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 6 Merchants

Performance: Superior: 90
Features: Good: 78
Design: Superior: 94

Find out how these scores, and their relative weights, combine to produce the PC World Rating.

Performance
Battery Life (minutes)	273.5
Image Quality Score	Very Good
Image Quality, Color	60.4
Image Quality, Color--Adjusted	64
Image Quality, Color--Auto	56.9
Image Quality, Distortion	65.1
Image Quality, Distortion--Noise	70.9
Image Quality, Distortion--Noise Reduction	72.3
Image Quality, Distortion--Sharp Interpolation	58.9
Image Quality, Exposure	57.2
Image Quality, Exposure--Flash	62.1
Image Quality, Exposure--Normal	55.1
Image Quality, Overall	59.2
Image Quality, Sharpness	48.8
Number of Batteries	1
Number of Shots	500

What You Should Know about the Olympus E3

Average Megapixels For an SLR

This digital SLR has an average megapixel count for its class. You can print images from an 8- to 10-megapixel camera at sizes up to 8 by 10 inches with no loss in quality; at 13 by 19 inches, however, prints will exhibit a slight loss of detail. Images from a 13-megapixel camera look good at 13 by 19 inches and can be pushed to 16 by 24 inches. Though prints at these larger sizes will lose some sharpness, they'll be superior to what you'd get from 35mm film printed at the same dimensions. You’ll also have plenty of latitude to crop and resize images. As the pixel count on an image sensor increases, so does its propensity to produce images plagued by noise--ugly speckling patterns. To avoid noise, look for a camera with the lowest pixel count that still serves your output needs.

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).