Olympus E-330 Operation

Olympus EVOLT E-330 Operation

The E-330's user interface is similar to the previous E-300 model, though with a slightly different control layout. Anyone familiar with Olympus C-series digicams will find the multi-page menu system easy to navigate. One change on the E-330 versus the previous E-300 is the Control Panel, which is essentially a shortcut to many of the camera's LCD menu options. It's a little tricky at first, but when the Control Panel is displayed, simply pressing the OK button lets you use the arrow keys as a cursor to select an item and then make changes. This is a great shortcut once you get the gist of it. Once you delve into the LCD menu, layouts are straightforward. A Mode dial on top of the camera changes capture modes quickly. In any of the manual exposure modes, aperture and/or shutter speed is adjusted externally, as is exposure compensation. The other tricky aspect is juggling between the camera's Live View modes, the Control Panel, and information display screens. A somewhat complex system between the Live View, Display, and Info buttons controls the LCD's display modes; but once you understand how each functions, operation is much faster. On the whole, the E-330 is a fairly intuitive camera, just plan to spend an hour or two getting to know it (and keep the manual close at hand!).

Viewfinder
The E-330 has an optical viewfinder, although dimmer than most SLRs. Still, you get something better than Live View mode on the LCD: a true live view of what you're about to shoot, with no electronic delay. Three autofocus points are arrayed across the center of the screen. At the right of the screen, the E-330 keeps you posted about its settings and status, including Aperture, Shutter speed, Focus confirmation, Flash status, Exposure compensation, Metering mode, Battery status and Exposure mode. See the complete list below.

Record Mode Display
In record mode, the LCD monitor displays one of two Live View display modes, or one of a series of information displays (dubbed Control Panels by Olympus). Controlled by the Live View button, Live View A mode displays the image area, while Live View B mode is for manual focusing. The mirror is locked up, and you can manually adjust the focus with the focus ring. Pressing the Info button brings up a small green box. You can use the arrows to move the box around the screen and press the OK button to enlarge the center of the frame 10x for more precise focusing.

A Display button, adjacent to the Live View button, cycles back and forth between the Live View display and the Control Panel. What's interesting about this information screen is that it also serves as a shortcut to a handful of menu options (ISO, White Balance, etc.). The Info button (next to the lower left corner of the display) turns the information overlay in Live View mode on or off. If you're on the Control Panel display, the Info button cycles through a basic and an enlarged information display, then turns the LCD monitor off entirely. The information display in Live View mode includes exposure mode, AF mode, Live View mode setting, resolution, memory card selection, number of available images, flash mode, any currently-selected exposure compensation setting, ISO setting, and any Picture Mode setting. A half-press of the Shutter button displays the shutter speed and aperture settings. Through the Record menu, you can also enable one of a range of grid settings, which display alignment outlines for a range of conditions. Operating the display modes is a bit of a trick, given the combination of buttons involved, but is much less daunting once you get the hang of things.

Playback Mode Display
In Playback mode, the default image display shows the most recently captured image, with a modest information overlay present. Pressing the Info button cycles through the main display (with no information), a basic information overlay, more detailed information overlay, a thumbnail display with main and RGB histograms, a main histogram overlay, a blinking highlight display, and a blinking shadow display. Pressing the Display button returns you to the status display or live view mode, depending on the last setting.

Turning the Control dial to the left cycles through a four, nine, 16, or 25-image index display, and finally a Calendar display. Turning the dial to the right enlarges the captured image as much as 14x. You use the four arrow keys to move around the zoomed image. The E-330 also features what Olympus calls the "Light Box Display," enabled in Playback mode when an image has been enlarged. Just press the EV compensation button and a new window appears on the right, and you scroll through the images you can view close-ups of two images side by side, useful when comparing images from a bracketing series.

Olympus EVOLT E-330 Modes and Menus

Manual Exposure Mode (M): Noted on the camera's Mode dial with an "M," Manual mode provides complete user control over the exposure, with an extended shutter speed range that includes a Bulb setting for variable length exposures up to eight minutes.

Shutter Priority Mode (S): Indicated by an "S" on the Mode dial, this mode lets the user control the shutter speed from 1/4,000 to 60 seconds, while the camera selects the best aperture setting.

Aperture Priority Mode (A): The user controls the lens aperture setting while the camera selects the best corresponding shutter speed. Aperture ranges will vary with the lens in use.

Program Mode (P): In Program mode, the camera controls both aperture and shutter speed settings, while the user can adjust all other exposure variables. Turning the Control dial in this mode enables Program Shift, which offers a range of equivalent exposure settings biased either toward shutter speed or aperture.

Portrait Mode: This mode optimizes the camera for capturing portraits. A larger aperture is used, so that the subject will appear sharply focused in front of a slightly soft background.

Landscape Mode: This mode is for capturing wide views of scenery, with both the foreground and background in focus, and enhances any blue or green colors in the image, for more vibrant trees, water, and skies.

Macro Mode: The traditional macro flower symbol indicates this mode on the Mode dial, which is intended for shooting closeups of small subjects. Of course on an SLR, the closest shooting distance is determined by the abilities of the currently mounted lens. This mode also sets flash power for Macro distances.

Sports Mode: This mode biases the camera's exposure system toward faster shutter speeds to freeze action and moving subjects. It also sets the color mode to Vivid.

Night Scene Mode: This mode is best for capturing night portraits or night scenery, such as cityscapes. A slower shutter speed lets you shoot under darker conditions.

Scene Mode: Scene Mode accesses all 20 of the preset Scene modes. The following Scene menu automatically displays when the mode is accessed.

• Portrait: This mode optimizes the camera for capturing portraits. A larger aperture is used, so that the subject will appear sharply focused in front of a slightly soft background.
• Landscape: This mode is for capturing wide views of scenery, with both the foreground and background in focus, and enhances any blue or green colors in the image, for more vibrant trees, water, and skies.
• Landscape + Portrait: Similar to the above mode, this mode is for capturing portraits in front of scenery. Both the foreground and background are in sharp focus, though the camera does not emphasize blues and greens in this mode.
• Night Scene: This mode is best for capturing night portraits or night scenery, such as cityscapes. A slower shutter speed lets you shoot under darker conditions.
• Night + Portrait: As with Night Scene mode, this mode uses a slower shutter speed to allow more ambient light into the image. However, the flash is now available in Slow-Sync mode with Red-Eye Reduction so that the subject is accurately exposed.
• Children: This mode is best for wiggly children, and uses a faster shutter speed to catch those fleeting expressions.
• Sport: This mode biases the camera's exposure system toward faster shutter speeds to freeze action and moving subjects.
• High Key: This mode is best for capturing bright subjects. Overall image brightness is enhanced.
• Low Key: Opposite of High Key mode, this mode decreases overall contrast.
• D Image Stabilization: This mode enables a digital image stabilization tool, which attempts to reduce blurring from small camera movements.


• Macro: This mode is intended for shooting closeups, the minimum shooting distance determined by the lens in use.
• Nature Macro: In addition to optimizing the camera for smaller subjects, this mode boosts color for brighter flora and fauna close-up.
• Candle: This mode uses a slow shutter speed and emphasizes a warm color balance for bright images in candlelight.
• Sunset: This mode also uses a slow shutter speed for capturing vivid sunsets and sun rises. Reds and yellows are emphasized in the final image.
• Fireworks: This mode uses a slow shutter speed to accurately capture the color and full pattern of firework displays.
  
• Documents: Best for shooting black and white documents, this mode increases contrast for better viewing.
• Panorama: Here, the camera lets you capture a series of images to be stitched together into one panoramic image. As with many Olympus cameras, this function is only available with an Olympus brand xD-Picture Card in use.
• Beach and Snow: This mode is best for bright subjects such as beach and snow scenes. The camera attempts to preserve detail in the bright highlights.
• Underwater Wide: For use with the E-330's underwater housing accessory, this mode captures bright underwater images at normal wide angle. The camera boosts reds to simulate the addition of a red filter, for better looking color underwater.
• Underwater Macro: This mode also boosts color underwater, but is for macro shooting of smaller objects.

Playback Mode: Accessed by pressing the Playback button on the rear panel, this mode lets you view previously captured images using the Arrow Pad to scroll through frames stored in memory. The Command dial switches the image display to Index mode when moved in the wide angle direction, and when moved in the telephoto direction, enlarges a single image as much as 14x. While zoomed in on an image, the Arrow buttons move the enlarged view around the full image area, allowing you to inspect all parts of it.

Still Picture Shooting Menu: In any camera mode, pressing the Menu button brings up following four-tab menu screen. Note that not all Camera menu options will be available in all modes.