Howdy - I have a friend looking to buy a DSLR, and he's set his sights on the Oly E30. He's also looked at the Nikon D300, which I've tried to push him toward, but he's not wanting to spend more than he has to. I told him I'd ask around about hands-on opinions of the E30 since we all know how hard it is to tell who is and isn't full of it at dpreview.

Anyone used one?

 

I've only read reviews, but those have generally been pretty good. It seems that people who shoot Olympus are pretty dedicated to the brand. Sorry I can't offer any hands-on experience, but I have recommended the brand to friends looking for a good camera in a particular price range.

 

Thanks, that's my general impression, too.

 

If it's just shooting pictures, it would be an ok choice. But if he's wanting to get into shooting, he'll be selling within a year. I would tell him Nikon D90 or the Canon XSI before the Oly, they're both a better camera and cheaper. It's a fourth-thirds system with a 2x crop factor, lenses are limited

 

Ooooo, good catch, Jeff! I didn't realize that it was a four-thirds - guess I could've looked up the specs first. I'll make sure he understands the implications.

 

I've used olympus cameras here at work in the past. At the time I thought they were awesome...until we got a canon! Then I thought it sucked. This was an Olympus E-20 though.