Impressions of E-410 kit

Olympus E-410 with 14-42mm kit lens

At the end of last week I gave my first impressions of the Olympus E-410 camera body, and today I'll give my first impressions, with the Olympus 14-42mm kit lens mounted. As noted in my impressions of the camera body, the weight and size of this combination is delightful to say the least. The body is small and light, and the lens is the same. Size wise the Olympus 14-42mm is small, in fact it is only slightly larger than the Nikon 50mm 1.8D! Auto focus is extremely fast, at least as fast as the Nikon 18-70mm DX AF-S lens, if not faster. Noise wise, the 14-42mm kit is louder, more so than the Nikon 18-55mm, but not by much. Despite its plastic build, the lens feels well made enough to carry around, although I would give the edge to Nikon's kit lenses, in some ways. I don't think the lens would survive many drops or bumps though. The lens and camera balance out nicely in your hands, and is very comfortable to hold. The size and weight of the kit go together to make that comfortable grip possible. A heavier lens might not be as comfortable to hold, but since I've not used any others it is hard to say. Well that is all for today, I'll post a full review in a few weeks from now. Later this week I'll be posting my review of the Nikon D300.