Olympus Evolt E-3 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera with Mechanical Image Stabilization with ED 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 Lens and FL-50R Flash

by Olympus

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 9 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B001A5OWWG
• Item model number: E3 w/ 12-60mm & FL-50R Kit
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,996 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: May 23, 2008

Product Description

Style: E-3 with 12-60mm Lens and FL-50R Flash

The E-3 DSLR is built for people who are passionate about photography. This camera offers unique technological advances in Speed, Image Quality, Live Viewing, and Reliability. Speed is a key element in digital SLR photography and the E-3 comes ready to perform. It provides fast start-up and wake-up times, a 5fps continuous shooting speed, high-precision shutter control, and unparalleled high-speed autofocus performance. The E-3 can capture 5fps, and with it s high-speed processing and data transfer, continuous shooting is only limited by how much your memory card can hold. The camera also employs a highly reliable mirror construction engineered to achieve the precision required for the high-speed 1/8000 second shutter. The E-3 s fully crossed array high-speed 11-point auto focusing system and precision tracking performance (side-to-side and near-to-far) provides exacting auto focus precision at exceptional speeds. The E-3 brings together a number of enhanced technologies to push the limits of digital imaging such as advanced image stabilization, superior color processing and precision-crafted digital specific lenses. With its sophisticated in-body image stabilization, the E-3 delivers sharp shots in low light or with a telephoto lens even without a tripod. The 10.1 megapixel high-speed Live MOS sensor features excellent dynamic range, accurate color fidelity, and a new, advanced circuit to eliminate noise. The precision crafted Zuiko Digital lenses compliment the E-3 s sensor to produce photos with bright colors, and incredible edge-to-edge sharpness.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

82 of 85 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The 4/3 System Finally Delivers On Its Promise, December 19, 2007

By 

W. Fink "Wes" (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Olympus Evolt E-3 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera with Mechanical Image Stabilization (Body Only) (Electronics)

I have toyed with the 4/3 digital SLR system several times since it was introduced in 2003, shrugged my shoulders and gone back to Nikon or Canon. Frankly, I had about given up on 4/3, but Olympus dropped the E-3 on us a few weeks ago and showed us it could be all they promised with 4/3 when it was first introduced over 4 years ago.

ANY DSLR system is about lenses in the end, and Olympus 4/3 is blessed with superb optics. To get an idea of how really great the new Olympus glass is you need to use some of the top lenses, or read a few of the big photo sites like dpreview, imaging-resource, or DCRP. They have all finally acknowledged in reviews of the E-420/410 and E-520/510 that Olympus has the best quality kit lenses of any camera maker, and that the Olympus claim that lenses designed for digital produce better quality images is proving to be true. www.slrgear.com even went so far as to test most of the current Olympus lens line after being so impressed with the kit lenses on the 510/410.

Olympus 4/3 is also by design an all-electronic lens mount - like Canon. Reviewers on the web tend to be so Canon and Nikon biased that they often forget really basic things like this. The 4/3 system has all motor driven lenses, and the lenses were ALL designed for digital photography. I am frankly tired of seeing reviews that talk of Canon as if they are the only company with all motor lenses. There are actually 3 - Canon, 4/3, and Sigma - although some of Sigma's other features are archaic and sales are very low so most just ignore them. Sony/Minolta and Nikon are not similarly blessed with an all-electronic lens mount, and many lenses are still noisily driven by screws on the lens mount in both systems. In fairness, Nikon has been moving rapidly to motor-driven lenses, but Sony seems stuck in their noisy and slower screw-drive AF even though they have used lens motors in a rare few long telephotos. The point here is that the 4/3 mount at least matches the best, and it is better than most.

The Olympus issue has never been glass or lens mount , it has really been the options you had (or rather didn't have) in camera bodies to use with this excellent Olympus glass on an all electronic mount. As great as the current E-410 and E-510 really are, they are still saddled with an ancient and not particularly low-light sensitive 3-point autofocus system. Shooting in truly low light was all but impossible and your Olympus searched for focus while Canon, Nikon, and Sony locked on focus. There just wasn't a choice of anything better from Olympus. That is until the E-3.

The E-3 takes Olympus AF from Sigma territory to state-of-the-art, and as soon as the new 11-point, all cross sensor, dual-plane AF module makes its way down the food chain, no one will ignore Olympus any more. I hope Olympus can also find a way to move the terrific E-3 feature of AF with manual touch-up down the food chain as well - because the other big Olympus issue is that stupid "Manual focus by wire" feature and Manual Focus select by menu - and it is mostly fixed in the E-3.

This time around I bought an E-3 and a 12-60mm - and the tiny little excellent-quality kit lenses for when the 12-60mm weighs too much and I can compromise just a little on quality. I have added other Olympus equipment to my E-3 system quickly, like the unique 70-300mm (140 to 600mm equivalent with 1:1 Macro), the superbly sharp little 35mm f3.5 Macro that does equivalent TWICE life-size macro right out of the box, and the E-3 grip.

I am completely and totally impressed with the E-3. All the lenses are designed for 4/3 mount and for best performance on a 4/3 camera - they aren't 35mm film designs. No other camera offers the combination of effective live-view, built-in image stabilization, the best auto sensor cleaning you can buy, an articulating LCD that can fold away for protection (AND a top LCD for basic data), a built-in pop-up flash, effective dust and splash sealing of the camera AND the lenses, a popularly-priced zoom that covers the equivalent of 140mm to 600mm and does Macro up to equivalent life size (70-300mm), MUCH improved noise reduction that goes to ISO 3200, user-programmable Auto ISO that can cover the full ISO range (Canon still stubbornly refuses to fully offer this option), and the best range of available lenses DESIGNED FOR a digital camera system.

The E-3 is a bargain for a true PRO grade camera - and it is easily built as well as the Nikon D3 or the top Canons which are $5000 or more. You will get real value for the $1699 you spend on the E-3 body compared to any competing system from any company. However, most will find the E-3 expensive unless they are serious photo hobbyists or Pros, and Olympus needs to move the E-3 refinements down to E-510 price levels as fast as they can.

The E-3 is a great piece of creative engineering, an area Olympus is known for. After all they invented auto-sensor cleaning and live view - which is now finding its way to every DSLR. This is the best Olympus camera EVER, and once you have used it you will be hooked.

230 of 250 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First impressions!, November 30, 2007

By 

S. Dang (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Olympus Evolt E-3 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera with Mechanical Image Stabilization (Body Only) (Electronics)

Length:: 3:27 Mins

I uploaded an improved review, my previous one turned out to be not all that helpful, maybe this one is better. Let me know by clicking Yes! :)

A quick summary:

Olympus made major improvements to their pro line in almost every facet-- structural, design, robustness, lens and imaging performance.

The SWD lens performance paired with this body is outstanding, as you'll see in my video demo. The imaging sensor and processor are very good also. Noise levels are on par with the Digic3 processors from Canon. A fantastic buy, I highly recommend this camera for both professional and serious photo enthusiasts. There are plenty of very good ind-depth, technical reviews available. Here are a few I recommend:
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/E3/E3A.HTM
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Olympus-E-3
http://www.letsgodigital.org/en/17474/olympus-e3-review/

55 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Underrated, yet outstanding!, April 7, 2008

By 

T. Haines "Shutter Bug" (NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Olympus Evolt E-3 10.1MP Digital SLR Camera with Mechanical Image Stabilization (Body Only) (Electronics)

I upgraded to the E3 from my e500. Some of the things that enticed me were the additional focus points, and articulated screen. Everything else about the camera was just added niceness.
The camera is pretty great. It's an obvious step up from the e500 in terms of quality, and performance. Images look beautiful, focus is a lot faster and more accurate. The tilting screen and live view are things that I wonder how I ever lived without....a HUGE boost to my shooting and the types of shots I can get.
I think Olympus is underrated in the DSLR business. Because it uses a 4/3 sensor people talk a lot of bad trash about the system. But in real-world shooting, the E3 really stands tall. And I say this as someone who also shoots with a Nikon D300. Another great thing about the Olympus system is the availability of Olympus lenses. And the lens is what it's all about. Olympus lenses are second to none. I actually find that the Olympus lens lineup makes me frustrated about Nikon's comparably dinky lineup--and Nikon has A TON of lenses, but none that can match the quality/speed of Olympus lenses. Good luck finding an f2.8 telephoto lens of the same price or quality as Olympus' 50-200. Olympus beats Nikon in terms of lens quality, easily.

Having said that, the things I don't like about the E3 are its low-light performance (the E3 is better than the e500 or e510 in low-light shooting but it still falls behind the competition) and its tendency to clip highlights. In low-light situations the E3 tends to produce noisy shots at higher ISOs or during long exposures--considerably noisier than many other cameras (but I wouldn't say they're unusable). Highlight clipping speaks for itself....overall the dynamic range of the E3 isn't as good as some cameras, but it's on par with others. Depends on the camera you compare it to. Those are the only two negatives I can think of. In terms of metering, it's very good, in fact I prefer how it meters to how the D300 meters (though the D300 doesn't clip highlights like the E3 does) because the tones are closer to the mood I want to get. More moody, tones whereas the D300 is a little too LOUD in its tones. Some of you may dig loud tones. Your mileage my vary.

All around this camera is as good as my D300, and in many ways its better. In just those two areas (low-light, and highlight reproduction/dynamic range) its a little disappointing. But, for whatever it's worth, I do all of my "serious" or "important" shooting with my E3, not my D300. My E3 lenses are better, the articulated screen of the E3 is a life-saver, I like how it meters better...it's just a really great camera that I love shooting with.

The E3 is an excellent camera, and easily on par with anything that Canon offers--and even better than a lot of what Canon offers. And its on par or better than everything Nikon offers, with the exception of the D300 (in my opinion). Nikons D300 is ever so VERY SLIGHTLY superior in some ways but then you don't get the same lens quality with Nikon, and that's the deal maker or deal breaker for me...lenses. If I could only keep one camera, I'd keep the E3...in a heartbeat. Get this camera!

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