Olympus E-P3 in the test

The Olympus Pen E-P3 is a class of its own with its massive and noble solid metal housing. The case looks even more beautiful without the screw-on plastic handle, but then somewhat smooth. A flip-out flash is integrated, an optional 100% electronic viewfinder (VF-2, approx. 220 Euro) with 480000 RGB pixels resolution adaptable.


Picture gallery


The brilliant 3-inch OLED display of the Olympus Pen E-P3 has a resolution of 203000 RGB pixels and is sensitive to touch. Among other things, AF points can be placed in the image (also can be combined with direct triggering) and the size of the AF points can vary on a slider.


Image quality


In the playback mode, you can scroll from one image to the next, adjust the magnification of the magnifying glass, vary the displayed image, and more. The sliders of the Live Guide settings can also be operated with your finger. The Live Guide allows beginners to set basic parameters such as white balance, exposure time, iris, and depth of focus to the desired destination, e.g. A more or less (un) sharp background. For additional recording tips, use the Info key.


Test Conclusion


Among the most important arguments for the Olympus Pen E-P3 is the particularly fast contrast AF with 35 measuring points. The "Fast AF", controlled by the new TruePic VI image processor, allows a very short shutter lag, including an AF time of 0.20 / 0.39 sec. At 1000/30 Lux - as some SLRs with phase AF can not keep up

The dial for shooting modes on the top fits well to the classic look of the Pen. All current exposure programs (P, A, S, M) are supplemented by "Intelligent Auto (iAuto), a video mode (max 1920 x 1080 pixels), motif programs (Scenes) and various type filters And videos can be applied equally.


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In operation, the Olympus Pen E-P3 offers an almost complete arsenal of current possibilities: arrow keys of the 4-way switch which are used with functions or submenus, direct settings on the info screen by means of directional buttons (selection of the parameters with arrow up / down, setting with Arrow left / right), two setting wheels and three buttons, which can be individually assigned with functions. And of course the already mentioned Live Guide.


With its 12-megapixel CMOS in the Four Thirds format, the Olympus Pen E-P3 achieves a good image quality, with the high resolution at ISO 200/400 being highlighted. The loss of texture is, however, similar to that of Sony (especially from ISO 1600), the dynamic down to a shutter is less.


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In terms of image quality, the Sony A35 and NEX-C3 models can only play the full advantage of their APS-C sensors compared to the Micro Four Thirds models of the Olympus and Panasonic competition. The results are better by ISO 1600, but the difference remains moderate. With the Olympus Pen E-P3 a high-quality electronic viewfinder can be purchased and adapted. In addition, the Pen offers a high-quality metal housing, which conveys something like "Leica-M-Feeling" and a super-fast contrast AF, which with its reaction speed some SLR in the shadow. In sum, the Olympus Pen E-P3 gets the purchase "equipment". With a 14-42mm kit lens and an electronic viewfinder VF-2, the Pen costs slightly more than a Nikon D7000 with an 18-105mm lens at the moment.


Olympus Pen E-P3