The Olympus

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,...

 PEN E-PL3 announced on June 30, 2011 is Olympus Corporation's seventh camera that adheres to the Micro Four Thirds (MFT) system design standard. The E-PL3 succeeds the Olympus PEN E-PL2

Olympus PEN E-PL2

The Olympus PEN E-PL2, was announced in early January 2011 at the CES. This is Olympus Corporation's fourth camera that uses the Micro Four Thirds mount after the Olympus PEN E-P1, Olympus PEN E-P2 and Olympus PEN E-PL1. At the time it was announced, it had a US dollar MSRP of $599.99...

, and was announced in concert with two other models, the Olympus PEN E-P3

Olympus PEN E-P3

The Olympus PEN E-P3 announced on June 30, 2011 is Olympus Corporation's seventh camera that adheres to the Micro Four Thirds system design standard...

 (the flagship version), and the Olympus PEN E-PM1 (a new "Mini" version of the PEN camera line with similar features to the E-PL3). The E-PL3 is commonly said to be the "Lite" (less full featured) version of the E-P3, much as the E-PL1 and E-PL2 were "Lite" versions of the E-P1 and E-P2, respectively.

Technology

The E-PL3 addresses some of the concerns that critics had about previous PEN models, notably, slow handling, due to slow autofocus speed and difficulty seeing the LCD panel under certain (e.g., bright, sunny) conditions.

The E-PL3 increases autofocus speed through use of a 120 Hz refresh rate for its sensor, similar to the technology used in the recently released Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2

Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2 is a digital camera with HD video recording capability that uses the Micro Four Thirds System. Though commonly referred to as a DSLR camera, it has no mirror or optical viewfinder, but has instead both a fold-out LCD screen and a electronic viewfinder...

 and G3

Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3 is a digital mirrorless interchangeable lens camera adhering to the joint Olympus and Panasonic Micro Four Thirds System system design standard...

 cameras. Olympus claims, based on in-house testing, that the E-PL3, along with its E-PM1 cousin, have similar characteristics to the flagship E-P3, which according to Olympus has the world's fastest autofocus speed of any camera as of the product announcement date. The benefits of the 120 Hz refresh rate also provides the ability for continuous autofocus tracking during bursts of exposures, a faster shutter response (less lag) and less blackout time between exposures.

The E-PL3 lacks the E-P3 capacitive touchscreen for creative camera control, and the E-P3 OLED type display that is suppposed to vastly improve performance in sunny conditions, and off-angle viewing. Instead, the E-PL3 has a tiltable LCD, which allows easy above the head, waist level, or low off the ground viewing. The E-PL3 continues with the proprietary Accessory Port, a power and communication port, which allows the use of various accessories, such as an external stereo microphone for HD video recording, LED macro lights, and a bluetooth communications adapter. The accessory port continues to be compatible with the high resolution, optional hotshoe mounted VF-2 electronic viewfinder (EVF

EVF

EVF may refer to:*Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation*Electronic viewfinder*Erythrocyte volume fraction or hematocrit*Embryonic ventral forebrain-2...

).

The VF-2 had a flip angle eyepiece, allowing viewing from 0–90 degrees. The VF-2 had been criticized for being very expensive and for not having a locking device, with some users reporting easy dislodgement of the VF-2 from the hotshoe. To address these criticisms, in July 2011, Olympus announced the introduction of an optional VF-3 EVF, which has a lower resolution and a locking device.

Differences over Olympus PEN E-P1

• Addition of an Accessory Port that can be used for an electronic viewfinder
  Electronic viewfinder
  An electronic viewfinder or EVF is a viewfinder where the image captured by the lens is projected electronically onto a miniature display. The image on this display is used to assist in aiming the camera at the scene to be photographed.-Operation:...
  
   or external microphone
• Two new Art filters-simulating Diorama
  Diorama
  The word diorama can either refer to a nineteenth century mobile theatre device, or, in modern usage, a three-dimensional full-size or miniature model, sometimes enclosed in a glass showcase for a museum...
  
   and Cross process in camera
• Black finish widely available, silver finish available in Japan
• Auto focus
  Auto Focus
  Auto Focus is a 2002 American biographical film directed by Paul Schrader that stars Greg Kinnear and Willem Dafoe. The screenplay by Michael Gerbosi is based on the book The Murder of Bob Crane by Robert Graysmith....
  
   tracking
• Colour boosting function named i-Enhance

Micro Four Thirds Camera Introduction Roadmap

Item	Model	Sensor	Electronic View Finder (EVF EVF EVF may refer to:*Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation*Electronic viewfinder*Erythrocyte volume fraction or hematocrit*Embryonic ventral forebrain-2... )	Announced
1	Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G1 is the first digital mirrorless interchangeable lens camera adhering to the recently developed Micro Four Thirds System system design standard...	4:3 / 13.1 mp (12.1 mp effective)	EVF; 1.4x magnification; 1.44K dots	2008, October
2	Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1 Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1 The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1 is a digital mirrorless interchangeable lens camera adhering to the Olympus and Panasonic developed Micro Four Thirds System system design standard...	4:3; 3:2; 16:9 (multi-aspect); 14.0 mp (12.1 mp effect)	EVF; 1.4x mag; 1.44K dots	2009, April
3	Olympus PEN E-P1 Olympus PEN E-P1 The Olympus PEN E-P1 announced on 16 June 2009 is Olympus Corporation's first camera that adheres to the Micro Four Thirds system design standard. The first camera to use the Micro Four Thirds mount was the Panasonic's G-1 camera.-Features:...	4:3 / 13.1 mp (12.3 mp effect)	optional hotshoe optical VF-1; 65 degree AOV AOV -Technology, science, and medicine:* AoV or aortic velocity, the speed of blood flow in the aorta of the heart, a maximum measurement of can be noted as AoVmax or more commonly as Vmax* Air operated valve* Analysis of Variance, also known as ANOVA...	2009, July
4	Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 is the third camera in Panasonic's Lumix G-series, using the Micro Four Thirds System. Its body design similar to that of the recently released Olympus E-P1, the GF1 is 35% smaller than earlier G models...	4:3 / 13.1 mp (12.1 mp effect)	opt hotshoe EVF LVF1; 1.04x mag; 202K dots	2009, September
5	Olympus PEN E-P2 Olympus PEN E-P2 The Olympus PEN E-P2 announced on 5 November 2009 is Olympus Corporation's second camera that adheres to the Micro Four Thirds system design standard...	4:3 / 13.1 mp (12.3 mp effect)	opt hotshoe EVF VF-2; 1.15x mag; 1.44K dots	2009, November
6	Olympus PEN E-PL1 Olympus PEN E-PL1 The Olympus PEN E-PL1, announced on 3 February 2010 is Olympus Corporation's third camera that uses the Micro Four Thirds mount after the Olympus PEN E-P1 and Olympus PEN E-P2....	4:3 / 13.1 mp (12.3 mp effect)	opt hotshoe EVF VF-2; 1.15x mag; 1.44K dots	2010, February
7	Panasonic Lumix DMC-G10 Panasonic Lumix DMC-G10 The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G10 is the sixth digital mirrorless interchangeable lens camera introduced that adheres to the recently developed Micro Four Thirds System system design standard, and the fourth Panasonic model MFT camera introduced...	4:3 / 13.1 mp (12.1 mp effect)	EVF; 1.04x magnification; 202K dots	2010, March
8	Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 - Introduction :The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G2 is a digital mirrorless interchangeable lens camera adhering to the Olympus and Panasonic developed Micro Four Thirds System system design standard....	4:3 / 13.1 mp (12.1 mp effect)	EVF; 1.4x mag; 1.44K dots	2010, March
9	Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2 Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2 The Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH2 is a digital camera with HD video recording capability that uses the Micro Four Thirds System. Though commonly referred to as a DSLR camera, it has no mirror or optical viewfinder, but has instead both a fold-out LCD screen and a electronic viewfinder...	4:3; 3:2; 16:9 (multi-aspect); 18.3 mp (16.0 mp effect)	EVF; 1.42x mag; 1.53K dots	2010, September
10	Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2 is the sixth camera in Panasonic's Lumix G-series, using the Micro Four Thirds System. The model number implies that it is the successor to the DMC-GF1, although critics complain that the GF2 is not a true successor to the GF1 because the photographer's interface with...	4:3 / 13.1 mp (12.1 mp effect)	opt hotshoe EVF; 1.04x mag; 202K dots	2010, November
11	Olympus PEN E-PL1s	4:3 / 13.1 mp (12.3 mp effect)	opt hotshoe EVF VF-2; 1.15x mag; 1.44K dots	2010, November
12	Olympus PEN E-PL2 Olympus PEN E-PL2 The Olympus PEN E-PL2, was announced in early January 2011 at the CES. This is Olympus Corporation's fourth camera that uses the Micro Four Thirds mount after the Olympus PEN E-P1, Olympus PEN E-P2 and Olympus PEN E-PL1. At the time it was announced, it had a US dollar MSRP of $599.99...	4:3 / 13.1 mp (12.3 mp effect)	opt hotshoe EVF VF-2; 1.15x mag; 1.44K dots	2011, January
13	Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3 Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3 The Panasonic Lumix DMC-G3 is a digital mirrorless interchangeable lens camera adhering to the joint Olympus and Panasonic Micro Four Thirds System system design standard...	4:3 / 16.6 mp (15.8 mp effect)	EVF; 1.4x mag; 1.44K dots	2011, May
14	Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF3 is the eighth camera in Panasonic's Lumix G-series, adhering to the Micro Four Thirds System design standard, and was announced in June, 2011. The model number implies that it is the successor to the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF2...	4:3 / 13.1 mp (12.1 mp effect)	N/A	2011, June
15	Olympus PEN E-P3	4:3 / 13.1 mp (12.3 mp effect)	opt hotshoe EVF VF-2; 1.15x mag; 1.44K dots	2011, June
16	Olympus PEN E-PL3 Olympus PEN E-PL3 The Olympus PEN E-PL3 announced on June 30, 2011 is Olympus Corporation's seventh camera that adheres to the Micro Four Thirds system design standard...	4:3 / 13.1 mp (12.3 mp effect)	opt hotshoe EVF VF-2; 1.15x mag; 1.44K dots	2011, June
17	Olympus PEN E-PM1	4:3 / 13.1 mp (12.3 mp effect)	opt hotshoe EVF VF-2; 1.15x mag; 1.44K dots	2011, June

External links

• Olympus PEN E-P3 Product Site
• Olympus PEN E-P3 Press Release
• Olympus PEN E-P3 Review - dpreview.com
• Olympus PEN E-P3 Overview - imaging-resource.com