Now is the time to buy an E3...for some.

Is it wise to buy an E3 today when an update is coming around the corner? In my opinion it is! I purchased mine some few months ago and I just love it. I still will, even when the E3 upgrade has arrived. There will always be newer and better cameras available and since the development of digital cameras today still is in the cradle they have shorter life cycle than they had in the past some 20 years ago.

So, why choose an old outdated model that are singing on the last phrases? Well, first it is a proven model with all errors known and corrected The camera quality as well as picture quality is proven from many users, in different conditions, in different countries etc. It is so that despite the fact that you might purchase the latest technology camera available today, it will be old after a couple of years. But it does not mean it is a bad camera after two years...

I had a Leica M4 some years back. A marvellous camera with remarkable good lenses. Today the digital cameras of high end brands are most likely as good if not better (Some will kill me for this...).The M4 held its class for some 30-40 years which means that it is indeed difficult to improve optics etc. to perform better with the 24*36 film format. For digital cameras it will be the same but with the difference that the pixel peeping person will see a big difference but hardly anyone printing a picture up to medium sizes. People are now comparing the noice at 3200 ISO, when I was used to the maximum 400 ASA with occational pushing up to 1200 ASA, with huuuge grains. Do we really need the camera to deliver silky smooth pictures at 3200 ISO? I don´t. I need a fair amount of light, a decent prime lens attached to a camera that I can master, THAT will give me great pictures! The E3 was a remarkable camera when introduced, it still is and it will continue to be so for many years.

Selbepa said:

So, why choose an old outdated model that are singing on the last phrases? Well, first it is a proven model with all errors known and corrected

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True, but it's been corrected more so in subsequent models as opposed to in the E-3 itself, which is what all camera manufacturers do to sell the next best thing
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Selbepa said:

Well, first it is a proven model with all errors known and corrected

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Yeah... right :->

rssarma said:

True, but it's been corrected more so in subsequent models as opposed to in the E-3 itself, which is what all camera manufacturers do to sell the next best thing

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Yes, but sometimes we get what the manufacturers think the market will respond positive to, which is not always right. E.g. HD film function might appeal to some persons but not for me. I don´t want to wait for a better model that might not be better or at least not appealiing to me...

Thanks for a well worded post. I also own one and if it was not for the fact that its possible to get them at a reduced price today I would not have spend as much as what its worth was at its prime....

Like the E1 the E3 will continue to give many hours of pleasure long after the newer models are released, a strong point of Oly....

I am in the process of redoing my web site completely and on their I will have a special link to the E3 and to the community that will follow it.....

If you can get hold of one...get it, also when the E30 is standing next to it.....the E3 is in a class of its own. Great opportunity for E1 owners looking at upgrading.

Siegfried

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Selbepa said:

There will always be newer and better cameras available and since the development of digital cameras today still is in the cradle they have shorter life cycle than they had in the past some 20 years ago.

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Well said! Sure, I look back at my original DSLR, a Canon D30 (circa early 2002 at 3.3MP), with fondness. When I view the images today in print (the best way) or on my Mac, they are still as great today as they were 7 years ago...with a cheap, cheap, cheap Sigma 28-135 f/3.5-5.6 $135 lens. Sure, high ISO has improved, DR is wider, fps is up from 3fps, the VF's are bigger and brighter, the menus are more extensive yet easier to navigate and the sensors are no longer 3.3MP but at least 10MP and higher. What's the point? The images I took back then are no better than the ones today on my E-3, E-1 or G9.

Note I said the IMAGES. No technical aspects. Technically, the newer cameras are better, but its the image, the emotion, the moments that are captured that make the photo IMO.

One of my all time favorites taken on my old Canon A3 SLR (yes, it had 5fps!) in 2001 with Fuji NPH 400 and then scanned and PP to B&W with a cheap Tamron 70-300 lens, out of focus by about 3 feet from subject), no IS and hand held but worked. The grain was high, the blur was there but the image....I wish I could post it right now but I'm at work. I'll see if I can remember when I get home. It was of a soldier kneeling at the grave of his brother (killed in action years earlier) on Memorial Day.

That was a PHOTO - not a technical display of photographic excellence. It was raw emotion captured on film. I try and think of this every time I begin to wonder if I should replace my E-3 because other cameras have better high ISO performance or better DR. The only benefit would be to go to something smaller so I would have it with me more often (m43). Other than that, the E-3 (or for that matter the E-1) is capable of MORE than I am as a photographer.

Do we really NEED clean ISO at 3200 and workable at 6400 & 12800? Do we really NEED 8fps unless we are shooting the Olympics as a paid gig? Do we need unlimited DR or should we learn to work with our cameras and sensors as we did with film? Those of you who never shot film, I pity you....you really missed out on "real" photography. Just kidding about "real", but you did miss some good times and a time when LEARNING to be a photographer took more than the latest gear.

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You are so right, I remember when I went abroad for a week and took a lot of pictures, 13 rolls of film which is about the same number of pictures I take today during one day abroad...but is the pictures better? Not really, but just more to choose from and a bit more experimental pictures. My B&W period learnt me a lot since you could see the result within one hour after taking the pictures. The digital format work the same way but only if you stop up and reflect over the outcome, learning, instead of just taking new pictures which I think a lot of people do including me sometimes...

Now , IS NOT the time to buy an E-3. . . wait until an updated model is announced and then pounce on an E-3 body that a retailer is willing to get off of their shelves for under a grand. That said, boy I might be tempted by a next generation E-3 with the improved low pass filter and TruePic V processor of the E-P1. Either way, I'll be looking forward to more than just trick or treaters on October 31 this year.
--
al

al_in_philly said:

Now , IS NOT the time to buy an E-3. . . wait until an updated model is announced and then pounce on an E-3 body that a retailer is willing to get off of their shelves for under a grand. That said, boy I might be tempted by a next generation E-3 with the improved low pass filter and TruePic V processor of the E-P1. Either way, I'll be looking forward to more than just trick or treaters on October 31 this year.

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Yes, and then you might get an all plastic shell, smaller and lighter, with film function and art filter... Not for me thanks. But I might be wrong and by all means it could be right to wait another 3 weeks to be sure. We just have to wait and see. Thanks for sharing!

Precisely. Now is the time to buy the E3, while it is still functioning. The very same day there is an updated version, this camera immediately gets obsolete and will not be able to provide you with the beautifull images it did when it was new. Or am I missing something? ;-)

Göran
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Olympus E3 + ZD 14-54, 50-200, 70-300 Panasonic Lumix LX3

I upgraded from my E-1 and have had my E-3 for a week. I had been looking for a deal for about a month and found a new "Online Special" E-3 at Dodd Camera's web site. Too good a deal to pass up. The biggest factor for me was that I needed a big bright viewfinder to manual focus my Nikon 400mm f/3.5. It's a BIG difference from the E-1. So far the E-3 has been everything I had hoped for and more.

Chops
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Gorred said:

Precisely. Now is the time to buy the E3, while it is still functioning. The very same day there is an updated version, this camera immediately gets obsolete and will not be able to provide you with the beautifull images it did when it was new. Or am I missing something? ;-)

Göran

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No, you are spot on, you got my message! There is so many threads here that is not constructive. I love both the technical stuff but sometimes I feel that the only way to be "king of the hill" here is to always ensure you have the latest gears and preferable the most expensive, anything else is obsolete and outdated... I wish I had money to buy the Leica DSLR system. That would give me peace of mind for some years I guess. In the meantime I am fully satisfied with the E3 and my lenses...

So here is the question of questions...

I like the weather seal of the E-3 but would I rather buy an E-30 if dependable lower-light AF was paramount?

For me it's the E30. The smaller size, lower weight and slightly better AF make it a better choice even though I want to the weather sealing. They are getting cheap in the used stores here and it's making it hard to hold off from upgrading my E-510.

bthomas001 said:

So here is the question of questions...

I like the weather seal of the E-3 but would I rather buy an E-30 if dependable lower-light AF was paramount?

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Gidday CJ

cjlacz said:

For me it's the E30. The smaller size, lower weight and slightly better AF make it a better choice even though I want to the weather sealing.

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I have:

• my E-1 for playing rough and dirty;
• my E-510 for slipping into a coat pocket (with the f2.8/25, when I get this ... );
• and I should be taking delivery of an E-30 and 14~54 MkII next week, plus an FL-36R ... about time I had a decent flash of some description ...

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I bought mine on Dec. 24th, 2008, actually, but I mean... it's freaking awesome. I've taken about 15,000 pictures since then, and honestly I could just as easily have gotten the Nikon D300 or Canon 40D but I do NOT regret going to the E-3.

First off the 12-60 SWD is a beast. It's tack sharp. I never even use my macro lens anymore because the macros that lens are so good that it's rarely ever worth the trouble to change out lenses. Its size and focusing speed are just incredible, and it was MADE for the E-3, almost specifically. You can really tell when you hold the camera with that lens. It's just fantastic.

I was at an airshow a month or two ago, and I had my 50-200 SWD 2.5-3.5 with EC-20 2x teleconverter. So like, in terms of 35mm, it was an 800mm F7.0 with autofocus ... and it costed $1500 for the lens and teleconverter. Just go and check what 800mm with autofocus will cost you on, like, Nikon or Canon. HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA

I also liked it when I put my Nikon 50mm F1.4 non-AI lens on it, and I get full metering and image stabilization with that. See how much even a manual focus 100mm-equivalent F1.4 image stabilized lens would cost on Nikon or Ca--- OH WAIT.

Yeah, if you zoom in at 100% in photoshop you can see a bit of noise at times, but hell, the 11x14 prints on my wall look better than anything I ever did during the film days. So like, what more do you want?

I've played with the E-30 but it's plasticky and the E-3 just has such a fast processor for flipping thru the pictures, pulling them up on the screen, the buffer is phenomenal, the color is truly amazing, and I could not live without weatherproofing. This camera is a tank and has survived several trips to the dusty scrubland of South Texas as well as the steaming jungles of Brazil. Oh yeah and all my numerous rain-soaked expeditions on the Oregon coast and other places in the Northwest.

BTW -- I know a store that has a brand new E-3 body for like $1300. If I was looking for a weatherproof cam, I'd get it without hesitation.

I agree, these days are made for buying E3.

I got mine from Finland. E3, 12-60, HLD-4. 1500€ - 2210$. It's a bargain in Europe.

I didn't realize that the E3 was capable of using Nikon lenses. I have several AI and AIS lenses and am very serious about switching to Olympus. What focal length would 35mm lens become on the E3, a17.5? Also do other Olympus cameras accept Nikon lenses?
Thanks!

wingnut1 said:

I didn't realize that the E3 was capable of using Nikon lenses. I have several AI and AIS lenses and am very serious about switching to Olympus. What focal length would 35mm lens become on the E3, a17.5? Also do other Olympus cameras accept Nikon lenses?
Thanks!

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You can use all sorts of old manual focus lenses with the right adpater. The only one I've used is the official OM--> 4/3 adapter from Oly, which retails for about $100. Third party adapters are available on ebay for a lot less, in a variety of mounts. Some of them even have focus confirmation!

And to answer your other question, the Nikon 35mm would have the same FOV as a 70mm when mounted on the E-3.

Thanks for the reply BC13! I just noticed there's an adapter at Adorama for 27.95 that will allow manual or aperture priority.
Cheers!