any thoughts on that?

the CCD sensor is made by Kodak, right? Who made the MOS sensor then?

It would be nice if someone out there would share their experience with the E-330 =)

The original CCD sensor used in the E300 was made by Kodak. However, in an attempt to reduce the battery consumption and maintain the quality of the image produced by a CCD sensor, Olympus co-developed the MOS (or NMOS) sensor. So far, battery consumption was cut down and the image quality of the new E330 did not disappoint. I still have with me Axis Global's E330, I've shot with it and was pretty impressed with the results. Comparing results in RAW via Adobe Bridge (without automatic adjustments), it was actually obvious that the E330 produces more vibrant colors. the histogram alone will prove that point.

it has been rumored that olympus co-developed the new MOS sensor with panasonic. i haven't seen any actual news report that validates this rumor.

would you be able to post pics from the E-330 using ISO 400 - 800?

just curious how it performs on relatively high ISO =)

Thanks!

post pics.. how about this saturday's eb. i might be able to show some to you.

wow nino! you've been trying out the E-330 pala! :D how is the sensor/output? I'm really curious coz I'm excited about the upcoming E-3 (if it's going to be launched this Photokina) and it's most probably going to sport an NMOS sensor from Panasonic. :D kinda like the E-330's.

i have. its a great camera. color wise, its a keeper. quality of output is superb. it's actually a good camera to bring to shoot colorful landscapes.

Thanks Nino! =) I'll look forward to that!

the dreaded question -- how's it's high ISO noise?

That's what i wanted to find out actually =b

Great noise at 400 and above or at least better than the E-300 =b

too bad i wasn't able to get a hold on one, hehehe! Thanks Nino! =)

Tok,
Axis let me use the E-330 for a month. I wrote an article about it that came out last month, but the online version has been archived.
Here'a link to the archived story:
http://codex.bworldonline.com/php/printfile.php?htm=06/06071823.htm

Regards,
Norman

read your review norman, nice! i was wondering though, how was the NMOS sensor's out of the cam JPEG shots? and I was wondering if having a different sensor would affect the camera's file compression, can the E-330 store more RAW files than the E-300/E-500? :D

Thanks Norman =)

Or you could just get a bigger CF card =b hehehehe! My E-300 stores 136 RAW files on a 2GB CF (around 13MB ata?).

Hmmm... Oo nga noh =b

Dexter,
I didn't actually do some "pixelpeeping" and I don't t have the E500 to compare it with. But the average file size from the E-330 is probably about 5mb for SHQ.

This is a 100% crop, ISO 200:
http://www.vgalleries.com/members/naquino/basile.jpg

This is a resized photo, ISO200, and it's 5.05MB
http://www.vgalleries.com/members/naquino/basile2_iso200.jpg

Another 100% crop, ISO1000 (equivalent to ISO1200 on the E-1?)
http://www.vgalleries.com/members/naquino/P7012508_ISO1000.jpg

Can't really do some intelligent comparisons since these are not scientific tests at all. All I can say is the E-330 has less noise than any of its predecessors (some will say -- I have to repeat -- at the expense of detail) but you won't likely notice the loss of detail in real world images and even at 8x10 in).

P.S.
No sharpening and any postprocessing on any of those.

Regards,
Norman

Thanks Norman =)

Or you could just get a bigger CF card =b hehehehe! My E-300 stores 136 RAW files on a 2GB CF (around 13MB ata?).

Hmmm... Oo nga noh =b

$160+ na lang ang 8gig na CF sa newegg. =B)

I use a 4 gig Extreme III on my E-1 and I get one million photos in SHQ. =B)
Haven't found RAW that much useful since the E-1's JPEG engine is very good. I only use raw when it's an importat shot and when lighting is a little tricky.

read your review norman, nice! i was wondering though, how was the NMOS sensor's out of the cam JPEG shots? and I was wondering if having a different sensor would affect the camera's file compression, can the E-330 store more RAW files than the E-300/E-500? :D

Dexter,
I've read that the E-330's JPEG engine is way better than the E-300's (lousy one, which forces you to shoot RAW). Not sure if it's equal to the E-1's, though.

The E-330's file size should be a little smaller than the E300 since it has less resolution (7.5), but the difference should be not that much.

Regards,
Norman

thanks norman! :D

Guys, here's a Gretag Macbeth Noise Test for the Olympus E330 that I did for Tok during the Olympus EB. 100% crop.

ISO Sensitivity 400
http://www.ncarandang.com/_400s.jpg

ISO Sensitivity 800
http://www.ncarandang.com/_800s.jpg

ISO Sensitivity 1600
http://www.ncarandang.com/_1600s.jpg

thanks for the tests nino! :D now if er it wouldn't be too muhc for someone *hint* to post the same tests with the E-1 and E-300/E-500 :D hehehe! probably a MarkII (cmos) too :D so we can really compare!

I can test my MarkIIN. If you can get our Oly buddies to bring their bodies, I'd gladly do the test.

MarkIIn pala :D hehe! thanks nin, will try to round up the guys :D

just have them go here if its ok.

Thanks Nino! =)

By the way, how's the engine E-330s with the NR running? i use the NR on long shutter speeds to keep the hot pixels out but i generally don't use it on quicker shutter speeds, does it make a difference? =)

Tok, I don't think you can force it to use NR if your shutter speed is less than four seconds.

Norman is correct. NR kicks in if you have a long shutter speed.

Tok, and you don't want NR for your fast shutter speed shots coz the wait is oh so long for each shot to finish processing :D

Thanks guys! =)

i learned something new today.

:D francis, just imagine how worried I was before about my E-500's settings when I had my Anti-Shake feature ON and knew nobody in the forums or in pinas who has an E-500 to ask help from. I thought something was wrong with the shutter! hahaha!

Norman and Nino about the NMOS sensor, have you guys tried long exposures with it? hot pixels showed up or what? hot pixels in my E-500 are a plenty in more than about 15sec shutter. :D

:D francis, just imagine how worried I was before about my E-500's settings when I had my Anti-Shake feature ON and knew nobody in the forums or in pinas who has an E-500 to ask help from. I thought something was wrong with the shutter! hahaha!

Norman and Nino about the NMOS sensor, have you guys tried long exposures with it? hot pixels showed up or what? hot pixels in my E-500 are a plenty in more than about 15sec shutter. :D

i'll shoot with the E330 this weekend. Will give you feedback.

great great!

:D francis, just imagine how worried I was before about my E-500's settings when I had my Anti-Shake feature ON and knew nobody in the forums or in pinas who has an E-500 to ask help from. I thought something was wrong with the shutter! hahaha!

Norman and Nino about the NMOS sensor, have you guys tried long exposures with it? hot pixels showed up or what? hot pixels in my E-500 are a plenty in more than about 15sec shutter. :D

Dexter,
I didn't test the E-330 for hot pixels at long exposures at different ISOs. But there's a detailed test here showing not so many hot pixels at eight seconds up to ISO 400.

http://www.dimagemaker.com/article.php?articleID=507

Regards,
Norman