13 Apr REVIEW: Olympus E-30 Digital Camera
The Olympus E-30 is a new, mid-range SLR that costs $1299 without lens, and shoots 12-megapixel images. Olympus has added a number of features usually seen in point-and-shoot cameras, most notably a bevy of scene modes, and their new Art Filters, which add elaborate special effects to your photos as you shoot them.
The camera’s overall build quality is impressive. It’s 5.5 inches wide by 2.95 inches deep and 4.23 inches high (141.5mm x 75mm x 105.5mm) and weighs 23.1 oz (655g) without the lens. It’s a very comfortable weight, and it feels solid in your hands. Couple this with the robust control system, and it’s a camera that feels like it’ll take a fair amount of abuse.
The standout feature of the E-30’s hardware is the LCD. While the resolution is only 230,000 dots, the screen is hinged, so that it can be swivelled out from the back of the camera and tilted, which makes it fantastic for any situation where you can’t easily get your eye up to the viewfinder; when shooting on a tripod, for example, or if you’re holding the camera above your head to get a good angle. The E-30 also has one of the better Live View modes that we’ve seen. Live View lets you line up a shot using the rear LCD, instead of relying exclusively on the optical viewfinder. On most SLRs, Live View is slow to focus, but the Olympus performs better than others we have seen. The articulated LCD coupled with the camera’s good Live View performance, makes the E-30 quite adaptable.
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