I feel really hape to get my e420 evolt. I've control of all things that a reflex has to allow you:Iso, speed, f, focus, WB, flash potency, filters, file type and weigth, etc.
I've not regret about this buy. I'll see along the time what happens and I let you know.

I have had the opportunity to use many digital cameras from high end Nikons to Canons to an old Olympus e20. They were all great but the E-420 offers the best comination of value, size and quality. I did a test with a high end Nikon, a Canon Rebel and the e-420. 3 professional photographers (all Nikon users) could not tell the difference between the shots. If you want a very portable dslr, this one is a gem.

The olympus E volt 420 has asmall grip, harder to hold to,especially for larger hands.. It has LIVE VIEW which causes shutterr lag when you use it. The shutter lag is comparable to a P and S digicam when using the live view feature. Long lenses ,such at 300mm, MUST be braced to get a decent snap. The E 420 is hard to hold due to the ungainly additions of long and heavy lenses to this quite small body.. The CCR processor on board is 17 comparied to 23 or 24 for its comptitors . On the dial wheel on top of the E 420 are some comman SCENE modes, this is repeated and therefore duplicated in the menu modes- ( either / or would be sufficient for these comman modes) It is disconcerting have these modes present in both places, seems like a waste of useable space within the EV 420..It is not as user friendly as the Canon EOS or Nikon D 's..The set up portion is more time consuming to use.. The flash is not as long as it's competitors, before there is light fall off. All in all it was not a fun unit to handle, required dexterity, strength ,and much steadiness to produce decent snaps. I returned it and opted for the nikon D60. The D 60 has many of the reamedies, objectionally present in the E 420.. You must stick with Nikon VR ( vibration reduction) lenses to max out the benefits of a D 60 m body. There is no VR within ther body, but rather VR is garnered in the lenses used. .. Other lenses nulify many of the vertues found in the D 60- this can be expensive, and is probably the greatest negative associated with the nikon D60—You will shell out well over a $1000 if you want 3 definative VR lenses. Nikon is coming out with new VR lenses to complement the D 60- they should be on the market in less than a year, according to the nikon .USA web site.. so all in all the E volt 420 is strictly a average d SLR and as I said in ther beginning, subjectively ,vastly inferior to some of its nearest competitors. The 2 major dawbacks ,are it's ungainlines w/ long lenses attached and its shutter lag when LIVE VIEW mode is used.. The Canon D 60 does NOT have live view and has instantanious shutter responce. Hal5141

there are lots of reasons NOT to go for a DSLR and only one major reason to go to a DSLR—here are the cons- BULKY, unweildy, heavy, unpocketable,complex, dangling lens cap thether,unbalaned, more susptable to damage and dirty lens( Bigger) too many controls, not opvious straight forward modes. takes longer to prepare for a snap.. Now with all thesaes negatives, there is ONE out standing attribute that no P and S digicam can equate to. SIMPLY- THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO SHUTTER LAG- a momentous PLUS when taking low light shots, non flash shots, action shots, pets amd kids ,concerts, sports events. anything that is moving . alas alack,unless you are taking posed stopped ,non moving subjects , is the only time comparison between a P AND S and DSLR digicam can be possibly comprable.. The Olympus E volt 420 without a lens mounted, is pocketable, it is a smallish DSLR compared to Nikon and Canon DSLR s—Of course w/ a lens attached , it is no longer pocketable..The Zuiko lens Olympus employees are impecable, It takes some getting used to, if you only had experience with P and S digicams previously. There are lots of differant control modes to learn, not nearly as straight forward as P and S controls, in the DSLR's. With PRACTICE , lots of it, almost any amature will become a much more formitable photog.. w/ a DSLR ,than is possible w/ a P and S- it is simply the nature of the beast. hal5141