To eliminate the effect of the E-400’s in-camera processing and compression, we set it to record a RAW file at the same time as an SHQ JPEG, again using the default Vivid Colour Mode. The JPEG and RAW files measured 7.06MB and 21MB respectively.

The RAW file was processed with Adobe Camera RAW using the default settings (and 'As Shot' White Balance), then transferred to Photoshop with 16-bit tonal depth, before converting to 8-bit then cropping and saving using the same JPEG settings as above.

Using the Adobe Camera RAW defaults and 'As Shot' White Balance, the processed RAW file is considerably more saturated than the in-camera JPEG, something which is particularly apparent on the lake colour. Although we should say, the lake on the day more resembled the colour on the right. Even with the levels applied by ACR, there's arguably greater tonal detail in the RAW sample, especially in the trees, but still some annoying artefacts around the roofs on the far left side. Of course as always, different source material, not to mention different RAW converters may deliver different results.

One thing we should mention though is Olympus' continued (and much appreciated) strategy of offering a very low compression SHQ JPEG mode in addition to more typical compression ratios. This SHQ mode may deliver relatively hefty files, but virtually eliminates the effect of JPEG compression on images. It's a great option to have and we'd like to see similar low compression modes available on all digital cameras.