Four 5-Megapixel Cameras In Review

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Olympus E-20P

Like the old E-10, the E-20 is a digital camera that has been designed like an SLR. The viewfinder also fits into this scheme. This is the only camera out of the four that we tested where you can truly focus through the lens. The advantage is that what you see is clear and corresponds exactly to what you are focusing on in the viewfinder. However, there are disadvantages. The first drawback is that it has the darkest viewfinder of the lot. This is no problem when working outdoors, but it can be inconvenient for indoor situations, unless you have really good lighting (i.e. studio lighting). This will inevitably lead you to use the viewfinder and TFT monitor together. The other drawback is that the viewfinder only covers 91% of the area actually captured. The actual image extends fairly equally beyond all four sides.

Like the Minolta, the DSC-F707 uses an electronic viewfinder, and, happily, a much better one than the Dimage. The colors are bright and the pixels quickly refreshed. Definition is good, quite adequate for reading the biggest characters on newspapers. The choice of LCD or viewfinder is manual, with a notch above the TFT monitor to select the mode and deactivate the viewfinder. Like some optical viewfinders, there is a jog-dial for diopter adjustment or similar, which is supposed to optimize the display for your sight. Note that the area covered is exactly the same as the one captured.