Home / Digital Cameras / Olympus Pen E-P3 Review: This Pen is mightier than your compact camera

Olympus Pen E-P3 Review: This Pen is mightier than your compact camera

By on October 6, 2011 12:13 am
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 Olympus

The Olympus Pen E-P3 is one of the three cameras that were announced in Singapore at an event at end June this year, and boasts the world's fastest autofocusing (AF) via Frequency Acceleration Sensor AF system and a lens incorporating the MSC (Movie and Still Compatible) mechanism. In this review, VR-Zone have a hands-on the new micro four-thirds camera and see if it shoots as well as it looks.

When Olympus launched their first Pen series E-P1 micro four-thirds digital camera in 2009, it garnered many favorable reviews. And based on the success of their new line of micro four-third products, the camera manufacturer has unveiled the Olympus Pen E-P3 which is one of the latest models in the Pen series announced this year. The E-P3 resembles its elder siblings, the E-P2 and E-P1, though it comes with few improvements overall. The camera claims to incorporate the world's fastest autofocusing, achieved with the FAST (Frequency Acceleration Sensor) AF system, and features 12.3-megapixel High Speed Live MOS Sensor with 1080i full high definition movie compatibility and high ISO 12,800 sensitivity.

Here's a look at the E-P3 specification,

  Olympus E-P3
Lens mount Micro Four Thirds Mount
Effective Pixels 12.3 million pixels
Image Stabilizer Built in (Imager shift image stabilizer)
Monitor 3-inch OLED Touchscreen Display 
Dust reduction Supersonic Wave Filter (dust reduction system for image sensor)
Lens system Micro Four Thirds interchangeable 
Live MOS sensor High speed Live MOS Sensor
Magnification ratio x5, x7, x10 (Default), x14
Filter array Primary color filter (RGB)
AF system Image Contrast Detection AF System / AF Assist
Metering system TTL Image Sensor metering system 
Metering range EV 0 – 20 
Memory SD memory card (SDHC, SDXC, UHS-I compatible), Eye-Fi
Aspect ratio 1.33 (4:3)
Recording format DCF, DPOF, compatible/Exif, PRINT Image Matching III
File format RAW (12-bit lossless compressopm JPEG, RAW-JPEG, MPO (3D still)
Recording image size [RAW] 4032×3024 pixels ; [JPEG] 4032×3024 pixels – 640×480 pixels
Movie recording AVCHD / AVI Motion JPG
File Size AVCHD: Max 4GB / AVI Motion-JPEG: Max 2GB
Scene select AE Portrait, e-Portrait, Landscape, Landscape + Portrait, Macro, Sport,
  Night scene, Night + Portrait, Children, High key, Low key, 3D
  DIS mode, Nature Macro, Candle, Sunset, Document, Panorama,
  Fireworks, Beach & Snow, Fisheye Conv, Wide Conv, Macro Conv
ISO sensitivity AUTO: ISO 200 – 12800 (customizable, default 200 – 1600) 
Preset white balance 6 settings (3000K – 7500K) Lamp (3000K), Fluorescent (4000K), 
  Daylight (5300K), Flash (5500K), Cloudy (6000K), Shade (7500K)
Drive mode Single-frame shooting, Sequential shooting, Self-timer
Sequential shoot speed Approximately 3 frames / sec
Built-in flash Available
Input/Output USB2.0, mini HDMI, video-out, dedicated multi-connector (Video:
  NTSC/PAL selectable, Optional remote cable RM-UC1, USB)
Battery BLS-1/BLS-5 Lithium-ion battery (included)
Dimensions 122×69.1×34.3 (excluding protrusions)
Weight 369g (including battery and memory card)
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