Olympus PEN E-P3 review update

By Chuck Hajdu

A short time ago we published a review of the fabulous Olympus E-P3 in this ePub. Since then we’ve used the camera and it’s accessories quite a bit. The E-P3 is a great travel camera and I’ve been on the road for most of the past month and a half. The E-P3 is small and lightweight and takes excellent pictures so it’s usually my first choice when I need to be on the road.

Here’s what I’ve learned since the review was first published:

1- the E-P3 is a great, rock-solid camera that can the handle the normal bumps and bruises of travel well.

2- the silver colored normal zoom lens takes slightly better pictures than the black ones do and it has a more solid feel to it. I’ve tried 4 different “normal” zooms and have settled on the silver one.

3- the Olympus Electronic View Finder VF-2 has one big fault/attribute (depending on the situation). The VF-2 has a front hinge that allows the user to use it from multiple angles (useful) but it moves far too easily when you want it to stay in place (not useful). I’m still trying to find a solution to holding it in place and I think doubled sided, thin foam tape will finally be the answer.

4- the lens caps I use with the third party lens hoods that I bought at Amazon.com have a tendency to get knocked off (see number 1 about bumps and bruises). I’ve lost one and almost lost another, so be forewarned.

5- if you have a lens hood that doesn’t block part of the angle of view at 14mm then it will block the flash coverage at some point. The one I use is great as a lens hood at all focal lengths for outdoor pictures but blocks flash coverage in the lower right hand corner below 18mm (36mm on a 35mm camera). I’ve tried several lens hoods, with cut-outs and without, and have encountered the same problem with all of them. The solution is obvious, don’t use a lens hood indoors when you need flash!

Watch for further updates in the future.