharp wide open but picked up considerably as it was stopped down.

This is at least potentially one big advantage of digital camera bodies. If the focus algorithms are properly designed, you're never going to get mismatch between the the computed focus and the focus in your photograph, since the same sensor handles both.

pax / Ctein
[[ Please excuse any word-salad. ViaVoice in training! ]]
=========================================
-- Ctein's Online Gallery http://ctein.com
-- Digital Restorations http://photo-repair.com
=========================================

[Mark]

The 420 clocks in at almost exactly the same size as the Pentax *ist-Ds (the Pentax is lighter). The Pentax 40mm and 21mm Limited lenses are about the same size as the Olympus 25mm.

So the Oly is nothing new. The big difference? 10 Mpix for the Oly vs 6 for the Ds.

[John Camp]

"Canikon do not make normal primes for their aps sized sensors. FULL STOP."

Nikon makes an autofocus 35mm f2, which would be ~52 on a crop-sensor camera; and also a very good manual focus 35mm f1.4. Don't know about Canon. Also, I think I read somewhere long ago in a magazine -- maybe Mike would remember something like this -- that 52 is more "normal" than 50. I wouldn't know why.

JC

[Dennis]

Hmmm ... Archer.

Oly is to be commended for finally coming out with a lens that suits the small DSLR bodies.

But Canon offers 28/1.8, 28/2.8, 35/1.4 and 35/2 ... plenty of 'normal' options. Nikon has a 35/2 (I thought there must be more options, but that's all that showed on the Nikon USA site). I'm not sure why you're hung up on 30mm, but Oly's 25/2.8 is a tad sluggish, arguably more so given that the DOF is slightly greater on 4/3, and this lens is great (due to compact design) on a camera that doesn't have stabilization, so it's not the low light champ that other faster primes are (particularly if you dredge up a 35/1.4 or 28/2 for a Sony with IS).

This pancake lens is all about a compact kit - first to put out a reasonably fast normal prime ? I don't think so.

[Dennis]

Mark - I'd looked at Pentax for a small kit, but neither 21 nor 40mm did anything for me on APS-C. And IIRC they're not cheap lenses. I'm sure there have been some Pentax shooters out there enjoying these lenses for some time - they're probably wondering what all the fuss is. The FOV makes this somewhat interesting to me.

[Mike Johnston]

John,
I think what Archer meant was just that Canon or Nikon don't make normal primes designed specifically for digital sensors--lenses like the AF-Nikkor 35/2 are legacy film lenses.

"Normal" is just a convention, for an average middling angle of view that seems neither excessively narrow like a tele nor excessively wide. The convention for a long time has been for the "normal" lens for any given format to have a focal length in millimeters equivalent to the diagonal of the format (also in millimeters). For 35mm, this "true normal" would be about 42mm (not 52mm). But, again, this is really just a convention, not something that is intrinsic to the gestalt or science of vision.

Mike J.