The Express-ive Olympus E30
The Express-ive Olympus E30
By Chan Teng Heng
10 April 2009
Olympus E30 with 14-54mm f: 12.8-3.5 Mk II lens
Dawn of 2009
We have been waiting with anxiety ever since Olympus show-cased their prototype towards the last quarter of E30. With the specifications of the “fastest (focus) camera in the world”, which is E3, and possessing a smaller body, there was much expectations over the sale and availability of this E30 camera. The press release and teasers said that the new camera will come with a new 14-54mm kit lens, a mark II lens, it made the waiting more exciting. There have been very good reviews of the E3, which is weather-proofed, and many stunts have been shown in Youtube, with some experiments taking pictures in very wet conditions, and passed the test satisfactorily. Inadvertently, one owner happened to drop his E3 camera from the top of the stairs…to his horror, he ran down to retrieve his camera. And it functioned properly, although with some dents. Now, the E30 camera is NOT weather proofed. Can it live up to the marketing, promotion and publicity? We shall see.
Comparison with existing Olympus cameras
I have used Olympus cameras for more than a decade and a half. Starting with a compact film camera, I graduated to the c-740uz tele-zoom lens, SP-550uz, then to the E510 DSLR, and upgraded to the E520 DSLR. Finally, I was given the E30 to try, and bought this camera, since i) I liked the colours of Olympus, ii) I am familiar with the controls, and iii) after-sales service was good. The only issue with owning the camera was i)there was much noise, and ii) new models were released , sometimes just months, after buying the camera. The release of the new model was also bewildering. The E30 missed the peak holiday seasons of Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year. It was only available after the holiday seasons were all over! If only the camera were released timely coinciding with the holidays…we would have more time and enjoyment playing with it.
What are the key features of the E30 that makes it so exciting? Table 1 shows the key specifications of the camera, differentiating it from its sibling cameras. I will therefore discuss the main differences, as I am sure by now, other reviews would have given very detailed descriptions of what the E30 can do. The section here deals only with some the the key features that one should note. All the Olympus cameras listed below have live-view. E30, being the latest model launched and available only in January 2009 in Singapore market, has 13.1 megapixels, keeping up with the pixel game against competitors. Its maximum resolution is therefore the largest compared to E520, E420. and even E3. Although the sensor size is the same for all the cameras, the E30 has the updated Live MOS sensor with the TruPic III+ image processor. This made lots of difference in focusing and processing of digital images: it is fast! Even with the Mk II 14-54mm lens, and also with the 14-42mm older lens. I noticed this gradation in speed, from the E510 to the E520. The E3 has been noted to be fast for those who experienced using the camera. This was one reason for favoring the purchase.
The second reason for liking this camera was the focus points. I had some trouble with the E510 focusing, which was much slower, and had only three AF autofocus points. When I changed to the E520, the three AF points were very disappointing! They were so tiny that focusing, especially in the night, was slow, and tend to be missed. The E30 eleven AF points was a great difference.
The third reason for favoring this E30 camera was the weight. I traveled overseas with the E520, and felt it was “heavy”. Although the E30 was heavier (at 655 grams, body only) than the E520 (475 grams), the faster and more accurate focus did not make the extra weight matter. I could not take on the 800 gram E3 as both the weight and dimension was not encouraging my desire to purchase. .
The fourth reason is that Olympus colors are unique, and I love the blend of colors.
The 2.7 inch LCD screen did not make visual much difference compared to the 2.5 inch LCD of the E520 and 420. A 3 inch sized screen would have made the difference, after handling the LCD screen of the Canon G9 and the Nikon D700. Although I am now very positive about the E30, there was a time I was not satisfied with Olympus cameras. Although I have long been an Olympus user, I have more than once sold my Olympus camera and bought or upgraded the camera, with the result I own other brands of cameras. Why am I relating this? I am first very particular about image quality and speed of picture taking. This review is therefore an objective view. The c-740uz was very satisfactory, until I displayed the pictures on a photography forum website. wow, I had never seen so much pixelated images. This led me to upgrade to the SP550uZ, which was a disappointment, as the focusing speed was slow, and off-target. Further firmware upgrade helped solve much of this problem, but it was not satisfactory. One upgrade let to another, which led me to possess other brands of camera. The E510 camera gave very good images in good light, but in low light, its performance was below par. E520 camera had white balance problems. For the E30, Initial tests showed the white balance to be accurate, the focusing was fast, and other features make this a very desirable camera. I therefore bought my own E30 after this! The E30 camera is therefore is semi-pro camera, or pro-sumer camera, that has the features and speed of the E3, but smaller and lighter body. It worked fine in lower light conditions, but which were the disappointing with the E520 and E510.
Comparison with other competitive brands
Table 2 shows Olympus E30 specifications against the Canon EOS 50D, Nikon D90 and the Sony Alpha 350 cameras. In terms of pixels, the E30 is competitive at 13.1 megapixel, behind Canon’s 50D and Sony 350 cameras (15.1 and 14.2 megapixels repectively), and higher than Nikon’s D90 (12.9 megapixel). This is important as there have been some grumblings in the Olympus camp of users that Olympus is not competitive, but this has been put to rest.
Table 2. Comparison of Key Specifications of E30 with competitors
The sensor size is the smallest of the three cameras, but with its multiplier of x2 image, it surprisingly did not have too much noise compared with the other three cameras mentioned here, and is even lower noise than the Sony (noise is still a deterring factor as mentioned in reviews and forum pages). The sensitivity of the camera is even, although Canon’s ISO of 12,800 is an extrapolated setting. The LCD screen resolution of 230,000 could be improved, especially if it had been bumped up to 920,000 dots along with a 3 inch screen, it would have been ideal. Weight and size are comparable to competition, and it may be a matter of time that video would be a standard in all cameras, since the Nikon D90 has tried to be a first-mover with this feature in the DSLR market.
Competition is very stiff among the four brands of similar DSLRs. Olympus E30 has to find its unique selling point. It has tried to do that by emphasizing on its art filters.
Art Filters
These are pre-set options and there are six of them to enable photos to be differentiated and processed in the camera hardware and processing ware. Figure 1 shows how these art filters can improve the creative expression for photographers.
Figure 1. Images from the “Art Filters” Mode (click to see larger images
However, these are not real “persuaders” or “influencers” for buying decisions. Most compact cameras, especially the Canon series, have these features in one form or another, some with even more filter options. These art filters are useful but not something that will create a great competitive advantage over other cameras.
Colours of Olympus
One great advantage of using Olympus cameras are that they create a loyal following for its unique colors. The output of the colors has made me an adherent to Olympus system. The “paler” but sharper Nikon images, and the balanced images of Canon have their advantages and appeal. The series of photographs shown here gives an idea how rich and colorful Olympus created images can be. This image taken with the E30 shows some props, set behind the glass panel, in a shop.
Good Color Capture by E30
Sunset sceneries are favorite images for photographers. The E30 produced good sunset images as shown here. This was taken in Changi Airport at about 7.30 p.m.
Sunset at Airport
Performance of E30
The following photographs show how images may be captured in low light and without the use of a tripod, just by hands holding the E30 camera. At 5a.m. on the way to the airport in Malaysia, the highway not well lighted. I tried taking the lorry and a passing taxi under “P” conditions, with auto ISO and auto WB (white balance). In the poor light conditions, it could only take the image at ½ seconds, under those settings. This was so much better, as I have tried taking the same at other occasions using the E520 and 510, but it failed to even focus. The motion blur result here is ideal for showing speed, as shown by the trail of lights and blurring of the vehicles.
Traffic at Highway in Malaysia at 5a.m.
1/2 second at f/3.5, 14mm, ISO 800, AWB auto white balance (14-54mm MkII lens)
1/100 sec at f/3.5, 54mm, ISO 200, Aperture Priority (Hand Held)
Next, I tried to zoom in on to a butterfly which was resting on one of the leaves in dark shade at about evening time. Using the 14-54mm Mk II lens, and at maximum zoom, I was able to capture the object as shown. Although not as sharp an image as I would like it to be, it was satisfactory, considering the dark shade of the tree and the location of the colorful butterfly.
The yellow chrysanthemum flowers were taken in bright shade under the same camera settings as that taken for the butterfly. At 100% crop of the flower image, the image was very good.
1/100 sec at f/3.5, 54mm, ISO 200
1/100 sec at f/3.5, ISO 200 at 54mm At 100% Crop
Overall, I found the performance of the E30 much better than the previous range of Olympus DSLRs. The focusing was responsive, the targets were accurate, the picture capture was fast, and writing on to the compact flash memory card was equally fast. I did not have the opportunity to test the xD card, which is increasingly being used only in Olympus cameras as other cameras turn to SD memory cards.
Image Stabilisation
Olympus cameras have in-built stabilizers which are linked to the sensors to reduce blurring to enable sharper images to be captured. Table 3 shows the differences between images with and without stabilizers. The E30 has three modes of image stabilizers, with controls to reduce vertical, horizontal and both movements. Using the 14-54mm Mk II lenses, the image stabilizers do reflect some differences when the IS is on. At 100% crop, the images show the effects better.
There is an in-built individual lens focus refinement feature for the E30. This should further improve image sharpness. The 14-54mm MK II lens was not focus refined here. The kit lens, supplied with the E30 test kit, was not tested for the IS effects.
Table 3. Effect of Image Stabilisation
Lens used with E30
I managed to try out four types of lenses on the E30: the 50mm f2.0, the 14-54 mm Mk II, the 14-42mm f3.5-5.6, and the 18-180mm f3.5-6.3 . Three images are shown below. The focus was responsive and the image capture was fast. In low light conditions, the 18-180mm lens showed some delay in focusing at maximum zoom (at f6.3), but faster than my experiences using the same telezoom lens with the E510 and E520 cameras.
Nice ‘bokeh” images were obtained with the 50mm macro and the Mk II lenses. Image of objects were good, with blurred background to give emphasis to the main object. However, the 50mm image was soft, not as sharp as it should be. This could be due to the angle of the shots taken, as the flower was only 3 cm above the ground. The variable, dual-axis and flappable LCD screen should have been better used under such circumstance. The Mk II lens gave better “bokeh” and sharper images. The 14-42mm kit lens and the 18-180mm lens gave equally good bokeh images (not shown).
Overall, I was very satisfied with the fast focusing, the quick image capture and processing, irrespective of the lens used, except for the maximum zoom of the 18-180mm lens (at f6.3) under low light conditions. I had no problems with focusing in better light conditions with this tele-zoom lens at maximum zoom.
Figure 2. Images Taken by Different Lenses
50mm f2.0 lens: Exposure~1/200 sec at f2.5 (ISO 200) at 35mm.
14-54mm f2.8-2.5 Mk II lens: Exposure~1/125 sec at f3.5 (ISO640) at 54mm
18-180mm f3.5-5.6 lens:Exposure~1/20 sec at f/5.8 (ISO 800) ,at 114 mm
Overall Summary
I have subjected the test camera, the E30 with the 14-42mm kit lens, to more than 2 weeks rigorous use, and my own E30 with the 14-54mm Mk II lens, plus two other lenses for several weeks now.
I did not detect chromatic aberration nor vigneting. The only vigneting I found was when I set the “pin hole” art filter on. There was flare with all lenses when I took the sports running track activities outside and below my apartment. That was because the spot lights around the running track was fully on, against my camera. The quality of the Olympus lenses was therefore very good, and satisfying to use. I have used third party lenses for my other brands of cameras, the light interference, noisy motor, and less sharper images were obtained. Hence, Olympus kit lenses, including those used in the test, were very good.
Responsive, of the right weight, performing well, even under low light conditions, with well lit eleven focus AF points really made the brief review of this camera enjoyable and satisfying. I have traveled to and from Changi to fly to Malaysia and back, and I had no problem with the 655 gram body weight, much mitigated by the good performance of the camera. I only wished Olympus could release this camera for public purchase during the December holidays and the Chinese New Year week. That is the only grouse I have against this camera!
Chan Teng Heng
Biz Professor who likes all things techie, digital and imagery.
By Chan Teng Heng
10 April 2009
Olympus E30 with 14-54mm f: 12.8-3.5 Mk II lens
Dawn of 2009
We have been waiting with anxiety ever since Olympus show-cased their prototype towards the last quarter of E30. With the specifications of the “fastest (focus) camera in the world”, which is E3, and possessing a smaller body, there was much expectations over the sale and availability of this E30 camera. The press release and teasers said that the new camera will come with a new 14-54mm kit lens, a mark II lens, it made the waiting more exciting. There have been very good reviews of the E3, which is weather-proofed, and many stunts have been shown in Youtube, with some experiments taking pictures in very wet conditions, and passed the test satisfactorily. Inadvertently, one owner happened to drop his E3 camera from the top of the stairs…to his horror, he ran down to retrieve his camera. And it functioned properly, although with some dents. Now, the E30 camera is NOT weather proofed. Can it live up to the marketing, promotion and publicity? We shall see.
Comparison with existing Olympus cameras
I have used Olympus cameras for more than a decade and a half. Starting with a compact film camera, I graduated to the c-740uz tele-zoom lens, SP-550uz, then to the E510 DSLR, and upgraded to the E520 DSLR. Finally, I was given the E30 to try, and bought this camera, since i) I liked the colours of Olympus, ii) I am familiar with the controls, and iii) after-sales service was good. The only issue with owning the camera was i)there was much noise, and ii) new models were released , sometimes just months, after buying the camera. The release of the new model was also bewildering. The E30 missed the peak holiday seasons of Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year. It was only available after the holiday seasons were all over! If only the camera were released timely coinciding with the holidays…we would have more time and enjoyment playing with it.
What are the key features of the E30 that makes it so exciting? Table 1 shows the key specifications of the camera, differentiating it from its sibling cameras. I will therefore discuss the main differences, as I am sure by now, other reviews would have given very detailed descriptions of what the E30 can do. The section here deals only with some the the key features that one should note. All the Olympus cameras listed below have live-view. E30, being the latest model launched and available only in January 2009 in Singapore market, has 13.1 megapixels, keeping up with the pixel game against competitors. Its maximum resolution is therefore the largest compared to E520, E420. and even E3. Although the sensor size is the same for all the cameras, the E30 has the updated Live MOS sensor with the TruPic III+ image processor. This made lots of difference in focusing and processing of digital images: it is fast! Even with the Mk II 14-54mm lens, and also with the 14-42mm older lens. I noticed this gradation in speed, from the E510 to the E520. The E3 has been noted to be fast for those who experienced using the camera. This was one reason for favoring the purchase.
The second reason for liking this camera was the focus points. I had some trouble with the E510 focusing, which was much slower, and had only three AF autofocus points. When I changed to the E520, the three AF points were very disappointing! They were so tiny that focusing, especially in the night, was slow, and tend to be missed. The E30 eleven AF points was a great difference.
The third reason for favoring this E30 camera was the weight. I traveled overseas with the E520, and felt it was “heavy”. Although the E30 was heavier (at 655 grams, body only) than the E520 (475 grams), the faster and more accurate focus did not make the extra weight matter. I could not take on the 800 gram E3 as both the weight and dimension was not encouraging my desire to purchase. .
The fourth reason is that Olympus colors are unique, and I love the blend of colors.
The 2.7 inch LCD screen did not make visual much difference compared to the 2.5 inch LCD of the E520 and 420. A 3 inch sized screen would have made the difference, after handling the LCD screen of the Canon G9 and the Nikon D700. Although I am now very positive about the E30, there was a time I was not satisfied with Olympus cameras. Although I have long been an Olympus user, I have more than once sold my Olympus camera and bought or upgraded the camera, with the result I own other brands of cameras. Why am I relating this? I am first very particular about image quality and speed of picture taking. This review is therefore an objective view. The c-740uz was very satisfactory, until I displayed the pictures on a photography forum website. wow, I had never seen so much pixelated images. This led me to upgrade to the SP550uZ, which was a disappointment, as the focusing speed was slow, and off-target. Further firmware upgrade helped solve much of this problem, but it was not satisfactory. One upgrade let to another, which led me to possess other brands of camera. The E510 camera gave very good images in good light, but in low light, its performance was below par. E520 camera had white balance problems. For the E30, Initial tests showed the white balance to be accurate, the focusing was fast, and other features make this a very desirable camera. I therefore bought my own E30 after this! The E30 camera is therefore is semi-pro camera, or pro-sumer camera, that has the features and speed of the E3, but smaller and lighter body. It worked fine in lower light conditions, but which were the disappointing with the E520 and E510.
Comparison with other competitive brands
Table 2 shows Olympus E30 specifications against the Canon EOS 50D, Nikon D90 and the Sony Alpha 350 cameras. In terms of pixels, the E30 is competitive at 13.1 megapixel, behind Canon’s 50D and Sony 350 cameras (15.1 and 14.2 megapixels repectively), and higher than Nikon’s D90 (12.9 megapixel). This is important as there have been some grumblings in the Olympus camp of users that Olympus is not competitive, but this has been put to rest.
Table 2. Comparison of Key Specifications of E30 with competitors
The sensor size is the smallest of the three cameras, but with its multiplier of x2 image, it surprisingly did not have too much noise compared with the other three cameras mentioned here, and is even lower noise than the Sony (noise is still a deterring factor as mentioned in reviews and forum pages). The sensitivity of the camera is even, although Canon’s ISO of 12,800 is an extrapolated setting. The LCD screen resolution of 230,000 could be improved, especially if it had been bumped up to 920,000 dots along with a 3 inch screen, it would have been ideal. Weight and size are comparable to competition, and it may be a matter of time that video would be a standard in all cameras, since the Nikon D90 has tried to be a first-mover with this feature in the DSLR market.
Competition is very stiff among the four brands of similar DSLRs. Olympus E30 has to find its unique selling point. It has tried to do that by emphasizing on its art filters.
Art Filters
These are pre-set options and there are six of them to enable photos to be differentiated and processed in the camera hardware and processing ware. Figure 1 shows how these art filters can improve the creative expression for photographers.
Figure 1. Images from the “Art Filters” Mode (click to see larger images
However, these are not real “persuaders” or “influencers” for buying decisions. Most compact cameras, especially the Canon series, have these features in one form or another, some with even more filter options. These art filters are useful but not something that will create a great competitive advantage over other cameras.
Colours of Olympus
One great advantage of using Olympus cameras are that they create a loyal following for its unique colors. The output of the colors has made me an adherent to Olympus system. The “paler” but sharper Nikon images, and the balanced images of Canon have their advantages and appeal. The series of photographs shown here gives an idea how rich and colorful Olympus created images can be. This image taken with the E30 shows some props, set behind the glass panel, in a shop.
Good Color Capture by E30
Sunset sceneries are favorite images for photographers. The E30 produced good sunset images as shown here. This was taken in Changi Airport at about 7.30 p.m.
Sunset at Airport
Performance of E30
The following photographs show how images may be captured in low light and without the use of a tripod, just by hands holding the E30 camera. At 5a.m. on the way to the airport in Malaysia, the highway not well lighted. I tried taking the lorry and a passing taxi under “P” conditions, with auto ISO and auto WB (white balance). In the poor light conditions, it could only take the image at ½ seconds, under those settings. This was so much better, as I have tried taking the same at other occasions using the E520 and 510, but it failed to even focus. The motion blur result here is ideal for showing speed, as shown by the trail of lights and blurring of the vehicles.
Traffic at Highway in Malaysia at 5a.m.
1/2 second at f/3.5, 14mm, ISO 800, AWB auto white balance (14-54mm MkII lens)
1/100 sec at f/3.5, 54mm, ISO 200, Aperture Priority (Hand Held)
Next, I tried to zoom in on to a butterfly which was resting on one of the leaves in dark shade at about evening time. Using the 14-54mm Mk II lens, and at maximum zoom, I was able to capture the object as shown. Although not as sharp an image as I would like it to be, it was satisfactory, considering the dark shade of the tree and the location of the colorful butterfly.
The yellow chrysanthemum flowers were taken in bright shade under the same camera settings as that taken for the butterfly. At 100% crop of the flower image, the image was very good.
1/100 sec at f/3.5, 54mm, ISO 200
1/100 sec at f/3.5, ISO 200 at 54mm At 100% Crop
Overall, I found the performance of the E30 much better than the previous range of Olympus DSLRs. The focusing was responsive, the targets were accurate, the picture capture was fast, and writing on to the compact flash memory card was equally fast. I did not have the opportunity to test the xD card, which is increasingly being used only in Olympus cameras as other cameras turn to SD memory cards.
Image Stabilisation
Olympus cameras have in-built stabilizers which are linked to the sensors to reduce blurring to enable sharper images to be captured. Table 3 shows the differences between images with and without stabilizers. The E30 has three modes of image stabilizers, with controls to reduce vertical, horizontal and both movements. Using the 14-54mm Mk II lenses, the image stabilizers do reflect some differences when the IS is on. At 100% crop, the images show the effects better.
There is an in-built individual lens focus refinement feature for the E30. This should further improve image sharpness. The 14-54mm MK II lens was not focus refined here. The kit lens, supplied with the E30 test kit, was not tested for the IS effects.
Table 3. Effect of Image Stabilisation
Lens used with E30
I managed to try out four types of lenses on the E30: the 50mm f2.0, the 14-54 mm Mk II, the 14-42mm f3.5-5.6, and the 18-180mm f3.5-6.3 . Three images are shown below. The focus was responsive and the image capture was fast. In low light conditions, the 18-180mm lens showed some delay in focusing at maximum zoom (at f6.3), but faster than my experiences using the same telezoom lens with the E510 and E520 cameras.
Nice ‘bokeh” images were obtained with the 50mm macro and the Mk II lenses. Image of objects were good, with blurred background to give emphasis to the main object. However, the 50mm image was soft, not as sharp as it should be. This could be due to the angle of the shots taken, as the flower was only 3 cm above the ground. The variable, dual-axis and flappable LCD screen should have been better used under such circumstance. The Mk II lens gave better “bokeh” and sharper images. The 14-42mm kit lens and the 18-180mm lens gave equally good bokeh images (not shown).
Overall, I was very satisfied with the fast focusing, the quick image capture and processing, irrespective of the lens used, except for the maximum zoom of the 18-180mm lens (at f6.3) under low light conditions. I had no problems with focusing in better light conditions with this tele-zoom lens at maximum zoom.
Figure 2. Images Taken by Different Lenses
50mm f2.0 lens: Exposure~1/200 sec at f2.5 (ISO 200) at 35mm.
14-54mm f2.8-2.5 Mk II lens: Exposure~1/125 sec at f3.5 (ISO640) at 54mm
18-180mm f3.5-5.6 lens:Exposure~1/20 sec at f/5.8 (ISO 800) ,at 114 mm
Overall Summary
I have subjected the test camera, the E30 with the 14-42mm kit lens, to more than 2 weeks rigorous use, and my own E30 with the 14-54mm Mk II lens, plus two other lenses for several weeks now.
I did not detect chromatic aberration nor vigneting. The only vigneting I found was when I set the “pin hole” art filter on. There was flare with all lenses when I took the sports running track activities outside and below my apartment. That was because the spot lights around the running track was fully on, against my camera. The quality of the Olympus lenses was therefore very good, and satisfying to use. I have used third party lenses for my other brands of cameras, the light interference, noisy motor, and less sharper images were obtained. Hence, Olympus kit lenses, including those used in the test, were very good.
Responsive, of the right weight, performing well, even under low light conditions, with well lit eleven focus AF points really made the brief review of this camera enjoyable and satisfying. I have traveled to and from Changi to fly to Malaysia and back, and I had no problem with the 655 gram body weight, much mitigated by the good performance of the camera. I only wished Olympus could release this camera for public purchase during the December holidays and the Chinese New Year week. That is the only grouse I have against this camera!
Chan Teng Heng
Biz Professor who likes all things techie, digital and imagery.
No comments:
Post a Comment