Olympus Evolt E-330 digital camera resource

Last update: Apr. 6th, 2008 Apr. 6th: Lenses section updated Jan 1st: RAW, lenses, memory card speed test and firmware sections updated Aug. 29th: Lenses,  write speed test and BLM-1 battery sections updated Jan. 31st: Lenses and RAW sections updated

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Technical data and reference manuals

• The advanced manual can be downloaded here. The basic manual is available here.
• The Quick Start Guide is available here.
  
• See here the FAQs of Olympus America.
  
• Olympus E330 complete specifications
• Software for the E330 can be downloaded here.
  
• The E330 uses a new 7.5MPixel live NMOS sensor.
  

News

• Here is an interview with Olympus Product Managers Richard Pelkowski and Sally Smith Clemens in which they talk about the new Olympus E330 digital SLR.
• See Gary Todoroff's Olympus E330 blog. Gary describes in a blog manner what he did since he bought the E330. Among other things there are some tests with Leica lenses attached with a converter ring.
  

Reviews and previews

• June 17th: Gary Ayton has started his own review/blog about the E330.
  
• March 14th: Dpreview just posted their final review of the Olympus E330 - only "recommended". Among other things, according to dpreview the new NMOS sensor provides no noise advantage over the CCD used in the Olympus E300 or E500.
• Here is the Imaging Resource Preview of the Olympus E-330. Very interesting, but still only a preview.
• Steve's Digicams posted their First Look of the Olympus E330 on January 26th.
• dpnow updated their hands-on first impressions of the Olympus E-330 on February 13th. Quite interesting and there are some charts showing noise at different ISO levels. Ian Burley states that there is a significant noise improvement over the E500.
  
• Also on January 26th photoscala.de posted an article in German about the E330.
• LetsGoDigital posted their Olympus E-330 Evolt SLR camera preview on February 12th.
• Quesabesde.com posted their preview of the Olympus E-330 on January 26th.
  
• Here is a Preview of the Olympus E330 by DigitalCameraInfo.com
  
• Terrence V Smith posted a review of the E330 with some high ISO samples.
• DCResource posted a first look of the E-330 on January 26th based on a preproduction model. Interesting reading, but no test results.
  
• CNET's review of the Olympus E-300 is kind of interesting, but does not contain too much information and is overloaded with advertising.
  

Sample images

• dpreview has full size samples of the Olympus E330

Tips & Tricks

• See here for an overview of what you can do with different key combinations.
  

RAW file format

• Olympus has released a codec for Windows Vista. The codec is a piece of software running under Windows Vista with which Vista can import and display RAW images of all Olympus DSLRs.
• The Adobe Camera RAW plugin for Photoshop supports E330 RAWs.
• There is also the Photoshop plugin from Olympus, which allows to import RAW images into Photoshop starting from version 6.0.
  
• Another good RAW converter is Olympus Studio.
• To convert Olympus E-330 RAW files you can use the software which came with the camera.
• Otherwise at the moment other RAW converters (Adobe, Silkypix, Capture One, RSE) do not support yet the E330 RAW file format. But it should be just a matter of time until this is the case.

Memory cards

• Here are the preliminary results of a card write speed test with the E330. It appears that the E330 tops out at 10MB/s, making it one of the fastest DSLRs currently on the market.
• The E330 takes both CF and xD cards.
  
• Generally speaking there is no reason to use xD cards, since CF cards are cheaper.
• We still don't have a write speed test, but probably the Olympus E330 writes to the memory card as fast the E500, and in any case with at least 10MB/s.
  

Firmware

• November 20th: firmware v1.3 for the E330 available
• Improved the focusing accuracy when using the EC-20 Teleconverter.
  
• June 22nd: Olympus releases firmware v1.2 for the E330:
• AF is possible in Live-View B mode (macro live view). (S-AF operates in A mode (full time live view) by pressing the AEL/AFL button).
• Improved exposure precision when taking pictures in the macro mode using SPOT metering.
  
• April 26th: Olympus has released the firmware v1.1 for the E330:
• Improved image quality of 10x enlargement in Live-View B mode (macro live view).
• Live-View B mode (macro live view) can be used in underwater macro mode and underwater wide mode. (Only when the mode dial is customized.)
• Changes made to Korean Language.
  
• Check here to see if firmware updates for the E330 are available.
  
• To install the firmware follow the procedure described at the Olympus Japan page.

Chromatic aberrations / Purple fringing

• To remove chromatic aberrations you can process the RAW image with the Adobe Photohop RAW plugin (when this supports E330 RAW files).
  
• To remove chromatic aberrations with an image editor (desaturation of the magentas):
• It is very simple to remove chromatic aberrations from an image. Simply use a photo editor and set the saturation level of magenta (also green where this makes sense) to the minimum. In some images you might have to set the saturation level of red to the minimum. It might also make sense to limit the processing to the affected area (i.e. select the affected image area and only process that).

Polariser filter and other filters

• A polariser filter helps to obtain deep blue skies and to remove unwanted reflections. Consider the following example (both images taken with the polariser filter):

 

Perhentian island image

Same image with polariser rotated by 90 degrees

• See the difference ? In the picture to the right, the polariser filter substantially reduced the amount of light reflected by the water surface making the sea ground more visible and made the sky more dark.
• Polariser filters are also useful when the lower part of the image is dark and the top (the sky) too bright.
• Have a look at Darwin Wigget's page on filters for further information on polariser, blue-yellow polariser, graduated neutral density and other filters
• See also Jeremy McCreary's page on filters

Accessories

• Here is a complete list of all accessories available for the E330.
• The ME-1 eyecup magnifier enlarges the view by 20%. The eyecup incorporates two lenses and measures 40 x 30 x 12mm.
  
• The FP-1 Power Flash grip is designed for use with the FL-50 high-voltage pack and can be used in combination with the flash unit's built-in power supply to provide fast flash charging for an extended number of shots. The head is can be rotated by 180° for increased versatility.
• There is also a BCM-1 fast battery charger - recharges the BLM-1 battery in two hours instead of five.
• Olympus Digital Accessories compatibility page: lists all accessories and tells you if they are compatible with the E330.

BLM-1 battery and cheaper 3rd party alternatives

• According to Federico del Vall 3rd party BLM-1 batteries fail in low temperatures:
  
  Been recently to Ushuaia - (Patagonia, Argentina) and found Oly's BLM-1's made sense.
  I have three different compatible batteries and tree Olympus, two for each cam.
  BLM-1's are rated at -10 °C worst case, so I made no worries. But at this temperature, quite common around Ushuaia these days, while a BLM-1 would last one to two of my photoshooting days at 20°C, lasted no more than an hour or so. Compatibles failed after no more than 10 minutes.
  So set to the task of heating the batteries to ~30° for half an hour, and found the BLM-1 could still be used once more for one hour, and the compatibles too, but for other 10 minutes or so. But then none.
  At these temperatures (-10-0 °C) Oly's BLM-1's are worth their price. On the other hand, in Salta, (north Argentina) where temperature is nice troughout the year, both types endured quite the same.
  
  
• Warthog did his own comparison test of  original Olympus BLM-1 batteries and 3rd party ones (page is in Finnish!):
• I tested this week my original Olympus batteries (3 pieces, two of them 2,5 years, one is 9 months old) and two replacement batteries (2 years old). I used 15 Ohm resistor, pictures taken every minute with my E-300 and Canon TC-80N3 timer remote controller. I tried QuickTime to record my measurements, but that timer is more practical.
  
  Original batteries are expensive, but very good. Replacement batteries are cheap and good....
  Test results of replacement batteries
  Test results of Olympus batteries & evaluation of both batteries
  
  
• See this page which contains an overview of currently available BLM-1 battery clones: Olympus BLM-1 (original), PS-BLM1 (7DayShop.com), WT-BLM1 (SterlingTek.com), Energizer OM-1, Hahnel HL-M1, UNiROSS VB104295, WinTop PS-BLM1 and e-Film (Delkin) BLM1. The author rates the batteries according to construction, capacity, (low voltage) protection and cost. It appears that not all 3rd party alternatives are created equal.
  
• Test added which shows which capacity the original Olympus BLM-1 battery and cheap 3rd party alternatives have. With the batteries I had (one original and two 3rd party ones) I measured the following:
• Original Olympus battery:   1299 mAh
  
• 3rd party battery 1:   1077 mAh
  
• 3rd party battery 2:   744 mAh
• This is OK, since the Olympus original BLM-1 battery costs 17 times more than the 3rd party alternatives I bought.
• The complete test results are available here.
  

• The original BLM-1 battery from Olympus is rated at 7.2 Volt and 1500 mAh. The alternatives have voltages of 7.2 or 7.4 Volt and capacities of 1300 or 1500 mAh.
• The voltage difference is no problem:
  
• The 7.2 Volt which Olympus officially quotes varies in reality between 6.7 Volt (discharged battery) and 7.7 Volt (fully charged battery). These are voltages measured under a pretty heavy load of over 1 Ampere (battery loaded with a 6.8 Ohm resistor).
  
• With no load the measured voltages become 7.37 Volt in a discharged state (emtpy battery screen showing) and 8.2 Volt (battery fully charged).
  => In other words, it's highly irrelevant if the battery is rated at 7.2 or 7.4 Volt - the camera can withstand 7.7 Volts without problems.
• The capacity difference is also something not to worry about. There is no big difference between 1500 and 1300 mAh (we are talking of a 10% difference), but the 3rd party battery costs a fraction of the original one.
• Personally I bought two 3rd party BLM-1 batteries in August 2004 from a Hong Kong eBay seller.
  
• Price per battery was US $ 5.49 and the total cost including shipping was US $17.
  
• The batteries arrived in 10 days to my home in Germany.
  
• I tested one of these cheap "counterfeit" batteries. It lasted for over 600 shots (SHQ, all with the LCD on, about 10% with flash) and still had juice left when I got tired and interrupted the test. It just wouldn't die.
  
  
• Vidpro fast battery charger (this has been reported by Rod in the Olympus E510 users group):
  
  My results are the Oly charger took around 5 hours to get to a full charge and the Vidpro about half that (which is what they advertise). BUT, it could be the second battery I charged on the Vidpro didn't need that much charging - what I did wasn't under very controlled conditions re residual charge before recharging.
  The Vidpro (US $30) charger base is a little larger than the Oly, and also has an AC to DC module (a little smaller than the Oly unit itself) that plugs into the AC wall socket whereas the Oly unit accepts AC directly with the supplied AC cord. Both the Oly & Vidpro accept 100v-240v, but the big difference I like is that the Vidpro has a 12v DC (vehicle, etc.) adapter allowing the batteries to be charged in the field.

Infrared photography with the Olympus E330

• The site Infrared photography with your digital camera contains interesting information about infrared photography with Olympus cameras and an overview of infrared filters with their spectral characteristics.
• These sites contain useful information about infrared photography with digital cameras:
• Echeng.com: Digital infrared photography - site devoted to digital infrared photography with image galleries, information about filters and equipment and links.
• Wrotniak's Infrared Photography page - excellent information resource devoted to infrared photography with Olympus cameras. Information about infrared filters, exposure settings, focus, post-processing, sample images and links.
• Also see the Infrared photography page of the Apogee magazine: this is an interesting general introduction to infrared photography with digital cameras.

Lenses

• Lenses are currently available from Olympus, Leica and Sigma:

• Wide angle and Fisheye

• How good are the kit lenses? John Foster has done an interesting review comparing the Zuiko 14-42, 14-45 and 14-54 lenses. The review was done with the 10MP Olympus E400 DSLR and shows better results with the pro Zuiko 14-54 lens.
• Here are two tests of the Zuiko Digital 7-14 mm F4 lens, one performed by Andrzej Wrotniak and one by John Foster. The one by Andrzej Wrotniak is a bit more scientific, with physics formulas and resolution charts, while the one of John Foster is more from a user perspective and contains many sample images.

External flash

• With the panasonic / olympus technical relationship, it seems the pana flashes are clones of oly equipment. So pana flashes will work in TTL mode, and viceversa.
  
• The Olympus E330 has a standard flash hotshoe and can take standard external flashes.
• Try out the Metz flash units - cheap and reliable. Alternatively try the FL-36 or other Olympus flash units.
  
• See here for how to measure the trigger voltage of your flash.

Controlling the Olympus E330 with a computer

• You can use Olympus Studio 1.5 to control the Olympus E330 with a computer.
• Try these software packages
• Cam2Com: see this information.
 

Underwater Photography

• The E330 has two modes specific for underwater photography (underwater wide, underwater macro).
• The Olympus PT-E02 underwater housing allows the E-330 to be used at depths up to 60 metres. The PT-E02 will be available in April 2006. The PT-E02 can be used with the PPO-E01, PPO-E02, PPO-E03 and PPO-04 underwater lens ports for underwater photography using the E-330 digital SLR camera and a variety of ZUIKO DIGITAL lenses. The PT-E02 also supports underwater TTL photography using an external flash unit.
• Here is the PT-E02 underwater case system chart.
  
• The site Digideep.com is an online directory for digital underwater photography.
• Interesting forum for underwater photography: DigitalDiver.net

Data recovery

• Jpegdump, by Kurt Stege, is a free tool to recover deleted images from a memory card. Recommended, alough it involves more work an e tool of Convar.
  
• These software tools are not free, so since Convar's software is available for free, there is no real need to use them:
  
• Check this site: Digital image recovery
Christian Grau has some software tools to fix damaged memory cards. The software used to be free, now costs $39.
• Datarescue also has a software tool (Photorescue) for repairing damaged memory cards, although it's not free.
• Photorecovery is another tool. Price is $39.95.

Noise reduction

• In addition to the E330's inbuilt noise reduction, you can post-process the images with NeatImage. This software package produces surprisingly good results.
• Here there is a comparison of different noise reduction software tools.

Exposure information data (EXIF)

• The picture files of the Olympus E330 contain the complete exposure information (aperture, exposure time, focal leng, white balance etc.).
• To read this data you can use these software tools:
• ExifReader, by Ryuuji Yoshimoto. Haven't tried the software myself, but it looks interesting. Freeware.
• Exif Image Viewer, by Michal Kowalski. This is the one I'm using. Quoting from his homepage:

"EXIF viewer is a simple image viewer application for photos taken with digital cameras. It's capable of reading EXIF information embedded in photos as well as little thumbnail. Because small thumbnail is already present in most photos displaying it is really fast.
EXIF viewer can also provide detailed information about photos (shutter speed, aperture, etc.) and conveniently list them for comparison purposes.
EXIF viewer also displays image histogram. It also features copying/moving and deleting of selected photos. Single photograph can be displayed in separate window or in a full screen mode."
• Exifer, by Friedemann Schmidt. I'm using this one too. It can rewrite EXIF data to images which lost it due to processing with a software package which doesn't support EXIF. Quoting from his site:

"Exifer is a nearly free software (you only should send me a postcard if you're using Exifer frequently) with which you can manage the metadata (EXIF/IPTC) of pictures taken by digital cameras. Because many image processing software destroys this metadata when saving such files, the idea was to create a backup of the metadata before editing it in any software, and then, after that to restore it back into the processed file. With Exifer you can do this very easily. "

Panorama shots

• Some interesting links:
• http://www.skipwilliams.com/panos/panorama_links.htm
• http://www.htu.at/~sascha/ptguide/
• http://www.path.unimelb.edu.au/~bernardk/tutorials/360/calibrate/
• http://homepage.ntlworld.com/j.houghton/pttute.htm
• http://www.panoguide.com/software/reviews/panotools_v21.html
• Stitching software: http://www.vrtoolbox.com/vrthome.html
• Tripod specific for panoramas: http://www.kaidan.com/

Linux and the E330

• Below are the steps necessary to connect the E330 to a linux computer:

 

here are the steps (I'm on Suse 9.0 [1]): 1. boot Suse (optionally do $ sudo tail -f /var/log/messages ) 2. connect: 0. * use external power supply * "SETUP" -> "USB" must be set to "PC" (not "PRINT") * set playback mode on cam * make sure camera is turned off 1. connect with USB cable 2. turn camera on 3. watch: * drive icon appears on desktop: sda1 (rightclick -> properties: device /dev/sda1 mounted at /media/sda1) (clicking on it would mount the cam and open it in Konqueror "Icon View" => convenient thumbnail previews) (watch tail -f for USB stuff) ... or just wait a moment 4. get the pics: (as user:) $ mount | grep media $ mount /media/sda1 $ mount | grep media /dev/sda1 on /media/sda1 type vfat (rw,nosuid,nodev,sync,user=tobi) $ cd /media/sda1/dcim/100olymp/ $ cp -i ./* ~/data/move_to_cd/E330_unchanged/ $ mv -i ./* ~/data/pics/E330_changed/2004/01/10/ $ ls $ cd $ umount /media/sda1 $ mount | grep media $

 
• Brian Miller created a page about using a Olympus C-5050Zoom Digital Camera with Linux. Tons of detailed information on how to interface a 5050 with Linux. This information probably also holds for a E330.
• The page Using the Olympus Camedia C-3040 Zoom Digital Camera with Linux and USB by Micheal Schubart contains a description on how to download photos from an Olympus 3040 to a computer running Linux with USB. The procedure described there should also apply to an Olympus E330.

Astrophotography with the Olympus E330

• Here is an astrophotography forum for users of the Olympus DSLRs
  
• Astrophotography users's group here
• This may be also a good source.
• And last but not least this site has enough links and information to keep you plugged for several lifetimes.

Links

• MyOlympus.org photo sharing site: similar to Photosig, here Olympus E330 users can upload images and give/get feedback
• Yahoo Olympus E330 discussion group: a discussion group dedicated to e Olympus E330 digital camera