The Olympus E-3 review and tutorial

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Olympus recognised this and absolutely hasn’t been shy about talking-up a successor, with prototypes apparent as continued ago as Photokina 2006. Afterwards abundant leaks and official previews, there’s absolutely not abounding surprises about the E-3’s final specifications, but as you’d apprehend accustomed the gap amid it and the E-1, it’s a decidedly added able camera in every respect, while additionally managing to abode abounding of the criticisms of the Four Thirds accepted to date.

The Olympus E-3 is the flagship DSLR of the Four Thirds standard. Officially appear in October 2007, it comes four and a bisected years afterwards its predecessor, the E-1. The aboriginal E-1 was the camera which launched the Four Thirds accepted aback in mid 2003, and it’s fair to say it’s been attractive added than a little continued in the tooth compared to rivals.

The resolution has unsurprisingly added from the E-1’s 5 Megapixels, although the E-3’s 10.1 Megapixels may not be as aerial as abounding had hoped for accustomed the price. But it’s important to agenda this is not the aforementioned sensor as begin in the entry-level E-410 and E-510 models – the E-3 employs a fresh architecture to abutment faster 5fps connected shooting, and the fastest bang is 1/8000; the accomplished acuteness is 3200 ISO. Like the customer Olympus DSLRs, the E-3 additionally supports Live View.

Following on from the E-510, the E-3 appearance congenital stabilisation by physically alive its sensor. Olympus makes big claims of up to bristles stops of compensation, and this is article we’ll be testing in this review. The camera of advance additionally employs Olympus’ SuperSonic Wave Filter (SSWF) arrangement to action dust, which in our tests with beforehand E-Series DSLRs has accurate the best able arrangement to date.

Until now, all Olympus’s DSLRs active a adequately basal three-point AF arrangement which while adequate on account models, was a anemic point for a higher-end camera. Thankfully the E-3 now appearance a cast fresh 11-point AF system. All 11 credibility are absolutely biaxial and Olympus claims it’s absolutely the world’s fastest AF arrangement aback acclimated in affiliation with the ED 12-60mm 1:2.8-4.0 SWD lens.

Composition is a highlight on the E-3. The optical viewfinders on Four Thirds DSLRs accept consistently appeared abate than battling cameras, but with the E-3, Olympus has pulled out all the stops with a ample penta-prism to bear 1.15x deepening and an absorbing 100% coverage.

We’ve long-known from assorted previews the E-3 would affection a fully-articulated flip-out screen, but it’s still a joy to acquisition it annular the back. It’s a 2.5in 230k archetypal which can cast to any bend including adverse the photographer. This makes the E-3’s Live View accessories that added useful, although it’s absorbing to agenda the camera doesn’t abutment contrast-based AF in Live View – so there’ll still be the accepted adjournment as the camera flips the mirror bottomward and up afresh to booty a reading.

Physically speaking the E-3 is additionally actual tough, antic a magnesium admixture anatomy and ecology sealings which accomplish it both burst and dust-proof.

So with the E-3 Olympus has addressed several criticisms adjoin the Four Thirds system. The viewfinder is abundant beyond than antecedent models and additionally delivers 100% coverage. The 3-point AF arrangement has additionally been replaced by a fresh 11-point arrangement which with the appropriate lens claims to be the world’s fastest. And Live View has been fabricated abundant added advantageous with a absolutely articulate screen.

Click actuality for the Olympus E-3 video tour

It’s absolutely an absorbing specification, but up adjoin actual boxy rivals in the anatomy of Canon’s EOS 40D, Nikon’s D300 and Sony’s A700. The Canon and Sony are priced acutely lower and while the Nikon costs almost the same, it offers one of the best able feature-sets on the bazaar today.

So while Olympus has pulled-out all the stops for the E-3, is it acceptable in today’s awful aggressive semi-pro market? Acquisition out in our Olympus E-3 analysis area we’ll analyze it adjoin these key rivals and see how its appearance weigh-up. And as always, for a affirmation of its key features, analysis out our Olympus E-3 video tour.