Olympus E420 Digital Camera

Digital SLRs are great for taking pictures but their size and weight have made them less than ideal for the on-the-go Biz Fast Tracker. That's changed though with the new Olympus E-420 digital camera, a DSLR that weighs just 13.4 ounces and has dimensions that are so svelte, it rivals smaller point-and-shoots. In fact, the Olympus E-420 digital camera is the smallest and lightest consumer digital SLR on the market right now and when it's paired with Olympus' new ultra-compact lens -- the Zuiko 25mm f/2.8 "Pancake" lens -- you could easily stash this DSLR into your coat pocket or a brief case or laptop bag, and hit the road on your next business trip.

I recently got a chance to test out the Olympus E-420 digital camera with the 25mm pancake lens ($699 as a kit, $499 camera body alone), and while I didn't bring it on a business trip, I tested it under similarly strenuous circumstances -- a hike along the harrowing rocky slopes of Breakneck Ridge in the Hudson Highlands in New York. The Olympus E-420, which, excluding protrusions, measures 5.1 inches by 3.6 inches by 2.1, turned out to be the ideal DSLR for such an adventure, especially when paired with the pancake lens. I just put on my best set of hiking boots, slid the E-420 into the pocket of a pair of cargo shorts, packed plenty of water in my backpack, and started the climb with my fiancé and a couple of friends, one of whom was celebrating her birthday.

Real Live Shooting on the LCD
The Olympus E-420 is a 10MP DSLR which is plenty of resolution if you want to print your images as large as 13x19-inches -- an ideal size for the sort landscape photos of the Hudson River I hoped to capture from atop Breakneck Ridge. (Obviously,10MP is more than enough resolution for most business applications such as headshots, images for PowerPoint presentations, real estate photography, product shots for advertising, etc.) The E-420 also has a generously-sized LCD screen, which at 2.7 inches is well suited for the camera's Live View function, which lets you preview your images on the display before you snap them just like on a point-and-shoot camera.

The Live View feature came in very handy for capturing images from interesting angles as we hiked up Breakneck Ridge. Because the Olympus E-420 is so small and light, I was able to work my way over the rocks with one hand, while using the other hand to hold the the camera. Though this technique is not recommended -- a couple times I almost slipped! -- it allowed me to frame shots of the Hudson River from precarious positions while using Live View. (By the way, the more substantial handgrip on the E-420 -- an improvement from its predecessor, E-410 -- made the camera comfortable to hold.)

The 2.7-inch LCD uses what Olympus calls HyperCrystal II Technology which is designed to deliver more contrast and better viewing in extreme lighting. All marketing jargon aside, the technology really worked, allowing me to clearly frame my shots of the surrounding mountains and my friends on the LCD despite the bright, late morning sun. Olympus rates the viewing angle on the LCD at up to 176 degrees, and in my testing, it was definitely close to that, letting me view the image on the screen whether I had the camera above my head or down at my knees. Ideally though, I would've have preferred to have the LCD either tilt or swivel out so you could get some really interesting angled shots though that would likely have increased the size and weight of the E-420.

Olympus was a pioneer in offering Live View on a digital SLR -- a feature now available from several other DSLR manufacturers -- and they've once again raised the bar with their latest iteration of the technology on the E-420. Along with being able to view images on the LCD, you can now easily autofocus on the screen. Though some competing manufacturers are offering similar Live View focusing capabilities, the E-420's "On-Screen Autofocus" is the