Seventeen E-30 Impressions... 8/17 ~ Philip Storry

This review is a bit like the E-30. Delivered very late, but we must hope it's both up to par and just in time.

For my part, this review slides under the wire because I was at a gig - celebrating rock 'n' roll and raising a glass (or five) to good times.

I have no idea what Olympus' excuse is. It had better not involve goofing off to deafen and drunken themselves, though... And having handled the E-30, I don't think it does. Olympus have evidently thought long and hard about how they want to make the E-30 worthwhile, and I suspect they've done it.

It's smaller then the E-3, but has a similar button layout. It doesn't look pretty with the battery grip attached, but at least you have the option. But whilst these practicalities are good - helping both those upgrading from an E-520 or looking for a spare body to keep alongside their E-3 - the E-30's main feature isn't practicality.

It's fun.

Fast 11-point autofocus helps, as does the articulated LCD - with a faster live view refresh rate!

But I never thought I'd want to use "art modes", yet they delivered a pleasing result. And results are what counts! For example, candle-light mode made low-light shots warmer and crisper, for example. If you want to shoot and not post-process, this camera makes it easy.

As an E-3 user, I had little to complain about. It feels just as fast, yet is lighter and has some great creative options. Only its lack of weatherproofing makes me think "backup body" - sometimes I need that robustness!

As a pre-production model, it was remarkably stable. I could only crash it reliably by trying the multi-shot stacking (HDR) feature, which rebooted it every time.

Otherwise, it was everything you'd want in a 'tweener - and fun to boot.

I can raise a glass to that. It may not be on time, but it's worth seeing and celebrating now it's here...