Seventeen E-30 Impressions... 16/17 ~ Bruce Clarke
Sunday, December 14, 2008 at 12:18PM A brief play with the pre-production E-3 at the exhibition left me slightly disappointed. It feels like an E-520 that has been remade using some E-3 parts, which shouldn't be a bad thing. I love the handling of both the E-3 and E-520 in their different ways, but somehow, the E-30 grip didn't feel as good in the hand as either to me. The body certainly feels high quality, and probably very tough if not weather-proofed. Weight-wise at 655g, it's a lot heavier (and larger) than the E-520 at 475g, and not a lot less than the E-3 at 800g (no batteries for all weights). Both the E-3 and E-520 feel the right weight for their size, the E-30 possibly a little light.
The styling is fairly bland, but may be what many people want. The button ergonomics and tactile feedback are improved over the E-3, with touch feedback cues like the raised ridges and surrounds for some buttons, which will aid learning by feel. The On/Off switch is an improvement on the E-3 (which is unnecessarily awkward) but it does get in the way of the four-way controller slightly. The Bracket setting using the two top left buttons on the back is good, rather than trying to choose the right two of three on the E-3. The Fn button to the right of the thumb is shielded nicely with a surround - this one has always been too easy to hit on the E-500 and E5x0. The Mode dial is fine, I don't have any problem with the E-3 dial-less approach, but some seem to. This may affect My Modes though - with the E-3 you can have different exposure modes on each as there is no physical dial. I didn't get time to check this out.
The adjustment dials are well placed front and rear similar to the E-3. I prefer the E-3 shutter release ergonomics, but the E-30 is fine. Compatibility with the same HLD-4 battery grip as the E-3 is good, with software control of battery types and warning levels.
The viewfinder is a good compromise, probably about E-1 sized, with the information display at the bottom where it should be. This means the E-30 is appreciably less high than the E-3, which I suspect was made higher than necessary to look 'Pro'. The flip/twist LCD is excellent, thinner than the E-3, but feels much more substantial, and the hinge feels more solid and smoother in action. This is good, as this seems to be a weak point on the E-3, some having leaked. I'll reserve judgement on the LCD image quality, as it looked a bit pre-production.
Moving onto the interface, the first change you notice is the electronic level, which if accurate, could be very useful. Customisable playback and live-view displays are a nice idea. I had hoped they would have added the noise filter setting on the super control panel, with direct adjustment, but no. The menu structure is otherwise very similar to the E-3 and E-x20, which aids familiarity, but not necessarily comprehension! The range of possible customisations is getting too numerous for this menu structure, and some serious interface usability work needs doing in the near future. The top LCD is largely the same as the E-3, and useful depending on your preference.
The much-touted Art Filters are marketing-led, and probably of little interest to those who PP seriously, being a rather limited and random set of treatments. The multiple exposure feature could be useful, allowing alignment against the first image on the LCD in live-view. Multi aspect ratios could be useful to some, but only really in live-view, and if shooting Raw, third party processors may not pick up the cropping information.
The AF seemed fast in poor light, and the fine adjust for up to twenty lenses sounds a good idea if it doesn't take forever to set up, and then get lost with firmware upgrades! It will make the most of SWD lenses, being the same unit as the E-3, but the software may have been tweaked. IS is rated the same as the E-3, and very useful when you need it. The shutter is also the same rating at 1/8000 max, and 5 fps max, but may have a shorter life. It sounds noisier and a bit cruder than the E-3, maybe as a result of the body material?
Being pre-release firmware, we were asked not post samples, but early ones starting to appear look promising. Noise looks similar or better than the E-3, but with 12.3MP, and less high ISO banding, which is a weakness of the current 10MP sensor.
Altogether, the E-30 is a good package that fills a gap in the range, but it's success will be very price-critical. If too close to the E-3, many will go for the rugged build of that, particularly when the price starts dropping when its replacement is imminent. It confirms the Olympus commitment to 4/3 for now, but these are volatile times, and they must be putting a lot of resource into M4/3 development.
Reader Comments (2)
Exactly my feel about the E30. Its toooo much me tooooo. Ergonomics wise the E3 beats the E30 hands down, esp. when you just compare the Grip alone.
So, for the E5x0 and E4x0 User-group its to big and for the Ex User-group its to much less of a pleasure to hold.
My personal opinion is, that you have to use it with the HLD4 attached. It handles definitely better. But then there is the E3 and in my opinion the far better buy.
B
I just checked the manual (just appeared on the oly Japan site), and My Mode is the same as the E-520 - you have to hold down the Fn button to activate it, and obviously have the Fn button assigned for this. No control over exposure mode, that can only be set via the dial. Not as flexible as the E-3 approach, but maybe less confusing?
Bruce