And so onto the Olympus E-3....
A titan of a camera which has been on the market place for around one year. The question is, can the E-3 compete in the marathon or is it just a sprint finish machine?
The first thing I noted about the E-3 when loaned it from Olympus is the sheer build quality. Having owned and used several 'high end' cameras in the field one has to say that build wise this is right up there. I would perhaps go so far to say that I think the build is better than my D3. It really is a colossal camera and the sublime feel with the camera in the hand would make me want to shell out on it on this alone. The ergonomics of the machine are sound and whilst some complaint has been bemoaned at the bevelled buttons, I cant see it being a real issue unless you are wearing gloves. Button placement is sound and the twin dials control F stop, much like the Nikon twin dials. Twin LCD screens allow on the fly changes to be made with the camera around the neck and intuitive use would only be a matter of time. I dont like the in camera engine. The 'graphics' are out of date although easy to navigate. The flip screen is a nice touch and once the histogram has been dialed in, you can simply turn the screen on itself and use it as a standard DSLR sans screen. There are some splendid touches on the body and in particular, Nikon should be ashamed of the ropey D700 door that is in place when compared to the E-3's locking compartment which can house both CF and XD.
Onto the picture quality. Good, very good. I believe that we are in an age where cameras are now outclassing the ability of the photographer at hand and this machine is testament to that. 4/3rds technology has been much derided but the ISO performance is up there with Canon's Mark II series cameras and certainly up there with Nikons D200/D2x range. Sadly it cannot compete with the Mark III / series 3 machines from either company but is it supposed to? Press photographers do not consume themselves with what a camera can or cant do - they take pictures and get them in print. 1600 ISO is a moot point at 72 dpi.
The auto focus, claimed to be up there with the best in the world, is fast, very fast and I do like the way you can move you focal point around on the rule of thirds.
There is also a big public misunderstanding of 4/3rds as a system. Some say that the shape of the chip set mirrors that of film, other say that smaller cameras are better but essentially 4/3rds cameras allow light to hit the sensor at right angles thus getting the best out of the machine as the rear element sits over the middle of the sensor. This results in little to no vignetting, no diffraction and wonderfully straight vertical lines. When stacked up to a Canon 5D with a 17-40L, the E-3 knocks it into a cocked hat on geometry, but not low light performance.
As ever, getting the best out of your camera is using it in the right way. Would I shoot Premiership Rugby or FA Football with this? No. However, if I was ready to go travelling again or patrol the streets to snap every day life I think that I would cash in the Nikon kit and seriously think about one of these. After all, it is an Olympus machine, a camera reared in the school of hard knocks and Olympus themselves like the greek gods before them are a company that have been running the marathon's on dusty roads for quite some time....
