Olympus Olympus E3

The E3 has highly customizable controls. Dual selector dials--one on the back, one on the front--are now commonplace on DSLRs. But you can reassign the E3's dials in a number of useful ways; you can, for example, set one to adjust the f-stop and the other to change the shutter speed. The same is true for the camera's many other controls; for example, the AE/AL button can lock the exposure value, or the focus, or both. All of that means less adapting to the camera and more adapting the camera to your way of shooting.

The theme extends to many of the creative controls in the E3's menu system. Some examples include the E3's implementation of automatic bracketing, which includes options for exposure, white balance, flash, and (new to me) ISO or image sensitivity bracketing. The E3 offers extensive control over color balance, as well: You can fine-tune all of the presets and color temperature settings along the red-green axis.

That level of control is a good thing, because the E3's color balance was off in some shooting situations. When I first started shooting with the E3 I was, to put it mildly, disappointed in the photos. For shots taken under difficult conditions--landscapes with lots of snow, water, and sky--all of my images were a stop-and-a-half underexposed and looked as if I had forgotten to remove a dark-blue filter. Correcting these shots (taken in RAW format) on my computer soaked up a lot of time. Extensive use of bracketing helped only a little. Fortunately, subsequent sessions with more mundane subjects, such as cars, homes, small still lifes, and dogs, produced far better results--accurate colors, outstanding details, and only the slight underexposures that are common in DSLRs.

Among the more interesting controls found in the E3 is an antishock mode, which trips the shutter from 1 to 30 seconds after you press the shutter release and the mirror snaps up--useful for macro work where you remembered to bring your tripod but forgot the (optional) wireless remote. Image stabilization is controlled within the camera, so the function works with all Olympus Zuiko lenses.

The Master 2 image editing application included with the E3 is a capable product, with a good selection of editing tools. If you want batch-processing capabilities, you'll have to upgrade to the $100 Studio 2, available from Olympus as an online download. (A 30-day trial version of Studio 2 is included on the Master 2 CD.) If you are an Adobe Photoshop CS3 jockey, the latest version of Camera Raw reportedly supports the Olympus RAW format. If you're on Photoshop CS2, you're probably facing an expensive upgrade, because the older version of Camera Raw that's compatible with CS2 won't recognize the E3's files.

Overall, I enjoyed using the E3. It feels comfortable in the hand, its magnesium body looks and feels durable--ready for extensive time in the field--and operating the controls is quick and efficient. And unlike my experience with many cameras, I could read the color LCD, even with my dark, polarized sunglasses on. As someone who shoots extensively in the mountains, my only concern is the color balance issue.