Olympus E-3

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Performance

By the numbers, the E-3 performs quite speedily. CNET Labs' tests indicate it wakes up and shoots a bit slowly for its class--about 1.3 seconds--though I'd hardly consider that sluggish. Under good, high-contrast lighting, it focuses and shoots in just under a third of a second, rising to only 0.8 second in dimmer conditions. Typically, it captures consecutive frames in a half second, edging up to 0.6 second with the built-in flash enabled. And it delivers a quick 4.9 frames per second for high-speed burst shooting. In casual testing, the image-stabilization system delivered about 4 stops of latitude over what the reciprocal rule dictates--1/6 second versus 1/120 second for a 120mm focal length--but I was able to get sharp handheld shots without IS as low as 1/30 sec. Olympus says that you should see more of a gap with longer, heavier lenses. (Because of the consistently overcast and/or frigid weather here in New York, I have not gotten a chance to put the continuous-shooting system through its paces at the dog-run. I'll have to get back to you with that.)

Shooting speed (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Time to first shot

Raw shot-to-shot time

Shutter lag (dim light)

Shutter lag (typical)

Olympus E-3

1.3

0.5

0.8

0.3

Canon EOS 40D

0.3