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Olympus Camedia E-10
Colin Leftley

Photographers have been waiting patiently for the Olympus E-10 for ages. They've needed a digital SLR camera with a full compliment of features, sufficient creative control over their results, plus the best in digital image quality but crucially, all of this at a reasonable price.

The E-10 sits squarely between snapshot digital cameras and professional spec press-oriented machines like the Nikon D1 or the Fujifilm S-1 Pro and may tempt keen photographers to finally trade in the their traditional SLR camera. It seems ideally suited to keen amateurs or semi-pros who will appreciate its integral ED 4x zoom lens, TruPic imaging technology, ESP metering, integrated flash, dual-auto and manual focusing, four exposure modes including manual, plus spot and centre-weighted metering. There's white balance adjustment too, an adjustable LCD display, a simple USB connection to your computer, and stylish but functional design.

Getting acquainted

Anyone used to modern top-spec conventional SLR camera shouldn't find the E-10 too daunting to get to grips with. The camera may look slightly lop-sided but it fits snugly in the right hand, especially when the near-essential battery pack is fitted. The layout of controls and displays fits in with recent SLR convention.

There's an LCD readout on top of the camera linked to nearby mode and input dials, which deal primarily with the everyday business of shooting pictures. Elsewhere on the rear panel of the camera is a neat adjustable colour monitor surrounded by controls which handle previewing or editing pictures already taken, or adjusting the likes of image quality, sharpness, film speed, contrast or exposure compensation.

This approach greatly simplifies a potentially complicated camera and allows you to go about shooting pictures just as you would on any SLR, regardless of how your images are stored.

The top-plate features a slightly sloping LCD display comprehensive details of most important settings. Here you'll find flash mode, shutter speed and aperture selected, metering pattern, shots remaining on the memory card from battery condition through to sequence shooting and error messages.

Next to the LCD and near your thumb is the all-important Mode dial surrounded by the on/off collar. This dial you choose Shooting Modes from program through to manual, review images on the built-in monitor in Playback Mode, select printing options in Print Reserve Mode and Connect to you computer in Setup/Connection mode. Once acquainted with these two features I found it easy and quick get on with the business of shooting pictures.

In the surrounding area of the top-plate you'll find the flash mode button, a record mode button, a card selector button, white balance button all adjusted via the sub-dial falling to your forefinger or the main dial set at the top of the back-plate. The Sub-dial also adjusts shutter speeds in 1/3-stop increments, from 8 to 1/500sec, while the main dial deals with aperture selection, from f/2.0 to f/11.

On the top of the camera there's also a pop-up flashgun, and a conventional flash hot-shoe for the dedicated FL-40 flash unit. There's also a covered PC socket suited to studio flash on the left of the camera together with the flash-on button, the remote control socket, the exposure compensation button, macro focusing switch, plus the AF/MF lever. Hidden under a hinged door you'll also find the video and USB socket, and below that a rubber flap hiding the DC-in socket.

Near and the left of the viewfinder eyepiece are the metering mode button and the drive button for choosing sequence or single shot shooting. The finder eyepiece itself is surrounded by a knurled collar for eyesight correction and sports an eyepiece shutter worked by the small lever nearby.

The viewfinder comes to life when the camera's switched on thanks partly to the fast integral 9-36mm zoom (40-140mm 35mm equivalent) and it is reasonable crisp and bright but the image presented is a little small and slightly coarse-grained. The frame is slightly squarer than 35mm but matches most computer monitors - the aspect ratio is 1:1.3. This may take a little getting used to unless, you're a seasoned 6x7cm medium format worker.

Thanks to the dual function active/passive auto-focusing system employed by the E-10 images snap quickly into focus; we rarely had difficulty with any subject. But when you want to use manual focus the lack of electronic focus confirmation or optical focusing aids is a slight drawback.

Run along the base of the viewfinder image is a variety of information. Green LED figures indicate set shutter-speed and aperture, white balance, metering mode, AE lock, exposure compensation, correct exposure on manual, macro mode, flash warning, and AF correct mark. The system is clear and nothing seems left out.

The standard E-10 takes either two lithium CR-3V or four Ni-Cd or Ni-MH batteries in a loosely fitting battery holder. Owing to the battery draining nature of this type of camera the optional battery holder complete with rechargeable Li-Polymer battery comes highly recommended and was used in the test. The extra grip and better balance it offers is also well worth having.

IN THE FIELD

The flash system of the camera is first-rate. Reliable pictures are delivered with regular subjects and when used with ambient room lighting, or outdoors for fill-in, well balanced pictures result.

Once I'd got used to the digital nature of the E-10 and got familiar with its layout, I found it to be very capable of producing first-rate results. The standard ISO80 film speed means that care is needed to maintain stability. With static subjects I put my trusty tripod to good use to avoid camera shake and set the camera to manual to choose settings precisely. You can up-rate the ISO setting but no true gains in speed seem possible and image quality tends to suffer.

If you need to work faster the camera's integral flash can be set to cut in when the light is poor, and it does an admirable job of filling in ambient light, providing a well-judged balance. The flash system is reliably accurate, quick to recycle and was rarely fooled in my experience.

The automatic camera modes speed up handling and the exposure lock is useful with the narrow centre-weighted metering and spot metering on offer. Although Olympus' ESP multi-pattern metering does work pretty well it is still fooled by dark backgrounds and unusual subjects so care is necessary. I also found that slight under-exposure of 0.7stops gave better results, but you can at least check using the good quality built-in monitor. The auto-bracketing facility can also be set as standard to begin with to assess what level of exposure you prefer.

Using the E-10 in conjunction with a Gossen Variosix, we transferred exposure settings across effectively -- handy for awkward subjects or in the studio where the camera can be used for flashlit portraits, pack shots and so on using its PC socket. Time after time spot on results were delivered.

Both subtle and vibrant colours are handled extremely well by the E-10.

The macro facility and the manual focusing option of this Olympus makes decent close-ups easy to achieve.

This Olympus also presents accurate, vibrant colours and deals well with soft pastel hues and neutrals. The auto white balance works well to ensure good results when working in cool shadows or under mixing lighting conditions. Highlight detail is excellent without the harsh 'video-look' of some cameras and very little work was needed on the computer to adjust matters to produce images that would look good on-screen or when printed. Overall, the E-10 appears to produce images that surpass the quality of a comparable-priced scanner working from traditional photographic originals.

When you have a card full of images it's an easy matter to transfer files to a computer. Simple plug in the supplied lead to any Apple Macintosh or Windows computer with a USB socket, set the camera to Playback mode, and hey-presto! a folder appears on your desktop. These can be transferred to your hard disc and then deleted if you want. If you aren't equipped with a USB port optional card readers are available for SmartMedia or CompactFlash cards.

VERDICT

The Olympus E-10 is a fine camera capable of excellent results. It's easy to get to grips with, even if you haven't dealt with a digital machine before, and connects almost seamlessly to your computer. It offers considerable creative control, reliable focusing, flash, and metering systems and a good balance of other features to help you handle a wide range of photographic tasks. Compared to more budget digital cameras, the E-10 lets you shoot a rapid sequence of shots, plus there's a useful macro mode, eyesight correction, and control of white balance.

Available currently for around £1300 it is not significantly more pricey than a well specified semi-pro film-based SLR and becomes even more cost-effective if you account for the cost of film and processing. I've already put it on top of my wants list.

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