Thanks for the very interesting comparison Dan. I still have a question; if
you had to choose between an E-330 and an E-1, which would you choose? Right
now, even with the UK price reduction on th E-330, an E-1 is still just less
then 2/3 the price of the E-330 (600 UKP v. 375 UKP), both with the 14-45
zoom. I have an E-500 already, but it is clearly not made to the same
standards as either th E-1 or the E-330.
Roger Key
>From: Dan Mitchell <danmitchell@xxxxxxxx>
>Reply-To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxx
>To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: [OM] Re: E-330 Question
>Date: Fri, 05 Jan 2007 23:02:11 -0700
>
> I've had an email sitting in my drafts folder for a while, waiting to
>be completed, so this seems like as good a time as any.
>
> I'm another one that got an E-330 when they got cheap enough -- here's
>some thoughts, coming from a variety of OMs and an E-1 to the 330:
>
> First off, the flip-out screen is very handy. I got into the habit of
>waist-level shooting with my rolleiflex and coolpix 4500, so it's nice
>to be able to continue doing that.
>
> Live view (A) also makes for a much easier time using a knee / chair
>arm / whatever as a temporary tripod in low light -- it's hard to prop a
>camera up on something for stability and look through a viewfinder, but
>with the screen in live view it's much more possible.
>
> Yes, as other people have said, it's great for macro. I got out the
>65-116 tube again, and that works no problem; even on bellows, it's very
>possible to set things up, because (contrary to Moose's objection) it
>shows the image on the screen at a brightness sufficient to
>compose/check focus/etc. Even just with normal MF macro lenses, the 10x
>zoom is useful to check focus, especially when DoF is so small.
>
> Mode B + zoom is also great for astrophotography -- finally I have
>some photos of the moon (using a tamron 500/8) that are vaguely in focus.
>
> Autofocus speed/accuracy/dark handling compared to the E-1 seems
>pretty much comparable, though I haven't done any real testing.
>
> Noise -- 1600 is perfectly usable in low light, but it's much more
>noticeably noisy using high ISOs in normal lighting conditions. So 1600
>ISO helps at night, but is less useful for long lenses in daylight, if
>you see what I mean.
>
> The built-in flash isn't all that much use for illuminating things,
>unsurprisingly, _but_ it is very useful for macro -- put another flash
>on a mini tripod with diffuser in front of it, put the second flash on a
>slave, and use the flash on the E-330 to trigger the second flash.
>Easier than fiddling around with cables, and you can (sort of) get light
>from two directions.
>
>
> I much prefer the feel of an E-1 -- the grip is taller, which fits my
>hand better, and the controls are better placed. I initially missed the
>ability to take a shot and then chimp with my right thumb, but after a
>while I've got used to that; I miss having the LCD screen on top, and
>I'm pretty sure battery life is worse with the E-330 than the E-1, but a
>spare battery is easy enough to carry around.
>
> The body is also that bit lighter, so with a 50-200 it feels _very_
>front-heavy. And of course it's not water resistant like the E-1.
>
> One gotcha with the flip-out screen is that you'll need to be careful
>with QR plates, as they can get in the way of getting the screen out.
>
> Some reviews complain about the smaller/darker viewfinder -- that may
>well be true, but I don't have problems with it myself. (honestly, I
>find the viewfinder in an OM4 to be too _big_, I can't see all the
>corners at once).
>
>
> All in all, I had a brief period of buyers remorse when it first got
>to me, because it wasn't as nice to use as the E-1 and I hadn't really
>worked out when I'd use the live view modes, but now I think it's a
>great thing -- I think it's a huge advantage in some situations, in
>others the viewfinder works just as well, but all in all I'm glad to
>have bought one, especially for the price they're going for these days.
>
> -- dan
>
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