Knight Palm

Opinion: I always wanted a dust & weather resistant camera. When I bought my first dSLR, I considered the E-1 was out of my budget, so I went with the E-300 instead, at it's launch.
I've come to appreciate the image quality I got out from the dust & weather sealed High Grade lenses, that also reduces any dust to enter the mirror box. However, the SSWF filter has proved to be successful during the three years with the E-300. With also the E-300 being extremely reliable, and with it's fine ergonomy as a foundation, I didn't see any excuse in getting the lenses I mostly needed, such as 11-22, 14-54 and 50-200, all weather sealed.
So, when the E-3 arrived, and with the weather sealing (that I originally wanted three years back), it was an obvious next investment. I was going to wait a half year or so, but Olympus Europe was smart in launching two early adopter campaigns, which probably had the same value as the cameras depreciation over the next year?

I hadn't seen the camera, before actually ordering it. But what finally convinced me, was the results from the intensive play with the .ORF raw files that I downloaded from the polish site, and actually seeing for myself what I could get out of those files with various parameter settings.

Opinion: Pros:
• Small
• Ultra Light Weight (435g+165g=600g total with ZD35mm/F3.5 Macro)
• SSWF-filter for dust reduction
• APM = Automatic Pixel Mapping
• High pixel count sensor using Kodak KAI-10100
• Good colour and resolution qualities
• Olympus Master 2.03 develops good results from the raw files
• Can use Adobe ACR 3.6 with PSE 3.0
• Two years warranty in Europe
• Lowest price for any dSLR body (june 2007)
Cons:
• No dedicated buttons for: ISO, AF, WB, EXP, FOCUSPOINTS
• No "anti-shock" mirror lock up
• Infodisplay not horizontally but vertically positioned
• Big RAW-files
• Memory card door can be fragile
• USB 1.1 only