Olympus E-3 User Guide

44
PROGRAMME MODE
The E-3, in addition to offering shutter priority (S) and aperture
priority (A) modes, has a powerful automatic exposure
calculation function called Programme (P) mode.
Now, for a lot of posers who lay claim to being professional
photographers, the use of the P mode will be derided as not
being “serious” and only used by “losers” who do not know how
to really use a camera.
Disciples of that philosophy could well consider that, in a camera
adjudged as the “Best Advanced Camera in Europe 2008/9” , the
designers would not have wasted time and effort to include an
operational mode that has little or no use.
Let’s investigate P mode a bit more then and see if it could
perhaps, after all, be a serious tool for photographers which – in
the author’s view – it certainly is.
Essentially, when set to P mode, the camera selects an optimum
shutter speed and aperture value setting after taking the
following into account:
• ISO value set
• Focal length of lens in use (or position of zoom)
• Metering information
• Focus distance
• Flash charge/operational status
Lodged inside the firmware of the camera is a look-up table that
contains hundreds of thousands of combinations and once the
parameters have been determined, the closest possible match to
the ruling conditions is selected and the appropriate
aperture/shutter speed value is set in the instant before the
shutter opens.

Olympus E-3 Specifications

General

Megapixel	10.1 MP
Sensor type	CMOS
Image stabilizer	Yes
Image sensor size	4/3 \
Supported aspect ratios	4:3
Maximum image resolution	3648 x 2736 pixels
Digital zoom	0 x
Optical zoom	5 x
Interface	USB
Power source	BLM-1
Video capability	No
Camera shutter speed	1/8000 - 60 s
Display diagonal	2.5 \
Magnification	1.15 x
Product color	Black
Image editing	resizing, rotating
Photo effects	black&white, Sepia
White balance	auto, Cloudy, custom modes, daylight, Fluorescent, Tungsten
Camera playback	Slide show
Storage temperature (T-T)	-20 - 60 °C
Operating temperature (T-T)	0 - 40 °C
Storage relative humidity (H-H)	10 - 90 %
Operating relative humidity (H-H)	30 - 90 %
Compatible memory cards	xd
Light metering	centre-weighted, spot
Light exposure modes	aperture priority AE, auto, manual, shutter priority AE

Weight and Dimensions

Depth	74.5 mm
Width	142.5 mm
Height	116.5 mm
Weight	810 g