evolt 500

[CA Diver]

Obsolete is in the mind of the beholder. I went from a 5060 to an E-300 in an Ikelite housing and have 50 dives on it so far. The jump in performance was astounding. There is, however, no particular reason to jump on the next "new" model -- the E-500 is mostly a marketing upgrade, and I plan to shoot my E-300 for a couple of years before even CONSIDERING an upgrade.

Remember, this is about PHOTOGRAPHY not hardware lust.

Rick Colman

Rick:
Just saw your reply. I do not lust after the new hardware. I am only concerned that if I scr@@@ up and flood the housing I will either have to buy a used camera or buy a new housing to go with the new shape of the camera. I finally got mine underwarter last weekend and love the performance. after 10 years of using all-in-one digital camera's I have to get used to using an SLR again. I now need to invest in quality strobes before my March 24 trip to Bonaire.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Rick:
Just saw your reply. I do not lust after the new hardware. I am only concerned that if I scr@@@ up and flood the housing I will either have to buy a used camera or buy a new housing to go with the new shape of the camera.

Fears may be warranted.

http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_digital_slr.asp

With the introduction of the E330(which does have a slightly different body and will use a different housing), the E300 seems to be missing from Oly's dSLR lineup. I suspect the E1 will be missing very soon as well, Oly is rumored to announce an E1 successor for the pro category by PMA or Photokina.

 

[friscuba]

I'd be jumping for the E-330 if I were in the market this quarter for a DSLR for underwater... LIVE view on a 2.5 inch viewfinder!!! Just like a point and shoot in those regards, but with all the DSLR features and no lag time.... that's the best of both worlds. With a 2.5" LCD you could hold that puppy at arm's length and get the shot framed, every other DSLR on the market you have to use the eyepiece. Others will be sure to follow soon as it's going to be a hot camera for action shots, underwater shots and reporters and paparazzi type photographers who can't track their targets and keep an eye on what's going on when using a viewfinder.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

I agree, for UW use, I think the E330 will be the #1 choice. I'm happy with my E500 purchase from last Fall, no angst that something newer has come out so soon, but then again - I never meant to put the E500 UW. Had I intended on using the dSLR UW, I would definately regret my quick purchase, to find a dSLR with liveview LCD on the back

 

[slowhands]

Olympus has a housing for the E-300, but not yet one for the E-500. Both will use the proprietary Olympus strobe bulkhead, limiting you to Olympus flashes in housings or to using the HeinrichsWeikamp converter bulkhead.

Ikelite has a housing for the E-300, and will soon have one for the E-500. I assume the major dealers will carry it, check B&H, Helix, and Reef. Here is the pre-order page at B&H, price $1079 without ports.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/con...h&Q=*&bhs=t&shs=ikelite+olympus+e-500+housing

 

[donblume]

Steve,

How does a Live (2 1/2") View Finder on E-330 differ from a "Non Live Viewfinder", such as my Oly C750-UZ (1 1/2") View LCD finder? I thought it was "live", or do I not understand that meaning?
Thanks Don

 

[slowhands]

Steve,

How does a Live (2 1/2") View Finder on E-330 differ from a "Non Live Viewfinder", such as my Oly C750-UZ (1 1/2") View LCD finder? I thought it was "live", or do I not understand that meaning?
Thanks Don

Your C750 is a "rangefinder" camera. It does not show exactly what the main lens sees because it uses a separate window and lens to view the image --- but yes, the view is always "live", just like that expensive E-330.

The E-330 is a "single lens reflex" camera, which means you can look through the optical viewfinder to see what the main camera lens sees, in order to compose your pic. The big advantage of SLRs is you can change lenses and still see what the lens sees through the viewfinder.

To allow the SLR viewfinder to see what the lens sees, most SLRs have a mirror in front of the image sensor that sends the image to your viewfinder, and this mirror flips up just before you take a picture. Thus during the shot the typical SLR viewfinder goes black.

The E-330 uses a different means to feed the image to the view finder. It uses a partially silvered mirror in front of the image sensor, that does not flip out of the way during the shot (in mode "A"). It sends some light to the view finder and auto exposure/focus system, and some light to the image sensor, even during the exposure. Thus the optical view finder can show the image being taken at all times, so called "live view". (This idea has been used in movie cameras for a long time and is not new.)

Olympus took this a step further, by adding an electronic viewfinder to the camera. This electronic viewfinder is like a tiny television camera and TV screen, and shows what the optical viewfinder shows, but on the larger LCD screen on the back. Because of the partially silvered mirror, this LCD image is also "live" during the shot, unlike most DSLRs with the flip up mirrors.

But there is a price for this "live view" feature: a dimmer optical viewfinder, and less light for the auto focus and auto exposure system. For underwater use, where dim light is already a huge problem, this seems like a very bad tradeoff. I'm scratching my head to imagine why "live view" is an advantage, with this huge price.

My conclusion is that it is a marketing feature, to appeal to those users migrating from point and shoot cameras who are used to the so-called "live view" these cameras have during exposure. It is also a unique feature among DSLRs, which may win some headlines. But for underwater use, I would prefer a brighter optical viewfinder as on the predecessor E300/E500, and most other DSLRs.

 

[ReyeR]

The E-330 uses a different means to feed the image to the view finder. It uses a partially silvered mirror in front of the image sensor, that does not flip out of the way during the shot (in mode "A"). It sends some light to the view finder and auto exposure/focus system, and some light to the image sensor, even during the exposure. Thus the optical view finder can show the image being taken at all times, so called "live view".

That's not how I understood it. The mirror in front of the image sensor is fully reflective, just like a conventional SLR. The light path is normal, through the focussing screen and then reflected twice through fully reflective mirrors. The difference lies in the 4th and last mirror that directs the light to the optical viewfinder. This mirror lets about 20% of the light through to a second CCD that provides the "Live" view in "A mode" to the 2.5" LCD dispay on the back of the camera. The rest of the light is directed through the optical viewfinder to provide the conventional SLR view.

The mirror in front of the image sensor will flip out of the way when the shutter is released, just like a conventional SLR. This means the "Live" view on the LCD display will also black out at that time.

This does mean that the optical viewfinder will be dimmer because some of the light is directed at the "Live" view CCD. But it will have no effect on the auto focus system.

 

[ReyeR]

How does a Live (2 1/2") View Finder on E-330 differ from a "Non Live Viewfinder", such as my Oly C750-UZ (1 1/2") View LCD finder? I thought it was "live", or do I not understand that meaning?

There is no difference. The view on your C750's LCD viewfinder is considered a "Live" view. The difference lies in how it is achieved. In a conventional DSLR providing this "Live" view through the LCD has been a challenge because 1. there is a mirror in front of the image sensor that reflects the light to the optical viewfinder and 2. conventional DSLR image sensors are not designed to provide a "Live" feed. Olympus has over come this by providing 2 "Live" view modes. First "Live" mode (A mode) is achieved by providing a second CCD in the light path. This CCD is dedicated to providing this "Live" view to the LCD viewfinder. This CCD is very similar to the one found in the PnS and Prosumer cameras. The second "Live" view (B mode) is achieved by swinging the mirror out of the way and using the main sensor (the one that captures the image) to provide the live feed. This is achieved by using a different kind of sensor technology (a MOS sensor) that doesn't heat up and produce excessive noise while providing a constant live feed (the E-330 is speced to provide 1.5 hours of continuous live feed at ISO 100 without any adverse effect). In this mode focus can only be achieved manually (as the mirror has swung out of the way and no longer directs the light to the auto focus sensors) and, when you press the shutter release the mirror has to swing back to cover and blank out the sensor, then swing out of the way again, this time to let the sensor capture the image. This introduces about a 1 sec delay between releasing the shutter and capturing the image.

HTH

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

msrp is like $1000US, that isn't all that high. Higher than some of the budget dSLRs we have available(E300, E500, D50, 350D, and some discontinued models), but equal to others like the D70.

I'm not sure why a lowlit optical view finder would be used when you have a bright EVF to use while UW. I'd probably use the OVF on the surface for most circumstances.

I think the E330 will be great for UW shots as well as certain niches in the surface camera market. That being said, I'm not rushing off to buy one.