Olympus announces midrange E-30 dSLR

Olympus’ E-30 fills the hole in its dSLR lineup.

(Credit: Olympus America)

With a price gap of about $900 between the Olympus E-520 and the E-3, Olympus has long had a pretty big hole in its dSLR lineup--a hole populated by extremely popular competitors like the Nikon D90, the Canon EOS 40D, and the Canon EOS 50D. But with the announcement of the E-30, it looks like Olympus is entering the ring swinging.

First, some key specs:

	Canon EOS 50D	Nikon D90	Olympus E-30	Olympus E-3
Sensor	14.7-megapixel CMOS	12.3-megapixel CMOS	12.3-megapixel Live MOS	10.1-megapixel Live MOS
Color depth	14 bits	12 bits	12 bits	12 bits
Sensitivity range	ISO 100 - ISO 3,200/12,800 (expanded)	ISO 100 - ISO 3,200/6,400 (expanded)	ISO 100 - ISO 3,200	ISO 100 - ISO 3,200
Focal-length multiplier	1.6x	1.5x	2x	2x
Continuous shooting	6.3 fps 90 JPEG/16 raw	4.5 fps 100 JPEG/n/a raw	5 fps n/a JPEG/12 raw	5fps n/a JPEG/12 raw
Viewfinder	95% coverage 0.95x magnification User interchangeable focusing screens	96% coverage 0.94x magnification fixed focusing screen	98% coverage 1.02x magnification fixed focusing screen	100% coverage 1.15x magnification Mfr. interchangeable focusing screens
Autofocus	9-pt AF all cross-type	11-pt AF center cross-type	11-pt AF all cross-type	11-pt AF all cross-type
Live View	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
LCD size	3 inches	3 inches	2.7 inches	2.5 inches
Approximate street price (body only)	$1,399	$999	$1,299	$1,499

The E-30's tilt-swivel LCD can give it an advantage over the competition.

(Credit: Olympus America)

As with Canon and the 50D, it almost feels as if Olympus is insecure about the audience for this model. Canon introduced its Creative Auto mode, which seems more geared toward the entry-level, and Olympus delivers Art Filters, a set of six effects--Pop Art, Soft Focus, Pale and Light, Grainy Film, Light Tone and Pin Hole--which the E-30 applies during shooting. On one hand, I can understand (in theory) how applying the effects at shot time, where it can simultaneously compensate exposure, white balance, and so on, can help produce a better result than applying effects afterward in software.

On the other hand, it seems like a very entry-level feature. Especially since you can't modify any of the parameters for the effects. Ditto for face detection, which (in my opinion), only exists to make the auto focus-point selection in cameras work properly. But if you're paying $1,200 for a camera body, chances are you're going to learn to use it properly, which means not allowing the camera to choose your subject for you.

Olympus revamped its 14-54mm lens.

(Credit: Olympus America)

While I can see Canon struggling to meaningfully differentiate the 50D from its other dSLRs, since it has so many, Olympus doesn't need to do that. And the irony is, without all the gimmicks--which you can ignore, of course--the E-30 sounds like it might be a really nice camera. It has the same extremely fast AF system as the E-3, which I increasingly appreciate. It also incorporates a flip-and-twist LCD, which makes Live View a lot more useful and which none of its big competitors offer (The similarly priced Panasonic Lumix DMC-L10 also has the flip-out LCD, but isn't a very compelling alternative). While the viewfinder isn't as big as the E-3's, it still sounds better than most of the others. It has a built-in electronic level, like the Nikon D3, which shows both pitch and roll, as well as more popular capabilities such as a built-in wireless flash controller and sensor-shift image stabilization. This model also introduces an interesting multiple-exposure mode. In fact, unless you need the dust- and weather-sealed body construction of the E-3, the higher-resolution E-30 sounds like it might be a nice inexpensive alternative to that.

Along with the E-30, Olympus is also issuing a refresh for its veteran 14-54mm lens. The Zuiko 14-54mm II f2.8-3.5 (28-108mm equivalent) retains the dust- and splashproof construction for pairing with the E-3 and adds improved contrast AF performance (for Live View focusing); a switch to a circular aperture design, which we're seeing quite a bit of, for better bokeh; and the ability to focus closer than 3 inches (down from 8.7).

The E-30 and lens are slated to ship in January 2009. The body will have an estimated street price of $1,299 and the lens will cost about $599.

[rigelstuff]

The E-3's continuous shooting is stated at 5fps only, not the 6.5 fps in the table. It's the Canon 40D that has the claimed 6.5fps.

[lgrunin]

Argh. Table cut-and-paste errors. Fixed. Thanks.

[NelsonPuser]

This is a great article about the E-30. I thought everyone would want to see a video of 10 University of the Arts photography students using Olympus Digital SLRs with In-Camera Creative Functions ? Art Filters, Multiple Exposure, Multi-Aspect shooting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5aL6-k9NnA

Video says that there?s a Get Olympus group in Facebook with student outtakes showing what the images look like. Just joined.