Olympus E-400 with Zuiko Digital 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 ED
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Written by Gordon Laing
Olympus E-400 wide-angle geometry comparison
Olympus E-400 results continued…
Outdoor / Resolution / Noise / Noise 2 / Corner sharpness / Fringe & macro / Geometry / Vignetting
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 | To measure and compare the Olympus E-400’s kit lens geometric distortion we photographed a test chart consisting of a grid pattern, using it and a number of rival models. Here are the results for each camera with their kit lenses at their widest focal length; where possible, the aperture was closed. The images were analysed with Imatest using 5th Order line calculation and the full areas presented here at a reduced resolution. | |
14-42mm at 14mm f8 | ||
| The image above was taken with the Olympus E-400 using the Zuiko Digital 14-42mm kit lens zoomed-out to 14mm. Barrel distortion was measured at 2.97% which is superior to both the Canon and Olympus E-500 kit lenses, although slightly below the Leica 15-50mm. |
Canon 400D / XTi Using EF-S 18-55mm |
Olympus E-500 Using ZD 14-45mm |
Panasonic L1 Using Leica 14-50mm | ||
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18-55mm EF-S at 18mm f8 Distortion: 3.35% barrel |
14-45mm at 14mm f8 Distortion: 3.28% barrel |
14-50mm at 14mm f8 Distortion: 2.80% barrel |
Olympus E-400 telephoto geometry comparison
 | To measure and compare the Olympus E-400’s kit lens geometric distortion we photographed a test chart consisting of a grid pattern, using it and a number of rival models. Here are the results for each camera with their kit lenses at their longest focal length; where possible, the aperture was closed. The images were analysed with Imatest using 5th Order line calculation and the full areas presented here at a reduced resolution. | |
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14-42mm at 42mm f8 Distortion: 0.21% barrel | ||
| The image above was taken with the Olympus E-400 using the Zuiko Digital 14-42mm kit lens zoomed-in to 42mm. Interestingly while most lenses of this focal range exhibit pincushion distortion when zoomed-in, the Olympus 14-42mm exhibits slight barrelling instead; similarly the Leica 14-50mm barrels when zoomed-in too. In terms of the degree of distortion though, the Olympus 14-42mm is still lower than the Canon and the E-500’s kit lenses, although once again the Leica lens shows the least distortion. |
Canon 400D / XTi Using EF-S 18-55mm |
Olympus E-500 Using ZD 14-45mm |
Panasonic L1 Using Leica 14-50mm | ||
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18-55mm EF-S at 55mm f8 Distortion: 0.389% pincushion |
14-45mm at 45mm f8 Distortion: 0.48% pincushion |
14-50mm at 50mm f8 Distortion: 0.14% barrel |
