I have been shooting with an E-300 in an Ikelite housing for the last 18 months, or so, with good results. However, lately, I am finding the viewfinder somewhat limiting and am thinking about changing to an E-330 body for live preview.

This involves a considerable amount of expense since I need to buy a new body and housing.

Is anyone out there using an E-330 underwater. If so, your comments about how the live preview works and general comments much appreciated.

Rick Colman

This thread might be of interst ...

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showt...l=olympus+e-330

Hi Rick,

I have used the Olympus E-300 and the E-330 in the Olympus housings with the 50mm, 35mm, ( both with and without teleconverter) 14 to 54mm, 11 to 22mm, 7 to 14 mm and 8 mm. Coming from a long film background I have not found the live view to be as useful as many who have come from a digicam background. Given the choice I would giveup the liveview for a 1:1 viewfinder for my housing like the new Inon or Aquatica models. Live view has its place and has come in handy but is a tool I could live without. I would wait for PMA to see what Olympus has coming next rather to invest in a new system just for the live view.

Phil Rudin

My experience has been somewhat different. I also have a long film background (Nikonos) but migrated to underwater digital video before taking a DSLR underwater. Having used a live video monitor underwater, I found the live view option on the E-330 to be a major motivation for investing in this camera and housing. I may regret it if Olympus bring out an E-1 replacement next year that has some compelling features plus live view. But, if the E-1 replacement does not have live-view, I may still buy one for normal use but 'll not be taking it underwater...

Regards
Peter

Hi!

I've started my own housing and finder project (as some may remember) to house the Olympus E-1. The housing will never get true due to economical troubles of the company milling it.
The finder is now in its final stage (the first pre-series is due early in January) but I ended up with an E-330 as a substitute.
After a phase of "critical distance" (I've been the hard core finder type) I started to get accustomed to the LiveView and now I'm learning to work with it. I'm still a bit away from lovin' it but it'S a tool that offers some comfort for an unbeatable price.

I'm using the E-330 in the UK-GERMANY housing. It has, in contrast to the competitors (Ike, Olympus) a 30° tilted LCD that makes it sort of an angle finder. It is, despite of the sturdy aluminium alloy body the lightest and smallest of the three.
Currently, there's a flat port available that fits the 14-54mm, 14-45mm and 50mm macro lenses and a dome that may house the 14-54mm, 11-22mm, 7-14mm (with different extension rings) and the 8mm FE (native).
Zoom gears (and focus for the 50mm) are available.

See also my review on the UK-GERMANY and Olympus housing:
Review Olympus E-330

My absolute favourites are the 50mm macro (which I havn't used housed yet) and the 8mm FE.

I've been to the island of Gozo (Mediteranian Sea) a couple of weeks ago and had the opportunity to test the E-330 for a weeks diving under "normal" conditions too:
Click to view attachmentClick to view attachmentClick to view attachment
Click to view attachmentClick to view attachment

I also used the E-330 topside on some occassions (rather than the E-1) when shooting overhead or "p&s street photography" was required. The LiveView is ideal in that case.

Helge ;-)=)

Some nice images. The E-330 even coped quite well with the strong backlighting in a couple of the shots. Are you shooting RAW? How is the gradation from light to dark in the sun burst on the wreck image?

My only complaint would have to be all those yellow fins. I think that all divers with yellow fins should be shot (with a gun, not a camera). They are so distracting in photos... Can't you PhotoShop them to black?

Regards
Peter

Hi!

I'm shooting JPEG most of the time for macro, for WA shots I tend to RAW or RAW & JPEG. I've been "spoiled" by shoting slides for years so I try to get it right as shot. Ambient light images need image processing anyway so I now take RAW, at least under circumstances where I expect troubles with the dynamic range. I think the 8mm FE means constant troubles in that case (see below).

The gradation in the sunburst isn't as good as I liked it to be. My favourite would be a HDR in that case but I haven't got a proper tripod yet :-(

The 8mm FE covers a huge area so the sun is always somewhere in the image unless it's exactly behind you. That's one of the facts I've still got to get used to and to cope with.

Another thing I've got to push before my next longer dive-trip is that I can view the RAW files on my PDA after transferring them to the image tank. Checking images on a 640x480 display and even zooming in a bit is far btter than doing this on the smaller camera display.

Regarding yellow fins: You're right. Especially about those with fluorescent yellow fins (or even fluorescent yellow dry suits, as the guy has, I shot in my review). Lots of equipment, esp. BCs have white reflecting parts (there seems to be a law requiring them). They are an annoyance too for photographers.

I'm wearing all black. Even a black mask (which helps a lot to avoid reflections from light sources behind you). I had to stick red reflecting Scotch tape to my fins for my buddy to find me during night dives :-)

Helge ;-)=)

Yay for the Blue Hole! I love the architectural nature of that site. The walks to and from it are a workout though!!

Martyn

I have been shooting my e-330 for 2 months now, and taken it on about 60 dives and taken over 5000 pictures (I've been busy in Bali on an internship ;-) and plus I've got a learning curve to climb...). This was my first step into dSLR and even SLR photography. previously I owned an Olympus c-5050, but I had only ever used it with the pt-15 housing, no external strobe, and shot mostly in Automatic mode. Things like Aperature, f-stop, shutter speed, etc meant nothing to me. So basically my e-330 was jumping into fresh water. I liked the quality and ease of use of the c-5050, and what I perceive as Olympus' attention to underwater photography, so I remained brand loyal...

I must say that I am very impressed with this camera, the design, picture quality, and the ease of use. I primarily use the 50mm macro which I think is great. I also use the 14-54mm zoom which I am also very happy with.

I use this camera in an Ikelite housing with a ds-125 strobe. Mostly I shoot in TTL mode which I have been very happy with. The in-housing TTL adjustments allow for fine tuning which I appreciate. RAW adjustments in post-processing seem to take care of the rest of the issues with exposure. For 90% of my shots I use the LCD live-view. The resolution isn't as clear as the view-finder, but it is certainly more convenient, and I think it allows for capturing tricky, finicky subjects much easier than using a view finder. The focus lock light tells me that everything is in focus, so this compensates for the lower LCD resolution. I shoot in Manual mode, mostly adjusting the aperture to suit my needs at 1/160, ISO 100 for macro. I practically consider this camera point and shoot, but the images that I produce are definitely professional. I must also say that my approach improved drastically after a one day underwater photo course with Jeff Mullins in Tulamben, Bali. He really helped ratchet me up several levels very quickly. Fortunately he uses the same camera (albeit in a 10bar/fantasea housing), so this lesson was ideal for me.

I spent a lot of money on this set-up, but I consider every penny worth it, and would highly recommend this kit to anyone that isn't already familiar with shooting SLR, and but even SLR shooters I'm sure would like it.

Cheers,
Colin

My wife shoots an e-330 in an Olympus housing. A single Inon Z-240 strobe is controlled by an athena ttl converter. The design goal was to create a small, light, one-handed package that was an upgrade for a c5050 shooter.

The 14-54 lens is housed in the flat port. It produces fine shots through it's entire range. The ttl is very accurate.

The 50mm macro lens and port produces great shots when the focus is correct but the low light autofocus capability is not on par with a d200 as far as we can tell. We are adding a focus light to correct this but have not tested this yet.

To shoot true WA we would need to add a strobe and a 7-14 in a dome port. We have not done this yet

Hi!

Please have in mind that the 50mm f2.0 has an angle of 24° (like a 100mm macro would have on a film SLR). That in mind, DOF is very small at small f-stops. Using f5.6 or smaller leves you with a few millimeters of DOF. That is sometimes the cause for apparently out-of-focus images. Moving the camera slightly after the AF locked can cause the effect.

If you consider to buy a WA lens primarily for UW-shooting, consider the 8mm FE. Although the visible barrel distortion typical for a FE lens, it produces more natural looking images than a non-distorting WA lens. I use the 7-14mm a lot topside and I love it but I bought the 8mm FE for UW use.

Helge ;-)=)

Hi Helge,

My issue with live view is with the 24 degree and beyond lenses. With the 50 mm at 1:2 or with the 1.4 teleconverter fully extended in manual or AF I seem to have less problems with critical focus using the optical viewfinder. For W/A in AF or manual the live view works fine with the 8 mm or the 7 to 14 and 11 to 22 zooms.

Will the E-1 housing project continue or will you wait to see what comes next from Olympus?

Phil Rudin

Hi Phil!

I've been using the 8mm FE a lot recently but the sites were not suitable for macro. I'll do a couple of tests to get aquaintant with it the days after X-mas.

The E-1 project is "on permanent hold". The guy doing the actual milling of the first two samples had huge troubles with globalization. His company is strugling because of low cost workshops in far east that allow their customers to put extreme financial pressure onto them. He simply got more pressing problems than building the E-1 housing.
I'm watching the upcoming Olympus models with care and will be the first to think aout a housing for the promised top model. In the mean time I've got more and other contacts so I can start the next project on a more stable basis.

Helge ;-)=)

Helge,

I would be first in line for the "top model" housing if it includes the 45 degree finder and had a converter for my Olympus ports. I can think of several photographers using the Oly housing that may feel the same.

I expect to see the PT-E03/E-400 update at PMA 2007, but I don't think Oly will house the E-1 replacement.

My 8 mm was stolen before I had a chance to warm up to it but I will be replaceing it at some point.

Let us know about your impressions doing macro with live view.

Phil

My comments about the relatively poor autofocus of the 50mm Olympus lens in low light was in comparison to the Nikon Af-105-VR on a d200. The Nikon with a full frame equivilent of 157mm focuses better than the Olympus 50mm with a full frame equivilent of 100MM.

I agree that moving the camera slightly creates out of focus shots but the Nikon AF appears to react better. Of course it may be user error, user technique (using the live view for macro) or a hundred other things but that is my initial impression.

Tom

Hi Tom,

I am using the Fisheye Fix light HG20DX to improve AF in low light with my E330/50mm and 50mm/1.4 TC in the Olympus housing. I still find using manual in the 1:2 and beyond range to be a better option in most cases because I can be sure that the lens is fully extended.

I would put the Nikon D-200 at or near the top of the list for U/W DSLR's but lens and body from Adorama is around $2190 while the Olympus E330/50 macro run around $970. To compare them is a bit like comparing the E-330 with the Canon 1Ds mark II.

The Olympus 50 macro is a superb lens when properly focused and the cost diffrence is not refelcted in image quality.

Phil Rudin

tropical1-

I agree (actually I ran a test with similer shots). When an e330 macro shot is properly focused the result is equal to the Nikon d200/af105vr combination. In addition, in an olympus case, the small size of the package allows better manuvering in those close areas that are sometimes necessary for macro shots. (The d200 in a ikelite case is MUCH bigger and heavier)

I also feel that the AF105VR autofocus capability is supurb, much better than previous lenses and better than most can do with manual.

Nevertheless, I feel that this comparison is fair because digicam shooters moving up to a dSLR will be likely decide between an e330 (because of the live view) or a Nikon d-80 (except for the pro build almost the same as the d200)

Exchanging the Ike Ds50 for an INON Z-240 did solve the WA underexposure problem. ( We are using an Athena ttl converter) If anything the shots are overexposed if the strobe is pointed directly at the subject.

I have no new news on macro. We will be testing the e33o with the new strobe an a focusing light in Bonaire in January.