Olympus EVOLT E-330 Digital Camera Review
DC Resource has reviewed Olympus EVOLT E-330 Digital Camera. I t's the first digital SLR with a real "live view" on the LCD -- just like on the point-and-shoot digicam you may already own. This type of camera has been the subject of rumors for quite some time, with most people figuring that there would be an electronic viewfinder in place of the traditional optical viewfinder.
For regular shooting, there's "Live Mode A". Near the viewfinder, Olympus has placed a second image sensor (the same one as on the Stylus 800, apparently), which captures the light coming through the lens (after bouncing off a few mirrors), and then sends it to the LCD for the live view. As far as I know, something like this has never been done before.
But wait, there's more. The E-330's main sensor -- called a Live MOS (similar to CMOS) -- can also be used for live viewing (called "Live Mode B" this time). Since the mirror is flipped out of the way, the autofocus system cannot function, so this mode is for manual focusing only. The quality of the live image produced by the 7.5 Megapixel Live MOS sensor is much better than the one with the secondary sensor, and as an added bonus you can digitally enlarge the view by as much as ten times -- and move around in the zoomed-in area -- perfect for ensuring proper (manual) focus.
Many of the other features on the E-330 are unchanged from the E-300 that it replaces. You still have Olympus' exclusive dust reduction system, full manual controls, a hot shoe, and support for all Zuiko Digital lenses. One thing not going for the E-330 is its price: it costs $200 more than Olympus' own E-500, $300 more than the Canon Rebel XT, and a whopping $450 more than the Nikon D50!
Something else to note: the camera does not give a "preview" of the selected white balance setting on the screen. So if you change to something else, you won't know the results until the photo is taken. Also, in Live Mode A you'll see 92% of the frame, as opposed to 100% in Mode B -- something to keep in mind when you're composing your shots.
One thing that thankfully didn't disappear on the E-330 is its optical viewfinder, which shows 95% of the frame. To the right of the field-of-view is an info display showing current settings and shots remaining, but it is disabled while using the live view feature. A diopter correction knob on the left side of the viewfinder focuses what you're looking at, and there's a switch for closing the viewfinder as well.
Rating:8/10
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