New Olympus E-3 In The House!

[Photo-John]

Read our Olympus E-3 DSLR Preview >>

The new Olympus E-3 DSLR showed up on my doorstep yesterday - along with a couple of lenses and the vertical grip. I was supposed to leave for California yesterday but I delayed my trip just so I could get all the studio tests and product shots done. This morning the camera will get shipped to Laurence Chen, who did our Olympus E-510, Pentax K10D, Canon EOS 20D, and a bunch of other pro reviews. But I wanted to let you know we had it and just show it off a little.

The first photo is all the stuff they sent. It's the E-3 body - which you can see, the Power Battery Holder, the new Zuiko Digital ED 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 SWD lens, 70-300 f/4.0-5.6 lens, and an extra batttery. It's a pretty sweet, do-it-all setup. And just remind you, Olympus is claiming that the E-3 with the 12-60mm SWD lens has the fastest available auto focus. That was even compared to the Canon EOS-1D Mark III. As a sports photographer, I'm pretty excited about that. I'll have to wait until larry's done with his review to find out for myself.

The second photo is the E-3 in action - shooting the studio tests using Live View mode. This was awesome because I hate having to squat down or bend over to shoot stuff like this in the studio. I would love to have this camera for studio photography. It would be very nice for my back

The third photo is the E-3 next to the Canon EOS 40D - just for scale. The E-3 is not a tiny camera. It's pretty big and hefty. It's definitely not the E-510, which I really like for it's compact size and low weight. It has the look, feel, and substance of a pro camera.

The studio tests are all shot and will be posted on Monday. I don't have time to do it today. Got a 12 hour drive from Salt Lake to San Francisco in front of me!

Read our Olympus E-3 DSLR Preview >>