The design of the new PEN E-P3 is very similar to that of the E-P2 and E-P1 with a few notable distinctions - including a pop-up flash.

Firstly, the mode dial, which is rotated by the thumb of your left hand on the E-P2, has been moved to the right-hand side of the E-P3's top plate - as on the PEN E-PL2. This sits to one side of the shutter release button and on the other is the customisable Fn2 button.

PEN p3 top

ABOVE:The Olympus PEN E-P2

PEN p3 top

ABOVE:Olympus's new PEN E-P3

Like the P2, the Olympus E-P3 has a long control dial built into the thumbrest on its back. On the Olympus E-PL2 this position is taken by the video button, but on the E-P3, the video button is on the camera's back to the left of the thumbrest and small speaker.

PEN p3 rear

ABOVE:Olympus's new PEN E-P3

Olympus pen p2

ABOVE:The Olympus PEN E-P2

There has been a little further rejigging of the buttons on the back of the E-P3 since the E-P2. The auto exposure and auto focus lock (AEL/AFL) button has gone and the Menu, Info and Function buttons have been switched around. It shouldn't take users too long to get used to it, but it will make a slight difference.

It will be interesting to see how much difference the alternative grips make to the feel of the E-P3.

Touchscreen

The new PEN E-P3 is the first PEN from Olympus to feature a touchscreen. The E-P3 features touch AF, which instructs the camera to focus on the point in the scene chosen by a touch of a finger, and, like the Panasonic G3 and GF3, it also has a touch shutter.

Hopefully, the Anti-Fingerprint Coating will help keep the LCD smudge free so that provides a clear view in all lighting conditions.

Autofocus

Olympus shares technology with Panasonic, including the sensor in the new PEN E-P3, PEN Lite and PEN Mini. The Live MOS device has a fast read-out speed of 120fps, which helps to speed-up the contrast detection autofocus (AF) system.

Olympus claims that the TruePic VI processing engine inside its new PEN cameras is faster than Panasonic's Venus Engine VI FHD and it can therefore push the AF system further. As a result, Olympus claims that its new PEN cameras have the world's fastest AF when used with it's MSC (Movie Stills Compatible) optics. We will be putting this and the improved AF tracking ability to the test.

Olympus's TruePic VI processing engine is also claimed to decrease the length of time that the screen blacks-out between exposures, which should make shooting sport much easier.