Olympus PEN E-P3 Hands-on Preview

Preview based on a production E-P3 running firmware 1.0

The Olympus PEN E-P3 looks a lot like its forebears - not just the E-P1 and 2 but, just as significantly, the company's film era Pen F camera. Significantly because, in an age in which the major electronics giants are building their photographic presence, Olympus is one of only a handful of companies with genuine heritage to turn to. And, despite modern cameras making high image quality more accessible than ever, there is an undeniable reverence for the look and feel of 1960s cameras.

Just like Fujifilm's X100, the Olympus PEN E-P1 generated a lot of excitement at its launch thanks to its elegant traditional styling. And, in common with the X100, the shooting experience didn't always live up to the high expectations that those classic looks might have engendered. The E-P2 was a slight reworking of the E-P1, doing little more than adding the ability to use the excellent VF-2 electronic viewfinder, and could still be a slightly slow and awkward camera to actually use.

The E-P3's similarity of appearance to its predecessors could, all too easily, suggest that Olympus has again been subtle with its changes. But this isn't the case at all, and the new model brings with it a whole raft of updates and refinements. Olympus has addressed many of the key criticisms of the older models, to the extent that we'd be tempted to say that the E-P3 is finally the camera that the PEN has always promised to be.

The changes may be somewhat hidden but they are certainly there. Physically the biggest addition is a built-in flash - deliberately styled so that the pop-up element doesn't interrupt the front plate of the camera. The accessory port is also more neatly integrated into the body design than before. The other big physical change is a removable hand grip; a large screw now holds the rectangular grip in place, giving users the choice of removing or swapping it for a more substantial design (in a fashion more than a little reminiscent of Olympus's OM-4 film camera).

But it's inside the camera that the biggest changes have been made: the sensor is still the familiar 12MP unit but the camera's processing is greatly improved. The latest TruePic VI processor is much faster than previous designs, allowing the camera to check focus 120 times per second. This, of course, means that it can adjust focus more often and therefore confirm focus more quickly. This increased processing speed, combined with the more recent internal-focus MSC lens designs and improved camera/lens communication (installable in existing MSC lenses via firmware updates), have put Olympus in the position of claiming the world's fastest single-AF performance for a camera with 3X kit zoom. This is a radical improvement from the first PENs, which were far from snappy.

And it's not just the impressive AF speed that makes the E-P3 feel much more responsive than previous PENs - the dual core processor means image processing and live view can be run in parallel, decreasing the blackout time after each shot. This, combined with a responsive shutter mechanism gives an impression of immediacy every time you hit the shutter button.

In addition, the E-P3 has a 614,000 dot OLED screen that is touch-sensitive. This particular panel uses Samsung's Pentile dot layout to give VGA-equivalent resolution, coupled with capacitance-type touch technology similar to the Apple iPhone. The touch screen can be used to set the focus point and optionally fire the shutter, and can operate some of the camera's other functions too. Crucially though this is always in addition to the rest of the camera's controls, rather than attempting to replace them. If you decide such features don't have a place on such a traditional-looking camera, they can be disabled with no overall loss of functionality.

Another very welcome addition is a built-in autofocus illuminator light, in the form of a bright orange LCD on the front of the camera (previous PENs were notorious for their reluctance to focus in low light). The autofocus system has been updated too, with 35 zones covering most of the image area. The movie recording specification has also been significantly upgraded, and the E-P3 can now capture full HD 1080i60 movies in AVCHD format.

The control layout has been revised too, most notably by the addition of direct movie record and display magnification buttons - indeed overall it's now much more closely related to the E-PL line than the older E-P models. As is the Olympus way the camera's controls are remarkably customisable - no fewer than five buttons can now have their functions defined by the user. All of the goodies that Olympus introduced in the E-PLs have also found their way across - ranging the beginner-friendly 'Live Guide' control and iEnhance colour mode, through to the ability to display user-configurable shadow and highlight clipping warnings in live view.

The Art Filters have been expanded dramatically too, with a number of additional filters plus the ability to tune their looks and add effects such as frames and even a digital 'starburst' filter on point highlights. There's also a new tonal control that allows you to manually adjust shadow brightness independent of overall exposure. Last, but by no means least, the menu system has finally benefited from a substantial makeover, and is not only much easier on the eye, but easier to find your way around too.

Olympus E-P3 key specifications:

• Updated 12MP Live MOS sensor
• 120 Hz 'Fast AF' focus system
• Built-in flash
• Built-in autofocus illuminator light
• Touch-sensitive VGA-equivalent 614,000 dot OLED screen (3:2 aspect ratio)
• Dual-core TruePic VI processor
• 1080i60 movies in AVCHD format
• Shadow tone adjustment control
• Revised and expanded Art Filter mode (with quick preview option)
• Interchangeable hand grips
• In-body image stabilisation (works with all lenses)

Beyond the body: new lenses

Alongside the EP3, Olympus has announced two lenses - one of them available now, the other to follow. Having done plenty to make sure there is a decent range of zooms available (and let's not forget that an awful lot of people only ever shoot with zooms), Olympus has announced two fixed focal length lenses of the type keen photographers have almost given up hoping for. The kit zooms have also been restyled to provide a better match to the E-P3's classic looks.

Olympus M. Zuiko Digital 12mm 1:2 and M. ZD 45mm 1:1.8

Olympus M. Zuiko Digital 12mm 1:2.0	Olympus M. Zuiko Digital 45mm 1:1.8

The first of the new primes is a 12mm F2.0 wideangle. There are precious few 24mm-equivalent lenses available on mainstream systems (Sony's NEX system being one honorable exception), despite it being a popular focal length for prime lenses in the film era. Olympus's take on the concept is to deliver a premium quality, large maximum aperture lens that becomes the first in the system to feature 'snap focus', a system by which the focus ring can be pulled back, engaging a modified manual focus mode. In this mode the lens is designed to feel much more like a conventional mechanically-operated manual focus lens, rather than the usual focus-by-wire behavior.

There are four major differences between 'snap focus' and conventional manual focus mode. Firstly, the relationship between the focus ring movement and the movement of the focusing elements is fixed - rather than being speed-sensitive. This direct relationship allows the focusing ring's movement to be stopped at either end of the focus travel which, in turn, has allowed Olympus to add proper distance and depth-of-field scales to the lens. The final difference you'll notice in snap focus mode is that the damping of the ring's movement has been modified to provide a little more resistance and more 'feel.' Such engineering touches don't come cheap, of course, but really do help make the lens feel like a high-end manual focus optic. Right up until you decide you want to re-engage the super-fast autofocus.

The other lens, which will follow in September, is one that we've been asking manufacturers to make for some time - a genuine short telephoto, large aperture 'portrait' lens. If the price proves to be realistic, we can easily see the 45mm F1.8 becoming as compelling a reason to adopt the Micro Four Thirds system as Panasonic's 20mm F1.7 was before it. In short, we're very pleased to see it indeed.

The company says it expects the 12mm F2.0 to sell for around $799.99/£700, while the 45mm F1.8 will be around $399/under £300.

Revamped 'R' kit lenses

Olympus M. Zuiko Digital 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 II R vs. M.ZD 14-42mm 1:3.5-5.6 II
Retracted to carrying position	Extended, cosmetic bayonet cover removed

The E-P3 also gets cosmetically-redesigned versions of the kit zooms, now with an 'R' suffix. The 14-42mm R is shown above alongside the older version: it has a revised finish that looks a bit more metallic (rather than plastic), along with more finely-textured grips to the zoom and focus ring. There's also a cosmetic ring to cover the bayonet mount on the front (that's used to attach the lens hood and wideangle / fisheye / close-up converters). These are small changes, but overall add up give a more elegant look that's quite an attractive match for the E-P3.

There's also a similarly-restyled version of the M. Zuiko Digital 40-150mm 1:4-5.6 telephoto zoom, although without the bayonet-cover ring. Internally both 'R' lenses get new firmware for improved communication with the camera and faster AF, however older MSC lenses will be upgradable to the same standard. Both will be available in either silver or black to match your camera body.

Beyond the E-P3: consumer PENs

It's also significant that Olympus has also announced two sister models to the E-P3: the PEN Lite (E-PL3) and PEN Mini. We will talk about them more elsewhere but there are two reasons we believe they are a telling part of the PEN E-P3 story. Although they are aimed much more at the same first-time large sensor camera users as Panasonic's DMC-GF3 and Sony's NEX-C3, they share many of the E-P3's underpinnings. And, just as importantly, they help explain the E-P3 - we suspect it exists in part as a 'halo' product to help sell its less-expensive siblings.

The enthusiast camera market is a small segment in comparison to the broader, mainstream entry-level interchangeable lens camera market (and the 'second-body' segment is almost mythical). However, having a respected contender in this niche can help confer credibility on the rest of the range. The mainstream buyer may never venture away from the kit zoom or the automatic shooting mode, but the knowledge that their photography-mad friend either owns or wants a E-P3 helps make the PEN Lite and Mini that bit more attractive.

Compared to the Olympus PEN E-PL3

Here's the E-P3 alongside its co-announced sister model, the PEN Lite (E-PL3). The latest in the PL line is considerably smaller than before, losing the built-in flash but gaining a tilt screen.
The E-P3 has one key addition relative to the E-PL3 in terms of controls - the excellent rear thumb roller dial that's used to change exposure parameters and other settings.
From the top we can see the other key differences - the E-PL3 has a NEX-style tilt screen that results in a slightly thicker body (cleverly concealed by making the lens mount stick out in front of the body proper, NEX-style). It also has no built-in flash, instead relying on a NEX-style slot-on unit. (Indeed if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Sony should feel really very flattered by the E-PL3.)