Seventeen E-30 Impressions... 17/17 ~ Rich Simpson

Honey I shrunk the E3 ....

Or at least that’s how it looks at first sight.

These days, with pre-release information and a steady flow of hints as to what each manufacturer is planning, a new model these days is hardly the surprise it used to be.

Widely touted by Oly as the “advanced amateur” model, it is firmly nestled between the Pro E3 and the amateur E520.

Looks and Design

At first sight, it looks like a shrunken E3. From the front, it has similar proportions. The grip and thumbwheel are much the same, but instead of that towering prism that gives the E3 its huge viewfinder, we find ourselves with a prism and upper body design that looks much more in keeping with more conventional design. But there is not much that is similar to the E520, with its much criticised cramped viewfinder and side display. The E30 is, as others have said, quite a bit smaller than the E3, but relatively, not so much bigger than the E520.

Then we notice the control knob instead of the array of E3 buttons to control modes, and drive etc. Again, as the E3, we have the same very decent top plate information panel. So far so good, but turn to the rear and we start to see quite a different animal.

The first thing you notice is a much tidier & cleaner layout of the rear controls, with bracketing, metering, drive and self timer buttons moved from the top plate to the left of the viewfinder to make way for the control knob. The ON/OFF switch position is tidied up by being integrated with the 4 way controller, and recessed, which I think many will welcome, as on the E3 it always seemed to be an isolated switch which confused itself with the card access door. That has now disappeared. Otherwise, the same buttons are there, but highlighted in the E520 blue livery.

One irritating omission is the absence of a viewfinder blind, which means using the supplied piece of plastic....

The improvements:

• firstly the viewfinder eye-cup. Yes, it now doesn’t remove itself every time the camera is taken out of its bag. Stiffer clips or a re-designed mounting it doesn’t matter – it works!
• Next, the new 2.7” LCD. It’s larger, brighter, clearer, and has a much more natural and accurate colour tone. Surprise, surprise ... it’s virtually identical to the E520 and the E420, and makes the E3’s LCD quite small and muddy in comparison. Its resolution might not be on par with competing brands, but it’s plenty good enough.
• Then the 20% weight loss. It might seem a great deal, but to me its very noticeable, and combined with the reduced size, makes the camera a good deal easier to handle.
• Look through the viewfinder and you have a view something like that of the E1. In other words, smaller than that of the E3, but having a 98% view, is a good deal larger and brighter than that of the E520, without that tunnel peering syndrome ... The display is along the bottom of the viewfinder too.
• Talking of display, we now have a level indicator, reminiscent of that of the Ricoh compact models. So simple, we wonder why this hasn’t been incorporated before.
• For those who want to fine tune the phase detect autofocus, each of the 11 AF points can be adjusted individually.
• In terms of shutter sound, it’s very similar to the E3, but more muted, and slightly softer, which gives it the appeal of a rather more refined camera operation than you might expect.
• The big difference in the LCD is in its improvement in Live View response time – far quicker than any other Oly that has incorporated LV. Quicker than the E-3 needs to re-focus using the phase detect system, and a shade faster than the E520.

Beyond that, the difference is really in the software. Turn that big, chunky control knob to the ART/SCN setting, and you have instant access to a whole range of effects! I spent a good ten minutes working my way through the lot, from gritty B&W to soft mood focus and everything in between. Strangely, the E30 has come in for most criticism for including these filters as part of a semi-pro camera. But then nobody has to use them, and as a quick JPG image effect, they do no harm, and better still, remind me of my film days when I kept a spare UV filter with Vaseline smeared to create that soft effect ...

To accompany the E30, Olympus have given us a new Mark II 14-54 ZD lens, which, along with the 28mm pancake, the 14-42 and the new 40-150, now functions using contrast detection, with no significant lag, which is all good news!

Summary

I can’t help feeling that unless you are looking to have a fully weather sealed pro-grade camera body, then the E30 fits perfectly into the category of camera that will appeal to most serious / enthusiastic amateurs, and very likely to many who earn their living from Oly cameras as well.

It might seem like an incremental improvement in the long line of Olympus cameras, but new models don’t come along every six months, and under the skin we have a new sensor, hopefully with improvements in noise and the elimination of banding at low light levels.

So would I buy one? Since I’m not in the habit of walking through streams in rainstorms, or crawling along beaches in wind storms, then probably so!