The Olympus E-420 DSLR Camera

Olympus is still hawking its Four Thirds imaging system around, but if there's any camera that can bring it to the mass market it's the Olympus E-420. It's small, light and unlike the old brick-shaped E-300 and E-330 that went before it, it actually looks like a camera.

The standard E-420/lens kit is a nice package, but look out for the twin lens kit which includes an excellent 40-150mm that gives you serious telephoto capability. The camera software and manual are basic, but you do get a neat training DVD. And look – two cards slots. One for xD and one for the good old CF memory cards.

The controls are nice, with an interactive interface that puts all the shooting options at your fingertips.

The picture quality of early Four Thirds cameras wasn't that great, but the Olympus E-420 is a good as any of its rivals, and colors are very natural and clear. It also has a 'live' view for framing photos on the LCD, none of the other camera's in the Olympus price class have this option.

The Olympus E-420 is one of the smallest DSLR camera's available in Thailand and it doesn't have a grip either, so it can be a slippery little beast if you've got big hands. If you shop around you probably can get the Olympus E-420 DSLR below 20,000 Baht, at a respectable electronics shop like PowerBuy it is currently 19,900 Baht for the basic kit with Zuiko 14-42mm lens.