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[OM] Re: last plea for quality of E-3 dynamic range

Subject: [OM] Re: last plea for quality of E-3 dynamic range
From: "Daniel Sepke" <daniel.sepke@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 8 Feb 2008 11:24:44 -0500
Ian,

I can't speak to comparing the E3 to the E-330 but I can say that the E3 is
as good as the E-1 in my use (mostly portrait and some commercial). The RAW
files I am getting from the E-3 have a lot more info in them than its
default development suggests, highlight recovery in particular is good. I am
sure you will see as good and better result from the E-3, especially at
higher ISO settings.

I realize that you asked specifically about image quality but there a couple
of thoughts I would like to share regarding the operation of the E-3 in
comparison to the E-1 as they may also apply in comparing to the E-330.

>From an ergonomics perspective the E-3 is a not a significant change from
the E-1, I might actually say the E-3 is a better fit to my hand then the
E-1 was. The E-3 hasn't presented any major problems for me. I will note
that the menus have some quirks and as the review in the PPA magazine
Professional Photographer put it, they have everything including the kitchen
sink. They are deep and there are no short cuts to recently changed menu
items making occasionally clunky in use. 

The biggest challenges to my working with this camera have been down to some
minor tweaks of the interface. They are small but as they say the devil is
in the details and these changes have made it harder than it could be for me
to work with both cameras at the same time.

When erasing images on the E-1 there are two menu options affecting the
default of the warning dialog, cursor preset to "yes" or "no". Operationally
this allowed for a double click to delete in the "yes" mode. Quick with two
hands and safe in case you decide not to delete. The "no" mode requires you
to select yes with the arrow pad then hit ok. Slower and even more secure.
On the E-3 the "yes/no" default option has been replaced with "fast delete"
which deletes with no safety warning step. Useful but dangerous.

When zooming review images on the E-1 turning the back control wheel to the
right zoomed in, when turned back to the left it jumps back to the full
image. On the E-3 zooms goes in and out in equal steps, useful but
different. For me personally this is a pain as I have become used to being
able to zoom in check focus and then pop back out and move on to the next
image to be checked. Also when shooting RAW the zoom on the E-3 is useless
past 4x as it is using the mushy sidecar JPEG (I have yet to change the JPEG
setting to see if this improves with alternate options).

The FN button on the E-3 can be customized to act similarly to the quality
selector button on the E-1 (for no apparently good reason a dedicated
quality selector was not included on the E-3). The bad side is the option
isn't a just straight press and turn to change quality level but also acts a
toggle for RAW/RAW+JPEG mode. In practical use I have no idea why I would
need this function and it adds a need to check the setting and double hit
the button sometimes to cancel the RAW+JPEG mode.

For me I was never really worried about image quality, I knew that it was
going to be as good or better than what I was already getting. The hands on
use of the camera is much more important to me. The more I have to think
about modes and switches the greater the chance of me having something set
wrong and a shot being lost.

HTH, Dan S.

-----Original Message-----
From: olympus-owner@xxxxxxxxxx [mailto:olympus-owner@xxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of swisspace
Subject: [OM] last plea for quality of E-3 dynamic range

I am seriously thinking of getting the E-3 however money is tight so I
really can't afford to be disappointed, you E-3 owners have all had chance
to use it a bit now so I need to know how does the quality compare to the
others etc - I am only interested in your views on image quality, I know
what other features and benefits it has such as IS BUT I am really
interested to know if its a much better sensor than that in the E-330.

I can't find much info so I assume everyone is really happy or disappointed,
I hope its the former but i would really like to know 

thanks Ian


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