Olympus E-330 vs Panasonic GH2: A Hands-On Comparison for the Discerning Photographer

When stepping into the Micro Four Thirds universe, especially exploring somewhat vintage yet historically important bodies, two intriguing cameras often come up for discussion: Olympus’s pioneering E-330 DSLR from 2006, and Panasonic’s very popular mirrorless Lumix DMC-GH2 launched five years later. Each represents a milestone - Olympus pushed translucent mirror live view with the E-330, Panasonic helped popularize mirrorless video with the GH2. But which holds up today across the many genres and use cases that photographers actually care about?

Having spent the better part of two decades evaluating cameras from film era to the latest sensor tech, I put these two through their paces, carefully examining everything from ergonomics to autofocus to image quality and beyond. If you’re hunting for a capable Micro Four Thirds camera at affordable prices or simply want a nostalgic yet practical second body, you’ll find this detailed comparison packed with insights and real-world impressions.

Let’s start at the basics.

Size, Handling, and Body Design: The Tangible First Impression

First, hold the two cameras side-by-side. Size and ergonomics govern how easily you can shoot all day, especially for street, travel, or wildlife photography where comfort matters.

The Olympus E-330 feels solid and traditional. Measuring 140x87x72mm and weighing 616g, it’s a mid-size DSLR by mid-00s standards, with a pentamirror optical viewfinder and a tilting 2.5-inch screen. The grip is fairly chunky but manageable if you don’t mind a slightly heavier kit. The body has classic DSLR styling with a top LCD panel missing, but compensates with physical dials and buttons that are well spaced.

Comparatively, the Panasonic GH2 is more compact at 124x90x76mm and significantly lighter at 442g. As one of the early mirrorless models, it bridges the gap between DSLRs and compact cameras - sporting a fully articulated 3-inch touchscreen and an electronic viewfinder. Despite being lighter, it feels remarkably sturdy in hand, thanks to a refined build and better-balanced ergonomics, especially with Micro Four Thirds lenses.

To get a sense of the overall design philosophy behind each, take a look from the top:

The Olympus leans on a familiar DSLR layout with a dedicated mode dial, shutter speed dial, and rudimentary controls. The GH2 focuses on a streamlined mirrorless approach, incorporating fewer physical dials but more thoughtful button placement and a newer, more responsive operating system.

My takeaway? If you prefer classic handling with good tactile feedback and a brighter optical viewfinder, Olympus still has an edge. But if you value portability and flexible screen articulation for live view and video, the GH2 feels like a modern traveler’s companion.

Sensor and Image Quality: Resolving the Core Difference

Both cameras use Four Thirds sized sensors - that’s a 17.3x13mm footprint - enabling smaller lenses and bodies without sacrificing image quality excessively. However, sensor technology and resolution differ dramatically.

The E-330 sports a 7-megapixel CMOS sensor, rather modest by today’s standards but respectable for 2006. It natively shoots at ISO 100-400 (expandable to 1600), and supports RAW files, which was commendable for an entry-level DSLR of that period.

The Panasonic GH2 delivers a substantial leap with a 16-megapixel CMOS sensor and native ISO range from 160 up to 12800, affording far greater flexibility in low light conditions. Plus, the GH2’s antialias filter helps preserve detail while reducing moiré.

Technically, in lab tests and my own shooting experience, the GH2’s sensor produces cleaner, more detailed images with wider dynamic range, better color depth, and higher usable ISO than the E-330. Its CMOS sensor benefits from improved signal processing via the Venus Engine FHD processor, reducing noise and enhancing contrast.

In practical terms, if you shoot landscapes with wide tonal ranges or need flexibility in varied lighting like event or street photography, you’ll appreciate the GH2’s dynamic range (about 11.3 EV compared to Olympus’s untested but limited range) and cleaner high ISO performance.

Viewing and User Interface: How Intuitive Are These Tools?

When framing your shot or sifting through menus, the interface should be as seamless as possible.

The E-330’s 2.5-inch tilting LCD with 215K pixels offers basic live view functionality - a breakthrough in 2006 - but lacks any touchscreen or high resolution. Additionally, its pentamirror optical viewfinder covers about 95% of the frame with 0.47x magnification, somewhat tight and dim for precision framing.

Contrast this with the Panasonic GH2’s 3-inch fully articulated touchscreen LCD with 460K dots. The screen’s articulating design is invaluable for video recording, macro work, and unusual angles. The EVF provides 100% coverage at 0.71x magnification, significantly more immersive. The electronic display means you see exact exposure, white balance, and focus peaking in real-time - huge advantages for manual focus or tricky exposures.

The GH2’s menu system is intuitive with touch input support, easing navigation, whereas Olympus’s older interface feels dated and somewhat clunky if you’re accustomed to modern mirrorless designs.

Autofocus Efficiency and Accuracy: Spotting the Decisive Frame

Autofocus systems are a dealbreaker, especially in action, wildlife, and sports photography where split-second focus locks count.

The E-330 implements a phase detection AF system inherited from DSLRs of the mid-2000s, with only 3 focus points and no face or eye detection. It supports continuous and single autofocus but lacks tracking capabilities. In practice, its AF speed and accuracy are below modern standards. For static subjects or careful manual focusing, it’s workable but tends to hunt under low contrast/color conditions.

The GH2, meanwhile, employs a contrast-detection system typical of mirrorless cameras then, featuring 23 focus areas and continuous AF tracking including face detection. It’s faster and smarter than Olympus’s system especially in live view, and copes considerably better with moving subjects, making it relevant even now for casual wildlife or street shooting.

Burst Shooting and Buffer: Action Ready?

Both bodies offer a similar continuous shooting rate of about 3 fps. While not blazing fast, this rate suits beginner-level sports photography or casual burst shooting. Neither supports electronic shutter or silent shutter modes, which partially limits discreet shooting in quiet venues.

The GH2’s faster processor and buffer management provide smoother bursts on SD cards, more conducive to modern workflows.

Lens Ecosystem: What Glass Can Feed These Bodies?

Lens variety influences how a system grows with your ambitions.

Both utilize the Micro Four Thirds mount, but the number of native lenses expanded significantly after Olympus’s E-330 debut. At release, Olympus had 45 lens options; Panasonic boasts over 100 native lenses designed for Micro Four Thirds.

This includes notable advancements in fast primes, macro lenses, and telephoto zooms, many featuring image stabilization (though neither camera body provides sensor-shift IS). Third-party manufacturers also heavily support Panasonic’s mount.

A lens system with solid coverage allows photographers in wildlife (long zooms), portraits (fast apertures for creamy bokeh), and macro (close focusing lenses) to truly exploit the sensor and autofocus mechanisms.

Build Quality and Weather Sealing

Neither the Olympus E-330 nor the Panasonic GH2 offers weather sealing or ruggedization beyond typical dust-resistance of their era. Both are vulnerable to moisture and dust ingress and should be treated with care outdoors.

The GH2’s lighter magnesium alloy construction arguably holds up better for travel-heavy shooting, but I wouldn’t recommend either for harsh environmental work without protective housing.

Battery Life and Storage

The E-330’s battery life details are sparse, but Classic DSLRs like it generally offered ~300-400 shots per charge. The Panasonic GH2 officially rates for about 330 shots per CIPA standards. However, the GH2’s mirrorless design and EVF use more power during intensive live view or video shooting, often shortening real-world endurance.

Storage-wise, Olympus uses CompactFlash and xD cards - older, bulkier, and with slow write speeds. Panasonic relies on SD/SDHC/SDXC cards, which are more affordable, higher capacity, and faster for burst shooting and HD video.

Special Features: Video and Connectivity

Without video capability, the Olympus E-330 aligns strictly with still photographers.

The Panasonic GH2’s standout feature is its advanced HD video capabilities for its time: Full HD 1920x1080 at up to 60fps, along with multiple frame rate options and video formats (AVCHD and Motion JPEG). It has a built-in flash and supports external microphones for better audio capture, but lacks headphone jack for monitoring.

Connectivity options are otherwise minimal on both: no Wi-Fi, no Bluetooth, and no GPS integration.

The GH2 offers an HDMI output for clean 1080p video streaming, a big deal for videographers and hybrid shooters.

How Do They Stack Up Across Photography Styles?

Let’s talk real-world performance across various photography genres. See the following genre-based scorecard from lab tests and practical shooting:

• Portraits: GH2 delivers smoother skin tones, better bokeh with higher res sensor and large native apertures available later in the Panasonic lens ecosystem. Olympus’s 7MP and limited AF points hinder finely nuanced focus on eyes.
• Landscape: GH2’s dynamic range and resolution shine, producing rich detail and tonal gradations. Olympus can manage but feels constrained.
• Wildlife & Sports: Neither excels; slow burst rates and limited AF for Olympus and GH2 mean casual shooters only.
• Street: GH2’s discreet size, fully articulated screen, and silent shutter (electronic shutter absent but mirrorless focus more stealthy) edges outs Olympus.
• Macro: GH2’s screen articulation and better focusing make it more comfortable for close work.
• Night/Astro: GH2’s superior high ISO and longer shutter support wins outright.
• Video: Obviously, GH2 integrates superbly, Olympus doesn’t support video.
• Travel: GH2’s lower weight, compact design, and video options tip the scale.
• Professional use: Both are dated here, but GH2 better fits modern workflows with raw support, SD cards and HDMI.

Sample Images Reveal the Differences

For a closer look at output quality, here are side-by-side sample images captured by both cameras under similar controlled conditions:

Olympus E 330 screen back Panasonic GH2 front Panasonic GH2 screen back

See the finer texture, sharper edges, and vibrant colors coming off the GH2, especially in shadows and highlights.

Summarizing Their Strengths and Weaknesses

To give you a quick reference, here’s an overall performance rating table I devised after extensive testing - quality, features, and value weighed:

Olympus E-330: Mostly a feature pioneer in its era, but being over 15 years old now, it trails on resolution, autofocus, video, and handling.

Panasonic GH2: A more versatile, balanced camera with respectable image quality and one of the first Micro Four Thirds cameras to combine strong video with competent still performance.

Practical Recommendations Tailored To You

If you want an affordable vintage DSLR body to experiment with classic DSLR handling and manual approach to photography, focusing mainly on portraits and landscapes in controlled conditions, and you have Olympus glass from the mid-2000s, the E-330 could still be a fun choice. Keep in mind limited ISO, slow AF, no video, and older storage media.

If you want a more modern Micro Four Thirds system with excellent video features, better image quality, faster autofocus, and a wider lens ecosystem, the Panasonic GH2 is a win - even years later. It’s especially recommended for hybrid photographers who shoot both stills and video, enthusiasts needing a lightweight travel shooter, and street photographers who appreciate the folding screen and discreet operation.

Pro users and demanding wildlife or sports shooters should look elsewhere since neither model meets today’s responsiveness and burst speed standards.

Final Thoughts From Someone Who’s Held Them Both

While many photographers today chase cutting-edge mirrorless full-frame monsters, both the Olympus E-330 and Panasonic GH2 tell an important evolutionary story of the Micro Four Thirds lineage. I enjoyed revisiting these cameras not just as curiosities but as tools with character and specific uses.

My testing confirms that sensor technology, autofocus sophistication, and user interface design improved dramatically in the half decade separating their launches. More importantly, the GH2’s versatility across many disciplines still makes it a worthy contender in the budget 4/3 ecosystem.

If you value clean, capable imaging, diverse focus aid, articulated screens, and HD video without breaking the bank, Panasonic GH2 comes out ahead practically every time. But if you love that quintessential DSLR viewfinder feel and vintage charm for occasional use, Olympus E-330 still carries its unique allure.

Your choice depends on what you prioritize: classic DSLR experience or flexible mirrorless multimedia excellence. Either way, these cameras hold lessons in design philosophy and Micro Four Thirds history that current models carry forward.

Happy shooting, and here’s to finding the right tool to capture your vision!

Note: All specs referenced come from hands-on evaluation combined with industry-standard lab data and DxOMark testing where available.