Olympus has managed to carve out a niche in the competitive DSLR market by including features that you won't
find on cameras from Canon or Nikon, such as its
ultrasonic
dust-removal system. With the new E-330, the company has added something you won't find on any other DSLR:
continuous live color previews via the LCD, enabling SLR shooters to skip the viewfinder, just as point-and-shooters
have done for years. According to Olympus, the continuous live preview via the camera's tilt-and-swivel 2.5-inch LCD
provides 92% coverage for autofocus shooting; a separate preview mode provides 100% coverage for manual focusing. The
camera's other specs look decent as well: 7.1 megapixel resolution, 3 fps shooting and a new low-power CMOS that
Olympus claims reduces noise at high ISO settings. But it's the live preview that will set this one apart (at least
until Canon, Nikon or Sony catch up) -- and either make you rush out to buy it, or make you turn up your nose in
disdain. The E-330 is expected to be available in March for about $1,100.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this
in.]
posted Jan 26th 2006 9:00AM
now this camera may be a desirable IF the live preview has a hinge and can change angles and is not a static part of the back of the camera -- this way you can take pictures from a worm's-eye-view and not have to get to the level of the camera to see the image you're going to take a picture of.
The blurb describes the back as articulating through 160 degrees
What about the Canon EOS 20Da or whatever it's called, the Astronomy version. It has a live viewfinder IIRC
Geez it sure took them a long time to solve this problem... Like it was so hard to make the mirror stop at the top for a while so the sensor could "see" stuff before shooting.
#1, read the linked article... it can.
The Canon EOS-D20a, released in the USA last summer, has the 'Live LCD' feature. This camera body has been optimized for astrophotography use (hence the letter 'a' designation') and allows much easier focusing through telescope eyepieces. I also takes great terrestrial pix too. Read the specs at the link below.
http://www.adorama.com/ica20da.html?sid=11382859753162127
Taken from the article at:
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0601/06012606olympuse330evolt.asp
"To get the maximum benefit from the dual live views, Olympus has equipped the E-330 with a large, 2.5”/6.4cm multi-angle monitor, the LCD screen of which employs HyperCrystal technology, assuring extra-fast response times and providing viewing-angles of 160°. The angle of this monitor can be adjusted by the photographer, so that the best view of the subject can be seen on the LCD screen. This feature makes composing photos taken above the head, over the top of crowds, or shot from waist height surprisingly easy, removing the chance of pointing the camera in the wrong direction. Macro photographers in particular will appreciate this feature as they won’t need to bend themselves into uncomfortable positions to look through the viewfinder when framing low level shots."
A lot of peopel are ussing their DSLRs to shoot their kids. Gettign a waist level viewfinder on a camera for around a grand is HUGE. ever see a mob ofpress reporters with their cameras above their heads trying to snap a pic blindly? this again will help them out for a pretty good price.
i would certainly love to shoot people's kids ...
WTF?? I could've sworn Sony's R1 won the title of first live-preview Digital SLR? [Coverage here: http://www.engadget.com/2005/12/02/sony-cyber-shot-dsc-r1-reviewed/ ]
What am I missing here?
The Sony R1 is NOT a DSLR. And the Canon 20Da CAN'T do regular live preview...you have to lock up the mirror when your doing it for the astro-photography.
This camera looks cool enough, but I think I'll wait and see what Canon and Nikon have up their sleeves....here's hoping the 30D has it.
So when is the announcement that Olympus bought Engadget going to come out?
Sony R1 doesn't let you change the lenses, so it's a weird hybrid between an SLR and a point and shoot.
As for the preview modes...does anyone know if you can see the depth of field change in real-time when you adjust the f-stop? It would be mega-cool if a "depth of field" ring around the lens (aka f-stop) became standard issue on these cameras along with the zoom ring. Don't want to have to hunt through menus to find the f-stop settings.
I personally do not like the idea of a live lcd for a DSLR because it would increase camera shake and disconnects the photographer from the unit.
I am sorry if this question is not quite relevant to this topic, but while at MacWorld in San Francisco, I asked the Canon folks about a wirless system of transmitting my pictures from my 20D to a laptop. one of the experts at the Canon booth told me to look into their Fall 2005 System catalog and i will find it there. I have not had any luck finding such device. do any of you know about such system for this application? Thanks
"I personally do not like the idea of a live lcd for a DSLR because it would increase camera shake and disconnects the photographer from the unit."
Liet, then this camera isn't for you. But for many others it's a longtime dream come true. And I'm sure any problems it currently has will be resolved with future models from this or other companies.
This is absolutely fantastic news! I've been a slave of the flip-out olympus LCD on my old C5050 for years. I use it constantly and with it i can take fantastic pictures without having to stand on tables or lie on the floor ;-)
My search for a DSLR replacement for my ageing C5050 is finally over, whohoo!
Kudos Olympus. A welcome advancement.
I don't like the tiny viewfinder of the Olympus 4/3 system, and this helps ease that; but there is, as yet, nothing quite like an optical viewfinder and camera body pressed to your face for steady hands and quick shooting.
Great for macro work though, definately!
Olympus's E20 has a live viewfinder; I've owned one for a few years now. It was released prior to the astronomy camera. Not only that, but the viewfinder tips upwards so you can shoot looking down, like a large-format camera. That makes it easier to control the level of the camera... you move the camera, instead of your entire body. The E20 is a 5MP DSLR with a non removable lens (though a decent one) and a whole truckload of features. Cost me about $1300, if I recall (and I may not.)
Shame it only tilts vertically - means waist level portrait shots are out.
Still, this is great news.
Kim, what are you talking about? You can take waist level portrait shots. From the press release:
"Because the camera's LCD is "articulated" it can extend out from the camera body and swivel downward or upward so the E-330 can be held overhead to shoot over a crowd, or held at the hip or even placed on the ground "