The Olympus EP3 is a mirrorless DSLR camera and is a PEN line compact camera. Olympus has made lots of additions to the EP3 over the EP2.
It supports a 12.3 MP LIVE MOS sensor same as the EP2 and a TruePic VI image dual core processor. So now you can use the Live View mode at the same time as the image is being processed. You can also use it along with the creative line filters for amazing images. The auto focus is really fast and checks the focus about 120 times in a second!

Build and Design
It supports a metal body with a choice of 3 hand grips and a flash unit onboard which was not available in the EP2. The flash unit merges with the top portion and is assembled like a pop up type unit. On the right hand side of the hot shoe section is the jog dial while the shutter is located just next to the jog dial.
The 610 dot OLED screen is placed on the rear and you can fire the shutter just by tapping on the screen. It has 35AF focus points just by touching the screen. We found the button layout on the right hand side and is very intuitive. It supports a record button and a magnifier button which is great for manual focusing. The Fn1 and Fn2 buttons can be easily programmed with specific tasks. It has a Zuiko Digital ED 14-42mm R (f/3.5 - f/5.6) kit lens and has a metallic manual focus rim which complements the metal body of the EP3.
 
Features
The user interface has improved considerably from the previous models and is easy to navigate, though still tough for a beginner. There are loads of menu options available and changes according to the shooting mode selected.Creative Art filters go beyond your traditional sepia mode, vivid mode, etc. There are some unique filters as well like the Grainy film (noisy BW filter), Dramatic Tone (adding mood to the sky) and the Diorama (simulates tilt-shift lens photography). You can choose between 23 SCN modes and shoot in both RAW as well as JPEG. Video recording can be done upto 1080i at 60fps in AVCHD format.

Performance
We used the kit lens - 14-42mm (f3.5 - f5.6) and got good results. The images are crisp even outdoors. We found deterioration after ISO 1600. There was a slight colour cast in macro mode and noise was there in indoor shots even on lower ISOs.
The autofocus is very fast and is the key feature for photographers. You can use the touch focus shoot function and just touch the screen to get pictures. The response is good but some pictures were not as accurate. If you want good results it is better to use the shutter.
Creative Art Filters are good for amateur photographers. The Grainy filter sometimes blows out the highlights by quite a bit. The Dramatic mode looks great if you have a slightly cloudy sky. If you use it in a flat sky, you will find tiny black blotches on the photograph.
You can use the art Filter bracketing and use multiple filters in one image. It takes some time but the result is amazing!

Verdict
Priced at Rs. 39,900 it is a little expensive compared with other entry level DSLRs but the features provided are amazing. You have multiple options to add accessories as well as the image quality. The compact form is also a plus with the DSLR Features and we havn't found a mirrorless compact that we can say is better than the EP3.
 
Pros
 •Feature-rich
 •Good image quality
 
Cons
 •Pricey

The Olympus EP3 is a mirrorless DSLR camera and is a PEN line compact camera. Olympus has made lots of additions to the EP3 over the EP2.
It supports a 12.3...