Breaking the Barriers of Creativity

At the end of the day, every serious photographer wants pristine picture quality. The E-3 brings together a number of enhanced technologies to push the limits of digital imaging. Experience the effects of advanced image stabilization, superior color processing and precision-crafted digital specific lenses.

Product Features

• Experience the World’s Fastest Auto Focus with the Olympus exclusive 11-point biaxial auto focus system coupled with the new (SWD) Supersonic Wave Drive™ lenses. It provides exacting auto focus precision at exceptional speeds.
• Continuous shooting, up to five frames per second, means you can capture fast-moving moments in time and get amazing results. The UDMA CompactFlash compatibility enhances capture speeds for the ultimate in shooting performance.
• 1/8000-second high-speed, high-precision shutter
• Effectively reduce blur with Olympus exclusive Supersonic Wave Drive (SWD) in-body Image Stabilization System. Get up to a five step EV stabilization effect with all Zuiko Digital Lenses, and all Four Thirds Format Lenses.
• A newly developed high-performance
• The Olympus exclusive TruePic® III digital image processing system produces superior image quality and shadow detail.
• Olympus Zuiko Digital Lenses — designed specifically for the demands of digital photography — deliver sharp, high-quality color accuracy to the image sensor for amazing photographs.
• Live View shooting provides the next generation of composition control in digital SLR photography.
• The 2.5-inch dual-axis, free-angle swivel Live View monitor provides a 100% accurate representation of your shooting scene. Additionally, the E-3’s HyperCrystal™ wide-angle display, with 360-degree articulation, makes composition and image viewing possible at any angle.
• The E-3’s proven Dust Reduction System
• The 100% accurate high eye point optical viewfinder
• A Rugged magnesium-alloy construction coupled with advanced splash and dust protection, make the E-3 the perfect choice for photographers who demand the most from their equipment, in any situation.
• Durable shutter mechanism tested to 150,000 cycles.

Durable shutter mechanism tested to 150,000 cycles

The pro-level shutter ensures reliability, even at five frames per second, thanks to a durable shutter mechanism tested to 150,000 cycles, making the E-3 the camera of choice for photographers who demand durability from their equipment.

Product Specs

Olympus E-3’s Review

dpreview.com

06/25/09

Four years is a very long time in the digital camera market, and four years in the digital SLR market is virtually a lifetime. In the four-odd years between the launch of the Olympus E-1 - the camera that heralded the first all-new SLR system for over a decade - and its successor the E-3, the DSLR landscape has changed beyond recognition, with prices dropping and capabilities soaring. The world moved on whilst the Olympus professional system stood still, looking more and more irrelevant and less and less like a serious contender to the long-standing Canon/Nikon duopoly in the pro market.

Of course the Olympus range itself wasn’t standing still, and after a few false starts (mainly caused by the almost suicidal tendency for Olympus industrial designers to produce cameras that didn’t look like cameras) and some flashes of inspired innovation (bringing live view, kicking and screaming, to the SLR market, for example) the E-series started to be taken a lot more seriously.

But whilst Olympus fans’ spirits were buoyed by the introduction of well-reviewed and popular models such as the E-500 and the current E-410/E-510 duo, the lack of a high end model to replace the ageing E-1 - or anything in the E-series range to compete with high end ‘semi pro’ models like the Nikon D200 - was the cause of great concern. It’s all very well having superb glass (and few would disagree that Olympus produces some of the best lenses on the market today) if there isn’t a similarly well-specified camera to put behind it.

And so the E-3, the long-awaited successor to the E-1, has finally arrived. To say that it carries a heavy weight of expectation on its broad shoulders is putting it lightly; this is the camera that will decide for once and for all whether Olympus has what it takes to crack the Nikon/Canon stronghold, or is to remain forever a niche player in the professional market.
Compared to E-1 - key differences

It almost seems pointless to talk about how the E-3 compares to its predecessor; the time gap between them is so great that they have very little in common; the E-3 is a totally new camera that has obviously been designed to go head-to-head with the likes of Nikon’s D300 and Canon’s 40D at the very top of the market, at the point where the distinctions between ‘high end enthusiast’, ‘semi professional’ and ‘professional’ get very blurred. Before we return the E-1 to the museum of digital antiquities for good let’s have a (brief) look at what’s changed - and what hasn’t - in the in intervening years.

* New sensor (10MP Live MOS vs 5MP CCD) and latest TruPic III processor
* Live view
* Sensor-shift image stabilization
* All-new autofocus system (11-point AF, claimed to be world’s fastest with certain zoom lenses)
* Faster continuous shooting, bigger buffer
* Higher top shutter speed (1/8000 sec) and higher flash sync speed (1/250 sec)
* Improved viewfinder (bigger, brighter)
* Bigger, higher resolution vari angle screen
* Masses more customization options