Olympus E-3 DSLR (14-54mm kit): Review

Product Details We clicked with: ISO improvements Feature-heavy Swivel screen 4/3rds compatibility Excellent build quality (plus weatherproofing) Shots in the dark: Poor menu system Fiddly buttons make layout difficult to master Expensive compared to the competition Auto white balance inaccurate

Four years ago, Olympus kicked off the 4/3rds concept in the form of the E-1, a five megapixel DSLR aimed squarely at the pro and high-end user. Four years is a lot of time in the world of DSLR, so what has happened during that time to make the new flagship Olympus E-3 DSLR a true contender in the current pro market?

Canon and Nikon currently hold the lion's share of DSLR sales - something that Olympus (among a series of other currently smaller stakeholders) would like to change. The Olympus E-3 attempts this by stuffing as many features as possible into a DSLR; features that, on paper at least, match and indeed surpass anything from CaNikon™.

Although the Olympus E-3 is designed as a pro-grade camera, in reality the target zone (price wise at least) is closer to the Canon 40D, Sony A700 or the (somewhat similar) Panasonic Lumix DMC-L10 mark.

Features & Operation:

The Olympus E-3 retains the universal 4/3rds system. There's a whole host of lenses to chose from to add some serious icing to your existing Olympus E3 cake. This compatibility is not just limited to Olympus ZUIKO DIGITAL lenses however - take your pick from recent additions from Panasonic (via the LUMIX DMC-L10 DSLR), amid a range of Sigma glass.

The particular Olympus ZUIKO DIGITAL 14-54mm (28-108mm equiv) f/2.8-f/3.5 lens that comes with this kit is a real joy. Focusing isn't at record-breaking speeds, but from lens to image the quality is held superbly. Hats off to Olympus, as many manufacturer's kit lenses really don't bring the full potential of the camera body out. In fairness, this is a 'High Grade' or 'Pro' lens ; there's and a 'Super High Grade' or 'Top Pro' 14-35 f/2 and a 'Standard' grade 14-42 f/3.5-5.6 covering roughly the same zoom range

The Olympus E-3 body looks more 'businesslike' than the smaller entry level models such as the Olympus E-510 and the new E-420. The E-3 feels chunkier and heavier in the hand, the body is weather-sealed and wears some pro-level attire; with a top-display menu and viewfinder eye cup to boot.

Olympus has gone for more than just a standard feature set. Most notably is the free-rotating 2.5" LCD screen that can twist and turn through 270degrees. Fire up the Live View mode and this bodes well for self-portraits or unusual shooting positions - plus the clever screen is programmed to auto rotate images, ensuring they always meet your eyes the right way up.

The company's excellent SuperSonic Wave Filter (SSWF) protects from dust, and in-camera image stabilisation can be flicked on or off at the click of a button - in fact there's many a 'one touch' button for ISO settings, WB (white balance), AF (auto focus), flash and Live View. This may sound good on paper, but in practice it's probably the Olympus E-3's biggest downfall - it's difficult to operate. The menu layout doesn't feel intuitive, the buttons are staggered a little haphazardly and manual white balance adjustment would be fiddly for even an octopus or a neuro-surgeon… possibly both.

This leads on to the poor battery life - a full charge on this test didn't survive long through the day where others would have persevered. Admittedly a little odd considering the success of other Olympus DSLR battery lives.

Picture Quality

Among Olympus' compact range there's often too much noise at high ISO, and this has previously been carried through to the DSLR range. However, the Olympus E-3 makes this a fear of the past - image noise even at high ISO is a considerable improvement. It's still not perfect however - the upper echelons of ISO3200 does suffer somewhat from pronounced noise:

ISO: 100

200

400

800

1600

3200

ISO 100-400 are smooth, 800 begins to show signs of noise. The often unusable Olympus ISO 1600 is a great improvement over previous models. ISO 3200 has limited application, as noise and shadow noise is notably high

This does raise the question as to how appropriate a 4/3rds sized sensor is for a pro-grade camera. Not in a philosophical kind of way, as there's no question of the image quality and standards from the E-3 - more an issue with how much sensors and imaging engines will in the future need to improve to keep up, as per the recent ISO25,600 of the Nikon D3

The Olympus E-3's Image Stabilisation is very good. That's just about the only way to explain it. Among the variety of stabilisation systems available among DSLR and lenses, the Olympus system is up there among the best. Even a hand held shot in low light at ¼ second is saved considerably with IS on, which claims to rescue as many as five stops!

Image Stabilisation on

off

Sadly auto white balance is rather hit and miss - despite a broad manual adjustment range from 1,000K to14,000K, the auto readings can often leave difficult mixed-light situations off-white:

The swivel screen is a little virtue - one of those 'extra' functions to make the Olympus E-3 stand out from the crowd. Coupled with Live View and some adjustable fill flash, the option of self-portraits (even close to camera) and the like was an easy task - something that would prove an entirely different experience with many other DSLR on the market.

The Olympus ZUIKO DIGITAL 14-54mm (28-108mm equiv) f2.8-3.5 lens successfully differentiates edges whilst any presence of chromatic aberration is held to a minimum. It's fairly sharp too, and assuming the auto focus is operating tightly then this really pushes the Olympus E-3 in kit form up the ranks.

Conclusion

The Olympus E-3 balances up its pros and cons into something of an equilibrium - to the point where excellent features are weighed down by standards that ought to be higher. Primarily it's the tricky layout, interface and buttons that are off-putting. Sure a little time buried in the manual solves a number of issues, but the often multi-button-pressing-thumb-spinny-ness just isn't distinctly user-friendly.

Despite the host of excellent features, the overall package feels a little short of its 'pro' title. Given the £1,100 (body only) price tag, that means the E-3 even out-prices the already over-expensive Panasonic Lumix DMC L10 for example. This puts the E-3 into heavy prosumer territory, up against big names like the Nikon D300 and not far from the now-discounted Canon 5D.

That all said, the ZUIKO lenses are of an excellent quality, which is great given the 4/3rds range and cross-compatibility. For an E-1 user this means the Olympus E-3 is the logical progression and an ideal replacement camera. But if you're looking for a truly pro system, then this may disappoint in practice. Whether users of other systems will be somewhat alienated remains to be seen…

Our Verdict

Sensor	10 (4/3 sensor 17.3 x 13mm)
LCD monitor	Free-rotating 2.5” TFT LCD (230,000 pixels with 15 step brightness adjustment)
Sensitivity	ISO 100-3200
Auto Focus Points	11-point
White balance	Auto, 7 modes, 4 custom presets, manual fine tuning and bracketing available
On board flash	Built in pop up, GN13
Shutter speed and flash sync	1min-1/8000th second (plus Bulb to 4 hours) Sync to 1/250th second
Continuous shooting	5fps
Storage	Compact Flash (CF), xD picture card
Battery	BLM-1 1500 mAh Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery
Lens type / fitting	All 4/3rds compatible lenses, ZUIKO DIGITAL
Other / Key features	Auto orientation on playback Live View Sensor shift Image Stabilisation Noise reduction Super Sonic Wave Filter (SSWF) Splashproof

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