[ Review & Thoughts ] - My E-30 and 14-54MkII Diary

[microcosm]

The E-30 has been out for a while now, and up till today, I only had a few minutes' "flirting time" with the E-30 and the 14-54MkII.

Now that I have the set up with me, I thought it might be good to "let the pictures do the talking" and share the images shot on the E-30.

Note : Up till 2009.05.07, I did not realise that Silkypix has updated their RAW developer to support E-30, and the early set of images were shot on jpg and cropped (with some touch up of course).

Here are some of the pictures that I have recently shot with the E-30 and the 14-54MkII lens.

DAY ONE
Still a little unfamiliar with the new functions and I did not want to read the manual on purpose, to see if I can make sense out of the new camera. Fortunately, there aren't that many dramatic changes on the camera and menu thus everything is as usual, intuitive.
(I have never read the manual much since the E-1 days, it has been intuitive).


In the studio with the E-30.


In the studio with the E-30

DAY TWO

[microcosm]

DAY THREE
Some street photography.
All shots today were on Live View mode.
Much much faster than earlier versions of Live View, comparable with the E-330.








Art Filter - Pop Art Mode - Desaturated Brushed in Photoshop

[microcosm]

STILL ON DAY THREE
Still fiddling a little with the controls, especially on Art Filters.
Starting to get addicted to shooting everything on Art Filters.
Addictive.
And clever.

[microcosm]

AND STILL ON DAY THREE
Simply love the Art Filter effects!


Found this cat on the void deck on my way home... cannot resist...






Are we going home yet? The elevator is coming...

Special thanks to my feline model... shall buy you some snacks tomorrow...


Abandoned...

That's all for today... shall add more images to this when I have time.
Thought it might be good to show the E-30 and 14-54MkII combination
as a non-scientific test, and let the images do the talking.

[microcosm]

Just wanted to add that shooting the cat using Live View mode
on the E-30 was a breeze. The Live View on the E-30 is very
responsive and the AF locks pretty quickly, even in the night time
under florescent lights. (Or rather, PL lights in the elevator lobby).
Starting to really like the new camera bodies. Cannot wait to get
my hands on the E-620.

[travelfotografer]

So you find that the E30 +14-54mk2 LV I-AF focusing speed is much much faster than earlier versions of Live View and comparable with the E-330 (Mode A)? That is good news!

I wonder how much of the LV I-AF speed difference is due to the E-30 body and the 14-54mk2 separately, and how it combines with the LV-I-AF in the E-420/520 bodies. For example, is LV-I-AF as fast on the E-30 + 14-42? Is it as fast on the E-420/520 +14-54mk2?

[microcosm]

Originally Posted by travelfotografer (1) So you find that the E30 +14-54mk2 LV I-AF focusing speed is much much faster than earlier versions of Live View and comparable with the E-330 (Mode A)? That is good news! (2) I wonder how much of the LV I-AF speed difference is due to the E-30 body and the 14-54mk2 separately, and how it combines with the LV-I-AF in the E-420/520 bodies. For example, is LV-I-AF as fast on the E-30 + 14-42? Is it as fast on the E-420/520 +14-54mk2?

(1) Comparing to the E-330 : I feel that it is faster because of the way the E-330 takes a shot after focusing on the subject. The mirror up, expose action feels like forever, while the E-30 is much faster in that aspect. My cat shots was a good example of how usable the Live View function on the combo feels. Absolutely wonderful.

(2) I cannot answer this question right now as I do not have a E-420/520 at my disposal to do the comparison test. But when I have a chance to test this out, I shall post back here again. Sorry about that.

Anyone who has made this comparison might want to answer this?

Personally, I dubbed the E-30 + 14-54MkII combo currently as "my favourite point and shoot camera". It sure feels like it.

If I remember correctly, it focuses as fast as the Panasonic G1 when I tested it, but it has a far greater accuracy in terms of focusing and more robust. I really hated the unreliable focusing on the Panasonic G1.

My complaint is, the motor on the 14-54MkII can be a little noisy while trying to focus in low light environment. Nevertheless, this is something I can live with. Not that I shoot in very quiet places (conference halls duing a meeting) or something. So this is not going to be something that bothers me.

That is after three days of shooting with the E-30 and 14-54MkII combo.

Shall post more of my findings as I go out and shoot more.

Keep you guys posted on this. Time for me to go to bed... finally finished some editing work... yawn...

[flyingbee]

great shots man! i see the world thru YOUR eyes! not being nitpicky, performance wise against the E3? faster?

[spidey89]

Boss,your pics with art filters swee lei,XD

[cpark188]

Great pictures and good sharing, I realized that very vivid and soft color for portrait. Make me feel like upgrading to E-30.

[egnaro]

this art filter doesnt make ppl look slimmer? or more handsome?

[Hitman]

Nice pictures, and an interesting story of a cat wanting to going home

I maintain my prediction that one day, the Art Filters will catch on amongst Olympus users and be a very nice novelty. I think the Art Filters are kinda cool

[spidey89]

Originally Posted by egnaro this art filter doesnt make ppl look slimmer? or more handsome?

I think HP have slimming and Casio has make up (for ladies)

[egnaro]

Originally Posted by spidey89 I think HP have slimming and Casio has make up (for ladies)

look at me and u know how these feature is important

[microcosm]

Originally Posted by flyingbee great shots man! i see the world thru YOUR eyes! not being nitpicky, performance wise against the E3? faster?

Not really. E-3 can hold itself quite well. And Art Filters needs some time to render onto the card too. So that slows things down a little.

Originally Posted by spidey89 Boss,your pics with art filters swee lei,XD

Originally Posted by cpark188 Great pictures and good sharing, I realized that very vivid and soft color for portrait. Make me feel like upgrading to E-30.

Thanks guys. The E-30 is a great tool. The Art Filters, until one spends time to play with, becomes quite an inspiring tool to have.

Originally Posted by egnaro this art filter doesnt make ppl look slimmer? or more handsome?

You are always handsome... no need to be more handsome, else we guys have no market value liao.

Originally Posted by Hitman Nice pictures, and an interesting story of a cat wanting to going home I maintain my prediction that one day, the Art Filters will catch on amongst Olympus users and be a very nice novelty. I think the Art Filters are kinda cool

Yes, if Olympus really work on the Art Filters, things will get really interesting.

[Oly5050]

Thanks for posting this review. Very very nice series of photos. The studio shots of the model really pop out!

[microcosm]

Originally Posted by Oly5050 Thanks for posting this review. Very very nice series of photos. The studio shots of the model really pop out!

Thanks bro. Just thought it might be good to have pictures instead of just writing a review and show samples.

[spidey89]

Originally Posted by egnaro look at me and u know how these feature is important

I didn't say they're not important

[Evilmerlin]

Wow...die die must go to OSC to try out the E-30 tomorrow!

[napalmdog]

nice pics! been saving up for that 14-54 mkII. your pics convinced me to save up faster hehe.