Posted by Jim DeWitt on October 17, 2007 at 1:26 PM
I know there aren't a lot of Olympus users at NPN - I think only 2-3 of us post regularly - but for those who, like me, have bought into the 4/3 system, be aware that the E-3 has been announced with specs. It will not ship until 15 Dec 07, however. Based on the press release data, it looks like the E-3 makes up three years of neglected development of the E-1.
The kind of Flash site that annoys Bob Steele but details the specs is at
http://www.olympusamerica.com/e3/?EMC=e3
for the curious. The price is projected to be $1,799, but Olympus products typically have a street price that is 15-30% lower. The feature set looks very promising, but you never know until you get it in your hands.
Posted by David Bostedo on October 17, 2007 at 3:26 PM
I posted something about this a little while ago here Jim.
Posted by Jim DeWitt on October 17, 2007 at 3:52 PM
Dave -
I searched on "E-3" and got nothing. I appreciate your earlier comments. I'm a pretty satisfied Olympus customer. I have a good selection of lenses, so I'm pretty much married to the 4/3 system. I like the light weight and smaller size of even powerful lenses. The 300mm f2.8 is really exceptional, and half the size of my friend's equivalent Nikanon/Canikon product. Like the E-3, it cost a little more, but at the end of a day carrying it around I'm pretty happy...
I have an E-1 and an E-500. I use the E-500 because in avian photography, you really need more than 5.5Mpx. The E-500 gives me a nominal 8.1Mpx. The E-3 will take me to 10Mpx. Plus the features you noted. I suspect that even on release date I'll be able to find one at $1,500-$1,550. For me, that makes it a no-brainer.
On January 15, Olympus will at long last ship a 2.0TC, and I'm even more excited about that...
Jim DeWitt
Posted by David Bostedo on October 17, 2007 at 4:32 PM
Hmm - I had "E-3" in the body, but "E3" in the title (which I've now fixed). I was looking at the E-510, which seems like a pretty great value, and I think I'd really like the lens line-up. However, looking through the viewfinder in the E-510 at the store seemed to be pretty small and weak to use (especially since I was also looking at the D80, 40D, and K10D).
Because I currently use a Canon S2 IS, I'd like to keep some of the P&S type things that I love about my camera. As I mentioned in my post, the E-3 seems to have most all of these - flip and twist screen, full time live view, and IS. I just want to add more DOF control, better high ISO, and a lot more than 5 MPixels.
I may still end up with the E-510, and start saving for an E-3.
One question, Jim - how do you find the noise to be at, say, ISO 400 or 800? I know it probably won't match Canon, but from what I've read, it's pretty good.
I mistakenly started a new topic on this, please delete,
Charles
Posted by David Bostedo on October 18, 2007 at 4:29 PM
Thanks for the link to pics. Nice to see that stuff is showing up. That gives a little idea of the capabilities, but I don't see any statistics along with them. It's helpful on test shots (like posts here) to see shutter speed, lens, f-stop, and ISO. I also don't like trying to judge IQ using little shots on the web. Just about every camera looks great at that size.
Actually David you can enlarge those to full screen size (1500x1100) via a slideshow control found upper right. Maybe a tad slow.
Tony at fourthirdsphoto and Ian at fourthirdsuser have working models and are putting together samples soon.
I am so pleased with my E1 that I ordered a new E3 as soon as it was announced. The Oly rep at our local camera store told me he had reserved a place for me at the top of the list and I get mine before he or any of the store staff get theirs. The staff in that store are almost exclusively Olympus users so availability for the rest of us guys is very good.
Discussion
7 repliesThe kind of Flash site that annoys Bob Steele but details the specs is at
http://www.olympusamerica.com/e3/?EMC=e3
for the curious. The price is projected to be $1,799, but Olympus products typically have a street price that is 15-30% lower. The feature set looks very promising, but you never know until you get it in your hands.
I searched on "E-3" and got nothing. I appreciate your earlier comments. I'm a pretty satisfied Olympus customer. I have a good selection of lenses, so I'm pretty much married to the 4/3 system. I like the light weight and smaller size of even powerful lenses. The 300mm f2.8 is really exceptional, and half the size of my friend's equivalent Nikanon/Canikon product. Like the E-3, it cost a little more, but at the end of a day carrying it around I'm pretty happy...
I have an E-1 and an E-500. I use the E-500 because in avian photography, you really need more than 5.5Mpx. The E-500 gives me a nominal 8.1Mpx. The E-3 will take me to 10Mpx. Plus the features you noted. I suspect that even on release date I'll be able to find one at $1,500-$1,550. For me, that makes it a no-brainer.
On January 15, Olympus will at long last ship a 2.0TC, and I'm even more excited about that...
Jim DeWitt
Because I currently use a Canon S2 IS, I'd like to keep some of the P&S type things that I love about my camera. As I mentioned in my post, the E-3 seems to have most all of these - flip and twist screen, full time live view, and IS. I just want to add more DOF control, better high ISO, and a lot more than 5 MPixels.
I may still end up with the E-510, and start saving for an E-3.
One question, Jim - how do you find the noise to be at, say, ISO 400 or 800? I know it probably won't match Canon, but from what I've read, it's pretty good.
http://marcof.smugmug.com/gallery/3669826#209730900
I mistakenly started a new topic on this, please delete,
Charles
Tony at fourthirdsphoto and Ian at fourthirdsuser have working models and are putting together samples soon.
Charles
Bob