ProductCritic: Olympus EVOLT E-330 Reviews

Shutterbug (92)

Aside from those amenities, this is a highly desirable digital SLR that’s likely to satisfy even the most experienced digital shooter. It’s also very portable, convenient to use in many respects, and quite fast/reliable in the most common types of photography. If you want the latest technology and appreciate the benefits of the new features, you’ll probably consider the $999 street price to be a worthwhile investment.

Photexels (90)

Overall, the Olympus EVOLT E-330 is a very capable DSLR with lots of exposure flexibility ~~- it will take months to try them all -~~ and excellent image quality. If you’re thinking of graduating from the world of point-and-shoot digicams but not too sure about it, the Olympus E-330 is not too big and not too heavy and may be the exact bridge digital camera you need to convince you to make the jump.

PC Photo (90)

Of course, Live View is just the E-330’s “marquee” item. This is a full-featured D-SLR, capable of handling just about any D-SLR shooting need. Image quality is excellent at lower ISO settings and good at higher ones, and AF and metering performance are very good. Despite its flat-topped, odd-for-an-SLR shape (which actually helps make possible the Live View feature), the E-330 feels good in the hands, and it’s easy to make any desired camera settings.

megapixel.net (90)

Positives: Excellent image quality. Excellent metering. Excellent colour rendition. Effectively noise-free up to 400 ISO. Comlete range of formats (RAW, TIFF and JPEG). Built-in SSWF sensor cleaning system. Useful Live View system. Powerful built-in flash. Negatives: 14 to 45 mm kit lens a bit soft focus at the wide angle end. Noise reduction system lowers overall image sharpness. Some functions are overly complicated. TTL viewfinder is a touch too small.

Buy-n-Shoot.com (85)

Overall, the Olympus E-330 is a very good DSLR for its price range and packed with plenty of features. Thumbs up!

Digital Photography Review (84)

Finally there is no doubt that this camera can produce excellent results (at lower sensitivities) and that the live view may be the deal maker for some people. I struggled for a long time rating this camera, and if we had a half-way it would get an ‘Above Average and a Half’ however it’s just good enough to scrape a Recommended (lets hope we see a price drop), but come on Olympus you can (and will have to) do better than this!

Steve's Digicams (84)

But while the E-330 competes well with the prosumer cameras, its performance lags its amateur dSLR competition, most notably in autofocus performance/flexbility and continuous shooting. What makes the E-330 stand out is the Live View feature, offering a hybrid of prosumer digicam and dSLR viewfinders, and enabling you to enjoy the advantages of each in a single camera.

PC Mag (80)

It may not be a flawless camera, but the Olympus Evolt E-330 stands apart from all other D-SLRs on the market today.

The Globe & Mail (80)

The thing with digital SLRs is that they need a certain amount of time and experimentation for someone to feel at ease with them. You would typically purchase one for the long-term, hoping that it can last you a good five years or more, and it’s a good bet that the E-330 could be one of those types of cameras.

Digital Camera Magazine (80)

The Olympus E-330 is well put together and the only interchangeable-lens camera which lets you compose shots on the LCD. Be aware, though, that this is the E-330’s only advantage over a number of cheaper cameras, including the very good E-500. It produces faithful images with a rich film like quality.

ComputerAct!ve (80)

The Olympus E-330 is a mightily expensive yet very clever camera that can make taking high quality pictures much easier.

Let's Go Digital (79)

All in all, the feelings on the Olympus E330 are positively mixed. The image quality should be improved, and the same goes for certain other features such as the live view and the white balance setting. On the other hand, the Olympus E330 is simply a delightfully sassy camera that ~~in addition to offering a live view~~ provides the user with a great range of settings that would certainly befit a professional camera.

ePhotozine (78)

It isn’t simple trying to decide exactly how I feel about the Olympus E-330. It is a well built camera, capable of delivering very high quality images in good light. The live-view display is a useful addition but, with concentrating on this new technology it seems Olympus have neglected to update other features of the camera, like the autofocus system. It just seems archaic when compared to the multipoint AF arrays in cameras like the Canon EOS 350D and the Nikon D50.

PC World (77)

he new EVolt’s image quality is good, with good detail and sharpness. Like many other Olympus cameras, the E-330 comes with factory settings that add a big contrast and saturation boost to your images. If you think it’s too much, you can easily tone down the effects by adjusting in-camera settings. If you shoot in RAW mode, you won’t have this problem.

CNET (77)

The Olympus Evolt E-330 is a very good midrange dSLR with unique live scene viewing on its large LCD.

DigitalCameraInfo.com (75)

That said, the preview still seems like a technology in search of a use. Olympus seems ambivalent about it, suggesting exotic uses like underwater photography but leaning more heavily on the notion that that users stepping up from compact cameras to DSLRs might feel more comfortable with an LCD display like the one they’re used to. However, how much validity this claim holds still remains to be seen.

Macworld (70)

The Olympus Evolt E-330 is a good camera, but its standout feature-the LCD viewfinder-is not that useful. Both the Nikon D50 (4 mice) and the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT (4.5 mice), offer better image quality and a broader assortment of lenses. But, if you absolutely need a camera with interchangeable lenses and an LCD viewfinder, the E-330 is a solid choice.

PC Plus (70)

Elsewhere, the E-330 sports all the features of the excellent E-500, in itself a camera that offers far more manual control than the rival Canon EOS 350D. Handling is intuitive and reasonably responsive, but the real sticking point is price. Olympus is marketing the E-330 digital SLR as a mid-range model, but the live-view feature is more likely to tempt compact users to trade up. If it were £200 cheaper, it would make a convincing choice.

DPexpert (70)

The joy of using a single lens reflex camera is in the through-the-lens previewing of the image. The bigger and brighter the viewfinder the better. So anyone considering the E-330 should take time to check the small, dark viewfinder to see if you can live with it. We would prefer the Olympus E-500, the cheaper and more conventional alternative. And compared with the Nikon D70s and Canon 350D the Olympus is an expensive camera.

TrustedReviews (70)

This is a camera that you could use professionally and be assured of good results. Although it may look a little strange, it performs as well as any of its direct mid-range competitors. It has a full range of professional options, including excellent colour options. The live monitor view is a very welcome bonus on an excellent camera.

Good Gear Guide (60)

While the E330 is a fairy good camera in its own right you are essentially paying $500 for live review, which isn’t all that great, and lower image quality.