It also boosts the E-420's RAW burst rate to 8 fps instead of 6 fps, if that's been killing you. The "Art Filters" include effects simulating "pop art, pin hole and soft focus" in-camera. Hmm.

One thing these entry-level Olympus cams do have going for them is their diminutive size; for a time, they were calling the E-420 the "world's smallest" DSLR. Whether that is still the case, you can count on a compact camera here.

Olympus will start moving the E-450 in the US on QVC of all places, where it will come packaged in a dual-lens kit (with two zooms: a 14-42mm f3.5/5.6 and 40-150mm f4.0/5.6) for $699. Full specs below:

CENTER VALLEY, Pa., March 31, 2009 – Olympus announces its new entry-level digital single lens reflex (DSLR) camera, which is small in size and powerful in creativity. The new E-450 continues the E-400 series' heritage of a small and portable design, powerful features, and ease of use for any skill level, including first time digital camera users. Thanks to Art Filters pioneered with the E-30 and E-620, the E-450 provides consumers with the creative freedom to capture their images in new fun and exciting ways.

The three Art Filters – Pop Art, Pin Hole and Soft Focus – bring greater creativity and freestyle experimentation to the new E-450. The creative filters were first introduced in Olympus' E-30 prosumer DSLR earlier this year, and now enable consumers to express themselves and capture it all – limited only by their imagination. The E-450 offers the 10-megapixel imager and other features from the E-420.

The new camera also provides heavyweight technologies, including a bigger, more viewable 2.7-inch LCD and fast consumer-friendly On-Screen Autofocus, Face Detection, Shadow Adjustment Technology and Perfect Shot Preview to get the most out of the Live View experience. Additionally, when it comes to Live View, not all LCDs are created equal. At 2.7-inches, the portable E-450 LCD is large enough for users to compose and review images without squinting. The small camera's LCD is part of a camera with technologies intelligent enough to take advantage of the Live View photography experience. These innovative technologies include:

* On-Screen Autofocus works as seamlessly as a point-and-shoot to display subjects in focus on the LCD the instant the shutter is pressed half way;
* Face Detection Technology targets and locks on up to eight faces to ensure they are in focus and crystal clear for amazing portraits;
* New and Improved HyperCrystal II™ Technology delivers twice the contrast and better viewing in extreme lighting conditions, a broader range of color detail, and a wider angle of view on the LCD so you and your friends can see it up to 176 degrees off-center;
* Shadow Adjustment Technology captures detail in the bright areas of a frame and opens up detail in the shadows that other cameras would render too dark or underexposed; and
* Perfect Shot Preview enables you to view and select your favorite effect right on the LCD, and see how the image will look before you even capture it, so you know that what you see is what you get.

Olympus is scheduled to launch the E-450 DSLR on leading multimedia retailer QVC® Saturday, May 9.
"We are thrilled to debut the much-anticipated Olympus E-450," said Rob Ellerstein, director of electronics merchandising for QVC. "Thanks to our strong relationship with Olympus, we are not only offering the most innovative new products but we are also giving our customers the opportunity to order them before they hit stores."

The product will be widely available in the U.S. and Canada in July.

Make Your Vision Come to Life with Art Filters
If you're hoping to get more out of your camera than simply capturing and documenting a scene, and enjoy enhancing or customizing an image to make it your own, then you will value the camera's Art Filters. The filters, which are built into the camera, provide incredible individual artistic control over an image, and remove the need to spend time altering images on the computer with editing software.

This camera was made for free-style shooting, experimenting and engaging with events and subjects. Enjoy the freedom of Autofocus Live View and dramatic effects to transform your day-to-day shots into compositions that you can be proud of with the following in-camera Art Filters:

* Pop Art: Enhances colors, making them more saturated and vivid, creating high-impact pictures that express the joyful, lighthearted feeling of the Pop Art style of the 1960s;
* Soft Focus: Creates an ethereal, otherworldly atmosphere that renders subjects in a heavenly light without obscuring details; and
* Pin Hole: Reduces the peripheral brightness of an image as though it were shot through a pin hole, connecting the viewer intimately with the subject at the center of the picture.

Art Filters are easily activated with the mode dial on the right side of the camera body. The effects are viewable right on the new camera's 100 percent accurate 2.7-inch Live View LCD when using the E-450 in Live View mode or when reviewing the captured image.

The Live View Experience
Olympus was the first to bring Live View to a consumer DSLR (the E-330 in 2006), and Live View has revolutionized DSLR photography. Anyone who has photographed young children knows that you get the best reactions when you hold the camera away from your face and maintain eye contact and an engaging smile. If you have tried to take photos high above the heads in a crowd or low near the ground, you will appreciate that it is easier to use the LCD screen than to climb a ladder or lie on the ground.

The E-450 solves these problems with its Live View LCD, which enables photographers to easily and comfortably hold the camera at angles that could not be reached by using the optical viewfinder alone. The E-450's Live View autofocus functionality now simplifies the process by working just like a point and shoot. By simply pressing the shutter button halfway, your subjects come into focus on the LCD, so when the perfect moment occurs it is easy to capture sharp images.

Always Find a Face in the Crowd
A camera this consumer-friendly is perfect for taking portraits of friends and family while out and about. The E-450's Face Detection feature distinguishes between people's faces and the background. It tracks up to eight faces within the image area and automatically focuses and optimizes exposure for sharp, brilliant portrait pictures. Even if your subjects are moving, the camera continuously tracks their faces.

Bright Day or Deep Shadow, Never Miss a Detail
Shooting scenes with shadows can be tricky because of the extreme contrast between dark and bright areas. The E-450 addresses this challenge with Shadow Adjustment Technology that compensates for extreme contrast when shadow areas are underexposed and lack visible detail. Now users can preview and capture images with the same fine contrast they see with their own eyes.

Preview All the Possibilities
With 18 pre-set scene-select modes for every imaginable shooting scenario and full manual controls, the E-450 offers a world of possibilities to photographers. Additionally, Perfect Shot Preview enables users to preview and select various photographic effects on a live, multi-window screen on the LCD before snapping the shot. This feature shows photographers what their images will look like beforehand under various settings, ensuring that they capture exactly what they want. It is an ideal way for novice users to learn about the effects of different photography techniques, such as exposure compensation, white balance and metering.

Enlarge Your Photos
Capturing, enlarging and displaying amazing images on your wall is a snap thanks to the E-450's 10 million pixels for high-resolution photos. The 10-megapixel sensor gives users the flexibility to enlarge prints to the sizes supported by many of today's printers, or crop the image to print only a part of the image that is important to them. The high-performance Live MOS image sensor in the E-450 delivers excellent dynamic range for accurate color fidelity and a state-of-the-art image processor dramatically reduces noise and captures fine image details in the highlight and shadow areas.

Improved Auto White Balance
Many digital SLR users want to focus their attention on things other than white balance while they are on the move. As a result, the E-450 features an improved automatic white balance performance with a new algorithm for more accurate color.

TruePic III+ for Image Clarity & Speed
Olympus' TruePic III+ Image Processor produces crystal clear photos using all the pixel information for each image to provide the best digital images possible for every photo with accurate color, true-to-life flesh tones, brilliant blue skies and precise tonal representation in between. TruePic III+ also lowers image noise by one step to reduce graininess in images shot at higher ISO settings, enabling great results in low-light situations.

Worried about missing the winning goal at the soccer game? The image processor on the E-450 enables it to shoot up to 3.5 frames per second in sequential shooting mode, which means that photographers will be able to capture fast-paced action as it happens.

Dust Reduction System for Spot-Free Images
Life moves too fast to spend time worrying about dust ruining your images. Olympus' proven Dust Reduction System produces spot-free photos with the exclusive Supersonic Wave Filter™. The patented ultrasonic technology vibrates to remove dust and other particles from the front of the image sensor and captures it on a special adhesive membrane every time the camera is turned on. This results in beautiful images free from dust spots, which could ruin or be distracting on an image.

Media Versatility
Accepting both CompactFlash Type I & II, Microdrives, and xD-Picture Cards, the E-450 provides a choice of data storage options for enhanced flexibility, and it is possible to transfer image files from one card to the other right inside the camera.

Wireless Flash Capability
If you decide to venture into the arena of advanced lighting, the E-450 is ready to meet the challenge. The E-450 is compatible with the Olympus FL-50R and FL-36R wireless electronic flashes that are designed exclusively for digital photography. When these flashes are used in combination with the E-450, wireless multi-flash photography is possible. The E-450 can control up to three wireless flash groups independently, with several flash units per group.

Availability
The Olympus E-450 DSLR will be available in July 2009. It includes E-450 Body, ED 14-42mm f3.5/5.6 Zuiko Digital Zoom Lens, ED 40-150mm f4.0/5.6 Zuiko Digital Zoom Lens, USB Cable, Video Cable, Li-Ion Battery Pack (BLS-1), Li-Ion Battery Charger (BCS-1), Shoulder Strap, OLYMPUS Master 2 Software CD-ROM, Manuals and Warranty Card.

U.S. Pricing
E-450 Two-Lens Kit Estimated Street Price: $699.99

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi - I originally wrote: "Live View is limited, or you might even say crippled. You can't preview autofocus—I'm not even sure the autofocus works very well in this mode." When you activate Live View, you have to enter the custom settings and enable one of two kinds of autofocus, which you then manually trigger with the press of a button. The Live View isn't so much crippled as it is overly complicated, compared to the sexier iterations in the Sony and Olympus.

Sony Alpha a350 - I noted a sluggishness with photo reviewing: once you take a shot, there's an annoying pause. The question was raised whether or not this was due to Sony's D-Range Optimizer, which "delivers suitable tonality and exposures with rich shadow and highlight detail, even under high contrast situations." While the D-RO and D-RO+ modes can add even more time to the turnaround on the a350, taking pics without D-RO still means a turnaround time about twice as long as Canon's.

Nikon D60 - I complained about something I called the "auto-focus lamp" but which Nikon refers to as AF -assist. You can in fact turn it off, but it's not exactly easy. First, you have to go to the Setup menu to enable the "full" Custom Settings Menu, or the option doesn't appear. And then you have to go into the Custom Settings Menu, locate the AF-assist option and turn it off—provided you know that the bright annoying light is even called by that somewhat indirect name. My feeling is that this option should be off as a default, like on some competing DSLRs.

Olympus E-420 - I have said repeatedly that this camera has trouble with autofocus: when shooting with the kit lens, it resets almost every time you point it at an object, even if it's the same object you were focused on a second before. Olympus suggested I update the lens firmware to see if it improved anything. While there was a patch that I successfully installed, the lens' AF behavior is unchanged.

As you can see, when all new information is factored in, my initial ranking still stays the same. It seems you get what you pay for, though it bears repeating that the real dark horse is Sony's a300, a $700 (with lens) 10-megapixel version of the a350.

One final note: Whenever I bring up DSLRs, the debate about automatic shooting modes rages with some vehemence. I love the discussion, but I want to stress two things: Cameras intended for newbies need really good auto modes, and even the $900 kits I write about are targeted at the noob crowd. Don't believe me? Chuck Westfall, head of media and customer relations for Canon USA, told me this the other day: "The Rebel demographic is skewed towards beginners," adding, "We've found that any kind of automation we can give them is a good thing."

Thanks for the lively debate, and by all means keep it rockin'. As always, I am blown away by the depth of knowledge coming from Giz commenters on this popular but often confusing subject. [Entry-Level DSLR Battlemodo]

The Weigh In As you can see, there's a wide range. I'm not saying weight is everything, but being the heaviest (by a lot) doesn't help the Sony.
On Paper Before we get into each camera's capabilities, have a look at their specs. Cameras are arranged in order of price, from cheap to pricey. You can see how it's easy to fall in love with the lower-priced models. But in action, you statt to realize why the pricing is so slanted.
1600 ISO and Auto White Balance In these shots, you can judge two things. First, some cameras have noisier high-ISO results than others (cough*Olympus*cough), and second, that auto white balance isn't the easiest thing to master. (I'm talking about you, Nikon.) Fortunately, two cameras do both reasonably well:
Action Shots in "P" Automatic Mode Some of you have beef with me complaining that some DSLRs have lousy automatic settings, but the truth is, great DSLRs do damn well on auto, so it's a way to separate the good from the bad. Here you can see from a quick session with all four cameras that getting a clean shot of a moving cat in low light isn't always possible:
Note the Nikon's shot: The cat is squinting because of the auto-focus lamp that goes on before the shot—generally annoying when trying to capture kids and pets in their natural states.

Full Manual ShootingHere's what happens when I try to take the same or similar shots with the different cameras, using more or less the same manual settings. (The above shot was from the Sony Alpha a350.)

Daffodils: Low f-stop, medium shutter speed, handheld Dawn: Medium f-stop, fast shutter speed, handheld Creek: High f-stop, slow shutter speed, tripod
THE END RESULTCanon EOS Digital Rebel XSi - First Place
What I Liked It's an all around decent camera, much lighter in weight than the Sony but with most of the same performance. The cheap starter lens, which you may scoff at, gives it an added weight bonus, making it lighter than all but the Olympus.
What I Didn't Like Live View is limited, or you might even say crippled. You can't preview autofocus—I'm not even sure the autofocus works very well in this mode. In the manual, Canon concedes that this is really for still life shooting and other limited applications. Also, for being $150 to $170 more than the Nikon, it's more or less the same class of camera, especially for manual shooting.

Sony Alpha a350 - Second Place
What I Liked All around intuitive camera with impressive automatic modes, a Live View that can demonstrate a lot, and solid control for people who know more. It's got the teaching ability of the Olympus with the picture reliability of the Canon. Although the a350 with 14-megapixel sensor is not as good a buy as the Canon at the same price, I think the nearly identical $700 a300 kit might be the best value of all right now.
What I Didn't Like The thing is giant, especially with the 16-80mm lens I tested. (The a300 is the same size and weight, by the way.) In Live View, I noticed from time to time that white balance on preview was different than what came out in the shot, which was annoying. The worst attribute, though, is the exceptional processing delay after you take each shot.

Nikon D60 - Third Place
What I Liked There's a keep-it-simple design here that works: not many hidden frills, but many nice clear options. I think for the money, this is the best idea for knowledgable, confident shooters, though it's not the best bet for beginners. I like one rare random perk in particular, the stop-motion video maker.
What I Didn't Like Simple means no frills like Live View previewing that the other models have. Though it's very handy when done right, like on the Olympus, it can also be done badly. Judging from Canon's execution, I can see why Nikon didn't bother. I have two particular pet peeves with the Nikon: Low-light autofocus triggers a very bright AF lamp, which makes pets and children go all squinty, and the auto white balance makes things too yellow indoors, and can't be overridden when in automatic modes.

Olympus E-420 - Fourth Place
What I Liked Besides the remarkably low price, I think this camera has the capacity to teach you a lot about manual settings because of the Live View. Like the Sony, this shows you the effects of your WB, exposure, f-stop and shutter settings in a live preview as you make them. Oly has this down, and was the one that started it all.
What I Didn't Like The lightweight camera is missing a lot of strong tech: the ISO 1600 is noisy, autofocus doesn't respond nearly quick enough, and shooting in automatic modes turns up blurry and unfortunate shots.

There you have it, folks. I've tried to include enough of my methodology to let you judge this stuff for yourselves. Surely there's a lot to talk about, including the obligatory "body vs. glass" debate. I agree that lenses make a difference, but with new DSLR advancements, the bodies are starting to have a greater impact on how well people take pictures. You may know it all, but any one of these cameras can help the ignorant noob more than anything that came before. OK, that's my take... you have the floor.

Update: Check out our DSLR Battlemodo follow-up, which answers some of the questions raised in the comments below.

The Price: $500 for the body, $600 if you want the 14mm to 42mm starter lens too

The Verdict:

There's a lot packed into this little package. People who don't know much about photography but are dying to learn will love certain features, such as the "Perfect Shot" preview, which shows you four white balance alternatives at the same time, so you can pick the most realistic option; it does the same live previewing for exposure settings too. Olympus added face detection to the camera this time around, a popular point-and-shoot option making its way into the DSLRs. People who are afraid of too much data might shirk at all the live shooting options, but the alternative on some DSLRs, including the otherwise awesome new Nikon D60, is no live preview at all. The E-420 has a hell of a lot of tech packed into its relatively small package.

Live Preview options:I say "relatively small" because saying "world's smallest DSLR" is like saying "world's lightest heavyweight." Truth is, this camera runs the risk of being confused as a point-and-shoot, in both good and bad ways. Fortunately, many pictures turn out great. High ISO shots, up to 1600, look fantastic, without any noticeable noise. In the stillest settings, I could take the same shots with a Nikon D60 that I could with the E-420:But in the end, the E-420 is not going to cut the mustard when facing off against the other DSLRs, although they do tend to list for $200 more. Its biggest weaknesses are focus speed and low-light shooting. In the standard Sensor AF mode, the lens has to back up and focus in every time; the Nikon D60, faster to begin with, doesn't work as hard refocusing on the same object a second time. In decent medium indoor light, the automatic shutter settings are just too slow. On top of that, there's no optical image stabilizer or vibration reduction, so you end up with a lot of frustrating shots like this one:Or this one:Then again, I was able to take some pretty nice pictures too, like this one:In the end, the E-420 may be the smallest, the lightest, the cheapest and even the highest-tech, but it's not the fastest, and in this competition, speed matters one hell of a lot. [Olympus America]

OLYMPUS E-420: WORLD'S SMALLEST AND LIGHTEST CONSUMER DIGITAL SLR DELIVERS ENHANCED AUTOFOCUS LIVE VIEW

Compact Size Makes It the Ultimate DSLR to Take Anywhere,
Next-Generation Live View Ensures It Performs Better When You Get There

CENTER VALLEY, Pa., March 5, 2008 - Olympus today announces the extremely portable E-420 - perfect for everyone who wants to step up to the power and performance of a digital SLR (single lens reflex) yet enjoy the ease of use and ability to compose images on the LCD common to point-and-shoot cameras. Weighing a mere 380 grams (13.4 ounces), the E-420 is 20 to 40 percent lighter than competing DSLRs. Good things come in this small package, including Live View, which enables users to hold the camera away from their faces and interact with their subjects - ideal when capturing photos of children, for example.

This lightweight 10-megapixel DSLR offers heavyweight technologies, including a bigger, more viewable 2.7-inch LCD and consumer-friendly fast On-Screen Autofocus, Face Detection, Shadow Adjustment Technology and Perfect Shot Preview to get the most out of the Live View experience. Additionally, when it comes to Live View, not all LCDs are created equal. At 2.7-inches, the portable E-420 LCD is large enough for users to compose and review images without squinting. The small camera's LCD is not just larger, it is part of a camera with technologies intelligent enough to take advantage of the Live View photography experience. These innovative technologies include:

• On-Screen Autofocus works as seamlessly as a point-and-shoot to display subjects in focus on the LCD the instant the shutter is pressed half way;
• Face Detection Technology targets and locks on up to eight faces to ensure they are in focus and crystal clear for amazing portraits;
• New and Improved HyperCrystal II™ Technology delivers twice the contrast and better viewing in extreme lighting conditions, a broader range of color detail, and a wider angle of view on the LCD so you and your friends can see it up to 176 degrees off-center;
• Shadow Adjustment Technology captures detail in the bright areas of a frame and opens up detail in the shadows that other cameras would render too dark or underexposed; and
• Perfect Shot Preview enables you to view and select your favorite effect right on the LCD, and see how the image will look before you even capture it, so you know that what you see is what you get.

"The Olympus E-420 delivers the professional-grade image quality of a digital SLR with the simple operation of a point-and-shoot camera," said John Knaur, senior marketing manager - DSLR, Olympus Imaging America Inc. "Thanks to the camera's small size and lightweight body, users can take the E-420 everywhere, and they will never miss another shot because the of the camera's straightforward controls. Additionally, our innovative technologies help consumers get more from Live View."

World's Smallest Digital SLR
A camera designed to be held away from the face lets you take great photographs without weighing you down. The E-420 is small enough to fit into a purse or a jacket pocket and light enough to shoot with comfortably all day. Measuring 5.1 inches by 3.6 inches by 2.1 inches (excluding protrusions), it is the world's smallest digital SLR. And at a featherweight 13.4 ounces, only its predecessor (E-410) weighs less. The E-420's new ergonomic grip on the front of the body allows for easier one-handed operation and ensures a secure hold in the most challenging shooting conditions.

One of the World's Thinnest Lenses Meets the World's Most Compact DSLR
The world's smallest DSLR deserves a similarly compact lens, and Olympus has it: the ultra compact Zuiko 25mm f2.8 digital specific lens. This 0.9 inch-thick lens offers a fixed 50mm equivalent angle of view. Together with the E-420, the Zuiko 25mm f2.8 lens will offer the ultimate combination of ease of use and portability.

Photographers can also purchase the E-420 in a kit with a compact, Zuiko Digital 28-84mm equivalent (ED 14-42mm Four Thirds) f3.5-f5.6 lens that perfectly matches the imager so light strikes the sensor directly to ensure rich, accurate colors and edge-to-edge sharpness. Both lenses (Zuiko 25mm f2.8 and 28-84mm f3.5-f5.6) are part Olympus' expanding line of 100 percent digital lenses - designed specifically for digital photography. Unlike other camera companies, Olympus does not rely on old film lenses, which often result in images with soft edges or other imperfections.

The Live View Experience
Olympus was the first to bring Live View to a consumer DSLR (the E-330 in 2006), and Live View has revolutionized DSLR photography. Anyone who has photographed young children knows that you get the best reactions when you hold the camera away from your face and maintain eye contact and an engaging smile. If you have tried to take photos high above the heads in a crowd or low near the ground, you will appreciate that it is easier to use a swivel LCD screen than to climb a ladder or lie on your stomach.

The E-420 solves these problems with its Live View LCD, which enables photographers to hold the camera away from their faces and at angles they just cannot reach by using the optical viewfinder alone. The E-420's new Live View autofocus functionality now simplifies the process by working just like a point and shoot. By simply pressing the shutter button halfway, your subjects come into focus on the LCD, so when the perfect moment occurs it is easy to capture sharp images.

A viewable LCD is where a great Live View experience begins. Few things are more annoying for a photographer than squinting to see an image on an LCD screen in bright sunlight or a dimly lit room. The E-420 solves this problem with its large, bright 2.7-inch LCD display that incorporates new HyperCrystal II technology. This display offers twice the contrast for better viewing in extreme light conditions (i.e. when the sun is at your back), a broader color gamut that displays a greater range of color detail, and a 176-degree viewing angle.

Always Find a Face in the Crowd
A camera this consumer-friendly is perfect for taking portraits of friends and family while out and about. The E-420's Face Detection feature distinguishes between people's faces and the background. It tracks up to eight faces within the image area and automatically focuses and optimizes exposure for sharp, brilliant portrait pictures. Even if your subjects are moving, the camera continuously tracks their faces.

Bright Day or Deep Shadow, Never Miss a Detail
Shooting scenes with shadows can be tricky because of the extreme contrast between dark and bright areas. The E-420 addresses this challenge with Shadow Adjustment Technology that compensates for extreme contrast when shadow areas are underexposed and lack visible detail. Now users can preview and capture images with the same fine contrast they see with their own eyes.

Preview All the Possibilities
With 18 pre-set scene-select modes for every imaginable shooting scenario and full manual controls, the E-420 offers a world of possibilities to photographers. Additionally, Perfect Shot Preview enables users to preview and select various photographic effects on a live, multi-window screen on the LCD before snapping the shot. This feature shows photographers what their images will look like beforehand under various settings, ensuring that they capture exactly what they want. It is an ideal way for novice users to learn about the effects of different photography techniques, such as exposure compensation, white balance and metering.

Enlarge Your Photos
Capturing, enlarging and displaying amazing images on your wall is a snap thanks to the E-420's 10 million pixels for high-resolution photos. The 10-megapixel sensor gives users the flexibility to enlarge prints to the sizes supported by many of today's printers, or crop the image to print only a part of the image that is important to them. The high-performance Live MOS image sensor in the E-420 delivers excellent dynamic range for accurate color fidelity and a new state-of-the-art amplifier circuit dramatically reduces noise and captures fine image details in the highlight and shadow areas.

Improved Auto White Balance
Many digital SLR users want to focus their attention on things other than white balance while they are on the move. As a result, the E-420 features an improved automatic white balance performance with a new algorithm for more accurate color.

TruePic III for Image Clarity & Speed
Olympus' TruePic III Image Processor produces crystal clear photos using all the pixel information for each image to provide the best digital images possible for every photo with accurate color, true-to-life flesh tones, brilliant blue skies and precise tonal representation in between. TruePic III also lowers image noise by one step to reduce graininess in images shot at higher ISO settings, enabling great results in low-light situations.

Worried about missing the winning goal at the soccer game? The image processor on the E-420 enables it to shoot up to 3.5 frames per second in sequenced shooting mode, which means that photographers will be able to capture fast-paced action as it happens.

Dust Reduction System for Spot-Free Images
Life moves too fast to spend time worrying about dust ruining your images. Olympus' proven Dust Reduction System produces spot-free photos with the exclusive Supersonic Wave Filter™. The patented ultrasonic technology vibrates to remove dust and other particles from the front of the image sensor and captures it on a special adhesive membrane every time the camera is turned on. These spot-free photos liberate users from hours spent retouching photographs at the computer or sending their cameras back to the manufacturer to remove dust trapped inside.

Media Versatility
Accepting both CompactFlash Type I & II, Microdrives, and xD-Picture Cards, the E-420 provides a choice of data storage options for enhanced flexibility, and it is possible to transfer image files from one card to the other right inside the camera.

Wireless Flash Capability
If you decide to venture into the arena of advanced lighting, the E-420 is ready to meet the challenge. The E-420 is compatible with the Olympus FL-50R and FL-36R wireless electronic flashes that are designed exclusively for digital photography. When these flashes are used in combination with the E-420, wireless multi-flash photography is possible. The E-420 can control up to three wireless flash groups independently, with several flash units per group.

Availability
The Olympus E-420 Digital SLR will be available in May 2008. It includes: E-420 Body, USB Cable, Video Cable, Li-Ion Battery Pack (BLS-1), Li-Ion Battery Charger (BCS-1), Shoulder Strap, OLYMPUS Master Software CD-ROM, Manuals and Warranty Card.

U.S. Pricing / Product Configurations
E-420 body Estimated Street Price: $499.99
E-420 with ED 14-42mm f3.5/5.6 Zuiko Digital Zoom Lens Estimated Street Price: $599.99
E-420 with ED 25mm f2.8 Zuiko Digital Lens Estimated Street Price: $699.99