Reviews Written by the_aDb

1 year of E-410 use

Pros: Nice quaility lens and images.

Cons: Small viewfinder, AF assist method.

Have owned and used the E-410 for 12 months now.
Have chosen it, over same level Canon and Nikon models because of Live View. It was the only model with live view at the moment.
I find the pictures underexposed sometimes, especially when shooting full auto mode, but as other people have pointed out, this is a rather conservative approach, and i would rather have the camera underexpose than blow highlights, and if you shoot RAW, then you can always correct later. All in all, i've found myself in the habit of setting the exp. compensation to 0.3 when shooting auto, and then the pictures come out more on my taste most of the time.
After one year of use I think this is a rather nice camera. Most people claim the smaller sensor to be inferior to the DSLR sensors used in similar Canons and Nikons. I think this is only partially correct and it depends on how are you going to use the camera. As others pointed out, if you turn Noise filter off, and reduce Sharpness by -1, you'll find just as much detail and quality in the ISO 100-400 range as in the Nikon and Canon. The point where the smaller sensor begins to show it's downsides is only ISO 800-1600 and if you peep at pixel level or do rigurous tests. So unless one prints large photos and shoots mostly high ISO, the 4/3 sensor is just as nice as the competition. And one should also take into account the fact that, this downside of slightly less quality at high ISO is also compensated by the slight advantage that comes with the dimensions and weight of the camera, which is after all the smallest DSLR on the market.
The Live View functionality that appealed to me so much when I decided for this camera turned to be less than what I imagined it to be. Most people think of the Live View in DSLR as identical to the functionality of a Point and Shoot. It is simply not the case. First, it is so much more chunky then I am used to see on my Canon compact. Second, the screen turns black and white in low light which is really annoying. Third, and this is the most annoying thing, if you plan to use live view be prepared for a lot of lag. The mirror flips to focus and goes back, the LCD goes black, etc. This is all giving the impression of a very complicated mecanism being put into action, and the by the time it takes the picture you find yourself missing the action you wanted to capture. In other words, it is SLOW. It introduces lots of lag, and is very annoying as it does not operate as smooth as on a digital compact. The image gets frozen on the LCD then goes black, then reappears, the mirrors slide and flip etc. It's simply unacceptable for me so, after buying the camera especially for it's Live View, I've found myself using the optical viewfinder most of the time. This is so much more fast and responsive and makes all the difference in the world. This brings me to the viewfinder itself. I have to agree with most reviewers, that it is not as nice as the Nikons and the Canon. That being sayd, I do not find it that much of a difference as other people underline. It is not unusable... it's just that it has a tunnel-like feeling to it compared to the competiton. If this bothers somebody so much, there's always the optional magnifying eyecup, that improves considerably for those who use manual focus most of the time, which is one of the times when the somewhat inferior viewfinder begins to be annoying. The other situation would be when manual focusing macro shots. In both these cases, I found that using Live View is very useful. Ithink people who complain about the viewfinder of the E-410 compared to the Nikon and Canon viewfinders (which, indeed are better) miss the fact that the E-410 has Live View, which, altough rather useless most of the time, when manual focusing , becomes a superb functionality. I simply switch Live View on when macro focusing or manual focusing something, then enlarge by 7x the live image, and focusing become a superb experience. Even better than on the Nikon viewfinders because no matter how bright and big those are, they are not as big as the 2.5" LCD screen. So, after all, the Live View has it's functionality and use.
The biggest complain I have , after 1 year of use, for the E-410 is it's focus-assist mechanism. For reasons I do not understand, Oly decided to assist focusing in low light not by a simple red light emitting led like on point and shoots, but by a series of flashes emitted by the built-in flash. This means the flash has to be raised up and emitts a few (actually quite a lot sometimes) flashes. This seems to me much more ineficient. The camera seems to focus slower then other brands, in low light, or not focus at all, consumes more battery by this method, which by the way, seems to last a bit less then similar models from Canon, despite it' slightly higher battery rating. Finally, this focus assist method, will bother your subjects very much. Most of the portrait shots I took in low light ended up by complaints from my subjects, being blinded by the long series of intense rapid flashes emitted by the camera. Also, most tend to believe that one has captured a series of pictures, because of this focus-assist mechanism, so if you plan on doing a lot of portrait work in low light conditions, this is just not the best camera choice.
The dust-reduction mechanism seems flawless. After a year of intense use, in rather harsh and dusty environments, the sensor remains spotless. I just wonder why the SSWF mechanism isn't operated at shut-down to reduce start-up times. That being said, i wasn't bothered and did not miss any shots because of the half extra second it takes to start up.
About the lack of grip now: some people seem to love it. Indeed it gives a very retro look to the camera. Also, i do not find the camera harder to handle because it lacks the grip. The only thing i must point out, is that the two metal ears for attaching the neckstrap are not well positioned at all, and it tends to press against your middle finger and leave marks on it. This is very annoying.
Another thing , i want to point out, is that it seems unfair play to me, that Olympus specs to camera to be ISO 100-1600, while in fact , ISO 1600 is more like ISO 1300 or so. ...