Olympus E-30: review, manual, and sample photos
Olympus E-30 is a mid-range 12 megapixel SLR that costs $1299 body only. This camera comes with art filters. The digital effects of art filters can save a lot of work in the post processing such as in photoshop.
Olympus E-30 reviews:
Olympus E-30 Review by Simon Joinson, Richard Butler & Lars Rehm, dpreview.com
“As for picture quality.. and you’ll need to shoot raw and develop carefully. The JPEG quality is superb, with excellent dynamic range and a slightly more subtle approach to color and contrast than we’re used to from Olympus, ”
Highly recommended!
Review from digitalcamerainfo.com
“Apart from resolution, image stabilization and a decent burst speed, the E-30 underperformed in every area. Especially problematic was the amount of noise in the images, even after retesting using the Normal Gradation setting to lower noise. It was especially noticeable at high ISO,”
Review from “letsgodigital.com”
“Image quality from the E-30 is very good. Our outdoor images provide great exposures when in bright sunlight, but the museum shot is slightly underexposed with the overcast sky. The color in the images is rich and realistic, combined with the exposure gives you a very pleasing picture.”
Olympus E-30 sample pictures from dpreview
E-30 manual can be downloaded here
Buy from Amazon for $1050
Key features (from Olympus USA):
The E-30 is for photographers looking to turn ordinary moments into extraordinary masterpieces. Autofocus Live View with Multiple Exposure shooting lets you create artistic effects in-camera. Six Art Filters instantly give your images a variety of creative looks. Features like Face Detection, Shadow Adjustment Technology and In-body Image Stabilization ensure clear, crisp images in any shooting situation. It all adds up to a DSLR for photographers who want to express themselves more artistically.
EXPRESS YOUR CREATIVITY WITH ART FILTERS.
New to the E-30, is technology that conveniently helps you transform a basic image that faithfully represents the scene into an image that carries emotional impact. The new Art Filters take this expressive ability to a higher level, replicating six dramatic effects as you shoot using the Autofocus Live View LCD. Pop Art: Enhances colors, making them more saturated and vivid, creating high-impact pictures that express the joyful, lighthearted feeling of the Pop Art style of the 1960s. Soft Focus: Creates an ethereal atmosphere that renders subjects in a heavenly light without obscuring details. Pale & Light Color: Encloses the foreground of an image in flat gentle light and pastel colors reminiscent of a flashback scene in a movie. Light Tone: Renders shade and highlight areas softly to lend an elegant air to the subject. Grainy Film: Evokes the feeling of documentary footage shot in monochrome with grainy, high-contrast film. Pin Hole Camera: Reduces the peripheral brightness of an image as though it were hot through a pin hole, connecting the viewer intimately with the subject at the center of the picture
AUTOFOCUS LIVE VIEW.
Two innovative technologies merge to create a unique digital experience. The advanced Live View Autofocus works as seamlessly as a point-and-shoot to display subjects, in focus, on the LCD the instant the shutter is pressed half way. And the Swivel Live View LCD enables photographers to hold the camera away from their face and at angles they cannot easily reach by using the optical viewfinder alone. During composition, settings like white balance and exposure can be selected, and their impact is seen instantly on the LCD, thanks to Live View. Real-time monitoring offers amazing versatility and creative control.
MULTIPLE EXPOSURE SHOOTING.
Shoot up to four images in one frame in both the Live View and optical viewing modes. More evidence that Olympus is the undisputed leader in Live View technology, the E-30’s Live View Autofocus now has a Multiple Exposure feature. Now you can take your best shot and combine it with another great shot right on the camera’s LCD. Multiple Exposure overlays an image with multiple frames and saves it on a single image. For example, shoot a silhouette of a child against a sunset sky, then overlay a shot of a portrait of the child to create a lasting memory. The creative possibilities are endless and only limited by your imagination. You can also overlay up to four RAW images after shooting with this innovative feature. It’s art created on the fly.
FACE DETECTION AND SHADOW ADJUSTMENT TECHNOLOGY.
Face Detection is an innovative technology that can track up to eight faces within the image area and automatically focuses and optimizes exposure for sharp, brilliant portrait pictures. Shadow Adjustment Technology compensates for extreme contrast when shadowed areas lack visible detail. Shadow Adjustment Technology adjusts the exposure in the shadows while retaining all the detail in the bright areas. This technology works automatically when using Face Detection Mode, Live View and in Scene-Select Modes.
270 DEGREE SWIVEL 2.7″ HYPERCRYSTAL II LCD.
Unlike others with fixed LCDs, the new camera’s 100 percent accurate 270 degree swivel 2.7-inch Live View HyperCrystal™ LCD can be rotated freely so photographers can compose at tough angles, including overhead and down low, without feeling like a contortionist. Because Live View enables an E-30 photographer to communicate face-to-face with subjects and still have everything in the frame with the camera body out of the way, an encouraging smile or wink of the eye can be used with a shy or nervous subject to get the desired results.
MULTI-ASPECT RATIO SHOOTING.
Since photography is a form of expression that is essentially based on clipping a scene, framing is an important component of style. The E-30 provides nine aspect ratios including the standard 4:3, as well as 16:9 for impressive, cinematic-style images, and 6:6, which is available with medium format cameras, plus 3:2, 5:4, 7:6, 6:5, 7:5 and 3:4. By selecting the aspect ratio before shooting and easily reviewing images on the LCD throughout the shoot, the Multi-Aspect function adds a new means of expression to your photography.
12.3 MEGAPIXEL LIVE-MOS IMAGER.
The new camera’s high-performance 12.3-megapixel Live MOS image sensor delivers excellent dynamic range, accurate color fidelity and fine image details in both highlight and shadow areas.
SHOOT AT THE SPEED OF A PRO.
Besides the ability to indulge your creative side, the E-30 has the ability to capture anything. An innovative 11-Point Twin Cross Sensor and dedicated AF sensor combined with our ED 12-60mm f2.8-4.0 SWD lens gives you the same record-breaking autofocus speed as our E-3 pro camera.
STABILIZATION TECHNOLOGY IN THE BODY, NOT THE LENSES.
The E-30 features In-body Image Stabilization. That means you can use any Four Thirds lens, from wide-angle to telephoto, for perfectly clear, crisp photos no matter what the shooting situation, even in low light situations. With the E-30, you can compensate for camera shake by up to 5 shutter speed steps.
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