Given just about every digital compact ever made allows live viewing in the monitor, to the casual observer, the inclusion of the feature in Olympus’ new digital SLR may seem trivial. Traditionally, though, SLRs feature a small moveable mirror located in the light path to reflect the image from the lens into an optical viewfinder. What’s more, a digital SLR’s image sensor, like film before it, is located behind a light-tight shutter, making live viewing tricky at best.

However, the Olympus E-330 utilises not one but two sensors in its design: one CCD; and the other, a newly developed NMOS imager. Cleverly, the CCD – a 5MP sensor of the type used in compacts – is employed in the viewfinder to relay a live image to the monitor. It does this reasonably well, but without the quality you would expect. Even though the E-330 has a highly-detailed flip-out 2.5in monitor, when light levels are low the image from the CCD is far worse than the majority of compacts.

Developed by Panasonic, the capture device is a 7.5MP NMOS sensor that claims to combine the benefits of CMOS technology: low noise, price and power consumption, with the high image quality associated with CCD. Even at the highest sensitivity of ISO1600, noise is lower than the previous model, the 8MP E500. Improvements have been made to the dynamic range too, but pictures can look overexposed.

Interestingly, the NMOS sensor may also be used for live output, resulting in a more colour-accurate image, but the reflex mirror has to be locked-up preventing the use of the optical viewfinder and negating autofocus entirely. A video out socket permits remote viewing, but the so-called Macro Live Preview shortens battery life and has limited appeal for anything other than specialist use.

Elsewhere, the E-330 sports all the features of the excellent E-500, in itself a camera that offers far more manual control than the rival Canon EOS 350D. Handling is intuitive and reasonably responsive, but the real sticking point is price. Olympus is marketing the E-330 digital SLR as a mid-range model, but the live-view feature is more likely to tempt compact users to trade up. If it were £200 cheaper, it would make a convincing choice.