Olympus E-30 review

Olympus joins the mid-range DSLR battle, but does the E-30 have what it takes to beat the competition?

Filling the gap between the Olympus E-520 and pro-level E-3, the Olympus E-30 is a mid-range DSLR, aimed at advanced amateur and semipro photographers. This puts it squarely in the firing line of the revered Nikon D300, feature-packed Sony Alpha 700 and the well-specced Canon EOS 50D. So, how does it match up?

First impressions are everything and – at this level in the DSLR hierarchy – you become accustomed to handling somewhat bulkier camera bodies, with a reassuring weight and robustness about them that denotes the fact that they ‘mean business’. However, while the E-30 is conventionally styled looks-wise, it doesn’t feature the sturdy magnesium alloy body sported by its contemporaries. Instead, the body is constructed from what Olympus describes as ‘glass-fibre reinforced plastics’, resulting in a lightweight construction that makes the camera very easy to shoot with for extended periods, although it doesn’t give the same impression of ruggedness that you get from its peers. Additionally, the E-30 lacks any form of weather-proofing, so it’s not quite as at home in inclement weather as some other models in this price bracket.

These points aside, the E-30 is ergonomically shaped, with a nicely sculpted grip that provides ample room for your digits. One area in which the E-30 is certainly not lacking is controls: they’re literally everywhere. The top panel sports an LCD display that allows you to keep track of your main shooting settings and a dedicated Light button illuminates it when required. Alongside this, you’ll find a dedicated WB button, which you press once and then either rotate the front Command dial to choose your desired setting on the top panel LCD, or view the graphical display on the rear LCD, and make your selection from there. Set slightly in front of this point are dedicated Exposure Compensation and ISO buttons, which operate in a similar fashion.

To the left of the camera’s hotshoe is a chunky Mode dial, offering Automatic, Semi-automatic and Manual shooting modes, as well as five preset shooting modes (Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Sports and Night Portrait) and a shortcut to the E-30’s Art Scene modes, which we’ll look at more closely later. One source of slight irritation with this Mode dial is the fact that it doesn’t rotate through 360 degrees; to get from the Art Scene to the Manual point on the Mode dial, you have to turn it all the way back through the other nine modes first.

Moving onto the back of the camera, the E-30’s articulated 2.7-inch LCD (borrowed from the pro-level E-3) takes centre-stage, with a plethora of other controls and buttons squeezed in around it. We have to say the cluttered layout does look a little daunting at first, however once your fingers learn the positions of key controls, it becomes easier to navigate, and having dedicated buttons for important operations speeds up the shooting process no end.

Starting at the top left, a pair of buttons primarily function as the AF and Metering mode controls, however the former doubles up as a Copy/Direct printing button, and the latter offers further access to the Drive mode menu. Pressing both of these buttons simultaneously calls up the Bracketing menu, saving a bit of time whenever you need to call upon this feature in a hurry.

To the right of the viewfinder, the rear Control dial functions as a thumbnail and zoom control in Playback mode and below this you’ll find a dedicated AEL/AFL button, for locking the focus or exposure while shooting. Directly below sits the Playback button, just above the de rigueur four-way d-pad and OK button combo. Encircling the d-pad is a somewhat fiddly Power switch that we found a little stiff and tricky to operate, particularly while wearing gloves.

Below this point is an IS button that controls the operation of the camera’s in-body image stabilisation system. Pressing it calls up the Image Stabiliser menu on the rear LCD, allowing you to switch it off, or pick from one of three stabilisation modes. Having in-camera IS is a pretty attractive feature that gives the E-30 a slight edge over some of its competitors, and one that’s worth taking note of.

In common with its peers, the E-30 features a Dust Reduction system to help you keep your sensor (and images) squeaky clean, as well as a Live View shooting mode. Live View is an area in which Olympus has long excelled in our opinion, developing reliable Live View AF systems ahead of the competition. The E-30 delivers the same reliable performance we’ve come to expect from the manufacturer in this respect, offering both phase and contrast-detection AF, along with a few other interesting tricks. The E-30 offers the photographer something called Perfect Shot Preview; the chance to preview how the scene before them would look if they applied, say, a stop or three of exposure compensation. It’s a great little feature that lets you correct your mistakes before you make them, as it were.

Another unusual offering is the E-30’s aforementioned Art Scene modes. These may seem a little gimmicky at first, but they’re actually a lot of fun, allowing you to create some really interesting results in-camera. We particularly love the Pin Hole and flattering Soft Focus modes.

On a more serious note, the E-30 boasts an 11-point fully-biaxial AF system that’s very responsive and had no trouble picking out our intended subjects with a high degree of speed and accuracy in most cases. The camera copes well with moving subjects too and delivers a respectable 5fps continuous shooting rate, which should be enough to satisfy budding action photographers. The E-30 also offers Face Detection AF, which can recognise up to eight faces in one shot, and maintain a lock.

The built-in pop-up flash offers a range of flash modes, including wireless flash control over compatible external flashguns, without the need for an additional commander unit – a characteristic that keeps the E-30 in-line with the advanced features the competition has to offer.

Colour reproduction is very good indeed, thanks the E-30’s revised TruePic III+ processor. On the whole, colours were faithful, vivid and consistent, throughout most of the ISO sensitivity range. At the top settings we did witness some flattening of tones, but images still retained a pleasing level of vibrancy.

Sharpness in images is generally very good, although JPEGs taken any of the available ISO settings do benefit from additional sharpening, particularly above ISO 400. Dynamic range is impressive – with high-contrast scenes representing a pretty significant improvement over those captured by the E-30’s entry/enthusiast-level predecessors (the E-420 and E-520). The E-30 coped very well indeed with bright skies, exposing the foreground adequately even in extreme circumstances, such as shooting into the sun.

Overall impressions of this new camera are favourable, with the E-30 putting in a solid all-round performance. It handles very well indeed – once you get your head round the array of dedicated controls adorning the camera body – and, although it’s not as weighty as some other models in its class, the optional 14-54mm f2.8 lens makes it feel nicely balanced, and adds a more ‘professional’ feel to the lightweight body. Certain traits, like the omission of weather-sealing on the camera body and some of the E-30’s other specifications make it fall a little short of some of its competitors, but it’s still an excellent advanced tool for Four Thirds aficionados, and the competitive price may be enough to tempt upgraders from other systems, too.