Olympus E-400: World's Smallest DSLR, But Not Available in US? Huh?

Here's a bit of frustrating news: Olympus announced its E-400 10-megapixel camera, calling it "the world's smallest digital SLR," and the next thing we know the company drops the bomb that the camera won't be available in North America. Gee, thanks, Olympus. Change that.

It's pretty small, too—look at that insert picture to the right, and you'll see how it could just about fit in the palm of your hand. It reminds us of that "OM" series of film SLRs we had years ago, which packed a lot of big features into its small size.

So let's figure out what we won't be getting: it has a 2.5-inch LCD viewscreen and a sophisticated optical viewfinder, too. Olympus added an amplifier circuit that reduces noise, and at the same time speeds up its operation, allowing it to snap off three frames per second. Plus, it uses the full line Olympus's schweet Zuiko Digital Top Pro Lenses, along with a variety of accessories. If you're intimidated by all the high-tech manual stuff, it also has 31 scene modes to tailor its automatic shooting to your situation. Shipping in November, no price was mentioned yet. – Charlie White

10.0 million pixel Olympus E-400 [Digital Photography Review]