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In Summary, Olympus announced three cameras (E-P3, E-PL3, E-PM1) two new lenses (12mm f/2.0 and 45mm f/1.8) and a new external flash. We are still missing the external viewfinder announcement.
Links to preorders
Olympus E-P3 preorders at Adorama (Click here). Price $899 with kit lens!
E-P3 presentation page on Amazon (Click here). No preorders yet.
Olympus 12mm f/2.0 lens preorder at Adorama (Click here). Price $799.
Olympus 45mm f/1.8 preorder at Adorama (Click here). Price $399.
Reviews, Previews and Hands-on
Doug Brown’s Luminous Landscape preview
E-P3 review by Robin Wong.
Hands.on at TvSmith
Sexy camera pictures and image samples at Clubsnap
Size comparison at ePhotozine.
E-PM1 hands-on at FourThirdsUser.
E-PL3 hands-on at FourThirdsUser.
E-P3 review at DCresource.
Short E-P3 review at PDN.
Full E-P3 review at Digitalcamerareview.
HOT! E-P3 versus G3 at Dpreview (Jpeg Studio comparison)
HOT! Full E-P3 review at ThePhoBlographer.
Olympus E-P3 field report at OutbackPhoto.
Olympus E-P3 preview at Dpreview.
Olympus E-PL3 and E-PM1 preview at Dpreview.
HOT! First complete E-P3 review at Digitalcamerainfo!
E-P3 hands-on at Quesbesde.
Image and video samples (+ video reviews)
12mm hands-on on youtube.
An image of a personalized E-P3 grip at HastaLosMegapixeles.
E-P3 spanish presentation at Quesabesde.
E-P3 video hands-on on youtube (Photographyreview).
First video quality test at youtube (ThePhoBlographer).
12mm image samples on Quesabesde.
First hands-on video on youtube (ThePhoBlographer).
HOT! First RAW pictures at Quesabesde (once clicked scroll down to download them).
12mm image sample gallery at Dpreview.
E-P3 image samples at Dpreview.
E-P3 field test gallery by OutbackPhoto.
Image samples at ThePhoBlographer.
HOT! Autofocus speed test on youtube (ThePhoBlographer)
Official press release
Grip option list at Olympus Japan.
Openpn (french)
Engadget
The new reworked kit lenses at DC.watch.
Focus Numerique (french).
Photoradar.
Amateur Photographer PEN presentation on youtube.
SystemKameraForum (german)
Cnet US
Photoscala.de (german)
E-P3 at Olympus official website.
Photographyblog
Imaging Resource
Launch event pictures in Malaysia (Twitter)
Hot news
Olympus E-P3 price: $899 in US and 849 Euro in Europe (with kit lens).
Olympus doesn’t explain what’s new with the new sensor. After first tests we can see the new PEN cameras do have an excellent color accuracy and superb AF speed.
M. Zuiko Digital ED 12mm f2.0 lens: Available Now Estimated Street Price: $799.99
MCG-2 Exchangeable Camera Grip: Available Now Estimated Street Price: $19.99
FL-300R Compact Flash: Available Now Estimated Street Price: $169.99
M. Zuiko Digital ED 45mm f1.8 lens: Available in September 2011 Estimated Street Price: $399.99
User reactions
Olympus E-P3 tweets.
Olympus E-PM1 tweets.
Olympus E-PL3 tweets.
Poll
[poll id=”74″]
273 Responses
prices do not look that bad
The 45mm is priced at $400. So much for it being “cheap”. Rip off.
That 45mm is a REALLY good looking lens. For the price I wish it was 1.4 instead of 1.8. But I think it was wrong of me to call it a rip off. I’d probably go with a fast 50mm lens with an adapter but for those with the money I suspect the 45mm will be a very nice lens.
I recommend you Auto Revuenon 55/1.4 (or its clones – Rikenon, Yashica, Chinon).
You should get this really good quality lens at ~100 USD price tag (or even lower) and buy an adaptor for just 13$ from Amazon.
Considering that the Pan/Leica 45mm is $750 (with macro capabilities) and is only f/2.8…The new Olympus 45mm f/1.8 priced at $399 (which will drop lower..I am sure) is a great addition to the growing MFT quiver of lenses, (provided that it performs well) for those photographers who want auto focus and/or are willing to pay for it. In the real world …if the lens is decent (we shall see) the price is very reasonable. Truly.
We have to wait for some reviews of 45/1.8. Looks very interesting and if it will be better than my old Rokkor 50/1.4 at f/2 then I’ll be tempted.
Hot product!!!
Olympus E-P3 Pen Camera Hands-On
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Lo155fpIGE&feature=feedu
First review of the EP3
http://www.dcresource.com/
I am getting one because it says that they shoot 1080i 30p pSF. True progressive 1080p @ 30 FPS unlike the GH2 which shoots true interlaced 1080i.
the sensor output on the GH2 is 1080p. the progressive sensor output is stored in an interlaced codec. it is true 1080p, though, not interlaced. from a video perspective, the GH2 is much more capable, with more industry established frame rate options.
I agree that the GH2 is a more capable video camera. I need something really small for my wife to shoot video with. The “Mini” will be that camera.
but you’ll never be able to hack the olympus, which is a big pity
You need to learn more about what is actually going on in still camera video. The current fad is to grab 30P off the sensor and then store it in standard AVCHD form, which is 1080i/60. That’s exactly what Olympus and Panasonic both do now. If you’ve got the right post production editor, you can treat it as 30P.
However, the Panasonic would still be preferred, I think. You have to look at the bit rate being recorded through compression. Olympus = 17mbs, Panasonic = 24mbs (the max of “standard” AVCHD). There are other aspects that come into play, as well. My take so far (disclosure: haven’t been able to test) is that the Panasonic approach should generate better video data.
I just saw it (somewhere) as 20Mbps. Not professional level, but it ought to be good enough for web video.
Where’s viewfinder?!
dpreview is on the move, too. Man, I’m excited. It’s like m43 christmas.
ISO Performance and Dynamic Range sounds a little disappointing. And as I get it, it’s still essentially the same old sensor? How long will this go on?
At least Olympus will make lots of money with the 45 1.8. 🙂
Hmph, more noise and less detail than on the Panasonic G3, and still a very noisy blue channel. We’ll have to wait for RAW (and support for it), though there seems to be a little improvement compared to the “old” sensor.
I know – check out the Jpeg samples on Dpreview. Fantastic up to 1600. Then at 3200 and beyond it’s a huge nosedive. What’s up with that??
I agree 1600 fine – 3200 What happened?
Having just taken another look around various parts of the image, it’s not quite as bad as I first thought. Less detail than the G3 at 3200, but better than the E-PL2 and good colour and saturation control. Perhaps with raw, the files will be good up to 3200, which is about the benchmark I need. A touch disappointing, to be honest, but not a dealbreaker for me as it trumps every other m43 camera out there in most other areas.
One of the first RAWs published:
http://images.quesabesde.com/raw.php?raw=olympus_ep3_P6270334.ORF
I could open it with GIMP 2.6 and with Olympus Viewer 2 v1.11. Looks promising!
Wonder how the EP3 would handle without the grip? I really hate that grip. And the camera in silver looks gorgeous without it.
キターーーー！
#1 F the 17mm 2.8 lens
#2 Why is the price of e-pm1 TBA
#3 That external flash is super ugly relative to the NEX flash
That ugly flash also looks like it will be more generally useful than Sony’s, with a GN of 30 at ISO 200, vs a GN of 20.
The AF improvement sounds great and I generally like the look of the E-P3 but the high ISO noise doesnt look any better – if anything it looks a little worse than the E-PL2 – ok pretty similar. But interestingly the G3 looks better in terms of noise. Granted we need a full review and Raw etc but at first look I think the G3 has much better noise performance. Especially noticeable at ISO 3200. There goes that theory that some say the more Mpix the worse the noise! Perhaps Oly needs to look at the 16MP sensor.
On the plus side the lenses look fantastic.
Anyone see news on the new VF?
interesting, but the ISO performance is somewhat let down. by the way, the lens and autofocus is AWESOME!
The Noise/DR performance is noticeable better than previous PEN models, but still a little behind competition (G3). So obviously the old Pana sensor has beeen tweaked.
No way this would be the best M43 sensor to date. Though differences are minimal. But – speaking about this results – it would be worth to switch up on 16 megapixels…
I can’t believe it’s still the same old sensor that was already out of date 3 years ago! What’s going on here?
A great shame, as apart from that (and the frustrating fact that there’s still no way to use an EVF and an external flash at the same time), I think these cameras are a real home run. If they were using a better sensor, Oly would sell them by the bucketload.
Let’s hope the PEN Pro fixes these two problems (what’s the latest gossip on the PEN Pro anyway)?
Lee – totally with you. If that sensor was performing better it would be absolutely brilliant.
I remember a rumor from Admin saying that the Pen Pro was to have an Olympus “designed” sensor – we all hoped and assumed that E-P3 would also have this but maybe not. Perhaps the Pro is the only one that will while these 3 models just have a tweaked version of the old sensor.
here u go, e-p3 review by robin wong
http://robinwong.blogspot.com/2011/06/olympus-e-p3-review-pudu-wet-market.html
Wrong reply – sorry
Guess tuning up the read-out rate has some impact on the SNR?
Is this actually confirmed then? This is the same 12MP sensor as the previous PEN cameras?
The Olympus guy on the Amature Photogarpher video said it is new.
I can’t believe it either. Brilliant looking cameras with these fantastic little lenses.. and a sensor that doesn’t seem to be much better, if at all, than the old one.
I even downloaded Olympus Master 2 to see if the raw files had much more information in them than the jpgs.. and it doesn’t seem to be the case. Of course, the software seems to be pretty bad control-wise, so it may just be me.
sensor, schmensor! 99% of potential customers will not care if the the sensor is 3 years young…
I agree for the E-PM1 and E-PL3 that this sensor will be fine for most customers who will probably never read a high ISO review, but for the E-P3 I think it matters for alot of potential owners. This is the high end product for Oly and if they can improve the sensor I could see alot of people switching over from APSC dSLRs not to mention the effect of glowing reports on IQ that would help improve sales. But alas not in this upgrade. Lets start the E-P4 rumors 🙂
all th reviews say it is good at ISO 1600 and usable at ISO 3200+ if shooting raw, if you look at the micro four thirds groups on flickr analyse the info their you will see people are coming over from canikony in droves (look at users earlier cameras) and it’s very rare you see anyone using ISO 3200+ for real orld shooting…
EP-4
– to have gradient maps for duotones (customisable of course)
– customisable aspect ratios
– focus points absolutely anywhere on the screen not just 80% of the middle
– intervalometer
– apps maybe
– bluetooth and gps built in
I may be the only one, but I’m sick of people talking about ISO, ISO, ISO all the time.
The 4/3 sensors, outside of the Panasonic GH series, have poor dynamic range and color depth. This impacts that high ISO, but also really handicaps the camera in many lighting conditions. I had an E-P2 for a few months last year, and really liked the camera, other than the frustrating image quality.
The new Pens look really great, as do the new lenses.. but there’s still the crappy sensor getting in the way of what could be a fantastic product. If Olympus (and Panasonic for that matter) can’t get this right, someone like Sony will come out with the cameras people want along with sensors that are two or three generations ahead, and they’ll own the market. People do want smaller systems, but enthusiasts aren’t going to fall for re-issuing a similar sensor in camera after camera.
Play around with some raw files from a camera with the latest Sony 16 megapixel sensor.. or the last generation 12 megapixel sensor for that matter. They are just fantastic and forgiving in almost all lighting situations.
@Joesf
links to real world examples please…
Real world examples of what? Something that has already been discussed into the ground here and elsewhere on the internet?
If you like your Olympus gear, more power to you. All I’m saying is that users of Pen cameras would be surprised by how much better the Sony 12 and 16 megapixel sensors are than what they’re used to.
For many of us, this limitation is frustrating. I like the new Pen cameras.. I liked the E-P2 I had.. I’d just like to not have to compromise the most important aspect of a camera just to own one. Every time they announce new models, the hope is there, and I get ready to be impressed.. Then it’s the same old, same old.
At least the bodies themselves are differentiated a little better this time around.
@Josef
the most important aspect of a camera is usability…
What real examples? Check Flickr (as you suggested) and look at DR. These new Pens are sexy cameras with loads of promise, but why wouldn’t I buy an upcoming NEX with the awesome 16MP sensor and probably for less?
“people are coming over from canikony in droves”
Actually, you should give numbers for that, because from what I see NEX is eating seriously in the mirrorless market and it will get even worse when they release the pro-oriented one.
@Vlad
if you look at the NEX groups on flickr very few users previously own Pany / Olympus cameras so if NEX is growing it’s not from Micro Four Thirds…
Did you actually look at all users one by one? The method you are suggesting seems quite unscientific.
In any case, here are my thoughts – the NEX are eating everything in the consumer market. Cheaper with very good IQ. Just look at what will happen when Sony announces the pro model with more controls.
Personally, I really wanted to buy into m4/3 and was eagerly waiting for this updates. But now I’ll just wait a couple of months more and probably go for Sony.
@Vlad
obviously not one by one, just what nI’ve picked up over the last 18 months, and I see a lot of Micro Four Thirds cameras amongst wedding guests (never seen a NEX at one)and when I speak to them they speak very favourably of their cameras and would recommend to friends…
anyways got a busy day ahead.
@YouDidntDidYou I am sure many people will be completely happy with these offerings. I am not.
Also, remember that NEX is still young, only a year now.
Both are great in their own respects. They have advantages over one and another.
But for MF (manual focus lens) user, Olympus PEN is more adaptive. This impression I got from a red-dot community (Leica lens users) near me.
Preorder available at Adorama – just put mine in 🙂 (will read reviews later)
OMG what shocking high-ISO performance O.O
might be the fastest preorder cancel ever
Why invest in a nice camera system if the “film” is always going to suck?
Touchscreen only for e-p3 🙁
yes, I thought maybe I would go for the e-pl3, but with no touch screen or orientation sensor, it’s a NO. Then I looked at the high ISO performance. Ugh. I guess it’s the G3 for me. It has everything I am looking for except in-body stabilization. And since I do not have legacy lenses, this isn’t that important.
bummer! I really wanted to like E-PL3!!
Imaging Resource has a preview as well
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/EP3/EP3A.HTM
that’s a shocker for me – a so much hoped for touch-tilt screen in E-PL3. That would have been like dreem come true. But alas…
I feel the same way, Woodent!
I can’t even go for a G3 since it has no tilt-screen, which makes it inconvenient for discrete shooting from the hip on the streets. Tilt screen is the optimum solution for me, and a touch-tilt would have been an ideal solution (especially given how quiet the shutter of Oly is compated to NEXes). Will have to wait for Pen PRO or E-PL4, as the case may be. Unless NEX-c5/7 has a touch screen…
The articulated LCD works fine for street shooting. It simply requires some adjustment.
With the GH2 my method is to cradle the body in my left hand with LCD on my wrist, focus and aperture controlled with left fingers. Right thumb drives the control wheel, index finger triggers shutter. It’s pretty straightforward, actually. You can even position it at 90 degrees to shoot whatever is on your right. I shut off the auto EVF/LCD switch, too.
And Yes, I mainly use manual lenses and M mode.
that’s a keen idea! thanks for sharing – it may actually work for me, as I also mostly shoot manual PEN-F lenses
Thanks for the tip, Mr. Reeee. I was actually able to visualize this 🙂 I owned the G2 briefly, and I can say that the auto EVF/LCD switch will not be missed by me (on the G3) I found it aggravating (Screen going black on playback when my hand swiping the screen got too close etc.) and had disabled it anyway. I did LOVE the G2, however… just not the high iso noise. Now that they have fixed that, I am excited to try the G3. Just waiting for a bit of a price drop first 🙂
O MY GOD!!! THE SENSOR !!! WHY DO I THINK THE ISO 1600 ABOVE NOT BETTER THAN MY EP2 & EPL2 !!???
ANY ONE? OR IS IT JUST MEEE????
WHY ON EARTH ALSO THEY ADD THE 12.800 ??? T_T ITS USELESS……
I think iso 12800 is for you to take photos of naked drunk ladies in the club so it pre-censor for you lol
Look again: the E-P3 at ISO3200 pretty much matches the E-PL2 at ISO1600. So, we’ve gained about a stop in performance. Not revolutionary, but not bad at all. The E-P3 looks to be situated right between the GH2 and the G3 in terms of ISO3200 performance.
I agree with you though that ISO 12800 is useless.
I go maximum to ISO400 generally, but at least I want it as clean as possible. In that sense any APS-C mirrorless will be better.
> ANY ONE? OR IS IT JUST MEEE????
No. If DPR comparison to be trusted, the JPEG output, already at ISO 800 gets heavily hit by NR, blurring many fine details. ISO 1600 isn’t even worth mentioning. G3’s IQ on high ISOs wins hands down.
At ISO 200 and 400, beside the colors and the resolution, I hardly see any differences.
But I think we need to wait for the tests w/o NR and also RAW tests. But at the moment, IQ-wise, G3 seems to be better.
The EP3 is priced at $899 on the Olympus America site.
wrong post
I can’t see a vf3 anywhere.
Any ideas admin?
Is it just me or does Olympus do a bad job of color coordination. On some reviews there are just silver lenses and flashes etc which to my eye look out of place on a black body.
Do they offer the 12mm f2 and 45 f1.8 lenses in black? I couldnt see them.
If they ever release a black more pro body they should have all lenses/flashes in black as they should for anyone who buys a black E-P3.
Isnt that a AF-Assist beam on it?
Edit: Saw it here… http://dpreview.com/previews/olympusep3/page4.asp
Really this is a release of one camera in three bodies.
Word.
Word.
Oh my… The high iso Pictures really suck. New Sensor? New Marketing Speech!
What’s with the flash sync in the Pens (1/80)? It would be very nice to have 1/250 like on the e-3, e-30, and e-5.
the flash looks neat.
Still no in-camera HDR? It seems to me to be an obvious way to help compensate for the so-so dynamic range. How hard can it be? Sony, Canon, and even Pentax all have it now…
Sadly I’m almost ready to say Oly dropped the ball on this with the same old sensor. So much for the ‘new’ Oly sensor, it’s the exact same sensor as the older PEN cameras, if anything it might even be worse.
I’ve just finished looking at the JPEG studio scene comparison at dpreview, and quite honestly the JPEG output in my opinion is just plain awful. Even at lower ISO, the output is just awful. I’m still hoping somewhat that it’s just the JPEG engine being a bit over zealous with the NR, so still waiting for the RAW samples from dpreview. Definitely not a good thing.
You should see the 12800 iso. The worst i’ve seen in DPreview so far…. T_T
Ohh. Oly.
If you really need that ISO you have to get FF camera, for m43 just hope for usable 6400..
The only thing a camera needs to do when you try to shoot at 12800 iso is slap you…
Have you got confirmation on that? I can’t find a source saying it is the same sensor yet.
Honestly I don’t know whether or not it’s actually the exact same sensor. However as mentioned looking at the JPEG output and comparing it with the EPL-1, they’re almost identical. If anything I prefer the EPL-1’s output. Try look at the bottom right corner where the feathers are, and even at ISO800 the output from EPL-1 has much more detail, it might be noisier but definitely better detail, which to me is better than the smudged out EP3 output.
You are right, it doesn’t seem to be the same sensor.
This one is WORSE.
Olympus says that it’s a new Olympus designed sensor produced by Panasonic.
This is looking like the computing world… Avoid version 1.0!
It may be a bit premature to condemn it, though.
Overall, I’m underwhelmed. Olympus incrementalism is live and well. 🙁
E-PL3 looks quite sony-ish, doesn’t have internal flash, no grip and its’ buttons are reorganized (again). I don’t like it at all. The only one that sounds good to me is E-P3, but is quite expensive and I don’t like it’s grip either. The good are the lenses – 45mm is – must have – for me.
Based on these samples jpegs (not RAW), and actually owning the EPL-2, I’d say the image sensor and/or processor have improved significantly.
The 12800 is terrible, but from 200 to 3200 has improved greatly over the EPL2: http://www.digitalcamerainfo.com/content/Olympus-E-P3-Digital-Camera-Review/Sample-Photos.htm
+1 but G3 is much better… 🙁
Yea, G3 clearly has more detail in Jpeg, so it’s reasonable to assume Olympus Raws won’t beat the G3 either. That said, ISO1600 is now good and ISO3200 probably usable in Raw, so it’s not too much of a problem. Incidentally, I looked at the Samsung mirrorless camera alongside it and the level of detail present in pictures from that sensor is amazing. Wipes the floor with both the G3 and E-P3. Everything is relative I guess.
Sample images are garbage. 12mm lens is distorted and soft with no detail. I will stick with my D700 which I bought because my E3’s could not focus and had worse iq than the E500.
Now I have to wait only for the “PRO” Pen, but I guess, these three failures are reason enough for me to sell all of whats left of m4/3 crap.
Really, a dissapointment. Three years old sensor technology repacked in new bodies, but no signifficant improvement at all… Plus BAD and LO-RES displays. NO EVF. Isn’t it nice to see, that Oly now just cares about their income, but they don’t give a sh*t about what the customers have from them?
I’m pretty sad for you guys, too. You only got a chance to spend more money on some stupid, plastic-glass lenses, that you can use on some museum-level sensor technology. No serious progress in performance or technology. Design-wise, these cameras look cheap and boring to me, too.
I guess, it’s up to SONY and SAMSUNG, maybe PANY to make serious mirrorless cameras now, that Oly is out of the race :>
Time for food, can someone please give him some?
Pablo, you just won the prize for most melodramatic post ever. Did you really ever have any m4/3 equipment? I am guessing no.
“No serious progress in performance or technology”?? Are you serious? I think that with the new AF technology, we have had front-row seats for yet another Olympus innovation that will go on to become a much-copied industry standard.
If you’re so good at anything else, as you are at guessing, than you suck. YES, I still AM an actual EP1 owner. However, I really feel sorry for such blind, but brand loyal fanboys as you.
blind, brand loyal fanboy??
HAHA You just described all of your NEX posts. At least I manage to post on the correct site.
Why does the E-P3 have slower burst rate than the E-PL3 and E-PM1? Does that make any sense?
I don’t get it either…
looks like the E-P3 does away with need for photoshop 😀 😀 😀 I can do absolutely everything in camera
the reviews consistently show high noise content. i hope a firmware tweak may change that. I’m seriously tempted to buy and once all the dust settles and prices are available i am pretty sure this is the one for me.
But i think i would prefer the 12-60 oly from four thirds on the ep3 as a kit lens.
You cannot get a 12-60 on the EP3 because the lens is about ten times larger and heavier than that body, as well as double the price. Sorry, Olympus wants you to use primes and collapsible kit zooms, all with a lot of software corrections (because the lenses are optically worse than 4/3 lenses).
I find it funny that people say the tilted screen looks like SONY.
I think there must be very few old folks here who knows about the E-330.
Didn’t the E-10 and E-20 have a tiltable screen?
Yeah, even the C-5050 has the same tilted screen.
They must have copied from SONY!
I think it is the aspect ratio of the tilting screen in combination with the clip on flash that makes the E-PL3 look like a Sony copy.
I don’t know why they chose to use this type of tilt screen, because it’s useless.
Yes, it does look like they’re trying to copy Sony, which is weird, because NEX’s design is pretty awful (close to train wreck). I hope the innards of the cameras are good because the shells look like step down from the previous generation of Pens…. The designers must have changed and they look a lot less streamline and elegant. The color of lens, body, and flash material don’t even match… (why something so simple can’t be done?). All the regular 4/3’s body and lenses match in material…, which is why 4/3 looks so classy (without flashy). If I were to pick one from the three, I’d say E-PL3’s design is the better one, though that power button’s placement is all wrong…, and tilt screen is not the same as swivel screen. I bet the designer doesn’t know the difference.
http://robinwong.blogspot.com/
Some real world use. It looks great especially for out of camera results.
quite like the comment about the red skin cast on the vendor, which would have nothing at all to do with him standing under a red tarp in sunlight 😉
Hmm.. the AF points are smaller than before, but not small enough. This looks like a potential deal-breaker to me.
And what happened to the IR focusing system? There is no mention of it anywhere. Isn’t the new AF based on that patent at all?
@admin
have you found any of the new art filters samples anywhere?
@YouDidntDidYou
http://www.olympuscanada.com/cpg_section/product.asp?product=1573&utm_source=em_ep3_revealed&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pen_launch_2011&utm_content=e-p3_details
Scroll down to “Interact with the art filter” click on that, has examples of them all.
Err – what happened with all nice theories about IR light sensitive sensor and IR light used for focusing? Nobody wants to discuss this anymore?
I have a new term for this – Overrumoring…
I think these teories are still valid. (Even the new lens’ notations may support that.) Just wait for confirmation.
The problem I see is that Panasonic just gives more bang for the buck! I own an XZ-1 and VF-2 and REALLY wanted to like at least one of these cameras. However, Image quality is not up to the G3, and slightly faster performance is not enough of an advantage for me to give up High ISO performance. Also, In a G3 I get 1)articulating 2)touch screen, 3)viewfinder and 4)flash. Olympus did not equip ANY of their new cameras with more than 2 of these 4 options!
Any information about focus speed? Or so fast as even doesn’t worth to measure? 😀
ok its pretty fine, btw that grip looks like a grip on Canon A-1 🙂
But can someone explain to me why USA price is 619 euros (converted) to 849euros for EU. I hate that, why are they so privileged. they are not bigger market if you compare USA population with only EU its 300mil vs 400mil people and the whole europe is about more than 600mil people. Why are we being screwed, and not even been kissed before…
Sold my e-pl1 a couple of weeks ago in anticpation for the new PENs. Now I’m not so sure what/if I will get. The e-p3 looks real nice but it is a tad expensive for a second camera. The e-pl3 looks fine, but I’d prefer the retro e-pl2 look.
Now I’ve got a Panny 20mm and the Olly 14-150mm redundant at home. Perhaps I should just sell the lot and just get the X100! =)
Do we have a picture of the larger grip?
http://dpreview.com/previews/olympusep3/images/lenses/45_1p8.jpg
Miroslave, gde nabavljas opremu, bez obzira u kojoj si zemlji balkana mislim da je sve manje vise isto sto se tice cena… sisaju nas ko ovce. Ako znas nekog ko donosi opremu na druge nacine sa manjim cenama javi se (klikni na moje ime iznad commenta – link za fb) Pozdrav
I wonder if you get both grips in the box, or if you have to buy the second one.
$20 for the second grip.
That big plasic screw head is trés elegant, non? eeeeeeeeek!
Well, so much complains for the grip in the last days, I think the E-P3 looks absolutely great without any grip at all!
Just read the available reviews (thank you Admin!), my initial reactions:
The obvious comparison will be G3 to E-P3:
1) G3 kills it on price at $200 less expensive (almost 25%)
2) G3 trounces it at ISO 3200 and above
3) G3 has built-in EVF at no extra charge (Oly adds another $250 to an already lopsided price disadvantage)
4) G3 has fully articulated 3″ LCD
5) E-P3 has 3″ fixed OLED (that washes out in sunlight), IBIS and style
6) To my eyes, the E-P3 JPEGS look best in class up to 1600 (view the watch dial on DPR’s ISO comparison)
Advantage G3
The E-PM1 and E-PL3 will be challenged by their competition on their noise at ISO 3200 and above along with their small usable area LCD’s and lack of in-body flash, giant steps backwards. Their pricing had better be aggressive.
+1
I can’t understand why they put a 16:9 Screen on a 4:3 camera.
Because 16:9 is wider than 4:3 and gives you spare room to place various user interface elements on the sides without them obstructing the picture.
I think you forgot to list the areas that the E-P3 trounces the G3 on…
The E-P3 is smaller, lighter and faster. for some people, that will be exactly what they are looking for.
Of all of these, #6 is most important to me, therefore : advantage E-P3. The amount of noise at ISO200 in the watch dial and other areas (particularly blues ones) in the G3 is disturbing.
A few more for your list:
7) E-P3: IBIS (you mentioned it, but it deserves it’s own number 🙂
7) The G3 has no capability to control and trigger FL-36R and FL-50R flashes remotely
8) You can’t remove the viewfinder on the G3 to make the camera smaller
9) The viewfinder on the G3 doesn’t rotate
Where as with the EP3.. you have to remove the EVF to make it smaller than the G3. So thats a wash in my book. I don’t see an advantage.
You can break or lose the VF-2 all for a paltry $250 extra!
IBIS is no panacea.
A built-in EVF is a great stabilizer, as is shooting from the hip with he articulated LCD. No adjustments necessary when swapping lenses, either.
Good points! And I do live in fear of losing my VF-2!
Now I love my good old E-520 more than ever. Hopefully the non-micro FourThirds system will not become obsoleted.
My first impression is how much they have copied from Sony: lens look, tilt screen, 16:9 screen, button layout, recessed back, video specs, camera dimensions, flashes … Not that they shouldn’t have, it’s just so obvious. Oly has to make stuff that sells. I welcome 21st century design of two smaller cameras.
plz the olympus had this tilt screens years before SONY did
Nobody is saying it haven’t. But just take a closer look at the design of E-PL3 – it looks like Sony NEX, not like E330 or C-5050. It’s just ugly – as NEXes are.
Colours looks very good under ISO 1600!
Unveiling of Olympus E-PL3 and the E-P3
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/threads/923829-Review-Unveiling-of-Olympus-E-PL3-and-the-E-P3?p=7290377
No point to upgrade my E-P2 as the sensor performance is obviously the same.
I would rather have better image quality at same AF speed.
all in all if something much better doesnt come up in septbr, ill just keep my e-pl1 and get myself 600 or 60D equvalents. In my country prices are comparible just on Canikons, NEX5 is still like 600euros. XZ-1 is 470euros EPL-2 550e only thing i can do is get 10 pc off and that is still to much.
Hmm, for what it’s worth G3 performs better at Hi-ISO regarding http://dpreview.com/previews/olympusep3/page11.asp
I don’t really care about ultra-high ISO and MP but much more about things like AF performance sot that’s probably ok. I’ll still wait for the Pro-PEN and until then I’ll be enjoying my e-pl2 (I can’t see much improvement between e-p3 new sensor and e-pl2 one in this dpreview sample pic, btw — while it might be not representative enough for sure).
Oh, and the 12mm sample pics look AMAZING http://dpreview.com/galleries/reviewsamples/albums/olympus-m-zuiko-12mm-f2-0-preview-samples/slideshow?start=1
As another side note, I found the two available grips rather ugly http://img1.focus-numerique.com/focus/news/2/2699/olympus-e-p3-grip-amovible.jpg
Room for business for accessory makers, I guess.
are there more information about the 45mm f1.8 lens? review or preview???
Do the lenses come in black? Anyone know why the lens part closest to the sensor is bigger than the rest of the lens? Also, IMO the writing on the lens makes it look very cheap.. Cannot stress how important typography is.
I don’t know where Olympus is heading.. It seems all their lenses differ in their styling. Stick to one design dammit!
Also why is the EP-3 so bloody expensive? The G3 comes in at $200 cheaper, and it already comes with a superb EVF.
AND A NEW AND BETTER SENSOR :>
Somtimes you “Can” be very right Pablo….. I think this is what will hurt EP3 the most. All the expectation raised by this site and Oly marketers about a new….Oly designed sensor.Looking more and more the the same old Oly 12mp mule used in every camera they make….from top to bottom.
PABLO FTW!
Have to wait and see other controlled tests about high ISO to determine if there’s any major improvement. I wouldn’t say having lightning fast AF is not good though. This has always been something people bicker about digital PEN in the past and has become stereotypical (even if later versions has address to this problem already.) But unless the dynamic range etc has really improved like what Olympus claimed, I don’t really see any immediate reason to upgrade to the latest PEN offerings.
might want to check out the review of both the E-P3 and E-PL3, with hands-on for both cameras and more images of the 2 bodies as well as the new lenses:
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/threads/923829-Review-Unveiling-of-Olympus-E-PL3-and-the-E-P3
Haha, they posted all the photos already 3 days ago?! 😛
Funny, I thought 3FPS was performance of the past…. Oly is probably thinking it’s customers suffer from dementia or what, as they don’t even care about the performance of their NEWLY introduced cameras… Besides, it is heavy, large and not so ergonomical with it’s brick design…
Seriously, people. I don’t see no serious progress or a reason to upgrade compared with the EP1 :>
@Pablo
if you need higher frame rate per a second, shoot video and pull your stills/photos from there
*bites tongue*
The E-PL3 also seems to have remote flash control… I wonder why I should buy the E-P3 when the E-PL3 is not much different…
Anyone??
Unfortunately this says a lot: http://www.quesabesde.com/camdig/noticias/Olympus_EP3_ISO-COMP_500g.jpg
The G3 is bound to have higher resolution, with it’s higher pixel count, don’t you think? By the way, the G3 shot has more magnification, so it isn’t entirely fair. In any case, the E-P3 looks quite a bit better than the E-P2.
It looks better because of an improved noise filtering algorithm in JPEGs.
If it looks better, it IS better…
Unfortunately and going by dpreview JPEGs I would say they don’t even look better than the E-PL2, just a bit more cooked… 🙁
That shot is from the GF3, the humpbacked toy Panasonic 😉 , NOT the G3.
Looks like they have the same 12MPix old sensor, with addition of IR/G cells for faster AF and new processing engine.
Detail level compared to G3 looks poor.
So far G3 seems to be best option for enthusiasts who prefer using viewfinders.
Sure, EP-3 looks nice, but good style it’s not enough.
I wonder what Samsung, Sony and Pentax will show.
If Pentax will show the same clever style as with Q but with APS sensor it may be very interesting system.
Samsung already has very nice 30/2 pancake, they just need body matching G3 with better sensor and EVF.
Probably Sony’s NEX-7 will have great sensor and EVF but they still lack of good quality, small standard lens.
http://youtu.be/DGU29S4gplg
20mm lens is intriguing.
Grip options…
http://olympus-imaging.jp/product/dslr/ep3/accessory/index.html
Admin find te mr wong of Malaysia e5 personal review fame he is doing the ep3 review too!!
Admin find te mr wong of Malaysia e5 personal review fame he is doing the ep3 review too!!
Admin find mr wong of Malaysia e5 personal review fame.
he is doing the ep3 review too!!
Admin find the blogpost of mr wong of Malaysia e5 personal review fame.
he is doing the ep3 review too!!
Am i wrong or does the E-PM1 looks even more bent on the top than the E-PL3?. BTW in my opinion this strange wavy top strongly interferes with the otherwise no-nonsense design of these cams.
I believe the wavy top is considered “style” by some. 😉
It’s really just mirroring the PEN top lineup, to give it a family resemblance and make it seem it a bit less generic. I prefer the PEN Lite and Mini to the EP3, which looks a bit creaky design wise.
The 60s are over, man. 😉
hahaa, i like 60’s SLR’s and 70’s compact rf’s 🙂
Me, too, actually.
I recently inherited a c.1970 Asahi Pentax Spotmatic SPII with 2 Pentax SMC Takumar lenses (50mm f1.4, 105mm f2.8) all in mint condition! Beautiful, solid stuff. They’re two of my favorite lenses!
Forward into the past!
I actually shoot film cameras because I find them less distracting and more fun to use. I get all my film from freestylephoto.biz. Their “Legacy Pro” line is repackaged Fuji Neopan and Neopan ACROS.
any info on af speed of the new lenses on previous pens (e-p1, e-p2)?
According to Robin Wong it is a new sensor. Comparing jpgs with E-PL1 and E-5 i see some difference and the ISO 1600 jpgs are very usable. For higher ISO i prefer FF anyway 😉
One thing that puzzles me are the comments regarding the menu on outdoorphotographer and dcresource. They obviously missed the super menu, which is pretty poor for someone claiming to do a review and very misleading for potential buyers.
Looks like the E-P3 will be an excelent high quality OOC jpeg machine 200-1600 ISO….
Don’t know why they bother with 3200ISO (its worse than on the E-PL1) and any more is just a joke!
Shaddow noise and low ISO noise looks noticably better than the E-PL1 @1600 ISO and below!
I suspect becuase of this shaddow noise improvement the DR will be up a stop or so… but lets see what DXO say about that… (I hope so as this will be its only saving grace)…
I wish they would have dropped the ISO 3200, 6400, 12800 and just concentrated on the better end of the range – i.e. replaced these unusable ISOs with very usable and needed ISO 25, 50, 100… Very good for fast lens in bright light and for landscape and long exposure stuff! – this would have made a logical and cracking camera… and the E-P3 should have had a full tilt swivel screen! – maybe 2 versions.. 1) with touch screen 640k or the other with 920k normal screen?….
Well I don’t feel that desperate to upgrade from my E-P1… maybe the PEN-PRO will do it for me…. ??? I do hope so!
There are changes to the sensor, yes. According to a trusted friend that is testing a version 1.0 firmware model, he sees about a one stop difference in raw. However, in JPEG, we also see a lot of noise reduction detail reduction at the high ISO values.
i think the RAW will show us more when they integrate it into lightroom… JPGS look awful at 1600 compared to G3 GH2 simply becouse more MPs
I really, REALLY doubt there is a full f-stop improvement in noise. I’d say it’ll be very slight improvement, if at all.
I just now converted a raw image (found at quesabesde.com) and at ISO 200 the noise in the shadows is as bad as before. And the JPEG high ISO comparison (on the same site) between the E-P2, E-P3 and G3 reveals that the E-P3 is slightly better than the E-P2 and a bit worse than the G3. Taking into account that they (Olympus) have improved noise reduction, and that they are well ahead of Panasonic in that department, I’d say that the E-P3 is about 0.1 f-stops better than the E-P2 in raw, and about 2.5/3rds worse than the G3 (at ISO 3200).
I trust my friend, explicitly. If I could reveal who it was, you would too. I should qualify that “one stop” means that raw ISO 1600 on the new camera looks and tests like raw ISO 800 on the old. Note that you might not be able to compare new at 200 versus old at 100. I don’t think the actual base ISO of the sensor is either of those values. Moreover, note that the change is present at HIGHER ISO values. I didn’t say that the dynamic range of the sensor changed (it might have by a bit, but haven’t done that testing yet). It’s very possible that read/gain has changed on the sensor, which would explain higher ISO value differences. Frankly, that’s where the sensor needed the most work. I can live with what it does at base.
Then it’s good news if you really trust this friend and he had access to test both the old and the new sensor in the same conditions. I do hope he’s right.
All the tests I’ve seen indicate there’s a pretty small improvement only, and in JPEG, so it sounds weird that there will be 1 stop improvement in raw at hign ISO. But I’ll keep my hope.
Not sure if all those samples were shot with final firmware and if default settings were used. I’d wait until JPGs and RAWs of production models are available, everything else is just guesswork … although compared to my own E-PL1 and E-5 images, the ISO 1600 samples are surely not worse, but they remind me a bit of my own JPGs when shooting with default noise reduction, sharpening and gradation auto.
Relax 😉
I don’t know why people fuss about high ISO – between the 20 1.7 and IBS my EPL1 does one better than my former Nikon D300 under most conditions. Dynamic range may be limited, but at least Olympus has a great meter and doesn’t meter hot like my former Nikon.
Here are two studio shots from Imaging-Resource both converted from raw using DCRaw (click to enlarge):
E-PL2, ISO 3200:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/EPL2/EPL2hSLI3200NR0_DCR.HTM
E-P3, ISO 3200:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/EP3/EP3hSLI03200NR0_DCR.HTM
Short answer: no change. Same sensor, same performance 🙁
So what you’re saying, is don’t expect any IQ difference at ISO200?
I’m not familar with other sensors, but it saddens me every time I run noiseware on my ISO200 images so I can sharpen them without it sharpening the ISO200 ‘noise’
Yes, no IQ difference at ISO 200 or ISO 3200. The sensor is the same one in this respect.
Here an image I converted from raw without NR. It is ISO 200 and look at the shadows (in the tree, especially):
http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/85/olympusep3p6260186rt2.jpg
Juddging the DPR samples v the G3 and nikon 5100 + 5DII…the E-P3 looks very heavy handed in the smearing – the fethers fine detail seems bloched away – on bank notes and sharp contrast fine detail areas, the E-P3 is competative… (note in both these situations the 3G is up there with the 5DII)!…. (I compair at 800 + 1600 ISO as 3200 just looses it on the EP3)…
In the dark areas (cotten reels at bottom of setup) the EP3 is second only to the 5DII!… (maybe because of the heavy NR) but it deffenatly holds the noise down better then the 3G and even the 5100!
While you here all this “Oh, the same old sensor” stuff, Robin Wong comes to another conclusion. According to him, it is a new sensor and both DR and colour rendition (the latter particularly when it comes to the reds) have been massively reduced.
Now I just can’t wait for the next chapter that will deal with the allegedly fastest AF in the world. Tell me that it’s got a working C-AF, Robin!!! And that it also works with my FT Zuikos!
I guess u mean improved and not reduced ;). Cause Wong thinkgs DR was improved not reduced.
Yes, I read Robin. What they might have been achieving is more colour depth, and better DR, because those those market pictures look sensational.
They might also have better control over shadow noise. That was probably the first reason to avoid increasing the Mpx count. The latter’s advantage is only at High ISO, at the expense of more noise at base ISO.
It’s just marketing talk. Olympus have figured out a way to improve DR and colour reproduction *in JPEG files*. I’ll eat my hat if RAW is any different from any other 4-year-old sensor used by Olympus so far.
Still great work, because now nobody needs to shoot RAW ever again 🙂
Well, I don’t think so, because there are various reports, including from Oly’s R&D chief that the sensor was designed in house.
Not only for better IQ, but for FAST AF, and so a different IR filter. They might have changed the IR coatings or used the GF3 sensor.
Go ahead, if you still have the Mpx fetish, I don’t, I prefer to have clean images at base ISO, with lots of Jpeg DR, and nothing left for RAW. That now is for measturbators.
Performance at low iso for the Olympus and panasonic cameras are so similar you won’t see a lot of difference.
See my comments, above. About a one stop difference from the old sensor in raw. Still not at APS levels, but better.
I would really like to believe that. But the raw files found at Imaging Resource tell a different story: When developed with RawTherapee or Bibble 5, they look almost *exactly* as the ones from the E-PL2. Although firmware version is (according to Exifs) 1.0.
My friend tests the raw data itself, not converted data that tells you only how good the converter is ;~). He uses a tough, rigorous, repeatable process, so it’s comparing apples and apples. I’ve never found him to be wrong yet in one of his low level assessments.
That said, I haven’t had a chance to do a test myself, and at the moment it doesn’t look like I’ll have a camera to do that with until early August sometime.
Thanks for the insight! That’s a little reassuring :). I’m pretty much already sold on the E-P3 but am hoping for fairly good ISO3200 with raw conversion.
Is your friend someone from DxOMark, which said the E-5 sensor was worse than the E-3 sensor, even if we know that isn’t remotely true?
No, my friend does not work for DxOMark.
A lot of people base their judgments on camera image quality based upon what they see. The question you then have to ask is “what can they see?” I know a few people who are so good at seeing underlying differences that you can show them a 100×100 pixel level sample and they’ll tell you which camera and which lens (assuming they’ve been working with that camera and lens before). I can’t quite do that, though I’m getting closer.
There is a different group of people, to which I do belong, that is extremely careful about measurement and optimal data capture. We also use raw data only for testing assumptions about differences. My friend is another one of those, and well known in the photography world for that.
Again, I’m point out that once you add a raw converter into the process, the converter itself starts to become an issue. Camera companies do change both Bayer filtration and linearity response in sensors from time to time. A converter that has not been optimized for those changes will almost certainly provide sub-par conversions. If I’m right about some of the things Olympus did with the sensor (red response looks suspiciously different, for example), converter companies will need to get some of their experts doing raw data level testing and reconfiguring their converters to get the best possible results.
All I can do is report what my friend said and that I trust his judgment. He’s proven to be remarkably right on a number of statements that seemed controversial in the past. He has the equipment to make measurements I can’t. He knows how to use it.
So please stop shooting the messenger. Let’s wait to see what the camera can actually do in the hands of people that are attempting to get “best possible results” rather than quick tests run with default settings through raw converters that are not optimized.
So basically is what you’re saying is the following:
1) JPEGs suck
2) There’s a stop (of ISO, or DR too?) improvement in RAW
3) Current converters, like dcraw, produce suboptimal results
If so, then it’s a shame that sensor isn’t in the E-5…
Yes, that’s what I’m saying, but let me elaborate just a bit:
> JPEGs suck
Every example I’ve seen so far, both from preproduction cameras and now on a few sites that got early access, shows excessive NR at work, IMHO. I indeed do think that this sucks. I’ve yet to see an in-camera NR routine that bests what I can do out of camera, even with 8-bit JPEG data.
> Stop improvement in raw
I can only report what my friend says. I’m still trying to figure out the details of that, but I think I’ll just wait until I have a camera to try to say more.
> Converters produce suboptimal results
They can. Nikon shooters have been saying that about Adobe converters for…well…as long as there have been Adobe converters. Even though Adobe has closed much of the gap through their profiling, they make the mistake of using two data points from two different light sources to generate ALL color decisions. When you have a weak channel in a sensor, this can generate the difference between good results and poor.
A lot of people don’t realize that the two greens in a Bayer sensor are often different ;~). If you don’t correct for that, you introduce noise into your conversion, guaranteed. (Wait a second, how can the two greens be different? Well, in some systems the RG is laid down separately from the GB. Moreover, there can be “spill” from the process.)
Given all this talk about RAW conversion, affecting the final image quality, I’m curious about your recommendation for processing RAW, to get the best quality.
I currently process my E-5 RAW photos using Adobe Lightroom. I like the workflow much more than that of Olympus Master, but after reading from this and other sources, I’m now wondering if I can get more out of my images.
So, Thom, what is your recommendation for processing Olympus RAW files, to get the best quality out of them?
Thanks for any and all of your insight.
Then I hope for improved converters 😉
Thanks anyway, Thom – sounds reassuring.
Thom, you have to admit that it sounds really strange. You mean that once raw converters get updated to correctly support the E-P3, suddenly all the noise we’re seeing now will disappear? (DCRaw can convert the raws without problems, but maybe it adds noise to them?).
But even more, if that would be the case, we should assume that Olympus already supports the raw output of the new sensor correctly, so at least the JPEGs out of the camera should show that 1 stop improvement (or more, taking into account the improvements in NR algorithms). But they don’t. They just show the slight improvement in NR, nothing else.
Could you double check with your friend? I’m sure there’s some kind of mistake somewhere.
I have double and triple checked with my friend, asking him a couple of questions along the way. He seems pretty certain.
As for converters, DCRaw is not an optimal converter. It’s a common code base for getting data from raw files, running that through one of the better demosaic routines, but with non-optimized parameters.
If you’ve followed what I’ve been writing for the past 15 years about digital, you’d know that I’ve written several times about “old data suddenly becoming better.” I’ve got files from the 90’s converted with what we had then, then what we got in the early 00’s, and now converted with something we’ve got today. Curiously, yes, that same original file looks better with today’s converter than any previous one. This was one of the reasons why so many of us used Nikon Capture early on: it clearly got superior conversions out of the same data than anything else at the time, including DCRaw. That’s not so true today, unfortunately, which is why few of us still use it for our Nikon NEFs.
When I saw early JPEG tests from the E-P3 (run by Olympus themselves, I believe, using .9 firmware), I noticed the same thing you did, only I wouldn’t say “improvements in NR algorithms.” What I saw was serious detail smudging by the NR routines, very similar to what we see on the XZ-1, by the way. Now that we have a few decently controlled test samples out there on the Web (e.g. dpreview), it appears that this is verified.
At the pace that camera companies are cranking out new sensors and imaging ASICs and cameras, I’m beginning to wonder if we’re actually getting the best possible JPEG renderings out of them. Both the sensor and imaging ASIC lock down very early in the product cycle. There’s then a mad rush to “tune” what the ASIC gets from the sensor as the camera is put into production and firmware starts locking. But by the time the camera comes out, there isn’t time to re-tune, because you’ve got the next cycle of cameras right on the heel that have their sensors and ASICs locking.
It usually takes me a month or two to figure out how to optimize my capture and conversion on a new camera.
You have also eat hat, for RAW is better in E-5 from E-P1, and any differnces is DR in E-P3, look on Dpreveiw.
Excellent lineup. I’m having hard time determining which would be the best upgrade from E-PL1. E-PM1 seems to offer everything, except all the manual controls and orientation sensor of E-P3. I might be willing to forgo those in exchange for the tiny size and low weight.
I’ll have to wait for the E-PM1 reviews, as everybody seems to be drooling over the flagship model now 🙁
E-P3 is calling you… Ahem… Buy the E-P Threeeeee….
Seriously though, it’s an easy choice for me. E-P3 or not.
I know it is 🙂 but the sensor and image processor is the same in all three cameras, so it boils down to UI. I’m quite happy with E-PL1 UI, but I’ll wait for in-depth reviews to see if the stripped-down E-PM1 or E-PL3 would be good.
The EPL3 looks like it could be a great little camera.
I geeked out a bit and compared size and weight of the 3 new Olys and the GF3. As far as the Olys go, the EPL3 is looking like the sweet spot, especially given the pivoting screen. It’s only 3.4mm (3/16″) deeper and about 48g (1.7oz) heavier than the EPM1.
Too bad Olympus didn’t put the higher res LCD on the EPL3 and a pivot screen on the EP3. AND omitted a built-in flash from the EPL3. You gotta wonder sometimes.
Olympus E-PM1
Dimensions: 109.5mm x 63.7mm x 34mm —- 4.31″ x 2.51″ x 1.34″
Weight (no batt): 217g
Weight (with batt & card): 254g
Olympus EPL3
Dimensions: 109.5mm x 63.7mm x 37.3mm —- 4.31″ x 2.51″ x 1.47″
Weight (no batt): 265g
Weight (with batt & card): 313g
Olympus EP3
Dimensions: 122mm x 69.1mm x 34.2mm —- 4.80″ x 2.72″ x 1.35″
Weight (no batt): 321g
Weight (with batt & card): 369g
Panasonic GF3
Dimensions: 107.7mm x 67.1mm x 32.5mm —- 4.24″ x 2.64″ x 1.28″
Weight (camera body): 225 g (7.94 oz)
Weight (with card & battery): 264 g (9.31 oz)
I also think the E-PL3 might be the smart option. It’s just not that much bigger than the E-PM1 and has better controls. I kind of like that little clip on flash. I hate using flash so in my bag for emergencies is a good option for me. The biggest disappointment for me is that High iso IQ is still so-so but otherwise I’m good with these offerings.
I don’t care so much about high ISO, which seems like a gimmick and a cheap way to compensate for so many slow lenses. The flash is included, so no loss or extra cash outlay. I’d like to see how manual focus works with the flip-up LCD.
No matter how fast the lens, I can find someplace too dark for it. 😉
Anybody wonder how come the EP3 is 3fps while the EPL3/mini is 5.5fps?
wow look at the noise in the tvsmith hands on (pic of the 2 oly staff)
even at FB resolution it’s unacceptable!!!
i was so ready to snap one of these up, but with over 25% of my X100 shots at ISO 3200+, i just wouldn’t be able to do it.
G3 it is….
Do you mean the ISO 12800 picture? 😉
yep, second from the bottom, the one with so much grain you’d even see the noise at thumbnail res.
Edit: Answer to sadwitch (3 Comments up)
Read Olympus uses a new shutter for EPL3/mini due to size, and probably EP3 uses the same as EP2/EP1.
If E-PL was olympus’ best seller, then they just kill it. Sad!
Sad, but true.
E-PM1 is simple and small, E-P3 is advanced and can be actually held. E-PL3 is just pointless – to many things on such a small body without a grip.
IMO they will sell truckloads of E-PL3’s.The target audience isn’t advanced amateurs but P&S upgraders and they will drool in front of the “vitrines” in the shops.
I’m not in the market for E-PM1 or E-PL3 but the E-PL1 shure looks sexy with the 12mmF2 or 45mmF1.8, hell, even the new kitlenses are well designed and a perfect fit. The favorite would probably be the silver colour cams, no doubt about that.
I will probably buy the ep3 to replace my ep2. I hope you are right about them selling lots of the epl3’s, but Olympus has got to fix the problem with visibility in stores. They simply don’t have market saturation with many of their cameras and lenses. If customers are looking for something new, they are going to want to touch and try the cameras, and compare the handling with the dslr competition. Many of these people choose based on what they see at Best buy, cosco, sams, etc. Lots of cheap dslr’s, not much from olympus. Let’s hope that Olympus will work to improve this.
I don’t know, I think I’d prefer the E-PL3 over anything else in the line-up. The E-P3 is a close second.
Agree – I want a small PEN/GF sized camera, I can’t see the point in onboard flash, and would love the tilt screen.
Kinda strange they decide the lower positioned camera had a faster 5.5FPS compare to the top range 3FPS. I would have thought olympus would reserve all the best for the EP3. This might be an important consideration if focus speeds are the same for all 3 cams.
16:8 screens? 🙁
You mean 16:9, right? 🙂
But yes, that’s disappointing ;-(
Okay, I’m over being excited now that I have seen the specs. Nice (and necessary) updates for Olympus fans, but no game-changers that would shift the balance within M43 (let alone vs NEX or DSLRS.)
“Super fast AF” is a nice marketing claim, but I’m sure it will be possible to invent test scenarios that show either Olympus or Panasonic as faster. And neither will follow action as well as a phase-detect system, so sports buffs will still need to buy a DSLR (or Sony trans-mirror camera) for best results.
Within M43:
— If you must have (or think you must have) a built-in EVF, Panasonic is still your only choice.
— If you must have (or think you must have) IBIS, Olympus is still your only choice.
— If your idea of style is sleek and futuristic, you’ll still prefer Panasonic.
— If your idea of style is retro and knobby, you’ll still prefer Olympus.
At least it’s still nice and simple…
Yes, but that’s not the whole story:
– if you must have (or think you must have) a good screen which swivels, Panasonic is your only choice
– if you must have (or think you must have) a camera with a display which can be used from waist level, you don’t have any choice (none of the swivel or tilt screens does so to be conveniently placed at waist level)
– if you must have (or think you must have) in-camera CA correction, Panasonic is your only choice (but you can always process RAWs yourself)
– if you must not have (or think you must not have) in-camera CA correction, Olympus is your only choice (but you can always process RAWs yourself)
Anyway, choices today are much better than yesterday:
– yesterday Olympus didn’t have any tilt screen option, today they do.
– yesterday Olympus didn’t have any good display on m43, today they do.
– yesterday Olympus had terrible AF performance, today they do have something much better (maybe not as good as they claim, but much better)
– yesterday Olympus didn’t have any nice m43 prime, today they do.
– if you must have (or think you must have)
Still, Olympus is lacking a decent normal prime offering, thus I guess most folks (I for one) would refrain buying Olympus cameras: I’d love to have IBIS, fast AF and Olympus’ JPEGs. But to date, Panasonic has two “normal primes” (20mm and 25mm) while Olympus has none (it has a semi-wide 17mm but it’s slow, possibly both in AF and light collection – and moreover is poor quality, besides being too wide for being considered “normal”). Buying body-only and lens-only from two different companies is possible, but it is much more expensive than buying kits (and much means spending about twice). However the Panasonic GF3 doesn’t come with the 20mm (it only comes with the crappy 14-42mm or with the useless 14mm pancake prime), otherwise I would have both it immediately!
“- if you must have (or think you must have) a camera with a display which can be used from waist level, you don’t have any choice (none of the swivel or tilt screens does so to be conveniently placed at waist level)”
I don’t know, the picture suggests otherwise: http://a.img-dpreview.com/news/1106/olympus/epl3-side-001.jpg
The other must have: If you must have looks of the Pen, then you have to go Olympus. Since the feature set and IQ is good enough for many, then this is an issue.
Sports buffs need >300mm <=f2.8, so they aren't going m43rds to start with. (at least not with the current lenses)
BIG question: I read somewhere that the lens-side AF improvement is achieved thanks to the new firmware: will MSC lenses be upgraded via software and achieve same speed of the new ones on the new bodies????
Maybe even Admin cannot answer this…
Antonio
I read on dpreview that existing lenses will be able to be upgraded to the same AF performance as the new lenses, through firmware. I hope that is correct. If it is its good news.
If the fast AF of these new models is achieved via the infra-red technology patent described in this website, then lenses must have a coating that transmits IR. So older lenses won’t work, as they (we are told) were specially coated NOT to transmit IR.
Despite our speculation that this is the IR sensor, I currently believe it is NOT. I do believe that Olympus has opted to move data from the sensor faster (they quote a 120 fps speed, similar to Panasonic’s GH series), and it very well may be that they’ve isolated a few photosites on the sensor that can offload data by themselves (i.e., without having to grab the whole sensor live view data).
Olympus is having a technical session on the Internet later today for some folk. We’ll see what they say then.
I agree, this is not the IR sensor.
They pushed frame rates (or blinks) to 120fps instead of 60fps as GF3 sensor does.
admin
what’s about the announced new view finder?
Seems the new FL-300R might be very interresting for existing Pen owners. It can be pushed forwards for storage and pulled back for bounce. In all much better than the FL-14 and a much better fit.
I think the one you’re referring to is the flash that comes with the Pen Lite and Mini. That’s a smaller flash than the FL-300R. I could be wrong, though.
Does this flash control wireless flashes? It connects to the accessory port, so it seems possible.
The German press release states €949,00 MSRP for the E-P3 kit… >_<)
http://www.olympus.de/corporate/1696_14499.htm
949€? They must be crazy. Then it is a no-brainer for me. So it will be the G3…
… €949 will let Fuji X100 sales rise even more. 😉
Olympus Italy
– e-p3 (body only) €799
– 12mm €799
– 45mm €299
Source
http://www.photocommunity.qtp.it/showthread.php/33876-30-Giugno-2011-Comunicati-stampa
Amazing how the €-price is acutally HIGHER than the $-price, thats a major rip off.
Will fast autofocus NOT work with the 17mm? Anyone know for sure?
I think you get faster but not fast, as it can’t use IR, but it can use the new processor
does anyone know if the new lenses are actually weather proofed?
I think the E-PL3 is the most interesting alternative. Tilt screen is good – the excellent OLED of E-P3 does not work well in sunny weather. An E-P3 + VF2 will be quite expensive compared to Pana G3.
Olympus jpg looks better than Pana G3 on low ISO worse on high ISO. Olympus jpg always were better than Pana.- But I always shoot RAW.
Olympus delivers in focusing speed, not in DR and high ISO
Olympus delivers two primes I will definately buy! Great!
So it will be between E-PL3 and EVF or G3 + 12, 25, 90 lenses. (spend less on camera and more on lenses!)
Lumious Landscape evaluation of Pana G3 will decide for me what to choose
the image samples i’ve seen so far are impressive. yes the high-ISO comparison by dpreview was a let down, but seeing real world samples made me like it better. the images have a certain feel in it.
and those taken with the 12mm prime are awesome!
E-P3 is fastest shutter camera (60 – 1/40000 sec.)
check the website ^^.
OMG!!!
I love the new sensor. ISO 1600 noise with noise reduction set to 0!!! Have a look to this image!!!
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/EP3/FULLRES/EP3hSLI01600NR0.HTM
WOW!!! They have really improved the sensor performance. I only thing I hate from this camera is that it doesn´t allow ISO 100.
Another thing that is driving me nuts! E-P1 was supposed to have an extraordinary color accuracy, scoring 20.51 in DIGITAL CAMERA INFO.
http://www.digitalcamerainfo.com/content/Olympus-E-P1-Digital-Camera-Review-20850/Color.htm
Now check the E-P3!!! I think something is wrong related with this test!
http://www.digitalcamerainfo.com/content/Olympus-E-P3-Digital-Camera-Review/Color.htm
I am very surprised. With all the hype about high ISO, the panasonic G3 was absolutely superior at 3200 in every different section of the test shot. Not only that, you get 33% higher resolution to boot when shooting low ISO for ultimate quality.
The AF, video, and user friendliness are welcome, but this is strictly evolution, not the revolution that was over-hyped. Panasonic is still in the lead for ultimate image quality, and even for lower quality High ISO shooting, from what the images show so far.
Hi guy,
I remind you Olympus signed a contract with Panasonic until 2011. They still have to buy from them until the end of this year. I guess Panasonic don´t want Olympus to use their latest sensors. So Olympus redesigned a Panasonic sensor and made it much better!
In my opinion although the resolution is lower in Olympus cameras, images are sharper vs Panasonic ones. Colors are much better. AF is much better. Engine is also much better. Let´s see what happens attaching a KODAK sensor to the next Olympus camera. 🙂 E-P3 is a great camera!
KODAK sensor may mean no video.
Olympus sensor is not much better than G3’s sensor, it is different. ISO6400 on Panasonic seems (a lot) better.
The announcement is great: The portrait lens, the tilt screen, lots of improvements. I feel a bit ashamed to say: I’m still disappointed.
Ages ago I switched hesitatingly from Contax G to Nikon. Contax had no future – but I loved the image quality, the Zeiss primes, and the understated elegance of the system. One felt never out of place. The system was ideal for relaxed portraits and landscape photography, which are my main subjects.
The the Nikon system is fine, but all the time I hoped for some system that doesn’t shout “I want to be a photographer”. I hoped for a small, elegant system. And I think, Olympus came very near to that. They are even good at stuff, I don’t really care for: AF speed for example. And I think it is very affordable.
But at the end of the day, I want very good image quality. By that I don’t mean corner sharpness or whatever. But DR is one of the key factors. And that’s still doesn’t seem to be in place.
So – it’s all very nice. And many people will be very happy with this system. But unfortunately I’ll have towait a bit longer.
I think E-P3 is an “enough” camera for those that want to go light and achieve “perfect enough” results (enthusiasts and some PROs for casual/street)
ISO 1600 is typically more than enough and it seems that are clean. I looked at comparisons (dpreview) and G3 seemed sharper but at what noise reduction level? Sure it’s not on old 5D low ISO level, but sensor is one fourth. ISO3200 can be used on a stretch (using Art filters.
Maybe EVF and tilt screen is missing. But they have to leave something for the PRO model (together with a better sensor).
Olympus did a good job with what had available (Panasonic sensor is worse than Sony).
The 3 models are for 3 market (sub) segments: P&S upgraders, enthusiasts that compare specs (EPL3 with 5.5 FPS, and “smaller body”), enthusiasts and second camera for PROs (E-P3).
They may have copied Sony (E-PL3 and its flash), but Sony sold a lot of cameras not only in Japan. Probably carrying a small bounce-able flash is not that bad.
The big question: which?
for P&S upgraders, not selecting E-PM1 it will be harder, particularly for those that believe and have more than built-in lens (the others have XZ-1 that is getting nice reviews)
for enthusiasts price will help: tilt-screen+FPS+carry-on flash vs higher resolution+built-in flash; one selector vs two; few vs a lot of customization.
Some things are the same: movie (720 60P is very good, particularly for those that have kids), touch to focus and shoot (good for waist level photos or creative movies), AF speed and tracking (sports, movies and kids)
Regarding real PRO (EVF, etc), these were not for that target. Let’s see what is NEX 7 first and m43 will deliver Panasonic PRO m43 and Olympus at the end of summer. All these 3 at a premium.
These will push E-P3 street price down too.
One thing is true: E-P3, VF-2 (optional), 14-42IIR and WCON is a good starting kit. With some adapters and some legacy glass could help in some cases.
For hose that want that plus 20mm/leica 25mm/Voigtlander 25, 12mm and 45mm should take some care for total cumulative price or just forget it to avoid thinking that they might have made a mistake (so much money on a m43 system).
The 3 models could also be
E-PM1 compare/compete against GF3 (small and light)
E-PL3 compare/compete against NEX5 (with swivel screen no flash)
and
E-P3 which is all manual knobs that reviews like to compain about
So after some more reading what’s missing on EP3 (for me):
1. able to set aspect ratio selectoin to one of the five (!) customizable buttons, for me composition is a must and aspect ratio change on camera is important
2. use touch on super control menu/panel for faster changes
3. integrated EVF
4. articulated LCD
Note that the first two can be fixed with software upgrade (are you listening Olympus?); the last two are less important (or can be reserved for a real PRO model)
I agree with Thom. It would make sense for them to sample for focus contrast information from the sensor in a grid pattern or even individual focus points rather than using the entire image. This would increase the sample rate hugely.
It doesn’t directly increase the sample rate. It just means you have less data to pull off the sensor, so you can do it faster using the same level of bandwidth as before. But you can also increase bandwidth. It appears that Olympus upped the sample rate to 120 fps from 60 fps, for instance, which seems to indicate a bandwidth improvement. What would be interesting is if you did sub-samples of just the AF areas at an even higher rate.
I remember Olympus saying the the pro pen was several years away. I don’t remember them ever saying that the E-P3 was the pro model. There were rumors to that effect, but never anything official, quite the opposite.
HDR
So am I reading this right
5 shot at 1EV (so +-2.0)
or
7 shot at 0.7EV (so +-2.1)
Err… WHY? why can’t I get +-3!
Nikon
So Nikon get a lot of their sensors from partner who is good at them (Sony), they are a very good glass maker, and so that is what they do.
See where I’m going with this?
Olympus, why not just buy your sensors from Panasonic, and differentiate on your wonderful glass! my dream camera is a E-PL3 with the G3 sensor
By which I mean,
HURRY UP!
The 45/1.8 is a good start, but I’d like to see f1-1.4, and a nice 2.8 tele zoom.
The silver E-P3 model looks very nice in the marketing photos, but seems a bit tacky in some of the review videos on youtube. Love the brushed finish in the middle of the front plate, but the rest of the body is so shiny…and yeah, they could have done away with the chrome strips.
While no revolutionary technology (except dual-core engine, one does the image processing), my pro photographer friend quite puzzled (even our country’s main distributor) about no visible improvement in 4/3 lenses in a test session last week. He literaly said: P3 has lost its ‘Oly’ colour..
Anyhow, it’s a matter of taste for others. Market will tell whether this new release will hit or not.
Well, it seems better spending money on 25mm Leica DG, 12mm/2 and (maybe) 45/1.8 lens.
The E-P3 is in high ISO wors than the Fuji & the Panasonic G3-> WHY ?
see: http://dpreview.com/previews/olympusep3/page10.asp
so $1700USD for an EP3 + 12mm/2? no thanks.
Wow, Olympus finally makes it right, they deliver the ‘almost’ perfect camera. E-P3 in Black most issues from previous models are corrected..
Flash, nice screen, AF assist, apparently good AF, apparently very fast and lagless handling (finally) but unfortunately only ‘most’ things
What’s beyond my understanding, why the hi-iso noise is absolutely catastrophic and inacceptable from 3200+ for this class of camera, blotchy mush, almost worse like a 70$ compact, the E-PL1/E-PL2 even look better in this regard!
seems like theyPut ‘noise filtering’ like canon over everything else, (of course this after judging the Dpr
samples yet which are not real world yet, so I hopefully change my mind about hits)
of course we have to wait for final firmware but unfortunately it doesn’t look too promising..
as it looks now, same as for the E-5 the E-P3 needs to be shot with noise filter completely off, also a puzzle for me,
why they bothered to even implement Iso 12’800, this will only give offensive-potential to reviewers,silly marketing decisions like that could harm more than help in the long line.
Other than that the good news as far as I can judge from the first dpr samples (so still taken with a grain of salt..) is
that the E-P3 handles shadow noise at low and middle iso much better than any digital Olympus before, this is very good
news in my opinion.
I would have preferred they had charged 200$ more for the body but with State of the art sensor. Despite all
I will buy a full black one for sure with the 12/2 and play with the NR and image settings to fit my requirements, I like
It much enough to screw some legacy glass on it, and to play with the new fast metal lenses…
E-P3 (and all new PENs) don’t have 50i (25fps) AVCHD it seems, only 60i (30fps). At least, says so on the specs on their websites. Correct me if I’m wrong. This is a pretty bad move for a large part of the world if true. Now that they got AVCHD, they also need to add support for 50i. Panasonic does it, why not Olympus?
Does anyone know about the battery of E-P3?
Olympus officially writes (at least in Japan and UK) Box contents include “BLS-1 or BLS-5”.
It’s very confusing because BLS-1 is not recommended ONLY on E-PL2!
As I am an E-PL2+BLS-5+BCS-5 user, I want to order E-P3 WITH BLS-5…