Olympus Camedia E-20N

Olympus E-20N Review

by Tracey Capen

- WHAT'S HOT: Through-the-lens viewing tops this camera's extensive list of features; unlike the tiny, straight-through optical viewfinders on most digital cameras, the E-20N's is big, bright, and more precise, especially for macro shooting. A second significant advantage of the E-20N is that it lets you see the aperture and shutter-speed settings in the viewfinder. This rare capability makes using aperture-priority, shutter-priority, and manual exposure modes truly practical. Another seldom-seen feature is multiple-media support: The E-20 comes with a modest 32MB SmartMedia card (we think at least 64MB would be more appropriate for a 5-megapixel camera), but it can also use CompactFlash media and IBM's Microdrive. The E-20N's heavy aluminum body gives it a rugged, durable feel, and it operates smoothly and quietly. The unit's lens moves relatively quickly throughout its zoom range. Most digital cameras lose two or three full f-stops as you zoom to their maximum telephoto range, but the E-20N drops only from f2 to f2.4. Multiple buttons let you speedily adjust the more commonly used controls; among them are two dedicated white-balance buttons, the first for one-touch instant calibration (which helps with recording accurate colors) and the second for switching between white-balance modes. All of the controls are well placed, maximizing their functionality under a variety of shooting conditions.