Very pleased after one year of heavy use
I am a serious amateur photographer with 6 years of digital point and shoot and 3 years of DSLR experience.

I purchased my E-30 DSLR w/Zuiko 12-60mm f/2.8-4.0 ED-SWD lens in May 2009 as my first DSLR upgrade. Prior to my purchase, I had been using an Olympus E-510 DSLR with kit lenses successfully except in low light conditions. E-30 product reviews promised to provide a camera I could use successfully in low light situations.

My first shoot with the new E-30 was photographing some 400 aircraft in the US Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. This museum is huge and appears quite dark except for carefully placed spotlights. My goal was to photograph everything without using built-in or external flash. I set my camera on Aperture priority and freely used the zoom between 12-60mm. My results were largely sharp and well focused. Using the E-510 with the 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens, I could never have taken pictures under these museum conditions. I shot all my E-30 images handheld with Image Stabilization on. I set White Balance (WB) according to the type of light near each display, primarily using the incandescent setting. I set the ISO at 400. To my dismay, I had found that ISO settings much above 400 begin to become noisy. But ISO 400 has been acceptable for all my images in Dayton and in many similar situations since.

Battery life had always been a thorn in my side before my E-510 and E-30. Olympus PS-BLM1 Li-ion batteries have exceeded my expectations. I typically take between 400-700 pictures during a full day of shooting. I always carry one spare battery with me.

The E-30 weighs more than the feather weight E-510 but is completely acceptable to me. I have added the Zuiko 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5 ED-SWD lens to my bag. Now, that lens is heavy but well worth lugging around when space is not an issue.

Outside and inside photography have been a joy for me with my E-30. I am completely satisfied with the E-30 and my two ED-SWD lenses.