Olympus E-3 - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Olympus E-3 was until 2011 Olympus Corporation

Olympus Corporation

is a Japan-based manufacturer of optics and reprography products. Olympus was established on 12 October 1919, initially specializing in microscope and thermometer businesses. Its global headquarters are in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan, while its USA operations are based in Center Valley, Pennsylvania,...

's previous flagship camera, positioned as a professional DSLR camera

Digital single-lens reflex camera

Most digital single-lens reflex cameras are digital cameras that use a mechanical mirror system and pentaprism to direct light from the lens to an optical viewfinder on the back of the camera....

. It is the successor to the Olympus E-1

Olympus E-1

The Olympus E-1, introduced in 2003, was the first DSLR system camera designed from the ground up for digital photography. This contrasts with its contemporaries which offered systems based on reused parts from previous 135 film systems, modified to fit with a sensor size of APS-C.-Features:The E-1...

, which was launched in November 2003. The E-3, originally codenamed Olympus E-P1, was announced on 17 October 2007. The E-3, like the other cameras in the Olympus E-series, conforms to the Four Thirds System

Four Thirds System

The Four Thirds system is a standard created by Olympus and Kodak for digital single-lens reflex camera design and development.The system provides a standard that, with digital cameras and lenses available from multiple manufacturers, allows for the interchange of lenses and bodies from different...

. It was succeeded in 2011 by the Olympus E-5

Olympus E-5

The Olympus E-5 is Olympus Corporation's flagship camera, positioned as a professional DSLR camera. It is the successor to the Olympus E-3, which was launched on October 17, 2007. The E-5 was announced on September 14, 2010...

professional DSLR flagship camera.

Features

The E-3 has several novel features, including a live preview full articulating screen

Articulating screen

In digital photography, an articulating screen is an LCD which is on a pivot, allowing it to swivel. Articulating screens can be useful in many circumstances; for instance, if one wanted to take a picture of themselves while holding the camera at arm's length, they could flip out the LCD and...

, autofocus in live view mode, the ability to capture a scene with wide dynamic range using an image processing method called shadow adjustment technology and the ability to control up to three wireless flash groups without external transmitters. The camera is also fully weatherproof even with the popup flash in the "up" position.

The camera, with the new SWD (ultrasonic motor

Ultrasonic motor

An ultrasonic motor is a type of electric motor powered by the ultrasonic vibration of a component, the stator, placedagainst another component, the rotor or slider depending on the scheme of operation...

) lenses, is expected to appeal to professional users that want a rugged, portable and lightweight camera body with quality lenses and class leading autofocus.

Additional features include:

Fast autofocus (Olympus claims that this was the world's fastest autofocus at the time the camera was released (when used with the Zuiko Digital ED 12–60mm 1:2.8–4 SWD
Zuiko Digital ED 12–60mm 1:2.8–4 SWD
The Olympus Corporation Zuiko Digital ED 12–60mm 1:2.8–4 SWD is a Four Thirds System Pro series lens, sold in a kit with the Olympus E-3 camera body and available separately.-External links:* *...

lens @ 60mm, as of October 2007).
100% viewfinder with ×1.15 magnification with a 50 mm lens (as 25 mm is the "standard" lens on the 4/3 format, this is equivalent to ×0.57 in 35 mm format)
External white balance sensor
5 frames per second (frame/s) capture speed
11 point biaxial cross AF sensor that works at −2 EV at ISO 100
In-body image stabilization
Image stabilization
Image stabilization is a family of techniques used to reduce blurring associated with the motion of a camera during exposure. Specifically, it compensates for pan and tilt of a camera or other imaging device. It is used in image-stabilized binoculars, still and video cameras, and astronomical...

achieved by moving the sensor (thus, it works with any lens)
Environmentally sealed magnesium alloy camera body
Dust reduction system
Dust reduction system
A dust reduction system, or dust removal system, is a technology employed by several manufacturers of digital system cameras to solve the problem of dust particles adhering to the image sensor. Some systems remove or clean the sensor by vibrating at a very high frequency—between 100hertz and...

(Supersonic Wave Filter
Supersonic Wave Filter
The Supersonic Wave Filter is a dust reduction system developed by Olympus to overcome the negative effect of dust particles landing on the image sensor of digital SLRs. DSLRs are particularly vulnerable to this issue, since the interior of the camera is exposed during lens changes unlike other...

)
Shutter tested to 150,000 cycles
Internal Viewfinder shutter
'X' sync and External remote ports

The camera is compatible with existing BLM-1 batteries used in the E-1, E-300, E-330, E-500 and E-510.

The camera was reviewed by Digital Photography Review in February 2008 by Simon Joinson.

The E-3 is equipped with a better sensor than other DSLRs marketed by Olympus at the time of its release, allowing the user to operate at higher ISO settings without producing as much noise.

Along with other Olympus 4/3rds bodies, the E-3 has a very 'maintenance free' approach due to it having on-demand pixel mapping, the SSWF 'dust shaker', vignetting

Vignetting

In photography and optics, vignetting is a reduction of an image's brightness or saturation at the periphery compared to the image center. The word vignette, from the same root as vine, originally referred to a decorative border in a book. Later, the word came to be used for a photographic...

and distortion correction either in-camera or during editing with Olympus software. Olympus have also implemented on-demand firmware updates for all their bodies, lens and flash units.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.