Olympus Olympus E3

84

Very Good

Avg User Rating
4 User Reviews | add yours »

Pros
Rotating, swiveling LCD with live view
Very quick autofocusing
Cons
Very heavy

$1,050.00 - $1,309.99
From 5 Merchants

Olympus E3 Digital SLR Camera Review

by Tracey Capen, PC World

- Updated 12/23/08: The 10.1-megapixel E3, the top dog in Olympus's line of digital single-lens-reflex (DSLR) cameras, is an attractive package for both pros and serious amateurs. You have to be serious about your photography--and have plenty of arm strength--though, because the bulky E3 body alone costs $1700 and weighs just under 2 pounds. Adding the lenses increases both the cost and the heft: The 12mm-to-60mm (24mm-to-120mm, 35mm equivalent) zoom I received with the E3 makes the package $2700, and together the body and lens tip the scales at an arm-fatiguing 3.25 pounds.

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User Reviews for Olympus Olympus E3

Reviewed by: slicksta65

Duration of ownership:

Strengths: Autofocus / Build quality

Weaknesses: Still a bit Pricey

Overall Evaluation: I'm not a pro, but I sure feel like one with the E-3 in hand. This was an upgrade from the E-300 and after 1 month I am very pleased. Auto focus is quick and accurate even in low light and without the new SWD lenses. So far I've used the 14-54 and the 50-200 on it and I'm very impressed with the pics. I'll update once I get a chance to use the 50 and the 7-14. After learning what needed to be tweaked on the E-300, I was able to get some amazing shots. And I'm sure once I'm comfortable with the E-3 I'll be able to take it to the next level. So far I've taken some softball pics and was pleased with the action shots I was able to capture. If your into the 4/3 system, I don't think you will be disappointed. Prior to this I looked into Canon and Nikon. Canon in my opinion in this price range is of much cheaper build quality. And though Nikon was a close runner up for me, I've always been impressed with the color achieved and the quality of the Olympus glass.
Reviewed by: am1man

Duration of ownership:

Strengths: Quick focus with new lens

Weaknesses: Menus, functions, buttons

Overall Evaluation: A longtime Oly fan I had to buy a Nikon D200 a while back because Olympus did not have anything comparable in same price range. Now that the E-3 is out I got one. I am disappointed. Biggest headache is the single focus point procedure. In the Nikon if you want to be able to manually choose the one single focus point from the many available you just set it up in the menu and then, using your thumb on the back directional button, move the selected focus point to wherever you want it for each shot. On the Oly E-3 you can't set this up in the menu, per se. You choose that type of focus selection BUT for each and every shot you first have to press this small focus selection button on the back corner of the camera with one finger and then with your thumb use the 4 arrow buttons on the back (not a single form-fitting thumb button like the Nikon) to move the highlighted focus point. You can also scroll through them all with the 2 wheels until you land on the one you want. You can not set it up to do this for every shot without having to "activate" it first with this little button. A lot of finger moving and time wasted and missed shots. The Nikon is sooooo much easier. I consider this a major problem with the E-3. The Menus are not as easy or as detailed as in the D200. No battery info, just icon when Full and when Low so you have no idea about how much batt power you have used or have left until it is critical. Manual power selection for the internal flash are about half as many as in the D200. D200 has Full, 1/2,1/4,1/8,1/16,1/32,1/64, and 1/128. The E-3 only has Full,1/4,1/16, and 1/64. Now why is that? Seems to me it is just a simple software function in the firmware so why so few choices? I'm not so worried about the smaller ones but, gee, where is 1/2 and 1/8? Those would be the ones I would use a lot. Oly has a good camera and then screws it up with these little things that drive you crazy but would seem so easy to correct in the firmware. A toggle button on the back instead of the 4 arrow buttons is needed too. Bottom Line- So far I am sorry I got the E-3 (and with the new expensive 12-60mm lens).

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