TECH REVIEWS
OLYMPUS PEN E-P3
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Best for style and performance
Olympus PEN E-P3 (with 14–42mm lens)
Olympus initiated the compact system camera trend with its PEN E-P1 back in 2009. But all its designs (and those of its competitors) had niggles compared to their bigger, SLR brethren: no built-in flash, slightly sub-standard stills, a lack of lenses, and so on. Two years on and it’s all come good. While the steel-clad E-P3 looks fabulous, its beauty isn’t just skin deep. The large, bright and sharp viewfinder lets you pick a focus point with your finger, and as soon as skin touches glass a crisp and vibrant snap is taken. It’s fast and intuitive, though if you want to slow things down you can opt to use traditional manual control. HD video quality is great, and even the pop-up flash does a decent job. If there’s a fly in the ointment it’s the slightly plasticky feel of the otherwise excellent kit lens. Far from cheap, but justifies the price tag, and then some.
£800, www.olympus.co.uk
