[Leica] Latest Lympa Log - Leica and Olympus E-330

[bdcolen at comcast.net (B. D. Colen)]

Thanks, Steve - and as any 'old timers' know, I was quite free with that
stick - simply because he wouldn't reveal his ties to Leica. I don't care
who has what conflicts of interest, as long as they make them crystal clear
so that we can consider them when judging what's written.

So, incase anyone's been on Venus for the past three years, let me state
once again -
I am a member of the Olympus "Visionary" group - along with Alex Majoli, Eli
Reed, Joel Meyerowitz, and a number of other photographers - and as such
receive free digital equipment from Olympus. In return, I have agreed that I
will not "endorse" any other manufacturer's digital equipment, but I have
not agreed - and never would agree - to say anything about the Olympus
equipment that I do not believe to be true.

All of the above said -
I agree with a number of the criticisms in the latest Dpreview review of the
E330 - and in fact have already said many of the same things myself on this
list:

The reflex viewfinder is very small and dim;
The "live view" LCD has not yet been fully-realized in that it does not show
changes in exposure, or depth of field, and is very dim in low light;
The noise levels are still above those of the Canon sensors, which have
pretty much eliminated noise as a factor up to 1600 iso.

However - I disagree vehemently with the assessment that images at 1600 are
unusable - simply look at the ones I've posted;

I find the look of the images at 800, and even 1600, to be extremely
"film-like," as opposed to what I see as the excessively creamy look of the
Canon images. When I was shooting film, if I had been bothered by
grain/noise, I wouldn't have shot Tri-X, and I wouldn't have rated it at 800
most of the time;

While the "live view" feature still needs development and improvement, it is
a godsend for someone doing street photography or the kind of work I'm doing
on the subway, and I'll take it at its present state of development - thank
you very much!

As Dpreview notes, the metering in the E330 is better than that in an
previous Olympus, and I had no complaints about the metering in the E500 or
E1. 

Clearly the development of the E-330 represents another step along the
digital evolutionary highway. I look forward to seeing some of the E-330
features in the next iteration of the Olympus DSLR body, hopefully refined
even further.

What I find interesting about this latest review, however, is how much it
reveals about the reviewer's photographic philosophical biases - as my
responses reveal much about mine. He, for example, sees "live view" as a
gimmick on an interchangeable lens body - probably because no current
pro-body has it, while all the P&Ss do. I think that's extremely 'retro'
thinking - the only reason digital DSLR bodies are configured as they are is
because they are slightly modified film camera bodies. (Note Sonny's
excitement about the traditional aperture adjustment ring on the Leica 4/3
zoom for the Panasonic - we love what we know...and that is NOT meant as an
insult, dig, poke, or anything else, Sonny - it's just an observation :-) )
Is the "live view" really a gimmick? Imagine it - with the swivel LCD - on
the back of the DLRS's being used by combat photographers - how many
photographer's lives could that feature save at the same time it allowed
those photographer's to still frame and get their shot? In the future the
digital SLR will undoubtedly morph into something barely recognizable as
what we now think of as a still camera. And why not? Other than the fact
that they are both boxes to hold film, how much did the Leica O resemble
those monster reflex cameras, or view cameras, that proceeded it?

Keep in mind that young people coming into photography today are not coming
into it from film - they are coming into it from early digital; and they are
moving up to "pro" cameras from digital P&Ss, all of which have live-view
screens, and are held, and shot with, in a radically different way from the
way in which we old farts learned to hold and use cameras. Why shouldn't
this generation expect a "live view" feature on digital SLR? Why shouldn't
they be comfortable holding the camera out in front of their face as they
compose on a screen? Times change, and expectations change as well.

So is the E330 the camera for you? It all depends on what you use a camera
for, and what you expect from your camera. Are there some things other
cameras do better? Yes. But I'm certainly happy with the results it's giving
me, despite its drawbacks. And I'd feel that way even if I had no connection
to Olympus.

B. D.





On 3/19/06 4:59 AM, "Steve Unsworth" <lug@steveunsworth.co.uk> wrote:

> Adam, personally I don't see that there's a problem as long as B.D. lets
> people know that Olympus give him equipment. I think we are all intelligent
> enough to draw our own conclusions about his neutrality and integrity. I
> remember some of the stick Erwin got and it wasn't pretty.
> 
> Steve
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: lug-bounces+lug=steveunsworth.co.uk@leica-users.org
> [mailto:lug-bounces+lug=steveunsworth.co.uk@leica-users.org] On Behalf Of
> Adam Bridge
> Sent: 19 March 2006 06:01
> To: Leica Users Group
> Subject: Re: [Leica] Latest Lympa Log - Leica and Olympus E-330
> 
> Oh B. D. this really is unbecoming. You were GIVEN the Olympus. Post
> the pictures and talk about how you like it and maybe how you don't -
> but it's just so wrong for you to be all snotty about the competition.
> This really is a situation in which you have given up some
> credibility.
> 
> Adam