Olympus E-100RS Review

Introduction & Physical Views

First Look posted 2/26/01

Full review posted 3/28/01

Click on the E-100RS to take a QuickTime VR tour

The Olympus Camedia E-100RS (Rapid Shot) is presently the fastest digital camera in the
world with the ability to shoot at 15 frames per second (or 7.5, 5, or 3 fps). The 9.5MB internal
SD-RAM buffer, 28MHz 1.51-megapixel high-speed CCD and image processing electronics
allows for capturing 1360 x 1024 images at less than 1.2 second intervals at all times, even
uncompressed TIFF. Whether shooting sports, nature or other activies, the 15fps shooting
speed insures that you will get the shot you want and at the precise moment it happens. The
unique Pre-Capture mode allows you to capture up to five images BEFORE the shutter is fully
pressed and can be combined with the sequence mode. It's also the only camera capable of
capturing 640 x 480 resolution QuickTime movies with sound at 30 frames per second.

The E-100RS could be called a C-2100UZ on steroids -- it has a slightly smaller CCD but uses
with the same excellent 10x optical zoom lens (38mm-380mm equivalent in 35mm) with a
sophisticated optical image stabilization system. On the outside both of these cameras are very
similar except the E-100RS sports an all-black body. iESP metering and focusing systems
yield the best possible exposures plus the E-100RS now features AE Bracketing of both the
exposure value and white balance.

Features at a glance:

 28MHz CCD and high-speed image processor for high-speed sequential shooting
speeds of 15 fps, or 7.5, 5, and 3 fps
 10x aspherical glass zoom lens (38-380mm 35mm equiv) with 2.7x digital zoom
 Sophisticated image stabilization system for blur-free images
 Shutter speeds from 1/10,000 to 16 seconds
 Both SmartMedia and CompactFlash Type II card slots
 USB Storage Class connectivity for Windows 2000, 98, Me PC or Mac computers
 640x480 30fps QuickTime movie mode with sound capture capability
 Pre-Capture mode allows capturing one to five images before the shutter is fully
depressed, eliminating shutter lag completely
 The new iESP multi-pattern full-automatic TTL White Balance system allows 4 preset
manual selections, Auto Bracketing in +/- 1, 2, or 3 step white balance increments, and
"One Touch" full manual white balance.
 The iESP TTL or Spot autofocus works from the macro to infinity ranges, and is
assisted by a focusing illuminator in low-light conditions
 iESP multi-patterned, center-weighted, spot and multi-spot metering help the
photographer get the correct exposure
 Four Scene modes (Landscape, Portrait, Sports and Night Scene) plus Program
Automatic, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, full Manual and AE Bracketing
 Five-mode builtin flash and external connector for FL-40 and studio flashes
 In Playback mode, portrait mode images can be easily rotated
 Color and black-and-white image capture modes
The Camedia E-100RS is available now for about $1499. It ships with a 8MB Olympus
SmartMedia memory card, four NiMH AA batteries and rapid charger, Olympus Camedia
Master 2.5 Utility Software for downloading images from the camera, Adobe Photoshop 5.0
LE image manipulation and creation software, Altamira's Genuine Fractals 2.0, instruction
manual, QuickStart Guide, remote control, A/V and USB cables, lens cap and strap.

Physical Views
The Olympus C-2100UZ and E-100RS both have 10x stabilized zooms.
 Continue on to
Page Two

Download a 2-page Olympus E-100RS brochure (.pdf 64Kb)

Olympus Camedia E-100RS Specifications

Product Type EVF-type SLR with 1.8-inch color TFT LCD monitor
Memory 3.3V SmartMedia (SSFDC) Card (2MB, 4MB, 8MB, 16MB 32MB and
64MB)

One 8MB card including Panorama function is supplied with camera

CompactFlash Type I or II flash memory. Microdrive not

recommended
Recording system Still image ; JPEG (DCF:"Design rule for Camera File system"),

TIFF (non-compressed), DPOF support

10 Bit A>D Converter

QuickTime JPEG Motion VGA and 1/8 VGA

Image pickup element 1/2-inch CCD solid-state images pickup 1.51 Million Pixel (effective
1.4 Megapixel Image) RGB Progressive Scan : 28MHz (High Speed
CCD)
White balance iESP full-auto TTL,

Preset Manual (Daylight, Cloudy, Florescent and Tungsten)

"one touch" Manual

Lens Olympus lens 7 - 70mm 2.8-3.5, Glass Aspherical Zoom Lens

(Equivalent to 38 - 380mm lens on 35mm camera)

Image Stabilized System with 2.7x Digital Zoom

Filter Size 49mm, 49>55mm Step up needed for thick filters
Photometric system Digital-ESP Multi-Pattern metering system, Center-weighted Spot
meter and,

(8 area memorized) multi-spot metering

Exposure control S-Program mode with Portrait, Landscape, Sports, and Night Scene
 modes; Programmed auto exposure, Aperture priority, Shutter priority

+/- 2Ev by 1/3EV steps exposure compensation

Auto Bracketing: selectable from 1/3EV, 2/3 EV and 1EV; 3 or 5

images

Aperture priority: Wide ; F2.8 - 8.0, Tele ; 3.8 - 8.0, 1/3EV steps

Shutter priority: 2 - 1/10,000 sec. (Electrical CCD and mechanical

shutter), 1/3EV steps

Manual exposure: shutter speed, 16 sec. - 1/10,000 sec.

ISO Auto, user selectable, 100, 200, 400 equivalent ISO
Focusing iESP TTL or spot system autofocus (contrast detection system) with
focusing illuminator.
Focusing range: 24" - infinity in wide-angle
6.5' - infinity in telephoto
4.3" - 24" wide-angle macro
3.3' - 6.5' telephoto macro

Manual focus with focusing range: 24" - infinity: 240 steps

AF Illuminator Standard mode: 2' - 10'
Working range
User selectable on/off controls
Viewfinder EVF (Electronic Viewfinder) SLR viewfinder 100% accurate image
view,

(Full Information/Mode AV,SV/Spot/CW/ESP/+/-/AF/Flash/Buffer)

.55" Color LCD EVF

LCD monitor 1.8-inch Wide-View color TFT LCD monitor with 113,500 pixels

(made from Low-temperature poly-silicon), 100% accurate image view

Flash modes Built-in Flash : Auto-Flash (low-& back-light), Red-Eye Reducing
Flash, Off, Fill-in

External terminal: Off, Auto, Forced activation

Slow Synchronization (First-Curtain Synchronization effect, Second-

Curtain Synchronization effect)

5 pin TTL connector for FL-40 or PC sync, Optional Bracket and cable
needed)
Flash working range Wide; approx. 30" - 18', telephoto; approximately. 8" - 9' ( ISO 100)
Battery charging time Less than 6 sec. (at normal temperature with new battery)
for flash
High Speed Sequence SHQ JPEG (1360 X 1024) 15/7.5/5/3fps up to 10 frames
mode
 HQ JPEG (1360 X 1024) 15/7.5/5/3fps up to 27 frames

SQ1 JPEG (1280 X 960) 15/7.5/5/3fps up to 12 frames

SQ2 JPEG (1280 X 960) 15/7.5/5/3fps up to 31 frames

SQ1 JPEG (1024 X 768) 15/7.5/5/3fps up to 17 frames

SQ2 JPEG (1024 X 768) 15/7.5/5/3fps up to 45 frames

SQ1 JPEG (640 X 480) 15/7.5/5/3fps up to 54 frames

SQ2 JPEG (640 X 480) 15/7.5/5/3fps up to 100 frames

less than 1.2 second shot to shot at all times (unlimited quantity)
Pre-Capture Begins capturing image before shutter release: User adjustable from 1-
5 photos
Cancel Shot Cancels recording to Memory Card preparing camera to immediately
Recording start shooting.
Self-timer / remote 12-second delay / 2 sec. after optional remote controller operation
controller
E-10 Remote Cable (Bulb won't work)
Setting memorization Possible
Outer Connector DC input terminal, Data input/output USB interface (Storage Class)

Video Output terminal (NTSC), external flash terminal for FL-40 (5-
pin TTL) or PC sync with optional cables and bracket.
Operating Operation : 32F/0C - 104F/40C, 30 - 90 % Humidity
environment
Storage : -4F/-20C - 140F/60C, 10 - 90% Humidity
Power Supply 4 x AA NiMH batteries and charger included/ 4 x AA Lithium batteries
/ 2 x Lithium battery CR-V3(LB-01); Optional 7AU-AC adapter / only
high capacity AA Alkaline battery should be used (Manganese
batteries cannot be used.)
Date/Time/Calendar Simultaneous recording onto image data.
Automatic calendar Up to year 2030
system
Dimensions 4.25" (W) x 3.25" (H) x 5.6" (D) (excluding projections)
Weight 21.8oz (without batteries and SmartMedia Card)

* 1.5 megapixel CCD for 1,360 x 1,024 pixel images

 * 10x optically stabilized zoom lens.
Amazing 15 frame per second continuous-mode
*
speed!
"Pre-Capture" mode takes up to 5 photos before
*
you press the shutter!

Dual card slots support SmartMedia and

*
CompactFlash cards simultaneously.

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Manufacturer Overview
An undisputed leader in the digicam marketplace, Olympus America Inc. offers one of the
broadest consumer/prosumer digital camera lineups of any manufacturer. Its award-winning
consumer products like the Camedia C-2020 and C-3030 Zoom cameras (recently updated
with the new C-2040 and C-3040 models), and its revolutionary digital SLRs like the C-
2500L and E-10, continue to draw praise and awards from the photographic press. Last year's
introduction of the Camedia C-211 Zoom drew attention as the first digital camera/printer
combo to reach retailer's shelves -- a joint effort with Polaroid that brought instant print
cameras into the digital age. And its more conventional digital printers, the P-200 and P-400,
were the first products to bring true, continuous-tone, dye-sublimation print quality within
reach of the serious amateur photographer.

With all these innovative Olympus products making headlines last year, speed was the factor
that separated the Camedia E-100 Rapid Shot from the competition. Introduced concurrently
with the 4-megapixel E-10, the E-100RS was considered the "sports model" of the popular
Camedia line. Its 15-frame-per-second (!) sequential shooting mode (a kind of "digital motor
drive"), and 10x zoom Image Stabilizer lens, make it the perfect camera for sports and nature
photographers. Though somewhat pricey compared to typical "prosumer" digicams, the
$1,500 price tag makes it accessible to a wide range of pros and amateurs who need a really
fast digital SLR.

High Points

 1.51-megapixel, high-speed, progressive CCD delivering up to 1,360 x 1,024-pixel

resolution images.
 1.8-inch, TFT color LCD monitor, with approximately 114,000 pixels.
 Electronic SLR viewfinder design.
 10x, 7-70mm aspherical glass lens, with image stabilization (equivalent to a 38-
380mm lens on a 35mm camera).
 2.7x digital telephoto.
  Manual and Auto Focus.
 Apertures from f/2.8 to f/8.0, depending on zoom setting.
 Shutter speeds from 1/10,000 to 16 seconds.
 Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Scene Program, and Manual modes.
 Movie mode with sound recording.
 Up to 15 frames-per-second Sequential Shooting mode at full 1.5 megapixel
resolution, as well as Pre-Capture, Auto Bracketing, and AF Sequence modes.
 Adjustable White Balance with six modes.
 Multi-pattern, Center-weighted, Spot, and Multi-metering modes.
 Built-in, popup flash with four operating modes.
 Manually adjustable ISO with 100, 200, and 400 sensitivity equivalents.
 Five-pin external flash connection.
 Infrared remote control.
 Image storage on SmartMedia or CompactFlash Type I and II memory cards.
 JPEG and uncompressed TIFF still image file formats (Wave format sound files and
Motion JPEG movies).
 Power from two CR-V3 lithium battery packs, or four AA alkaline, NiMH, NiCd, or
lithium batteries (four NiMH rechargeable batteries and charger included).
 USB cable for quick connection to a computer.
 Three software CDs with Olympus Camedia Master utilities, Adobe Photoshop 5.0
LE, and Altamira Genuine Fractals 2.0 plug-in.
 DPOF (Digital Print Order Format) compatibility.

CRP Review: Olympus E-100 Rapid Shot

by Jeff Keller, DCRP Founder/Editor
Originally posted: Monday, March 19, 2001
Last Updated: Monday, March 19, 2001
Printer Friendly Version

After a while, all the cameras that come and go here at the DCRP start to seem the same
after a while. That's why it's so nice to try something different for a change. When I first
read about the Olympus E-100RS ($1499) and it's claim to be the fastest digital camera
out there, it didn't hit me very hard. But when I actually got a hold of this camera and
shot my first sequence of photos at 15 frames per second, I couldn't believe my eyes.
Once you get the hang of things, you can take some amazing action shots.

How does Olympus pull this off? Well, for one, there's less information to work with -- the
camera uses a 1.5 Megapixel CCD, as opposed to the 2-4 Mpixel cameras we're used to.
In addition to this, there's a lot of buffer memory (I'm not sure how much) which stores
all those photos. The E-100RS takes the shots in the time it takes most cameras to lock
focus. Read on for more on this speedy camera...

What's in the Box?

The E-100 Rapid Shot has a very good bundle. Inside the box, you'll find:

 The 1.5 Mpixel Olympus E-100RS camera

 8MB SmartMedia card
 Four AA-size rechargeable NiMH batteries
 NiMH battery charger
 Lens cap
 Neck strap
 USB cable
 A/V cable
 Remote control
 CD-ROM featuring Olympus Camedia Master software and drivers
 225 page manual
I'm a bit puzzled by Olympus' bundles sometimes. The high end Olympus E-10 ($2000)
lacks rechargeable batteries of any kind. The E-100RS ($1500) includes batteries and a
charger. All the cameras below that don't include the battery kit (though they used to).
On the E-100RS, Olympus gets everything right. Well, almost.

The 8MB SmartMedia card is fairly skimpy for a camera with this price range - you'll fill it
up quickly. In addition to the SmartMedia slot, the camera also has a CompactFlash Type
II slot. Microdrive support seems a bit unclear. At the back of the manual, it says "micro
driver not compliant", but when I tried a 340MB Microdrive in it, it worked okay. I'd say
use the Microdrive at your own risk.

The ubiquitous Olympus RM-1 remote control is here too, and it's always welcome. It
comes in quite handy as both a remote shutter release, and for playing back photos on
the television.

Olympus includes a lens cap, but not a strap to keep it attached to the camera. Buy one
or you'll risk losing the cap - this thing had a tendency to pop off with the slightest bump.
Olympus includes lens cap straps on their new C-2040Z/3040Z models, so hopefully it
will be on all future cameras.

I covered Olympus' Camedia Master software in a previous review. Overall, I found it to

be better than the average software that comes bundled with the camera.

The manual, while covering everything, seems confusing and poorly laid out to me. They
should get whomever wrote the E-10 manual to do the rest of them, as it was a cut
above all of Olympus' other manuals.

Look and Feel

The E-100RS is not a camera you shove into your pocket -- after all, it has a 10X optical
zoom "snout". (It will be interesting to see how the new Olympus C-700 Ultra Zoom
compares). That doesn't mean that it's hard to hold -- in fact, quite the opposite. There's
a nice grip for the right hand, and the rubberized lens barrel gives plenty of room for
your left hand. Most of the body is metal, and it feels of quality and good craftsmanship.

The dimensions of the E-100RS are 4.7 x 3.4 x 6 inches, and it weighs in at 575 grams /
1.3 lbs empty. That makes it a bit heavier than its cousin, the C-2100 Ultra Zoom.

The E-100RS has the now familiar 10X optical zoom lens, which is also seen on the C-
2100 Ultra Zoom, and most likely, the Canon PowerShot Pro90 as well. The zoom range
of this F2.8 lens is 7-70mm, which is equivalent to 38-380mm on a 35mm camera.

The camera supports Olympus' wide and telephoto lens, but you'll need to get the step-
up ring first. The FL-40 external flash is also supported (the camera lacks a hot shoe, so
you'll need a bracket).

The back of the E-100RS should be familiar to anyone who has used an Olympus camera
recently. The 1.8" LCD is bright and fluid, like most of Olympus' LCDs (I still wonder why
the E-10's is so bad). You can adjust the brightness via the setup menu.

Above that is the Electronic Viewfinder (EVF), which measures 0.55" diagonally. I've
already stated my preference for a real optical viewfinder in past reviews, and it's still
true here-- though I like the extra information that you get with an EVF, it's no substitute
for the real thing. One difference between the C-2100 and the E-100 is the rubber
eyepiece over the EVF, which the C-2100 lacks. One thing in common is that both models
have diopter correction for those of us with glasses.

To the right of the EVF are buttons for flash [rec] / delete photo [playback] and info. To
the right of that is the four-way switch for menu operations.

The three buttons to right of the main LCD are: Manual Focus [rec] / OK [menu] / Protect
[play], LCD/EVF toggle, and Menu.
At the top right of the photo you can see a button for AE Lock [rec] / DPOF print marking
[play].

Now onto the top of the camera. The LCD info display shows the usual items; here, it's
stabilizer (on), metering mode (ESP), flash (off), quality (HQ), memory card slot
(SmartMedia), and photos remaining (21).

To the left of that you'll see buttons for macro, metering, and drive. Over on the other
side there's the mode wheel, with the power switch underneath it. On the mode wheel,
you have the following options:

 Movie Mode
 S-Program Mode (more below)
 Full Manual Mode (you set aperture + shutter)
 Shutter Priority Mode (you set shutter speed, camera sets aperture)
 Aperture Priority Mode (you set aperture, camera sets shutter speed)
 Program Mode (automatic)
 Playback Mode

The choices in the manual modes are as follows:

 Shutter priority: 2 sec to 1/10000 sec

 Aperture priority: F2.8 - F8.0 (dependent on zoom position)
 Full manual: Same aperture values; shutter values of 16 sec to 1/10000 sec.
Like on some other recent Olympus cameras, you can only get the longer exposure
speeds in full manual mode. Why, I do not know.

S-Program mode is a fairly new feature on Olympus cameras, which borrows a concept
seen for a long time on Casio's cameras. You can choose from different situations, and
the camera picks the best settings for them. These include:

 Portrait Shots
 Sports Shots
 Landscape Shots
 Night Shot

The final button of note on the top is the zoom control (which also zooms in while in
playback mode). The zoom control is smooth and accurate and is well placed.

Here's one side of the camera, with all the I/O ports. Behind the plastic door you'll find
ports for remote shutter release, USB, DC in, Microphone, and A/V out.

Just to the right of all that is a five pin flash sync port.

Right in the middle of the photo you'll see the release for the pop-up flash. Olympus
claims that the flash range is 1.0 - 13.1 ft in Wide, and 3.3 - 10.5 ft in Telephoto.
Here's a look at the two memory card slots -- the CF II slot is to the left of the
SmartMedia slot (shown with the included card).

And here's the full side shot, with the door closed. Not much to talk about here, so enjoy
the view.
That brings us to the final stop on the tour, the bottom of the camera. Down here you'll
find a speaker, battery compartment, and metal tripod mount.

Using the Olympus E-100RS

Record Mode

The E-100RS, as you might expect, is an exceedingly fast camera. Startup time is about
4 seconds, and that's probably the longest you'll wait. When you depress the shutter
release button halfway, it takes less than one second to lock focus (using Full Time AF
can speed this up as well). When you fully depress the button, the photo is taken in
about half a second. Thanks to the hefty amount of buffer memory, shot-to-shot speed is
amazing-- you can shoot as fast as you can compose. The only exception is when
shooting TIFFs-- you'll have to wait about 10 seconds while it saves the image to the
card.

Continuous shooting is where the E-100RS really stands out (and earns its namesake).
You can choose between 3, 5, 7.5, or 15 frames per second! And you can shoot for more
than one second too, as this chart explains:

# shots in continuous mode

Record Mode
8MB card 16MB+ card
TIFF N/A N/A
SHQ 7 10
HQ 21 27
SQ (640 x 480, Normal) 82 100

Sorry folks, no 15 frames/sec while recording Tiffs!

Another option (which can be used with the mode described above) is Pre-capture
shooting. Here, the camera starts recording when you press the shutter release halfway.
I suppose this is useful in situations where you're a little slow with hitting the shutter
release button.

What you'll see on the LCD and EVF in record mode

While we're on the subject of how many photos you can store, here's a look at the many
recording options on the E-100, and how many fit on the included 8MB card, as well as a
64MB card (for reference sake).

# of photos
Record Mode # of Pixels File Format
8MB card 64MB card
1360 x 1024 1 15
1280 x 960 2 17
TIFF TIFF
1024 x 768 3 27
640 x 480 8 68
SHQ 1360 x 1024 8 68
HQ 1360 x 1024 21 173
1280 x 960 9 78
SQ-High Quality 1024 x 768 14 120
JPEG
640 x 480 36 284
1280 x 960 24 199
SQ-Normal Quality 1024 x 768 38 306
640 x 480 82 664

As you can see, there are tons of options available in the resolution and quality
department. Let's go over some of the menu choices you have on the E-100:

 SM/CF - Choose between the SmartMedia and CompactFlash slots

 Continuous Mode settings (3, 5, 7.5, 15 fps)
 Pre-capture (on/off, # of photos)
 White balance (auto, daylight, overcast, tungsten, fluorescent, manual)
 Flash intensity (-2.0EV to +2.0EV, in 1/3EV increments)
 Slow Flash (on/off)
  Auto-bracketing (set up)
 Multi-metering (on/off)
 Image Stabilization (on/off)
 AF Mode (iESP, spot)
 Full-Time AF (on/off) - when on, camera focuses without pressing shutter release
halfway.
 Super Tele (on/off) - aka 2.7X digital zoom
 Function (black & white) - what happened to sepia and the white board modes?
 Card setup - format the memory cards
 Sound record (on/off) - record 4 second audio clips after photo is taken
 Mode Setup - set basic camera prefs and defaults
 ISO (Auto, 100, 200, 400)
 S-Prg - choose which mode you want
 Record mode (TIFF, SHQ, HQ, SQ)

One very welcome addition over the C-2100 Ultra Zoom is the manual white balance,
which lets you decide what "white" should be.

The E-100 performed admirably in our macro test, as you can see above.
 Distant

Closer

The camera did pretty well on this muggy night on Twin Peaks. There are some hot pixels
in both of these pictures-- just look for the blue/purple "stars" in the sky. For those of
you who care, the SF skyline isn't as bright as it used to be-- they're turning off some of
the lighting on the buildings to save power.

Like the other cameras that use the same lens, the E-100RS displays chromatic
abberations (also known as purple fringing) in some situations. I noticed it the most on
cloudy days, or at full telephoto. Take a gander at the beach/Cliff House photo in the
gallery to see what I mean. Aside from that, photo quality was very good -- and the
ability to grab action shots is amazing. Again, see the gallery for a few samples and
judge for yourself.

Movie Mode

The E-100RS is the first camera I've tested that has a 640 x 480 movie mode, with
sound! In fact, you have a number of choices:

Quality Resolution Frames/Sec Secs on 8MB card

30 6
HQ 640 x 480
15 12
30 12
SQ 320 x 240
15 24
Even if you have a larger memory card, your recording times will not be longer in most
cases.

Thankfully, you can use the optical zoom during filming. I don't know why some cameras
won't let you.

The sample below will give you an idea of the movie making abilities of the E-100RS.

Click to play movie (5.6MB, 640 x 480, 15 fps, Quicktime format)

Playback Mode

The E-100RS's playback mode covers all the bases. There's slideshows, image protection,
DPOF print marking, zoom & scroll, and more.

The camera takes merely one second to go between SHQ photos. You can zoom out to 9
thumbnails at once, or zoom in to take a closer look at your photo. The zoom & scroll
mode, as I call it, is pretty good - you can zoom in as far as 3X, and then move around
inside the picture. The only wish I have here is that the scrolling around was a bit
snappier -- you've got to hold the four-way switch down for a bit before it really starts
moving.
If you want to get more info about a photo, you just press the Info button. While not as
detailed as some cameras, I think most users will be happy with the information given.

One other nice feature is the ability to rotate photos, by using the macro and metering
buttons. You can only go 90 degrees in either direction (you can't flip a photo over).

Playback menu

When looking at a group of photos taken sequentially, only the first photo of the group
will be shown. You have to hit a button to "extend" the photos so all are shown. This was
nice, since you don't have to wade through as many photos when just looking over your
photos.

The only thing really missing here is the ability to delete a group of photos at a time, but
that's a minor gripe.

How Does it Compare?

It's hard to compare the Olympus E-100 Rapid Shot to other cameras, since there isn't
another camera like it on the market. It's ability to shoot 15 frames per second is
unmatched by any prosumer digital camera out there. While it's resolution is only 1.5
Megapixel, most folks will find that to be enough. On top of its incredible speed, the E-
100RS also has a very nice 10X lens (though it has some fringing problems at times), full
manual controls, and a nice bundle. If you're looking for ultra-fast shooting, look no
further than the E-100RS.

What I liked:

 Amazing 15 frames per second captures action like no other consumer digital
camera
 10X optical zoom
  Full manual controls
 Manual white balance
 Support for external flash
 Uncompressed TIFF format
 640 x 480 movies with sound!
 Both SmartMedia and CF II slots

What I didn't care for:

 Expensive
 Only 1.5 Megapixel
 Does the Microdrive work or not?

Olympus E-100RS Review

Features & Controls

To make sure that you always get close to the action the E-100RS sports a 10x all-glass zoom
lens. And to give you the sharpest possible pictures the lens is equipped with image
stabilization. You'll also note the entire exposed end of the lens barrel is coated in a semi-soft
rubber material that gives you a very secure grip of the camera.

The 10x aspherical 7-70mm (38-380mm equivalent in 35mm) f=2.8 - 3.5 lens is further
enhanced with a 2.7x digital zoom function. It is threaded for 49mm filters, use of a 49-55mm
stepup ring is recommended for thick filters to avoid vignetting at wideangle.

The iESP TTL or spot system autofocus insures the fastest possible focusing, especially if the
continuous AF option is enabled. The autofocus can be assisted in dim lighting by a builtin
focusing illuminator with an effective range of 1.0' to 9.8'. The normal focusing range is 24" to
infinity in wideangle, 6.5' to infinity in telephoto, 4" to 24" wide-angle macro and 3.3' to 6.5'
telephoto macro. The lens can also be manually focused from 2.0' to infinity in 240 steps.
Here's just how close you can get using the 10x optical zoom. This can be further extended
using the digital zoom but some image degradation will occur. You can download the full size
1360 x 1024-pixel images of both of these pictures on the sample photos page.

It may look like an optical viewfinder but it's really a high-resolution .55-inch color LCD
display like those found on modern camcorders. It has a large (and soft) rubber eyecup and a
dioptric adjustment. You get the benefit of true TTL viewing plus all exposure and camera
data can also be displayed on the screen.

(actual viewfinder display in record mode)

You can switch back and forth between the viewfinder or the color LCD by pressing the
button on the back. You can review still images and movies or access the menus in the
viewfinder the same as the color LCD, this is very helpful when outdoors in the bright light.

The built-in flash has five modes of operation: Auto-Flash (low- & back-light), Red-eye
reducing flash, Off or Fill-in. The flash working range is 30 inches to 18 feet in wideangle and
8 inches to 9 feet in telephoto (ISO 100).
The 5-pin external TTL connector for the Olympus FL-40 flash provides the following modes:
Off, Auto, Forced activation Slow synchronization (First-Curtain Synchronization effect,
Second-Curtain Synchronization effect). When the E-100RS is mated to the FL-40 flash it uses
the larger and more powerful focusing assist lamp to insure proper focus.

On top are the macro focus (on/off), metering (center-weighted averaging, Spot) and drive
mode buttons (Single, Sequential, AF Sequential, Self-timer/Remote, AE Bracket, Pre-
Capture). The mode dial has positions for Playback, Program AE, Aperture priority, Shutter
priority, Manual, Special-Program AE and Movie mode. The shutter release has the zoom lens
control mounted around it.
The power On/Off/Reset switch is built into the base of the Mode dial.   Next to that is the
AEL (autoexposure lock) button that also functions as the DPOF set/reset when in play mode.
The 4-way selector switch is used to navigate menus and to select shutter speeds, aperture
values and focus distances. The Flash button cycles through the various modes (auto, redeye,
on, off) and also serves as the Delete button in play mode. The INFO button controls the
amount of information that is overlayed on the EVF or color LCD. The OK button accepts
menu selections or selects manual focus in record mode and also functions as the
Protect/Unprotect button in play mode. The large button turns the color LCD on or off and
also enables the Quick Review function by pressing it twice in record. The button below that
enables the onscreen menus.

The I/O ports are on the left side behind a small door. On the top is a 3-pin connector for a
remote shutter release cord. Next to that is a USB data port. There is a DC INput connector for
the optional AC power supply, a MICrophone jack for an external microphone and an A / V
port that carries monoraul audio and video to a TV set.

Also on top is the 5-pin sync port for connecting an Olympus FL-40 external flash and below
that is the built-in microphone.

The E-100RS is equipped with both a SmartMedia and a CompactFlash Type II card slot. It
can use SmartMedia up to 128MB and CF or CFII solid state cards of any capacity, use of the
Microdrive is not recommended.   It comes with a 8MB Olympus brand SmartMedia card with
the panorama function.
The E-100RS can be powered by two of the CR-3V lithium batteries or four AA type NiMH,
lithium or alkalines.

Olympus includes four 1600mAH AA type NiMH batteries and a rapid charger.
One of my favorite accessories is also included, the RM-1 infrared remote control that can
operate the zoom lens and trip the shutter in record mode or control image display and
slideshow during playback.

Olympus E-100RS Review

Record Modes & Screens

Record mode screen display (on the color LCD or the eyelevel color viewfinder). Across the
top (left to right) is the recording mode "P"rogram AE, the aperture (F2.8), shutter speed
(1/10) and the exposure compensation value (0.0). The drive mode is sequential-AF. The flash
is diabled. The center square shows where the focusing will take precedence. Metering is set to
Spot. The "hand" icon tells you that the image stabilization is enabled. The "[SM]" indicates
the SmartMedia card slot is selected or "[CF]" if the CompactFlash slot is selected. The "173"
indicates space remaining in current HQ resolution is sufficient for approximately 173 more
pictures.

This is an animated view of all the possible record mode screen displays.

 "P" is Program AE (camera picks both aperture and shutter)

 "A" is Aperture priority - You set desired aperture (F2.8-8.0 wide, F3.5-8.0 tele) and
the camera picks shutter speed
 "S" is Shutter speed priority - You set desired shutter speed (2 to 1/10,000 sec) and the
camera picks the aperture
 "M" is full Manual - You select both aperture (F2.8 to F8) and shutter speed (1/10,000
to 16 secs), camera indicates the exposure value.
 S-Prg - the face icon indicates Portrait mode selected (special pre-programmed modes
for Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Night Scene
 Movie - the movie camera icon indicates QuickTime Movie mode
Shooting in high-speed sequential mode the E-100 RS can capture full resolution 1360 X 1024
still images at up to 15 frames per second - that's the same as the capture rate of most other
digicams shooting in 320 x 240 movie mode!

The screen above shows the camera in the middle of a 7.5fps sequential capture of ten images.
The horizontal bar on the right shows the maximum amount of buffer RAM available and is
indicating half-full with 5 images already captured. The green vertical bar on the left shows
the status of the images as they are being processed.

Max number of images captured "per burst" in high-speed

sequential mode (at any framerate) before pause to write
Mode Quality Resolution # of images
SHQ Hi 1360x1024 10
HQ Normal 1360x1024 27
SQ Hi 1280x960 12
SQ Normal 1280x960 31
SQ Hi 1024x768 17
SQ Normal 1024x768 45
SQ Hi 640x480 54
SQ Normal 640x480 100
(JPEG only, TIFF cannot be used in sequential mode)
The E-100 RS can capture images BEFORE you even press the shutter button all the way
down. The Pre-Capture option can be enabled for 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 images, these images will be
captured when the shutter is half-pressed. The camera continually captures and processes
images while the shutter is held halfway down. Pre-Capture can be used in conjunction with
the sequential mode if desired.

Before you ask what the use of the Pre-Capture mode is ... let's say you're ready to capture that
"once in a lifetime" event of a building being demolished and you aim the camera, half-press
the shutter button and then wait for the explosion. The explosion goes off and you hesitate a
half a second too long before pressing the shutter all the way down to start the sequence.
Without Pre-Capture you missed the first couple of important shots -- with Pre-Capture
enabled, you got them!

The E-100RS has the same type of manual focus as the C-2100 UltraZoom. You get an
onscreen display of the camera to subject distance and adjust the focus using the Up and Down
buttons. When you are actively focusing in manual mode the display is magnified which
makes easier to actually "see" the proper focus point.
You can add a 4-second voice annotation to a still picture if space permits on the memory
card. You can re-record over a previous recording if desired.

Animated view of all of the Record mode menu screens.

Page 1 of 5:

SM/CF - Select the SmartMedia or CompactFlash card slot

- Sequential mode framerate 3, 5, 7.5 or 15 fps

PRE-CAPTURE - Off or On, if On then X1, X2, X3, X4 or X5

WB - White balance: Auto, Daylight, Overcast, Incandescent, Flourescent or One-Push

manual

Page 2 of 5:
 - Flash output power +/- 2 in 0.3 increments

- Flash slow-sync: Off, Slow1 (leading), Slow2 (trailing)

BKT - Autoexposure bracketing: AE comp +/-0.3, +/-0.6, +/-1.0 and WB +/-1, +/-2,
+/-3

MULTIMETERING - On or Off

Page 3 of 5:

- Image stabilizer On or Off

AF MODE - Autofocus mode: Normal or Spot

FULL-TIME AF - Fulltime autofocus: On or Off

Page 4 of 5:

SUPER TELE - Off, On (Digital zoom up to 2.7x)

FUNCTION - Off, B&W

CARD SETUP - Format the selected memory card

- Record sound clip after picture, On or Off

Page 5 of 5:

MODE SETUP - (3 pages of submenus):

ALL RESET - Reset all settings to default or Customize individually

- Sharpness: Hard, Normal, Soft

TIFF - Resolution for TIFF mode: 1360x1024, 1280x960, 1024x786, 640x480

SQ - Resolution for SQ mode: 1280x960, 1024x768, 640x480 - High or

Normal

- Shutter sound: Off, Low or High, Type 1 or 2

 - Beep sound: Off, Low or High

AF ILLUMINATOR - Autofocus assist lamp: On, Off

REC VIEW - Preview after capture: On, Off

SLEEP - Auto-Off timer: Off, 30s, 1m, 2m, 5m

FILE NAME - Auto (sequentially numbers files) or Reset

SHOT CANCEL - Off, On

- Adjust LCD backlight intensity

- Set the time and date

m/ft - Manual focus indicator in feet or meters

ISO - Sensitivity: Auto, 100, 200, 400

S-Prg - Special Program: Portrait, Sports, Landscape, Night Scene

- Image Quality: TIFF, SHQ, HQ, SQ

Olympus E-100RS Review

Playback Modes & Screens

During playback you can control the amount of information that is overlayed on the LCD (or
EVF) by pressing the INFO button on the back of the camera. We start out with the default
information here in the first frame.

Pressing the INFO button toggles the display of all camera and exposure data.
And pressing the INFO button again clears off most all screen data altogether.

For critical inspection of focus or color there is a 3x playback zoom feature. The camera
magnifies the image in small increments each time you toggle the zoom control switch to the
telephoto position. You can step back by using the zoom control in the wideangle position.
Once the image has been magnified you can freely scroll around inside of it by using the 4-
way selector switch.
The playback index mode can be set for 4, 9 or 16 thumbnail images per screen. You can
quickly search through your stored images and then display one fullscreen when desired.

When viewing a sequential capture only the first frame will be displayed. To see the other
images captured during the sequence you press the Drive button on top of the camera.
The same applies to viewing the index thumbnails. Only the first frame's thumbnail is
displayed, you press the Drive button to enter the "extend" mode and then all of the
thumbnails in the sequence are displayed.

Menu options in Play mode:

SM/CF - Select the SmartMedia or CompactFlash card

- Slideshow playback start

COPY - Copy images between CF and SM cards

- Record sound clip for picture being displayed.

- Adjust sound volume for playback

 CARD SETUP - Delete images or format selected memory card.

MODE SETUP - submenu with these options:

ALL RESET - Reset all settings to default

- Beep sound: Off, Low, High

SLEEP - Auto-Off timer: Off, 30s, 1m, 2m, 5m

- Thumbnail display: 4, 9 or 16 images per screen

- Adjust LCD backlight intensity

- Set the time and date

Olympus E-100RS Review

Steve's Conclusion

I don't know how many times I wished that I had a digital camera that could capture an action
sequence the way my old motor-drive Nikon 35mm SLR did back in the 70's. Well, there is
one available now that can do it, the Olympus E-100 RS is definitely fast! The first time I set it
on 15fps and pushed the shutter button I was a believer. Neither Superman or a speeding bullet
could outrun the capabilities of this camera to capture it. Just make sure you have a large
CompactFlash card to store it all on.

The E-100 RS handles pretty much like the less expensive C-2100 UltraZoom, it has the same
basic body design and awesome 10x (38-380mm 35mm equivalent) optically stabilized zoom
lens. The most noticeable difference is the all black body and the large, rubber eyecup around
the electronic viewfinder (EVF.) Externally the two cameras share many similar attributes but
internally they are as different as night and day. The E-100 RS has the first CCD image sensor
that I've ever seen promoted with a "megahertz" speed rating. According to Olympus specs the
CCD is rated at 28MHz, that coupled with the fastest image processing hardware and a 9.5
megabyte DRAM buffer is the reason why this camera is so fast. The high-speed burst mode
(3, 5, 7.5 or 15fps) is only available with the JPEG modes but even when set to TIFF mode the
E-100 RS can capture them at a rate of one every 1.2 seconds at full resolution. If you're up
against that speeding bullet then you'll really appreciate the shutter speed range of up to
1/10,000 second.

Besides the high-speed burst mode the E-100 RS also sports a unique pre-capture mode that
can record one to five frames of action BEFORE the shutter is fully depressed. The first time
that I read this I was a little confused -- how could the camera capture images before the
shutter was pressed?   The way it works is this, you set it for the desired number of frames to
pre-capture and then aim it at your subject and half- press the shutter. It does the usual
autofocus and exposure calculations but it also begins capturing images. The images are
cycled using the "first in, first out" buffering method in the camera's DRAM but are not
actually stored until you press the shutter release fully to begin your normal capture sequence.
In this manner the shutter lag time is eliminated completely using the pre-capture frames so
even if you misjudged the shutter release time by a half a second or so you still get to capture
the entire sequence.

Having a camera that can capture 1.5-megapixel images at a rate of fifteen per second also
means that you need some serious storage space. The E-100 RS sports the same dual-media
capabilities as the E-10 SLR. There is both a SmartMedia and a CompactFlash Type II card
slot in the camera and both can be occupied simultaneously. You switch between the card slots
by making a selection in the menu system. Unfortunately the CF Type II card slot will not
accomodate the Microdrive due to power restrictions but there are plenty of large capacity
Type I solid state cards out there now. I did most of my testing with a Lexar Pro Series 12x
320MB card as it was 5 times larger and many times faster at read/write operations than my
64MB SmartMedia card.

The E-100 RS is not just a rapid-fire sports camera, it's also loaded with lots of real camera
controls and exposure modes. It has Program AE, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual,
and Scene Program exposure modes. The Scene Program has presets for Portrait, Sports,
Landscape, Night and Custom. In Shutter Priority mode the user can select from 2 seconds up
to an incredible 1/10,000 of a second and as long as 16 seconds in the Manual mode. Aperture
control is from F2.8 to F8 with exposure compensation of +/- 2.0 in 1/3EV increments. Just
like the C-3040Z, the E-100 RS has four different metering modes: digital ESP, Center-
weighted averaging, Spot and the Multi-Metering option that can use up to eight spot readings
from different portions of the frame. The ISO sensitivity is adjustable for 100, 200 or 400 or
can be set to Auto and the camera will vary it between ISO 100 and 200 as needed. And the
white balance has the usual Automatic setting as well as presets for Daylight, Cloudy,
Incandescent, and Fluorescent as well as a "one push" manual adjustment.

Other image capturing modes include AEB; Auto Exposure Bracketing where the camera will
capture 3 to 5 frames and vary the exposure compensation and/or white balance between each
shot. AF Sequential mode where the camera captures a sequence of shots similar to the high-
speed burst mode except that it pauses between each shot to autofocus the frames individually.
Ten second delay Self-timer or Remote Control capture controlled using the included RM-1
infrared remote control. Full motion video capture at up to 30 frames per second with audio
and full VGA (640x480) motion video capture. Using the audio capabilities you can also add
four-second voice annotations to still images.

Overall the image quality is very good to excellent, something that we have come to expect
from all the current Olympus digicams with the iESP metering and focus systems. We did
notice signs of the dreaded "purple fringe" effect in some areas of extremely backlit subjects
but no worse than what we've seen on most of the other 2- and 3-megapixel cameras. Image
saturation was usually very good but there were times when I noticed that skin tones were a
little under saturated. All things considered I thought it did very well under a variety of normal
to harsh lighting conditions and the few times that it wasn't close to perfect it was still easy to
adjust afterwards in software. The default in-camera sharpening setting is probably where
most people would like it but I prefer to use the softer setting and do my sharpening later in
PhotoShop.

The Olympus E-100 RS is not going to be a "top seller" because it is a specialty camera that
was made for a very small share of the digicam market. The $1595 price is close to double that
of the C-2100UZ, but for those with a "need for speed" it's well worth the investment. The
combination of a stabilized 10x optical zoom, 1.5-megapixel sized images and the capture rate
of a machine gun put this camera in a class by itself and to sum it up simply -- it's pure fun to
use !