Olympus E-30 SLR Review

Controls, Function, Record and Custom Menus

Pressing the INFO button in capture mode displays the Super control panel, a screen full of settings and parameters currently in use, or the electronic level.

All of these settings can be displayed on the top half of the Super control panel: Date, Shooting mode, Battery check, Flash charging, My Mode, Shutter Speed, Exposure Compensation, Exposure Level Indicator, Flash intensity, Multiple exposure, Super FP flash, Noise reduction, Auto bracket, RC mode, Image Stabilizer, AF illuminator, Internal temperature warning, Aperture value, Exposure compensation value and the exposure level.

On the bottom, all of these settings can be accessed and changed via the OK button and 4-way controller: ISO sensitivity, Flash mode, Flash intensity control, Memory Card, White Balance, Sequential shooting/Remote Control/Self-Timer, AF mode/AF target, Record mode, Picture mode, Sharpness, Contrast, Saturation, Gradation, B&W Filter, Picture Tone, Face Detection, Metering mode, Aspect Ratio and Number of storable pictures.

You can hand select any or all of the 11 AF points within the AF area for your focus point.

There are 5 different AF modes available on the E30: Single AF, Continuous AF, Manual Focus. Single and Continuous can also be combined with Manual Focus for the last two. Manual focus can also be set to the Fn button, allowing you press the Fn to quickly switch to manual focus.

When the IS system is turned on, it has 3 settings. I.S. 1 is on, I.S. 2 only works vertically allowing you blur your image side to side, and I.S. 3 only works horizontally allowing you to blur your images vertically.

ISO Sensitivity:

Auto, 100, 125, 160, 200, 250, 320, 400, 500, 640, 800, 1000, 1250, 1600, 2000, 2500, 3200

White Balance Settings:

Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade, Fluorescent 1,2,3, Lamp, Flash, Manual and Custom based on Kelvin temperature.

EV compensation is adjusted on the top of this screen. It adjusts in steps of 1/3, 1/2, 1 EV, with a total range of �5 EV.

When using the screen for shooting in Live View mode, you will have the option the display any of the above sets of info. Face detection mode and 10x zoom are also available for fine focus adjustments.

This is your AF selection screen in Live View mode.

Record Menu Options

Camera 1 menu options:

Card Setup - All Erase or Format
Custom Reset - When powered up the camera will be reset to one of two custom settings
Picture Mode - Vivid, Natural, Muted, Portrait, Monotone, Custom
Gradation - Auto, High Key, Normal, Low Key
Resolution - RAW, L SuperFine, L Fine, M Normal, S Normal, RAW+LSF/LF/MN/MS
White Balance - Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Shade, Tungsten, Fluorescent 1/2/3, WB Flash,
One-Touch or Custom (2000-14000�K)
ISO - Auto, 100, 125, 160, 200, 250, 320, 400, 500, 640, 800, 1000, 1250, 1600, 2000, 2500 or 3200
Noise Reduction - Auto, On or Off
Noise Filter -Off, Low, Standard or High

Metering - Digital ESP or ESP+AF, Center-weighted average, Spot, Hi Spot (highlight control),
SH Spot (shadow control)
Flash RC Mode - On or Off
Exposure Intensity Control �3EV with 1/3 EV steps
Auto Focus Mode - Single AF, Continuous AF, Manual Focus, Single AF + MF, Continuous AF + MF
Auto Focus Area - Auto Multi (all 11), Single, Dynamic Single
Anti-Shock - Off, 1 sec to 30 sec
Auto Exposure Bracketing - Off, 3 or 5 frames 0.3EV, 0.7EV, 1.0EV
White Balance Bracketing - A-B: 3F 2,4,6 step; G-M: 3F 2,4,6 step
Flash Bracketing - 3F 0.3, 0.7, 1.0EV
ISO Bracketing - 3F 0.3, 0.7, 1.0EV
Multiple Exposure - Off, 2,3,4 Frames; Auto Gain on or off, Overlay on or off

Custom Settings

Custom menu options:

(A) AF/MF - AF Illuminator, Focus ring,C-AF Lock, AF Area Pointer, AF Sensitivity, ... set up,
Reset Lens, Live View AF mode
(B) Button/Dial - Dial Function, Dial Direction, AEL/AFL, AEL/AFL Memo, Fn, My Mode Setup,
Button Timer, AEL/AFL=Fn, 4-way control function
(C) Release/Drive - RLS Priority S, RLS Priority C, Low Frames Per Second
(D) DISP/Sounds/PC - Sound, Sleep, Backlit LCD, 4 h Timer, USB Mode, Live View Boost,
LV Frame Rate, Face Detection, INFO Setting, Level Gauge
(E) EXP/Metering/ISO - EV Step, ISO Step, ISO-Auto Set, ISO-Auto, AELMetering, Bulb Timer,
(F) Flash Custom - X-Sync., Slow Limit, Flash/EV Compensation, Auto Pop Up
(G) Resolution/Aspect/Color/WB - All WB, Color Space, Shading Comp., Set Resolution and
Compression, Pixel Count, Image Aspect, Aspect Shooting
(H) Record/Erase - Quick Erase, RAW+JPEG Erase, File Name, Priority Setting, dpi Setting
(I) Camera Utility - Cleaning Mode, EXT. WB Detect, AF Focus ADJ., Exposure Shift, Battery Type,
Battery Warning Level, Level Adjust