Olympus E-3 preview

[sean_reid]

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Oly has said that they have changed the support electronics by using bare chip technology and eliminating a common unit. This was to reduce read noise and to keep the fill factor (photo diode area) the same as lower MP sensors.

There is a link to samples of ISO noise of the E-3 on dpr. Quite good and it is probably from a pre-production unit.

Pixel size E-1 = 4.7µm and for the 300d it is 5.5µm and if we knew the fill factors, it might even be a smaller difference. Adjust the 300D sensor to 4:3 and you get 10.7MP vs. E-3's 10.1MP......so, we aren't talking about big differences in practical terms.

Bob

 

Hi Bob,

 

Do you have a link for those samples?

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[Riley]

Hi Bob,

 

Do you have a link for those samples?

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

 

this server is really getting hammered so its very slow

http://www.olympus-esystem.co.kr/products/e3/e3_sample.jsp

 

this has been circulating too

masterchong.com - Olympus E3 ISO 100 – ISO 3200 sample image

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

[ptomsu]

These samples are showing a really good noise performance, reflects what I have seen from that printout in A0 taken with ISO 800.

 

After seeing these samples I would assume that the same picture taken with even ISO1600 and printed out in A0 would have looked similar good.

 

At lest for me this is the killing argument, I do not need more, so this is getting the camera of my choice!

[ptomsu]

I'll be at PhotoEast on Friday and I'll take a look at the E3. There are bound to be samples there. My wife, a professional photographer, is very interested in the new Oly because its not only weather sealed but also, possibly, very quiet. Her big question, and mine, is how the camera does at high ISO.

 

I think we should wait to see the actual file quality before making any pronouncements about what the sensor can or can't do, etc. The rest is theoretical. I can say that the 4/3 Oly lenses I've tested have been excellent.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

 

Sean,

 

what I have seen during the Press Conference yesterday was that the E3 does pretty well at high ISO (800 and 1600) and the camera seems at least for my impressions VERY quiet and VERY fast. It's maybe the combination of quiet operation, light wight and speed which summarizes up for a superb impression :-)

 

Hope you and your wife will find the same

[zapp]

A lot of rumor about a camera nobody has really tested. The D3, D300, and the EOS cameras are also still in line to be checked out and evaluated. The best news about the E3 right now is that Leica may hurry to announce a new DSLR as long as we are still waiting. Everybody else in business for a serious camera has shown a new pro camera lately - if we see a new generation of digital backs and Leica is still not moving, their customers may not want to go back from their tempting E3, D3; EOS1, etc.

[Riley]

just in, 800iso sample

 

http://www.olympus-esystem.co.kr/products/e3/images/18-Olympus_09_2007_1540.JPG

[Guest stnami]

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From what I read it seems that Oly will sell well. Some great lenses and that superb colour rendition will win a heap of fans in the commercial, wedding and wildlife photo circles.

Personally for me a bit big............and I don't need a new camera

[ptomsu]

From what I read it seems that Oly will sell well. Some great lenses and that superb colour rendition will win a heap of fans in the commercial, wedding and wildlife photo circles.

Personally for me a bit big............and I don't need a new camera

 

I fully agree!

[sean_reid]

Sean,

 

what I have seen during the Press Conference yesterday was that the E3 does pretty well at high ISO (800 and 1600) and the camera seems at least for my impressions VERY quiet and VERY fast. It's maybe the combination of quiet operation, light wight and speed which summarizes up for a superb impression :-)

 

Hope you and your wife will find the same

 

Hi Peter,

 

I missed that conference because I can't get down to NYC until tonight but thanks very much for the information. I'm eager to look at some high ISO RAW files from the E3. Melissa won't be there but she's curious to know as well.

 

Cheers,

 

Sean

[miami91]

just in, 800iso sample

 

http://www.olympus-esystem.co.kr/products/e3/images/18-Olympus_09_2007_1540.JPG

 

Hmm. This is pretty noisy. To me, this does not look appreciably better than results I get from the Digilux 3. Look forward to more samples.

 

Jeff.

[spylaw4]

I also thought it somewhat noisy - a tad disappointing!

[ptomsu]

Hmm. This is pretty noisy. To me, this does not look appreciably better than results I get from the Digilux 3. Look forward to more samples.

 

Jeff.

 

Sorry, but I cannot get to this site ..... link does not work.

[Bob Ross]

From what I read it seems that Oly will sell well. Some great lenses and that superb colour rendition will win a heap of fans in the commercial, wedding and wildlife photo circles.

Personally for me a bit big............and I don't need a new camera

I don't need another camera either, but.... It is about the size of the E-1 and that is more Nikon F2 size rather than OM size, so it is a chunk, but it is weatherproof.

I'm amazed at the number of samples from pre-production units that have been posted out of Asia. The reviewers that have gotten units aren't supposed to post samples, so I have been told.

Bob

[harjtt]

Hi Sean

 

Looking forward to your first impressions on the E3 and to the full review. Personally, I'm a bit suprised by the E3's size and weight increase as I think the E1's is pretty spot on.

 

I think Oly have pulled samples from that site, so here's another link where the images are now hosted:

 

Marco Frissen : photos : Official Olympus E-3 sample images - powered by SmugMug

 

Cheers

 

Harj

[sean_reid]

Hi Sean

 

Looking forward to your first impressions on the E3 and to the full review. Personally, I'm a bit suprised by the E3's size and weight increase as I think the E1's is pretty spot on.

 

I think Oly have pulled samples from that site, so here's another link where the images are now hosted:

 

Marco Frissen : photos : Official Olympus E-3 sample images - powered by SmugMug

 

Cheers

 

Harj

 

I'm in NYC now and will head to show in an hour or so. E3 is a priority on my list and will also stop by to look at the Summarits (test samples of the latter should be getting to me next week).

 

Thanks for the link. Cheers,

 

Sean

[ptomsu]

I find all these samples excellent. Maybe I am just happy that this is possible in that camera, was long waiting for it!

[miami91]

I find all these samples excellent. Maybe I am just happy that this is possible in that camera, was long waiting for it!

 

Yeah, I think the jury is still out. Those are fine photos, but almost all of them are at ISO100. The one at ISO800 (the dancers) is a bit grainy. Not bad looking noise, but noise nonetheless, and to my eye doesn't appear significantly better than ISO800 on the Digilux 3.

 

I think the E-3 looks to be a fine camera, and there are several clear improvements over the Digilux 3 that I think make it an attractive option for those of us invested in 4/3. But I was really hoping for an improvement in high ISO performance, and we need more low light/high ISO photos to be able to judge this.

 

Jeff.

[ptomsu]

Yeah, I think the jury is still out. Those are fine photos, but almost all of them are at ISO100. The one at ISO800 (the dancers) is a bit grainy. Not bad looking noise, but noise nonetheless, and to my eye doesn't appear significantly better than ISO800 on the Digilux 3.

 

I think the E-3 looks to be a fine camera, and there are several clear improvements over the Digilux 3 that I think make it an attractive option for those of us invested in 4/3. But I was really hoping for an improvement in high ISO performance, and we need more low light/high ISO photos to be able to judge this.

 

Jeff.

 

I am starting to understand all these different conclusions slowly :-))

 

I mean, when I look at the dancers photo, for me it is almost perfect, of course it always could be a bit better, but the quality standard has reached such a level, that I simply do not care!

 

For you on the other side this photo has significant noise.

 

So one easily can see how all these conlusions and reports originate. It is still very much based on the individual subjective cognition.

 

Having said that, I just do not give any value on such conclusions any longer and just believe what I can see and feel ;-)))))

[miami91]

I am starting to understand all these different conclusions slowly :-))

 

I mean, when I look at the dancers photo, for me it is almost perfect, of course it always could be a bit better, but the quality standard has reached such a level, that I simply do not care!

 

For you on the other side this photo has significant noise.

 

So one easily can see how all these conlusions and reports originate. It is still very much based on the individual subjective cognition.

 

Having said that, I just do not give any value on such conclusions any longer and just believe what I can see and feel ;-)))))

 

To each his/her own --- I agree.

 

Interestingly, the Olympus forums over at DPReview are quite abuzz over perceived excess noise at ISO100! There are several people who claim that the blue sky areas of some of those photos linked above show excessive artifacts, especially when compared to the E1. Some are blaming this on the nature of CMOS sensers, others rightly point out that the photos are not with final firmware and/or we don't know what the in-camera noise reduction settings are, and some don't see the problem at all.

 

I look forward to a thorough review from a trusted source such as Sean Reid.

 

Jeff.

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Hallo,

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