Olympus E-300

(Olympus Evolt E-300 in the USA)

Review Date: April 13th 2005

Page 1 Introduction / Price Page 2 Features Page 3 Specifications Page 4 Design Page 5 Ease of Use Page 6 Image Quality Page 7 Sample Images Page 8 Conclusion / Links

Introduction

The Olympus E-300 / Olympus Evolt E-300 is the second digital SLR camera based on the FourThirds System. The Olympus E-300 / Olympus Evolt E-300 is an 8 megapixel DSLR that looks a little unusual - Olympus have replaced the traditional pentaprism with a TTL Optical Porro Finder, which uses a horizontal viewfinder with four mirrors instead of a prism and enables the camera to have a more compact flat profile. The Olympus E-300 / Olympus Evolt E-300 is not a replacement for the older professional-level E1, despite offering more megapixels. At a current street price around £600 / $900 / €800 with the 14-45mm kit lens (equivalent to 28-90mm on a 35mm camera), it represents Olympus' attempt to capture a slice of the entry-level DSLR market, and is subsequently competing with the likes of the Canon EOS 350D, Nikon D70 and Pentax *ist DS. The Olympus E-300 / Olympus Evolt E-300 can be used with all of the existing E-system lenses, flashguns and accessories. It also offers built-in dust protection, often a problem for DSLR cameras, via its Supersonic Wave Filter. So is the Olympus E-300 / Olympus Evolt E-300 an attractive proposition in a sector of the market that is becoming increasingly more crowded? Read my review to find out.

Price

The recommended retail price of the Olympus E-300 in the UK is £699, in the US it is $999 and in Europe it is €999.

You can buy the Olympus E-300 from PhotographyBLOG's recommended retailer, Amazon.co.uk, for only £569.99. Free shipping in the UK!

You can buy the Olympus E-300 from PhotographyBLOG's recommended retailer, Amazon.com, for only $798.94. Free shipping in the US!

Page 1 Introduction / Price Page 2 Features Page 3 Specifications Page 4 Design Page 5 Ease of Use Page 6 Image Quality Page 7 Sample Images Page 8 Conclusion / Links

PhotographyBLOG is a member of the DIWA organisation. Our test results for the Olympus E-300 have been submitted to DIWA for comparison with test results for different samples of the same camera model supplied by other DIWA member sites.