Our sample E-3 has arrived!

[Ian]

I've literally just opened the box - I only have a part of the E-3 jigsaw, a body on its own (no SWD lens or power grip just yet), but it's a start.

The body only has 0.9 firmware, so I can't publish image samples.

Very first impressions are:

Wow - the hype about the improved viewfinder is all true - it's significantly larger to behold than the E-1 and makes all other E-Series finders look very petite. Job done, Olympus!

The status info is back to below the frame view and it's clearly legible.

The body itself feels solid and well made - it is slightly larger than an E-1, but only marginally - cerainly taller now there is a pop-up flash. The grip is softer in contour than the E-1 - which I think is a slight shame as I rather liked the 'hewn from stone' sharped contours of the E-1's grip. There is an interesting lip on the opposite side of the body which could be useful for consolidiating one's grip on the camera when shooting in certain attitudes - will explore that further.

The shutter/mirror action is vibration free but I feel the E-1 is quieter and more 'snappy' in its action; there is a very slight hard edge to the sound of the E-3; though not as bad as the Sony A1/A700 or Canon EOS-30D, among others. There is no motor whine that is characteristic of the E-410/510.

The card bay door is now plastic - it was a solid alloy casting on the E-1.

The USB port is now a standard mini-USB instead of the two other more proprietary connectors Olympus has used on its DSLRs to date - a welcome standardisation!

More to come - please post any questions you may have, though!

Ian

[Ian]

OK - here's five hands-on views of our evaluation E-3. You can click on the pictures to go through to the gallery to see the captions there if you wish.

Got a question? Fire away...

Ian

[marcof]

well...

- does olympus studio 2 already support the raw format?
- is ISO 3200 a "real" ISO value or a "push" value?
- how is AF with "legacy" ZDs? much faster than e.g. 14-54mm on E1, but also faster than 14-54mm on E410/510?
- more info on AF sensors and usage would be welcome

- can you rinse the camera, like the E1? 8)

[Beardedwombat]

You mentioned that the shutter was not particularly quiet, was that with a lens attached? It looks chunky and I suspect will fit my hand just right! Is the flash shoe painted metal - if so I can see that getting scratched quickly. Shame about the Olympus name on the LCD as it will be upside down much of the time.
Chris

[Ian]

Originally Posted by marcof

well...

- does olympus studio 2 already support the raw format?
- is ISO 3200 a "real" ISO value or a "push" value?
- how is AF with "legacy" ZDs? much faster than e.g. 14-54mm on E1, but also faster than 14-54mm on E410/510?
- more info on AF sensors and usage would be welcome

- can you rinse the camera, like the E1? 8)

I'll try Studio 2 shortly, but the RAW files are not loadable in to the latest Adobe Camera RAW release.

I've had a glance at ISO 3200 and it's noisy, but I haven't yet tried to clean it up. More on that to come of course - though remember, I have a pre-release body and I have noticed that not all the menu options are fully functional.

I've been using the 14-54, but I haven't noticed much difference in AF speed or focus lock reliability compared to the E-510, but the E-510 is pretty good already with its central AF point.

My DxO Analyzer test target will be a good test - not E-System camera copes well autofocusing onto this target; which is an array of black dots.

AF sensors - from what I can see, you can select any one of the 11, the central four in a vertical cross, or all 11. They are represented in the finder as small squares rather than dots.

Ian

[Ian]

Originally Posted by Beardedwombat

You mentioned that the shutter was not particularly quiet, was that with a lens attached? It looks chunky and I suspect will fit my hand just right! Is the flash shoe painted metal - if so I can see that getting scratched quickly. Shame about the Olympus name on the LCD as it will be upside down much of the time.
Chris

The shutter is quiet - the sound is dampened mechanical noise, no motor whine as in the E-510, for example, but the action lasts longer per shot and there is more complexity to what you hear.

The flash shoe is indeed black, but so was the E-1's and OK, mine has a bit of wear, but it's no big deal

The Olympus logo on the screen will be upside down in some instances, but when the screen is facing out, parked flush on the back of the camera, it's the right way around. You can also park the screen face-in to protect it.

Ian

[marcof]

I certainly like what I hear here:
http://home.tiscali.nl/dvrdata/e3shutter5fps.mp3

[marcof]

Originally Posted by Ian

You can also park the screen face-in to protect it.

which is cool actually..

"hey, is that a new camera?"
"yes, it's an olympus"
"where's the screen? must be analog, right"
"right"

[Ian]

Originally Posted by marcof

well...

- does olympus studio 2 already support the raw format?

My E-3 RAW files crash Studio on my Vista laptop

Studio 2.02 was able to communicate with the camera via USB and check and attempt to update firmware (0.9 is apparently the latest current version).

Camera Control doesn't work, though - again, Studio crashes.

Ian

[clark666]

Do you have any way to determine whether the electronics are different from the E510? I guess that the imaging sensor has the same pixel count, but the buffer seems larger and the ISO is higher, so