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.