New Olympus E-30 released (1 Viewer)

[NoSpringChicken]

Olympus have released details of the new E-30 to fit between the E-520 and E-3. It has a 12.3 Megapixel sensor and a swivelling LCD screen. It also has some rather pointless sounding in-camera features such as Art Filters.

I suppose the most important thing is the image quality and, hopefully, improved dynamic range and reduction of noise with the new sensor. I look forward to seeing the first reviews.

Details are on the Olympus sites, including the UK one here:
http://www.olympus.co.uk/consumer/dslr_digital_slr_e-30_20234.htm

Ron

 

[SteveClifton]

News of this camera seems to be receiving a lukewarm reception on the four thirds site. Although it's aimed between the E3 and E520, pricing seems to be aimed nearer to the much more expensive E3, which might make it less desireable to 'hobby' shooters like me who might be looking to upgrade from an E510 sometime in the next couple of years.

Olympus seem commited to releasing new models every year or so. I just wish they were quicker at releasing a longer more affordable telephoto in the 300-400 range. They already have the 300 range covered by 2 lenses, but I'm not interested in either as the 70-300 isn't fast enough for me, and the 300 f2.8 is way too pricey!

I have the 50-200 SWD which is a cracking lens, if a bit too short for most birds. The 1.4x converter will be my next purchase when the credit card recovers, and it should add a little more reach, but a 100-400SWD zoom would be my ideal choice for my next major lens purchase. I just don't know whether this is on their radar, or even if it's likely to be a priority in the market they're aiming for.

Steve

 

[RAH]

I agree Steve that some type of 400mm lens would nice. Meanwhile, concerning the new camera model, I think the most interesting thing is the "new sensor." Isn't the sensor on the E3 the same as the one used in the E-510 and E-520? I think so. There has been a lot of hand-wringing that the current Oly sensor will never be able to match the sensor in some of the newer cameras (esp the Canon 50D). Well, maybe this newer sensor will help with this problem (if it is a problem, which is very debatable).

 

[SteveClifton]

I agree Steve that some type of 400mm lens would nice. Meanwhile, concerning the new camera model, I think the most interesting thing is the "new sensor." Isn't the sensor on the E3 the same as the one used in the E-510 and E-520? I think so. There has been a lot of hand-wringing that the current Oly sensor will never be able to match the sensor in some of the newer cameras (esp the Canon 50D). Well, maybe this newer sensor will help with this problem (if it is a problem, which is very debatable).

I think you're correct about the same sensor in the E3 and E510/E520, though I think they managed to squeeze a bit more performance out of it in the E3.

To be honest this 'pissing contest' (as someone called it on the 4/3 forum, between the different manufacturers) is a bit boring really. I'm sure we all know a few 'photographers' with top-spec cameras that never take a decent picture, and likewise, we also probably know others who know their subject inside out, and how to use their gear well enough to get fantastic shots with fairly basic gear.

Of course, improved ISO performance would be more useful to most of us than the extra few pixels on the sensor. I just hope that Olympus value this enough to give its customers what they really need, rather than become tied up in the pixel war. This, and a commitment to filling some of the glaring gaps in their lens lineup would do far more to convince me that they are worth sticking with.

At the moment I don't think any one company has a clear lead unless you can afford to spend big money on your kit, but I suppose in the next year or two we will start to see which manufacturer is really ahead of the game and give us the features and equipment we really need at a reasonable cost. I'm not sentimental about my gear, and if it's not Olympus that delivers this I'll just sell my existing gear and switch brands. For the moment though, I'm quite happy to continue learning with what I've got.

Steve

 

[RAH]

Yes, I agree that the MP wars are overblown, and I think that once they reached the 8MP count, you pretty much have all you need. However, it is also true that if you could have say 15MP with the same or better low ISO performance, at the same or lower price, that would be even better. The worry with the current 10MP sensor is that it seems to have reached its limit. Looking to the future, seems like you need something new.

 

[Derry]

personally I love the MP war and would hope some day to see a 30MP in my camera with a decent price,, many times a crop is needed and that is when the deficiency is shown,, for most bird photos the frame is never filled and to pull a decent head photo with any feather detail the higher MP shows its colors,,

I see the same in much of the children's sports I shoot,, when a player is in for the dunk (basketball) a full body in the air photo is great but many times the parents also ask for a head, arm and basket photo requiring serious cropping,,

computer storage is so low theses days with a Terabyte costing a couple hundred storage is not a problem,,

bring on the MP,, I love em,,

Derry

 

[RAH]

Derry, I agree with you for the most part - the more MP you have, the more you can crop and still have a remaining image that can be printed large. However, I have noticed that OPTICS themselves are definitely a limiting factor. In other words, if I take a picture where the bird only fills a small portion of the frame and then crop it a lot, the bird isn't sharp enough, or certainly not as sharp as it would have been had I been closer.

In other words, in say 5 years, when we have 25MP cameras that take huge images, even if you crop a tremendous amount and still have a 2000 x 1600 image left over, the resulting image may not look like we are hoping, because of optics performance. I suppose they can tweak the results with hardware/software, but you are running up against physical optical problems.

But, OK, I'm ready for more MP too, regardless...

 

[Derry]

RAH, agree with you on the optics,, I have Olys best glass and so far I have not found the glass to be the limiting department,,

have the 35-100, 12-60, 50-200, 50 macro and the EC1.4,, from the thousands of photos I have taken with the E3 I have not found the resolving power of these lens to be behind the cameras sensor gathering of detail,,

I have tried a few kit lens that could not resolve that well with serious cropping,,

Derry

 

[NoSpringChicken]

Wrotniak now has an E-30 and has given a few of his initial impressions. There should be more to come in a few days. He seems quite impressed at the moment and I trust his reviews more than most. This camera is sounding rather interesting as it is smaller and, hopefully, cheaper than the E-3, whilst retaining most of the important features of its big brother.

http://wrotniak.net/photo/news.html

For anyone who doesn't know his site, it is well worth having a look around as it contains a wealth of information about all aspects of Olympus equipment.

Ron

 

[Cristian Mihai]

On amazon (America) a E-30 body has a price about 1270$. It is pretty expensive for me. A good price would be somewhere around 800$...

 

[eastwood]

I love the 2X crop and the sensor-based IS of Olympus, but their lens seems more expensive, got less choice, and not too many third party lens to choose from. Also the olympus lens are heavier. (300 f2.8 is over 3 Kg Vs. Canon's 2.6 Kg)

 

[NoSpringChicken]

Wrotniak has now posted a complete, and very favourable, review of the E-30 on his website now:

http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/43/e30-rev.html

I think the price needs to come down quite a bit before I could consider one.

Ron

 

[RAH]

I love the 2X crop and the sensor-based IS of Olympus, but their lens seems more expensive, got less choice, and not too many third party lens to choose from. Also the olympus lens are heavier. (300 f2.8 is over 3 Kg Vs. Canon's 2.6 Kg)

Their consumer-level lenses are not more expensive or heavier. For example, the 70-300mm lens (140-600 equiv) is only about $325 and is very light. Their 40-150mm lens is almost as small as the 14-42 kit lens, and I got one for $115.

Yes, their high-grade lenses are expensive and heavy.

As far as third party lenses, you are right - not nearly as many available, although the famous Sigma "Bigma" is available. But, considering the 3 lenses I mention above, just about all my needs are met, especially by adding the EC-14 teleconverter and the EX-25 extension tube.

 

[NoSpringChicken]

There is a full review of the E-30 on the dpreview site now:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympuse30/

It is surprisingly favourable - the best Olympus DSLR so far - and their main issues are with the price point, which is too close to the E-3 and rivals such as the Nikon D300 and Canon 50D, noise at ISO settings above 400 and the small viewfinder.

I think it bodes well for the E-620 which shares many of the E-30's qualities but at a much lower price.

Ron

 

[NoSpringChicken]

I checked Camera Price Buster today and was surprised to see that Jacobs were advertising the E-30 at £649.99, about £100 cheaper than the next best price. I checked the Jacobs website and it was showing as in stock at that price. Curiosity got the better of me so I phoned Jacobs to see if the price on the web page was correct. I was told it was but when I asked if the camera was in stock they replied that it wasn't.

I am intrigued to know if this is a very special offer from Jacobs or if the price of the E-30 will be dropping to this price at the other competing stores.

As a comparison, the average cheapest price for the E-620 is around £500. That makes the E-30 a much better proposition than at its introductory price.

Edit. I have just checked the Jessops site and the E-30 body only is priced at £799, whereas the body plus 14-42 lens is £699! It's all gone crazy.

Ron

 

[NoSpringChicken]

I gave in to temptation! I telephoned my local branch of Jessops and they had one E-30 + 14-42 zoom kit in stock at £699.99. This is much cheaper than most places are selling the body on its own for. When I arrived at the shop I discovered that there was a card advertising a special offer of the 40-150 zoom lens free with the kit. They had to take the one from the cabinet for me which was priced at £239.

Assuming everything is in the boxes which should be there, it seems like a pretty good deal and I might see about selling my E-510 with either one or two of the lenses at a later date.

I will check everything thoroughly tonight and then see about taking some photos to see if it is any improvement over the E-510.

Ron

 

[RAH]

Good luck with the new camera, Ron. Is it much larger than the E-510? Looks like it, but you can't really tell till you hold a camera.

 

[NoSpringChicken]

Good luck with the new camera, Ron. Is it much larger than the E-510? Looks like it, but you can't really tell till you hold a camera.

Thanks RAH. It doesn't feel that much larger than the E-510 and I wouldn't describe it as a large camera. They had an E-3 in the shop and that looked much bulkier. It has a nice handgrip, which is possibly a little larger than necessary for my smallish hands, but it is easy to get a secure grip on it. It is about 200g heavier than the E-510 but I haven't really noticed that so far. The only thing I am not too keen on at the moment is the on/off switch which has been moved to the back of the camera around the arrow buttons. I am still getting used to the controls, especially the two control wheels but they will be really useful.

I posted this photo in the Gallery today. It is not ideal as it was taken early this morning into the sun. It is a jpeg taken at default values. The exif data is: 1/80 sec (handheld), f5.6, 226mm, ISO 320.

http://www.birdforum.net/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/264395/ppuser/53267

Hopefully I can get some more shots in less challenging light soon, to see what the IQ is like.

Ron

 

[NoSpringChicken]

I have just walked to the local harbour to get some shots of gulls under the bright midday sun (always a difficult subject with those whites). The two standing shots are straight out of the camera, uncropped with no post processing.

I also tried four flight shots and this one nearly worked. I obviously have much to learn about flight shots but this one was taken at 100 ISO which is obviously wrong. It has been cropped a bit. The multi-point focusing is going to be very useful when there is no background to confuse the focusing.

I'm very pleased with the camera so far.

Ron

 

[Cristian Mihai]

Nice gull shots Ron. I can not read the exif so I'm asking: did you use exposure compensation?