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Olympus EVOLT E-330

Digital Camera Review

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Physical Tour

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Design / Layout
June 09, 2006 By Patrick Singleton
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Viewfinder (6.5)
When we looked at the EVOLT E-330's viewfinder for our first impressions review at the Photo Marketing Association show, it didn't look too bad. With a chance to look at it side by side with viewfinders from other DSLRs, we have to revise that opinion a little – it is not as bright as its competition, and its magnification is not as high. The difference is incremental, but definitely exists. Optics, however, are fine – the diopter control has a wide range and achieves very sharp views of the finder screen and the numeric displays. We also found it easy to see the whole display while wearing glasses.
 
The viewfinder display shows: AF frame, Shutter speed, Aperture value, AF confirmation, Flash, White balance, AE lock, Number of exposures remaining, Exposure compensation value, Metering mode, Battery check, Exposure mode, and Record mode.
 
LCD Screen (8.5)
The EVOLT E-330's 2.5-inch, 215,250-pixel LCD had better be a great display, because the camera's key feature, live preview, depends on it. In short, the LCD holds up its end of the bargain: it is bright and saturated and looks very sharp. We happen to have had two super-zoom compact cameras (the well-regarded Panasonic Lumix FZ30 and the Fujifilm FinePix S9000) in the office while we had the EVOLT E-330, and we looked at the displays side by side. The EVOLT E-330 was brighter and had better color. It was easier to see outdoors, and it handled moving subjects better.

Like the super-zooms, the EVOLT E-330 has a pivoting mount for its display. The double pivot bends at two joints: the first joint allows the top of the display to tip away from the camera, tilting the LCD down, for overhead shots. The second joint allows the bottom to tip away, swinging the display up and away from the camera so it can be seen from above. The tilting mechanism is built of thick metal stampings and seems typically robust, similar to the Fujifilm S9000’s but sturdier. Unlike the Panasonic FZ30's tilt-and-swivel arrangement, the mechanism doesn't help with shooting verticals.
 
Flash (6.0)
On-camera flashes should line up exactly with the lens axis – it limits the distracting and ugly shadows that plague direct-flash photography. Unfortunately, the EVOLT E-330 doesn't offer that choice. With a hot shoe to one side and a pop-up flash to the other, flash options are likely to cause shadows. The EVOLT E-330 has a good choice of flash mode options: auto, on, off, on with red-eye reduction, slow sync, and slow with rear-curtain sync.
 
Like the pop-up flashes on many DSLRs, the EVOLT E-330's flash is relatively weak. At ISO 100, it under-exposed at f/4.0 at 8 feet. Given that the E-330 performs best at low ISOs, this is not sufficient for most flash photography. Users who depend on flash should look into Olympus's dedicated flashes. We shot a plain beige wall with the flash and noted an X-shaped pattern in the flash illumination, which would show up in flash pictures of plain flat surfaces, though not in typical shots of people and other irregular objects.
 
Zoom Lens (7.0)
Our test EVOLT E-330 arrived with a Zukio Digital 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, which is the kit lens for the $1099 package. Olympus also bundles the E-330 with an 18-180mm f/ 3.5-5.6 for $1499. The 14-45 is comparable to a 28-90mm on a 35mm camera or the 18-55mm lenses sold with entry-level DSLRs. This lens feels pretty cheap. The maximum aperture at the telephoto end is f/5.6, which isn't bright enough for indoor shots. Like with many of these lenses, we notice color fringing and significant barrel distortion at the wide angle setting. Distortion is not a problem at the telephoto setting. 

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Olympus EVOLT E-330
Digital Camera Review
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Previous: Page 2

Physical Tour

Previous: Page 4

Design / Layout