Seventeen E-30 Impressions... 3/17 ~ Shirley Hollis

My “try before you buy” impressions of the E30

As an E510 user with no experience of an E3 or an E1 I was excited at the prospect of getting my hands on a brand new camera with the opportunity to try before I buy.

After waiting in a small queue I got my hands on its diminutive body and felt my way around its buttons, dials and screens. It is different from the E510 and it would take a while for me to get used to, but for me that is part of the enjoyment of a new camera. Time didn’t allow a detailed analysis of any of the features, but I did get to navigate around some of the menus and take a few images at the high end of ISO, use the in camera flash and test out the dynamic range. My first impressions, which I am told are often lasting impressions, were very favourable.
I spent most of my time with the camera on these three aspects so I will deal with each one in turn.

The high ISO images were good, when zoomed in there was noise, but much less than would have been expected from the E510 at the same ISO, of course that is a subjective statement and I was not able to view on a large screen, but I am confident that this camera would perform well in low light with more than acceptable results.

The flash images were very good, sharp with good colour and powerful enough to take some clear images in the conference room with no dark areas.

The most impressive images taken were testing out the dynamic range. The camera was pointed directly towards one of the very bright windows; in front of the window was a group of people enjoying lunch. The dynamic range was very good with detail in the highlights and the shadows; I know I would not be able to achieve this with my E510 without using some substantial post processing. I would probably buy the camera for this feature alone.

The buttons and dials were not instinctive to a new user and I did have to ask where certain features could be found, but I am sure that that would be remedied after a few hours shooting and in conjunction with the manual.

Of course I haven’t mentioned many of the new features of the E30 as I did not have time to investigate further, I did see the tilting screen, which I would be very useful for certain types of photography, and watched carefully as others handled the camera. My hands are probably smaller than many and the camera size suited me well but I suspect it may be too small for some.

In the short time available to look at this camera I found that it sat comfortably in the hands, performed well in areas that have traditionally been considered a problem and with a wealth of additional features, some of which will be useful and some less so.