Olympus EVOLT E-330

Front
The EVOLT E-330 has a thick, large handgrip on the left, with a generous amount of space between the grip and the lens mount. A small dark window on the grip admits light from the infrared remote control, and the rest of the grip is covered with leather-textured rubber. At about the four o'clock position around the lens mount is the lens release button. The upper right quadrant is printed “Evolt E-330,” and a Four Thirds logo is below that. The pop-up flash is a bit to the left of the lens and has the Olympus logotype on it.

Back
A 2.5-inch, 215,250 pixel LCD dominates the back of the EVOLT E-330. The LCD is a bit more exciting than it looks at first blush, because it swings out on an armature for easy positioning for viewing from above or below. The viewfinder is toward the left of the camera and along the top edge. A large, soft rubber eyecup wraps around it, and a small diopter dial sticks out from the left side. A large lever for the viewfinder shutter is on the right side. Next to that are a pair of buttons: one to activate the live view, and switch between A and B live mode, and one to cycle through the various information display formats on the LCD. Further to the right is a button that activates the built-in flash.

The buttons along the left side of the LCD control playback, image deletion, menus and shooting information. To the right of the LCD are the autofocus and exposure lock button and the burst mode button. Below that is the four-way controller, which is made up of four directional buttons and a center OK button. When they aren't active for navigating the screen, the directional buttons control the following: Up: white balance; right: autofocus; down: ISO; left: meter pattern. The right side of the back is contoured to form a thumb rest. Toward the bottom right corner, there's an indentation to allow a fingertip to open the media card door, which makes up part of the camera's right side.

Left Side
The left side of the EVOLT E-330 has the connectivity jacks under a rubber door toward the bottom, and a thick stamped strap lug at the top. The side has a convex curve, making it more comfortable to hold and helping to give the EVOLT E-330 a more finished look than its predecessor, the E-300.

Right Side
Because it forms the handgrip, the right side of the EVOLT E-330 is appropriately plain and smooth, though the back half forms the media card door. Another hearty strap lug protrudes near the top of the side, out of the way and well situated.

Top
The EVOLT E-330's unusual internal optical path requires that the top of the camera be flat, like the E-300's. Olympus went to some trouble to soften the contours, so the top rounds down the left side.

There's a hot shoe over the viewfinder, which is to the left of the lens axis. There is a pop-up flash as well, to the right of the hot shoe. On the far right half of the top above the handgrip, the rear half is lower than the forward half. The mode dial is perched on that lower plane. An on-off switch sticks out from under the mode dial toward the front and right, and the control dial sticks out behind the mode dial, toward a spot where the user's thumb can turn it comfortably. The large chrome shutter release is on top of the handgrip’s higher half, and the small exposure compensation button is just behind it, toward the mode dial. A small status light shows when the dust control device, labeled SSWF, is active.

Bottom
The bottom of the EVOLT E-330 features a metal tripod socket, which is centered under the lens axis, and the battery door under the grip. The battery door has a latch, which generally improves door durability.

Intro	Page 2 of 10		Components
Olympus EVOLT E-330 First Impressions Review Navigation
Intro	Physical Tour	Components	Design / Layout
Modes	Control Options	Image Parameters	Connectivity / Extras
Overall Impressions	Conclusion