Summary of Other Reviews for the Olympus E-30

The Olympus E-30 is a Four Thirds System camera that is sold with the Zuiko Digital ED 14–54mm f2.8–3.5 II lens. Equipped with a High-Speed Live MOS Sensor featuring 12.3 megapixels, the E-30 also features the company’s proprietary TruePicIII image processing engine and a sensor-shift image stabilization system that facilitates handheld, low-light and telephoto shooting. The Olympus E-30 is capable of high-speed sequential shooting at 5 frames per second and its AF system features total of 44 distance-measuring points. Some other features include; a 2.7-inch HyperCrystal II LCD with Live View, Face Detection & Shadow Adjustment technology and a viewfinder with 98% field of view and a 1.02x magnification.

Good

The Olympus E-30 is the first Olympus DSLR to feature a Live MOS Sensor and this decision makes the DSLR sit between the Olympus E-520 and the E-3. Being a Four Thirds System camera, it’s only obvious that much thought has gone in the design and size of this mid-range shooter.  In terms of body and design, the E-30 takes it design cues from big brother E-3 and has dedicated buttons for accessing the metering mode, drive settings, autofocus, flash modes, white balance, exposure compensation, ISO etc. This may look a little daunting to the first time user, however credit must be given to Olympus for coming up with a well thought out control system (Photo Review, Mac World, Cnet, Pocket-Lint, Shutterbug,  Steve’s Digicams, Dpreview, Digital Camera Review, Photography Blog, DCRP, Tech Radar, PC Mag, Popular Photography).Digital Camera Review comment on the "just right size". Measuring 141.5x107.5x75.0mm, the E-30 is comparable to the Canon EOS 50D and Nikon D90 and even though it’s a Four Thirds System, it still has a solid feel to it according to Photography Blog.

Anyone who gets a chance to play with the Olympus E-30 will notice that Olympus is quite serious about the LCD display and Live View. The flip-and-twist 230,000-dot 2.7-inch LCD will make it easier to get tough shots (Cnet) and Photo Review found the display to be fluid and bright in almost all conditions. Pocket-Lint, was impressed that the display was usable even in bright outdoor conditions and found the interactive menu screen on the screen quite nifty.  The E-30 has an Eye-Level single-lens reflex viewfinder with 1.02X magnification and 98% field of view, which was found to be fairly large for a Four-Thirds camera (DCRP, Cnet, Steve’s Digicams, Tech Radar).

Another feature that sets the Olympus E-30, apart from the competition is the assortment of in-camera special effects like specialized scene modes, called Art Filters that include Pop Art, Soft Focus, Pale & Light Color, Light Tone, Grainy Film, and Pin Hole. While these features may be scoffed by serious photographers however no one can deny they can be fun and are unique (Photo Review, Mac World, Cnet, Pocket-Lint, Shutterbug, Steve’s Digicams, Dpreview, Digital Camera Review, Photography Blog, DCRP, Tech Radar, PC Mag, Popular Photography).

Cnet compared the E-30's performance to E-3’s and found out that at some instances it outperforms the E-3. Not only is the E-30 faster but the E-30 also displayed quite a bit of variability in its low-light focus speed. PC Mag found the E-30 to shine in terms of sharpness as the E-30 averaged 2,059 lines per picture height, which is better than the Canon EOS 50D's 1,922, and is about 20 percent sharper than the Nikon D90's 1,710. Digital Camera Review was impressed by the E-30's metering system and found the images to be natural and accurate color wise. Lateral chromatic aberration ranged between low and moderate and low light performance was good at ISO settings up to 800 (Photo Review). Photo Review also found the flash performance to be excellent as exposures were evenly balanced throughout the ISO range. Both Shutterbug and Popular Photographyfound the images in Raw and JPEG modes highly impressive and Mac World observed that the Olympus TruePic III+ Image Processor performed respectably at the higher ISO settings. DCRP loved the macro performance and found the images to be well exposed and vivid.

Bad

There is no doubt that the Olympus E-30 makes a great inexpensive alternative to the more expensive E-3 however the E-30’s Achilles heel is no doubt its image performance. While there is no noise at low ISO’s unfortunately it’s a whole new story after ISO 800 (Photo Review, Mac World, Cnet, Pocket-Lint, Shutterbug, Steve’s Digicams, Dpreview, Digital Camera Review, Photography Blog, DCRP, Tech Radar, PC Mag, Popular Photography).To test out noise performance, PC Mag took pictures of an X-Rtie ColorChecker at each of the camera's ISO settings and then proceeded to use Imatest. According to PC Mag's findings, from 100 to 3200, the Nikon D90 and Canon 50D were able to keep noise to 1.1 percent or less however the E-30 showed 1.3 percent noise at ISO 800. Photo Review also found slight elevation of saturation in reds and some minor hue shifts in reds, orange and blues in their Imatest Tests along with come color fringing. Publications like Photography Blog and Cnet were also not too sold on the Art Effects and found them to be gimmicky and a little over the top. Pocket-Lint found the viewfinder to be ineffective and both Cnet and Photo Review couldn’t grapple with the complexity of the controls and menu system.

Bottom Line

At the end of the day, the Olympus E-30 will appeal for its choke full of features that target both beginners and serious enthusiasts. Apart from the creative Art Features, the Olympus E-30 also boasts of Live View, a Multiple Exposure mode and sensor-shift image stabilization. While some may dismiss these as gimmicks however when it comes to the image performance, no one can doubt the Olympus E-30’s credibility as it shone in almost all shooting conditions. Unfortunately what the Olympus E-30 lacks is a movie mode and decent noise performance. This alone may as act a deterrent to potential buyers who may prefer a Nikon or a Canon. The Olympus E-30 hence is perfect for existing Olympus users who are looking to upgrade from the E-420 and E-520.

Olympus E-30 Other Reviews