My new 330 HS first impressions
Nov 16, 2015
2
I finally got some batteries for my ebay 330 and took it for a couple of test drives. Talk about walking down memory lane! I started out taking pics with Canon point and shoots many years ago and I've come full circle, only now with Digic 5 and ISO 6400 capabilities. And 10x optical zoom.
I do a lot of shooting with mostly DSLRs. I just wanted to see what this 330 could do. Having a 10x optical zoom meant with planning I could avoid needing to crop because I could just zoom in to get the pic.
I found out I really need to expose for the sky if shooting into high contrast scenes but I've also found I can bring up the shadows in Lightroom reasonably. I'm not going to use this as some low light high ISO camera, it's ISO 80 or 100 or maybe 200 max. I dunno, maybe I'll try it in low light in the future, see what happens.
Here are some snapshots I took. I wanted to try its macro but also its 24mm standard big scene shooting. All of these were processed in Lightroom with a preset I made especially for the 330 (I process every worthy pic I take with any camera). Here goes:
Macro. This little guy was about an inch high. I was in an area of cool rocks and they get even cooler the closer you look.
(check out all of these at "Original Size" for best viewing.



There's a band of these types of rock outcroppings (called The Fountain Formation) that runs down the foothills here in Colorado. These are near where I live.
More macro:

I've found I can crop to maybe 40%, maybe 50% before the image starts falling apart. Back in the day with my original Canon point and shoots I never cropped. I don't think I knew how!

Red Rocks Park, part of the Fountain Formation. Has an amphitheater where everyone has played or wants to play. I saw Jimi Hendrix here which I guess dates me a bit.

The amphitheater is built right into the rock. One of the coolest places imaginable. During the warm season it's an exercise mecca. Little kids to athletes to grandmothers crawling/walking/sprinting up the steps or seats. My kind of place!
The long uphill ramp up from one of the lower parking lots.

Looking east. Kansas is out there somewhere.



You know what they say, the family that hops up the seats at Red Rocks stays together.

It was cool having the 10x zoom to use as needed. That's what I shot with for the image above and also this next one. Winter's coming on, it's already snowed a couple of times with a big dump coming in tonight. That didn't deter the runners from skirting around the ice in the shadowy areas.


I've taken thousands of shots here lately with numerous cameras including full frame. The color fidelity of the 330 matches up just fine. Sharp lens too. I'm glad I got one.