Typepad Import Image
SHARE

Olympus E-system users may have heard that their cameras’ maker has issued firmware updates for the E-3 and E-510 D-SLR bodies. Go here to find out what the upgrades will do for your particular model. Unique to the “digital-specific” Olympus system is that accessories such as lenses and flash units can receive firmware upgrades too, and in fact the most recent batch included enhancements for the Zuiko 12-60mm and 100-300mm lenses. If mounted on the camera (keep the flash unit on), they are automatically detected in the update process.

We decided to update our in-house Olympus E-3, a camera we raved about in a recent review. In that writeup I mentioned that I’d shifted autofocus activation and operation from the shutter button to the AEL/AFL button on the back of the camera. I push the button with my thumb to make the camera focus, and release it to lock the focus. (Below, Olympus E-3 product manager Toshiyuki Terada demonstrating the new camera’s capabilities.)