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I'm not sure how I feel about this, no real worries about performance but more a concern about functional ability and maneuverability. I mean how small is too small for an SLR camera?

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0803/08030501olympuse420.asp

I added the battery grip to my Rebel XT because it felt too small. I can't imagine putting a long lens on that little Olympus.

JJCDAD wrote:

I added the battery grip to my Rebel XT because it felt too small. I can't imagine putting a long lens on that little Olympus.

Exactly, I think they are cutting out a huge part of their consumer base with this product.

Not really smaller than a d40 or xti except having less grip built up on the right (and the grip on the xti is way too narrow and uncomfortable anyway so I wouldn't be surprised if this camera was better ergonomically.) Years ago we had plenty of SLRs this size.

I'm torn. The size of my XTi is a little small for my big hands, but I really wouldn't want anything bigger size-wise. If they could figure out how to give it a bigger hand-holding area without making the entire thing bigger, then that'd be great. But that's just me.

I think it would really depend on your hand size. I have large hands and fingers so I wouldnt like it. My wife would be fine with it though. My wife had a Minolta Vectis 100 (I think) it was a SLR that used advantix film and it was tiny. She loved it because it was small and light weight but was an SLR at the same time. Now she has a Minolta Maxxum 7 DSLR she doesnt really like the size and weight of it especially with the vertical grip installed but it is a much better camera than the old Vectis was.

Concordia wrote:

JJCDAD wrote:

I added the battery grip to my Rebel XT because it felt too small. I can't imagine putting a long lens on that little Olympus.

Exactly, I think they are cutting out a huge part of their consumer base with this product.

To be honest, no. Entusiasts like to think they are the large piece of market, but all things considered, about 80-85% of all dSLR's sold is the lowests segments. Most of them also goes to people that only had a compact or slr-like camera before. most of them get at most two lenses, usually a kit-zoom and then something like the light 70-300 zooms. There you have the biggest part of the entry-level DSLR market.

Most entusiasts usually step up a notch sooner or later. And when you get up there, its still only a small part of the market. Thats where people start putting longer and heavier lenses on. And usually, most entusiasts doesnt really do it for the image quality either. Even the entry level cameras are good enough for what most people need, although the entry level lenses is decent, they arent really great when you start printing larger size. When i worked at the trade fairs though, we usually printed to 70x100 cm prints, one from a dslr-like compact and one from a dslr. And to be honest, the difference between them wasnt that large if you discount things as DOF, etc.

Every camera is likely to not appeal to a large segment of the market. If that wasn't the case companies wouldn't need to produce entire lines of cameras. In all honesty the cameras that lack mainstream appeal are, in many ways, often the most interesting/appealing. A four-thirds pancake lens (there's a 25/2.8 I think - heh, upon examination the camera is presented with it) on this camera would be pretty nifty. If olympus wants to build up market share with their new mount they need to offer compelling differences/advantages over canikon gear, even if that means making more significant compromises in overall design.

I'd consider one (as a second camera.) I would not have said that of any previous four-thirds cameras.

Aphasia wrote:

Concordia wrote:

JJCDAD wrote:

I added the battery grip to my Rebel XT because it felt too small. I can't imagine putting a long lens on that little Olympus.

Exactly, I think they are cutting out a huge part of their consumer base with this product.

To be honest, no. Entusiasts like to think they are the large piece of market, but all things considered, about 80-85% of all dSLR's sold is the lowests segments. Most of them also goes to people that only had a compact or slr-like camera before. most of them get at most two lenses, usually a kit-zoom and then something like the light 70-300 zooms. There you have the biggest part of the entry-level DSLR market.

Most entusiasts usually step up a notch sooner or later. And when you get up there, its still only a small part of the market. Thats where people start putting longer and heavier lenses on. And usually, most entusiasts doesnt really do it for the image quality either. Even the entry level cameras are good enough for what most people need, although the entry level lenses is decent, they arent really great when you start printing larger size. When i worked at the trade fairs though, we usually printed to 70x100 cm prints, one from a dslr-like compact and one from a dslr. And to be honest, the difference between them wasnt that large if you discount things as DOF, etc.

i was strictly talking the size, most people i talk to in regards to slr's are male and their biggest complaints are always that they keep making the things too small, that's all i kept hearing about the rebel series.