I like Olympus. They made my first discman and that thing was awesome, even if, as Hawk said “Freakin thing skips if you blow on it.” And they’re no joke in the digital camera world — but if they continue to put out products like the E-30, they will be. At $1500 you expect a lot of camera, and with a latecomer on the market you expect some interesting features. As it stands, the E-30 barely stands up to its primary competition, the Canon 50D and Nikon D90.
It has more AF points than the 50D but less megapixels and lower color depth, a better viewfinder than the D90 but weaker ISO settings and a smaller (albeit rotating) screen. Not to mention the Canon costs a bit less and the Nikon a lot less.
While it’s always good to have more competition up in this DSLR battleground, the E-30 can expect to have its ass handed to it in short order. What, I’m just telling it like it is!
They also have a redone lens which doesn’t sound bad: the Zuiko 14-54mm II f2.8-3.5 sounds totally solid, but keep in mind that Olympus’ DSLRs have a 2x FOV crp so that’s a 28-108mm equivalent. Solid walk-around lens.