Olympus PEN E-P3 Interchangeable Lens Compact Camera – Despite the fact that it keeps a great retro design similar to its predecessor, the E-P2, is the new and improved flagship PEN E-P3 actually a complete overhaul, much of it towards improving the performance, a bit of an Achilles heel has been aligned Olympus otherwise well-received PEN conductor.
The camera uses the company’s latest image processor, the improved shutter response time and allows a much faster autofocus system that delivers a whopping 35 separate areas (also increasing its big brother, the Olympus Digital SLR E-5). The e-P3 HD video capabilities surpass the E-5 is also at full 1080i recording in AVCHD or AVI formats, and the addition of pixel-binning technology that Olympus claims improved video quality (cameras as EXR line Fujifilm use pixel binning improve low-light image quality). A new 12.3-megapixel Live MOS sensor provides a higher ISO sensitivities up to 12,800.
Another big change in the E-P3 is the addition of a 3-inch, 614 000 pixel OLED touch screen (with anti-fingerprint coating, which actually seemed to work when compared side-by-side with an e-PL2 screen). Now I’m usually a little skeptical, touch screen interfaces (especially in a more advanced camera like the E-P3), but I like Olympus’ touchscreen philosophy here: instead forced to wade through unintuitively touch-screen menus, you will still traditional buttons and dials on access to most camera functions.
Only a few features are accessed through the touch screen (eg touch-trigger, auto-focus position selection guide and live access). In fact, you can turn off the touch-screen functionality entirely, although I can see how it could be useful in certain situations, for example, if you want to prioritize action or for zooming and scrolling occur while playing. Olympus PEN E-P3 costs $349 and you can order it here at Amazon
