The Olympus E-400 is a

digital single-lens reflex camera A digital single-lens reflex camera (digital SLR or DSLR) is a digital camera that combines the optics and the mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera with a digital imaging sensor. The reflex design scheme is the primary difference between ...

launched by

Olympus Olympus or Olympos ( grc, Ὄλυμπος, link=no) may refer to: Mountains In antiquity Greece * Mount Olympus in Thessaly, northern Greece, the home of the twelve gods of Olympus in Greek mythology * Mount Olympus (Lesvos), located in Le ...

on 14 September 2006, using the Four Thirds System lens mount standard. This 10 megapixel camera could be compared to other DSLRs unveiled during the summer of 2006 with comparable pixel count and price range: the Sony α 100, the Nikon D80, the

Canon EOS 400D The EOS 400D, called Digital Rebel XTi in North America and EOS Kiss Digital X in Japan, is an entry-level digital single-lens reflex camera introduced by Canon on 24 August 2006. Details It is the successor of the Canon EOS 350D, and upgrade ...

and the Pentax K10D.

Features

The E-400 is notable for its small size, omitting the hand grip and exploiting the smaller sensor. It weighs only 375g and approaches manual focus film SLRs sizes, reminiscent of the

Olympus OM system The Olympus OM System was a line of 35mm single-lens reflex cameras, lenses and accessories sold by Olympus between 1972 and 2002. The system was introduced by Olympus in 1972. The range was designed by Yoshihisa Maitani, chief designer for Olympu ...

. It was accompanied by two new small zoom lenses, a 14–42 mm (28–84 mm 135 film format equivalent) f/3.5–5.6 standard zoom weighing 190g and a 40–150 mm (80–300 mm equivalent) f/4.0–5.6 long zoom weighing 220g. The body and single lens kit have a 700GB£

MSRP The list price, also known as the manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP), or the recommended retail price (RRP), or the suggested retail price (SRP) of a product is the price at which its manufacturer notionally recommends that a retailer ...

and 850GB£ for the two lens kit. The E-400, like all of the Olympus E-system cameras, uses Olympus' patented

Supersonic Wave Filter Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound (Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...

dust reduction system A dust reduction system, or dust removal system, is used in several makes of digital cameras to remove dust from the image sensor. Every time lenses are changed, dust may enter the camera body and settle on the image sensor. Digital single-l ...

to shake dust from the sensor during startup and when requested by the user; this largely eliminates the problem of dust accumulation on the surface of the image sensor. The E-400 was controversial because Olympus only marketed it in Europe. The rest of the world had to wait for the E-410, which did not arrive until the spring of 2007 and did not include the same Kodak sensor as the E-400. The E-410 replaced the Kodak sensor with the Panasonic sensor. Some claim the Kodak sensor produced smoother gradations and a higher quality image at lower ISO numbers.

References

* E-400 Four Thirds System Cameras introduced in 2006 {{photo-stub