Big and Small

It need hardly be reiterated that we're a big fan of small here (babies, baby vegetables, genetically-altered miniature giraffes, 12" Powerbooks) so the news that Olympus was launching a new digital SLR, the E-400, was excitedly received. Why? Well, partly because I think their E-1 is the most fantastic camera on the face of the planet but also because the E-400 is by far the smallest digital SLR ever produced.



It looks bigger in the photo but, actually, it's pretty much the same size as Olympus's much-esteemed OM series from the late seventies. Which were very small indeed.

Now, Olympus made the curious marketing decision to limit the release the E-400 to Europe only and, needless to say, this has made America not a little unhappy. There are American photographers all over the net, livid that they'll have to import something from Europe for a change; that they'll have to pay European prices AND get kicked in the teeth by postage, custom duties, and handling fees; that it's all so, so unspeakably unfair.

It does seem a little odd but presumably there are legitimate manufacturing and marketing reasons underpinning the decision. That said, there is something of a poetic justice to it. America is, after all, the land of big, the land of supersize. And they thrusted upon the more unsuspecting of us, the desire for cars like this: