Olympus Evolt E-330

I bought that camera mainly because of the give-away price and live view. I intended to use it mainly as a backup body, the primary being my Olympus E-500. Very quickly, it became apparent that I had an incredibly competent camera, which soon replaced my beloved E-500 (something unthinkable to me before I get the E-330). The E-330 will simply change the way one photographs. Live view is very, VERY usefull- not for general use of course, but for "strange" angles it is a godsend. My camera gas the 11-22 lens mounted practically permanently- it is a pair made in heaven for landscape/ architecture, and I can only imagine what the camera will be capable off if paired with the ultra-wide angle 7-14.

- Incredibly usefull live view. The only camera with the mode A LV that uses a second sensor, enabling the camera to focus instantly, without mirror slap. Also, the twilting screen really brings LV into its own. It really blows anything else out of the water, and once you have used it, you will not be able to do without it. Of course, for macro and/ or detailed focusing work, Live view in B mode, using the main camera sensor with a real time 10x zoomig feature (of ultra-precise focusing) is there. All in all, the best Live View implemantation in the world.

- Excellent image quality. The camera is the first Oly dSLR to be equipped with the Panasonic CMOS sensor, which has quite a few advantages over the older, CCD sensor made by Kodak. The most important one is the improved high ISO capabilities that the sensor has. The camera produces perfectly usable pictures at iso 800, and decent ones at iso 1600. What is more, the excellent Olympus colors are there. All in all a stunning performer, image quality wise.

- Very good build. Whlie not on par with the likes of 1D, the body is very solid, with no creaks or obvious weaknesses. Mine has even endured a freak hailstorm that sent everybody running for cover, with no ill effects. Also, the body is, ergonomically, very good. The shape is odd, but you soon get used to it, and it does not resemble an SLR camera, minimizing attention to it (usefull for street photography)

- The camera has the ability to use the built-in flash and an external unit at the same time. This can be very usefull at times, eg using the small, built in flash for fill-in, and the larger one for bounce.



- Advanced features, that are not present in any other non-Oly camera of the price range (or, indeed, any price range), like mirror lockup, the incredibly effective dustbuster (I have NEVER had to clean my sensor, and I have changed lenses in some very tricky situations), pixel mapping, etc

- The camera has only 7 active megapixels. It is a non-issue for me, as I seldomly crop excessively or make huge prints. It goes without saying that for any normal print size, image quality is superb.

- The odd shape may put off some people, though if you give it a chance you will probably get used to it in some time.

- The camera is not designed exclusively for high-iso work. Although its high iso performance is good, if you plan to work exclusively in the iso 800-1600 range, you would be better off with a FF camera (with the high weight/ cost that entails).

- The camera only has 3 focus points, a central one and two on the side. If you are used to the 9 or more points of some CaNikons, you may be dissapointed.

- No sensor-based image stabilisation, and no image-stabilised Olympus lenses. If you want IS for that camera, you will have to invest in the handfull of stabilised Panasonic/Leica lenses.

- Olympus E-500, my first dSLR.

- Used a couple of Canons, mainly rebels, which disliked instantly.

No experience. All my Olympus products, including the camera, have worked flawlessly since day one.

The Olympus E-300 is simply a quite good, capable DSLR which is now available at a spectacular price relative to the competition (These can be gotten with lens for under < $400 including the 14-45 kit lens when competing cameras from other brands are more like $6-700 for the comparable setup.)

I had a specific reason for buying into the Olympus system, which might be totally irrelevant for most users. I was specifically looking for a system that would work well with my legacy manual focus Nikkor and Pentax glass. While the Pentax *ist Dxx systems support older Pentax glass, the Nikon D50 and D70 do not meter with older MF Nikkor glass, and I did not wish to pay $1600+ for and wait for the Nikon D200.

In any case, the E-300 works fine, and delivers image quality on a par with other brands of 6-8 MP DSLRs. The ergonomics of the E-300 are, IMHO, outstanding, as is the build quality for an inexpensive DSLR camera.

The camera is very competitive with other entry level DSLRs, but it is by far the best value at $400 for the complete kit. IMHO, it's the equal of the Nikon and Canon $600-700 offerrings, and has a few specific features that make it the best of these for my particular needs (use with older Pentax and Nikkor Manual Focus glass).

Very capable DSLR at an amazingly reasonable price. Good, inexpensive kit lenses, excellent, near pro-caliber build quality, excellent ergonomics, ability to easily adapt to most older manual lenses from many other brands as well as Olympus..

Erratic Auto white balance. Somewhat noisy at ISOs 800 - 1600, slightly soft results from JPEG engine.

Nikon D70, Kodak DCS-760, Olympus E-10

no need