On 1/5/07, Johnny Johnson <jjohnso4@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Hi folks,
>
> I'm thinking of picking up an E-330 for wildflower photography now
> that the price has dropped to ~$550 range. The reason it appeals to
> me is that the live view, tiltable LCD should make for easier
> photography of low growing subjects but I'm concerned about two
> things. Can anyone give me any first hand feedback about how well
> the image can be seen on the LCD in direct sunlight and also if using
> the 10x (?) zoom on the LCD gives good results when manually focusing?
>
> Thanks,
> Johnny
Hi Johnny,
I'm just back from Hawaii and working through the images I got with
the E-330 (about 500 "keepers" -- although the real keepers number
less, you know what I mean). The LCD is a lot better than the E-1's,
both for size, obviously, and viewability, though it can't hold up to
direct sunlight. Fortunately, the thing tilts and it's almost always
possible to get some sort of angle to it that helps with viewing. In
conjunction with the replay button and histogram, it is easy to get
instant intelligible verification of the shot in conjunction with the
scene itself. Short of some sort of optical implant from the sensor
to the user's brain, I can't really see how this can be improved to a
much greater extent. I suppose a dark cloth a la LF would be helpful,
and I did find myself yearning for something like that occasionally,
but I think it was while shooting sunsets (i.e., too much staring into
the sun itself).
I can't say that I used Live View A mode (P&S style view) much. Live
View B I used both for macro and for many telephoto shots as well.
The firmware update for the E-330 allows you to use the AEL button to
trigger AF in Mode B. I found it important to push the button to get
the 10x focus zoom to verify correct focus however, but having the
capability to do AF in this mode is really a boon, and one should get
the firmware update as one of the first things to do after opening the
box IMHO. To answer your question, the 10x focus zoom works very
well.
Especially with noise reduction turned on, it shoots quite cleanly at
high ISOs. The E-330 has astonishing ESP metering. Combined with AEL
lock, it just works with joyous competence. I love that fact, and the
really useful and versatile replay features.
That's more than you asked for, and sorry don't mean to gush, but I
did enjoy myself with the E-330. I had a chance to show it to a
couple relatives in Honolulu, one of whom is a very fine amateur
photographer and inveterate Caanan shooter and the other a working pro
who has used everything imaginable -- with the exception of Olympus,
which has no presence (which means no retailer) in Hawaii right now.
The high cost of shipping makes having a brick and mortar retailer
especially important to a lot of the guys over there. I don't quite
see the logic, but that's how it is. These guys were very impressed
with the feature set and both the look and feel of the body itself.
Hope this helps,
Joel W.
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