Olympus E-30 Digital Camera Review

Olympus E-30

Digital Camera Review

4.3 The Olympus E-30 is a new 12-megapixel, mid-range SLR that introduces Art filters to modify your photographs in interesting ways. While we were impressed by the sharpness and good image stabilization of this $1200 camera, it did poorly in our lab tests.
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Olympus E-30 Review

Product Tour Summary  
x • Solidly built camera
• Articulated screen is a nice feature, but has low resolution
• Dedicated white balance sensor is easily blocked
x Introduction Page 2 of 19 Color x

The Olympus E-30 is a mid-range SLR, with the resilience to take heavy use but not the lightness of the company's smaller E-520/620 nor the sheer mass of the E-3. It weighs 23oz without lens, and it feels solid in your hands. The body and buttons all feel resilient, though they are not weatherproofed.

Front


External flash connector
White balance sensor
Front control dial
Lens release
Depth of field preview
Self timer/ remote control receiver
 

Back


AF area select
Metering
Function button
Rear control dial
Autofocus
AEL/AFL
Playback
Four-way controller
Articulated 320,000
pixel LCD
Delete
On/off
Info
Image stabilization
USB port
Menu
Live view
 
 

Sides


Deploys flash
 
DC in terminal
Door to memory cards
 

Bottom


Door to battery
Metal tripod socket

Top


Built-in flash
Lights up monochrome display
Front control dial
White balance
Mode dial
Exposure compensation
Monochrome LCD
Hot-shoe
ISO
 

Size Comparisons


Front
x x x x x
Olympus E-30 Nikon D90 Canon 50D Canon Rebel XS Pentax K2000
Price:
$1299 (body only)
Price:
 $999 (body only)
Price:
$1399 (body only)
Price:
$599.99
(w/ 18-55mm lens)
Price:
$599.95
(w/18-55mm lens, flash)
Back
x x x x x
Olympus E-30 Nikon D90 Canon 50D Canon Rebel XS Pentax K2000
Width:
5.6 in/141.5mm
Width:
5.8 in/147mm
Width:
 5.7in/145.5mm
Width:
4.96 in/126.1mm
Width:
 
4.8in/122mm
Top
x x x x x
Olympus E-30 Nikon D90 Canon 50D Canon Rebel XS Pentax K2000
Depth:
2.95 in/75 mm
Depth:
3 in/77mm
Depth:
 2.9 in/73.5mm
Depth:
2.4 in/ 61.9mm
Depth:
2.7 in/67 mm
Left
x x x x x
Olympus E-30 Nikon D90 Canon 50D Canon Rebel XS Pentax K2000
Height:
4.23 in/107.5mm
Height:
4.1 in/103mm
Height:
 4.2 in/107.8mm
Height:
3.8 in/97.5mm
Height:
3.6 in/91mm
Right
x x x x x
Olympus E-30 Nikon D90 Canon 50D Canon Rebel XS Pentax K2000
Weight:
23.1 oz/655g
Weight:
 22 oz./620g
Weight:
 25.7 oz./730g
Weight:
15.9 oz./ 450g
Weight:
18.5 oz/ 524g
Bottom
x x x x x
Olympus E-30 Nikon D90 Canon 50D Canon Rebel XS Pentax K2000

In this review, we are comparing the Olympus E-30 to four other currently available cameras. The Nikon D90 and Canon 50D both sit at approximately the same price point as the E-30, around the $1000 mark sans lens. With the E-30, Olympus has introduced a number of features designed for point-and-shoot users stepping up to SLRs, namely a large number of scene modes and Art Filters, so we have also compared it to two lower-priced cameras targeted toward that market. All of these cameras were originally reviewed under a slightly different review process, and the links will take you to the older reviews. We re-tested these cameras under our new system, but the scores from this review and the previous ones may not match up exactly.

In the Box


x

In the box you'll find:
• Camera (w/ body cap)
• Battery
• Battery charge
• USB cable
• AV cable
• Strap
• Eyepiece cover
• CD-ROM
• Instruction manual

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