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Olympus E-420 Studio resolution / JPEG and RAW results
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To measure and compare the Olympus E-420's resolving power we photographed the Enhanced Digital Camera
Resolution Chart with it and a number of rival models, each using their
best quality JPEG and default image tone and sharpening settings. We tested the Olympus E-420 using both the Zuiko Digital 25mm pancake and the Zuiko Digital 12-60mm SWD lens at all apertures and selected the sharpest result.
The crops are taken from the original images, saved as High Quality JPEGs
in Photoshop CS2 and presented here at 100%. Each number represents 100
lines per picture height (lpph), so a figure of 20 means a resolution of
2000 lpph. |
Fitted with the Zuiko Digital 25mm pancake lens at f8, the E-420 resolved 2150 and 2200 lpph of horizontal and vertical resolution respectively. Beyond a slight increase in vertical resolution, this is essentially the same as the earlier E-410 with the 14-42mm kit zoom.
Fitting the Zuiko Digital 12-60mm SWD lens at 25mm f8, there's a small boost in horizontal resolution, but nothing to get excited about. From these results we'd say the E-420's sensor is the limiting factor here and there's no compromise in resolution by using the 25mm pancake.
We've also included scores for the Olympus E-3 and Canon EOS 450D / XSi. The E-3 delivers a slightly superior result in terms of horizontal resolution, but it's pretty close. The Canon 450D / XSi manages to resolve slightly greater detail in this test, but again there's not a great deal of difference in real-life detail as seen on the previous page.
So a good result here for the E-420 which manages to deliver a result that's as good as the best 10 Megapixel DSLRs out there.
To see how shooting in RAW affects this test, scroll to the bottom of this page, or head straight over to our Olympus E-420 noise results page where we'll see how it performs across its sensitivity range next to the Canon 400D / XTi and 450D / XSi.
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Olympus E-420
with Zuiko Digital 25mm 1:2.8 |
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Olympus E-420
with Zuiko Digital 12-60mm 1:2.8-4 SWD |
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2150 lpph, ZD 25mm, f8, 100 ISO |
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2175 lpph, ZD 12-60mm at 25mm, f8, 100 ISO |
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Olympus E-3
with Zuiko Digital 12-60mm 1:2.8-4 SWD |
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Canon EOS 450D / XSi
with EF-S 18-55mm IS
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2200 lpph, ZD 12-60mm at 25mm, f8, 100 ISO |
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2200 lpph, EF-S 18-55mm IS at 35mm, f8, 100 ISO |
Olympus E-420
with Zuiko Digital 25mm 1:2.8
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Olympus E-420
with Zuiko Digital 12-60mm 1:2.8-4 SWD
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2200 lpph, ZD 25mm, f8, 100 ISO
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2200 lpph, ZD 12-60mm at 25mm, f8, 100 ISO |
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Olympus E-3
with Zuiko Digital 12-60mm 1:2.8-4 SWD
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Canon EOS 450D / XSi
with EF-S 18-55mm IS
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2200 lpph, ZD 12-60mm at 25mm, f8, 100 ISO
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2225 lpph, EF-S 18-55mm IS at 35mm, f8, 100 ISO |
Olympus E-420 Studio resolution: JPEG versus RAW
We photographed the test chart in the E-420's RAW plus Large Fine JPEG mode, allowing us to directly compare images created from exactly the same data. Below are crops taken from the original JPEG file alongside the RAW version, processed in Olympus Master 2.05 using the default settings, saved as a 16-bit TIFF, then opened in Photoshop.
As seen on the previous page, there's virtually no difference between the processed RAW file and the in-camera JPEG, although again to be fair, the Master software was using the camera defaults.
Now let's check out the camera's performance at different sensitivities in our Olympus E-420 noise results page.
Olympus E-420 JPEG
with Zuiko Digital 25mm 1:2.8 |
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Olympus E-420 RAW
with Zuiko Digital 25mm 1:2.8 |
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2150 lpph, ZD 25mm, f8, 100 ISO |
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2150 lpph, ZD 25mm, f8, 100 ISO |
Olympus E-420 JPEG
with Zuiko Digital 25mm 1:2.8
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Olympus E-420 RAW
with Zuiko Digital 25mm 1:2.8
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2200 lpph, ZD 25mm, f8, 100 ISO
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2200 lpph, ZD 25mm, f8, 100 ISO
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