Digital Home Thoughts: Olympus E-3 Reviewed

"Olympus has finally announced their long-awaited flagship DSLR camera, the E-3. Billed as a pure pro camera, the Olympus E-3 is really more comparable to the cameras by Olympus's competitors that we've been categorizing as semi-pro, such as the Pentax K10D, Canon 40D, and Nikon D200. Whatever you call it though, there's no question that the new E-3 represents a sizable leap forward in technology and sophistication for the Olympus SLR line. With the E-3, Olympus introduces their first new autofocus sensor in years: an 11-point array, each point consisting of twin cross-type AF sensors. They're claiming this is the fastest AF system on the market. Combined with greater 1.15x magnification in the E-3's viewfinder, framing and focusing with this Four-Thirds camera is a lot easier than past Olympus models."



Here is another good write-up on the E-3 from Four Thirds Photo. The E-3 is Olympus' first camera in the camera space that is traditionally been owned by cameras like the Canon EOS 40D or Nikon D300. I can go on an on about the features - super fast shutter speed, 11 AF points, CF and xD card slots, viewfinder magnification, dicated processors handle three separate functions (one for image stabilization, one for autofocus, and the TruePic III for image processing), and the list goes on. I think the camera looks absolutely great. Although I feel that the $1699 price point is a bit high. If Olympus really wants to make a dent in this market, it might have been better to lower the price point to make it more attractive to users (especially first time DSLR users).