Olympus E-300

Reviewed April 2005

Characteristics

The Olympus Evolt E-300 uses an 8.88 megapixel CCD — of which 8.0 megapixel are effective — that measures 17.3 x 13mm and yields a maximum image size of 3264 x 2448 pixels.

CCD sensitivity is primarily adjustable over a range of 100, 200 and 400 ISO, but with the ISO Boost option enabled in the menu, it can be increased to 800 and 1600 ISO. In addition, an Auto mode is also available, allowing the camera to adjust sensitivity from 100 to 400 ISO as dictated by quantity of ambient light, and also if the subject is too distant for the flash to illuminate it properly.

The E-300 is equipped with a Zuiko Digital lens mount that makes it compatible with a number of lenses:

• 7-14 mm f4.0 ED
• 11-22 mm f2.8-3.5
• 14-45 mm f3.5-5.6
• 14-54 mm f2.8-3.5
• 50-200 mm f2.8-3.5 ED
• 50 mm f2.0 Macro
• 150 mm f2.0 ED
• 300 mm f2.8 ED

In North America the camera can be bought as a kit that includes a 14 to 45 mm f3.5-5.6, the 35mm equivalent of a 28 to 90mm zoom, and which also includes a lens hood.

The TTL optical viewfinder of the E-300 is unusual. A Porro-type viewfinder (first used back in the 1960's on Olympus PEN cameras), uses a set of 5 mirrors to direct the light path to the left of the lens, and out to the exit pupil of the finder on the left side of the E-300's back.

While the shutter speed range available to the E-300 user tops out at 1/4000 second, it varies with the shooting mode at the low end. With the Program mode, the longest exposure time is limited to 1 second; with the Priority modes a 30-second exposure is possible; and set to Manual mode, a Bulb setting allows exposure times of up to 8 minutes. The Scene modes, on the other hand, have a shutter speed range of 1/4000 second to 4 seconds.

7 image sizes are possible with the E-300:

• 3264 x 2448 pixels
• 3200 x 2400 pixels
• 2560 x 1920 pixels
• 1600 x 1200 pixels
• 1280 x 960 pixels
• 1024 x 768 pixels
• 640 x 480 pixels

And at the highest resolution, 3264 x 2448, up to 4 image formats are offered:

• RAW: is the unprocessed data originating from the CCD, and creates a 13.5MB file that must be interpreted with the software supplied with the camera.
• TIFF: is an uncompressed format that produces a image file size of 23.3 MB.
• SHQ: is the least compressed JPEG format, applying a compression that Olympus describes as 1/2.7.
• HQ: offers two other compression levels, selectable at the same time as the image size, 1/4 or 1/8.

At all other image sizes — 3200 x 2400 through to 640 x 480 — images are recorded in SQ format, and the compression can be selected to be any of the available levels (1/2.7, 1/4, or 1/8).

The E-300 is equipped with an elaborate white balance system that presents settings using colour temperature in Kelvin and a small more common icon for each of the available available settings. Moreover, the system is made even more complex by the fact that additional white balance settings can also be made in the menu (see further).

The E-300 has a 5-section menu that is common to all shooting modes with the exception of the Scene modes accessed though the SCENE position of the Mode Dial.

• Exposure Compensation,
• Resolution and Quality settings,
• Flash Modes,
• Auto Focus,
• White Balance,
• ISO,
• Metering,
• AF Point Selection.

Probably because of this, the E-300's menu invariably opens directly at the second section of the menu when called up, giving preference to those functions that are not accessible via buttons:

• Card Setup: serves to delete images, or format the memory card.
• Drive offers 4 settings:
  • Single Frame Shooting: shoots one frame at a time.
  • Sequential Shooting: captures 4 images at 2.5 frames per second with the SHQ, HQ or SQ image formats. Exposure is established at the first frame.
  • Auto-bracketing: provides a bracketing range of ± 1 EV in 1/3 EV increments over 3 frames.
  • Self-timer: provides a selectable delay of either 12 or 2 seconds.
  • Remote control: activates the infrared receiver for the optional remote control (RM-1) and provides a 2-second delay or none.

• Flash Intensity Control: to adjust the power of the internal pop-up flash or an externally mounted flash over a a range of ±2 EV in 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV or 1 EV increments.
• One-touch White Balance: allows setting the white balance for the ambient light. Up to 4 settings can be saved in the Custom section of the menu (see further).
• Monotone: allows recording images as either black and white or sepia.
• Gradation provides two settings: Hi Key (sic) and Low Key. High Key increases the overall brightness of the image; Low Key decreases it. This option is intended for use in studio-type portrait photography.

• Saturation: controls colour saturation (-2, -1, 0, +1, +2).
• Contrast: controls contrast (-2, -1, 0, +1, +2).

• Sharpness: to increase or soften the image sharpness (-2, -1, 0, +1, +2).
• White Balance Bracketing: allows capturing the same image with 2, 4, or 6 variations that show a range of increasing blue tones and increasing red tones.
• HQ: sets the compression applied to images captured in the HQ format (1/4 or 1/8).
• SQ: selects the compression applied to images recorded with the SQ format (1/2.7, 1/4 or 1/8).

• Noise Reduction: turns on or off the noise reduction system which is applied to images captured with a long exposure time.

The third section of the menu contains options that relate to the Playback mode:

• Slide Show: provides options to play back images one at a time with a 5-second on-screen time, or show images by groups of 4, 9 or 16 thumbnails.

• Rotation: allows rotating an image in 90° increments.
• Edit: to edit an image stored on the memory card and re-save it as a new image. RAW images can be processed for white balance, sharpness, etc. Photos captured with either TIFF or JPEG formats can be re-saved as sepia or black and white images. And images can be resized to 1280 x 960, 640 x 480, 320 x 240 pixels.

• DPOF: allows selecting images that will be printed later, either one at a time or all at once, and decide if the date and/or the capture time will be superimposed on the print. The E-300 is compatible with PictBridge and the camera can be connected directly to a similarly compatible printer via USB to print photos, by-passing the need for a computer.

The last two sections of the menu are identified by a wrench icon, indicating that the items contained there have to do with basic camera settings. The first of these two sections is called the Custom menu, and provides a group of options that allow the user to set some preferences:

• EV Step: sets the EV increment to be used during Exposure Compensation (1/3, 1/2 or 1 EV).
• ISO Boost: allows extending the sensitivity range available (800 and 1600 ISO) with the ISO menu option.

• Manual Flash: Changes the function of the flash button so that it provides control over the power output of the flash: Full power, 1/4, 1/16 or 1/64.
• White Balance Compensation: allows fine-tuning the preset white balance by biasing it towards blue or red over ±7 increments.
• Custom White Balance: makes it possible to modify the preset values for the 4 custom white balance settings, adjusting each from a range that covers from 2,000 to 10,000 Kelvin.
• AF Illuminator: On or Off. When On the flash can be raised to provide assistance to the AF system in a dark environment.

• AEL Metering controls the metering used when the button is pressed: Auto, ESP, Centre-weighted or Spot.
• Custom OK assigns an additional function to the button when the camera is in capture mode: OFF, Shortcut, Preview or AF/MF.

The last section of the menu is dedicated to the basic configuration of the camera, and the options it contains are detailed in the Interface and Software section of the review.

The E-300 is compatible with CompactFlash type 1 and 2 memory cards and can also be used with Microdrives. The memory card slot is located on the right side of the camera, and covered by a solid door. A red LED nearby lights up when the card is accessed and indicates that it should not be ejected while the camera is accessing it. A lever, below the card slot, serves to eject the card.

The E-300 is retailed without a memory card, but the chart below provides an idea of the number of photos that can be stored using a 1 GB Microdrive:

The E-300 has three external connections, all grouped on the left side of the camera and covered by a couple of flexible plastic doors.

Starting at the top, the USB connection (High Speed, compatible with USB 2.0) can be configured to any of four settings in the Setup section of the menu (see the Interface and Software section of the review for further information). Below the USB port is the Video Out which can be configured — also in the Setup section of the menu — to NTSC or PAL.

Further down and tucked away beneath its own cover door, is the DC-In jack, for use with the optional (AC-1) adapter that makes it possible to run the E-300 directly from household current.

The E-300 is powered by a single Lithium-ion battery (BLM-1), and in North America the battery and charger (BCM-2) are normally included as part of the camera kit. Recharging a fully depleted battery takes approximately 5 hours.

The battery is housed in the camera's grip, and its compartment features a removable cover door that makes it possible to attach the optional battery holder and grip (HLD-3) which contains 2 BLM-1 batteries and doubles the autonomy of the camera while also adding a second vertical shutter release.