Using Four Thirds technology, the Olympus E-300 is a dSLR that will keep you happy for many years to come. Our reviewer Charlotte Franklin takes a closer look at this flexible, future-proof system

All outdoor images in this feature where taken by Charlotte, using the Olympus E-300

To really appreciate the Olympus E-300, you need to understand the Four Thirds System. This technology was developed to create a worldwide standard, making digital camera bodies and lenses interchangeable across different manufacturers and giving photographers greater purchasing freedom. Developed by Olympus and Kodak, other companies now using the Four Thirds System include Fuji, Matsushita, Sanyo and Sigma.

On The Grid

An entirely digital system, the award-winning Four Thirds was created to optimise lenses and the way they interact with light for use with digital pixels – not film. Whereas 35mm lenses are designed for use with film, the new Zuiko lenses are made specifically for digital capture, allowing the lenses to communicate with the camera and thus ensure the best possible image quality. With light coming through a 35mm lens at an oblique angle, the digital image sensor is unable to receive all the information and therefore the result can be a dim image or inaccurate colour reproduction. Pixels, because they are basically a straight grid, receive light best when it comes ‘straight-on’.

This Is How The Four Thirds System Works.

Further benefits of this new technology include the large image sensor, which increases a camera’s potential for very high resolutions. Manufacturers also say their imaging sensor enables camera bodies and lenses to become smaller: the required focal length is half that
of 35mm camera, resulting in a lighter load for the photographer.

Not Too Light, Not Too Heavy

The E-300 is a mid-sized, mid-weight dSLR that’s a pleasure to use. While I spent the day photographing with it, I never felt weighed down, and my hands and fingers were all well- accommodated between and during shots. However, I did find my thumb on occasion creeping onto the exposure lock button as I was setting up shots, and I guess the thin vertical strip at the right front of the body could be uncomfortable if you’re forced to grip the camera tightly. But it’s an unlikely problem.

Magic Mirrors

As soon as you look at this camera, you notice it doesn’t look the same as other digital SLRs. Olympus’ designers have included a different viewfinder mechanism than the usual pentaprism found in SLRs – namely the TTL Optical Porro Finder, which uses four mirrors instead of a prism, resulting in the unusual flat top of the camera body.

My overall impression of the design is that it’s a great camera to pop into a bag and transport around. Even with a telephoto lens attached, it never felt cumbersome.

That’s not to say the E-300 or its lenses felt flimsy – au contraire – they’re well-constructed and solid to hold. The lenses were also simple to change over, with the entire process taking only seconds. This meant I could quickly switch to the telephoto when we happened upon wildlife, ensuring no good shots were missed.

The Looking Glass

For this review, H. E. Perry Ltd provided me with the standard E-300 kit lens, the Zuiko digital 14 – 45mm (28 – 90mm) lens f3, 5-5, 6, as well as an additional Zuiko digital 40 – 150mm (80 – 300mm) f3, 5-4, 5 lens.

Outside, the kit lens came into its own, taking quality, wide-angled landscape shots. It also handled flower photography around the garden, producing excellent detail and colour, and lush, accurate shades of green. For quality macro images, you will need to invest in a macro lens as the kit 14 – 45mm lens doesn’t really get close to the subject. I found while shooting a small USB drive, the camera needed to be 38cm away from the subject before focus was achieved and by then the USB drive was looking pretty small and the resulting image was a little softer than desired.

However, I must say the telephoto (Zuiko digital 40 – 150mm, RRP $599) was an absolute pleasure to use and allowed me to get in close from a distance. It may not exactly be macro photography, but I achieved some lovely close-ups that way.

Focusing with the telephoto required some mastery and no small amount of controlled exhaling during shutter-release. There were a few instances of unusable and blurry images, which was naturally all me. Lesson learned – next time don’t leave the tripod in the car when you’ve got a long lens. But overall, I loved this lens. It just lapped up the light and produced superb, crisp images with wonderful deep tones. Using it was a journey into another world and an entirely different way of looking at things. In fact, using it made me really, really want to own the E-300.

Out And About

I’d specifically chosen a cloudy, verging on rainy day to take the camera out to Orere Point, southeast of Auckland, as I wanted some good sky action and a dark light for rich images.

I have to confess to using the Landscape mode after I’d somehow pressed something that made all my images go red in auto mode. I think this was due to the white balance being set to 5300, where the recommendation for an overcast day is 6000. However, as the camera only came with a very basic manual – the full manual being in PDF form – I didn’t have a copy with me to check where I was going wrong.

Using an ‘icon’ setting isn’t something I’d usually do, but I was most pleased with the results. I tested out both Aperture and Shutter Priority modes as well, but Landscape won hands down for colour and metering accuracy in that particular situation.

A little subtle tweaking using Photoshop’s shadow/highlight command and the detail in the cloud came out stunningly from an original that was already rich in colour and had good contrast. So a big round of applause to the Landscape function for saving the day and producing some excellent shots.

Experiment

The E-300 also handled itself very well indoors. I took the opportunity to try out the white balance and meter-bracketing functions on a still-life scene, which I’d set up in my studio.  The camera produced images with superb white walls and crisp colourful detail. I would recommend you try this exercise if you buy the camera – some excellent results were to be had and a bit of tweaking and experimenting with the white balance on the E-300 could really enhance your photographic experience.

Keeping Order

The E-300 has fast autofocus and minimal shutter lag. Although there are only three focus selection points, I didn’t find this an issue. If I needed the subject to be off-centre I’d simply focus on it, re-position it in the viewfinder and then take the shot.

At first glance the camera seems a little light on manual controls, but the only thing missing is an exposure compensation dial. However, I do think some of the controls had unusual placement in the hierarchy of things. Specifically, the white balance and image quality controls are featured to the left of the LCD, whereas the Menu and Playback buttons are seated towards the centre of the camera – a small stretch for the right thumb.

I tend to stick to the same image quality (highest quality Jpeg) and will occasionally shoot Raw. Personally, I’m not sure why the image quality buttons should be a high priority, as I would be happy to delve into the menu to make the change and have that button assigned to something I use more often. However, because the E-300 is aimed at a broad spectrum of users, it may be that some people do wish to shoot in a higher quality and switch to the occasional Raw shot – it’s just not something I do myself.

Balancing Act

The camera is well geared for white balance adjustments, providing three modes: Auto, Pre-set or One-touch. Or you can select by colour temperature, where a high value means richer blues and a low value gives richer reds.

To the right of the LCD you’ll find buttons for easy access to Metering, ISO, Focus mode and Exposure Compensation controls. These four also double up as the up-down and left-right arrows. On the dial at the top right you’ll find the usual Program, Aperture, Shutter and Manual modes, or you can choose an icon for different shooting conditions: Portrait, Landscape, Macro, Sport or Night Scene.

There’s also a very cool scene control. Once you’re in the Scene menu you can use the up and down arrows (Exposure Compensation and ISO buttons) to scroll through the different scenes. There are 10 to choose from, including Museum, Documents and Fireworks, which is great for people who like cameras to do the technical stuff in different lighting situations. You even get an example picture with a description of the settings that will be used to take the photograph.

Interface

Photographers can activate the Menu or Playback function by pressing their respective buttons to the right of the LCD. The menu displays all the information you’d expect and is easy to operate using the four arrow keys on the camera body. The menus were comprehensive with clear icons and settings to choose from. While you’re in play mode, press the Info button on the bottom left of the LCD and you can scroll through six levels of information about each image, including file details (name, date, etc), image quality, histogram, blinking highlights and exposure information. This is especially good if you get a great shot and want to refer back to the settings you used.

The All Clear

The 1.8-inch HyperCrystal LCD monitor with 134,000 pixels is a perfectly functional screen of average dimensions.

As you’d expect the rear panel displays camera settings, such as shutter speed and aperture, metering settings, flash, focus, image quality, ISO, white balance and frame count.

The LCD posed no viewing difficulties in any lighting conditions, but it’s always easier to view with the screen facing away from direct sunlight. The screen allowed me to confidently gauge the quality of my images on the spot and to delete any unwanted images safe in the knowledge I was making the right decisions.

The E-300 also has a Supersonic Wave Filter that generates high-speed vibrations (350,000 times per second) to shake dust off the CCD onto a special adhesive. This is a neat feature that allows you to change lenses without the worry of dust getting in and ruining your shots.

Powered up

You can check battery levels on the right-hand panel through the viewfinder. The battery seemed to last well over a few days’ shooting, which included plenty of LCD viewing, deleting of images and copying files across to the laptop out in the field. I took around 200 images and didn’t have the opportunity to recharge the battery, but my research tells me you can expect around 400 shots with a fully charged battery.
Opinion on charging time ranges from two to five hours, so check with your retailer.

For those of you with a hankering for power you can buy the Power Kit, which includes a dual battery grip and extra battery. This means you’re using two batteries and getting some extra body, giving the camera a more professional (ie, bigger) look.

Conclusion

Retailing at only $1899, including a 14 – 45mm lens, the E-300 is the perfect dSLR for those wishing to take quality photographs without breaking the bank. Whether you’re semi-professional or a keen amateur, this camera can do as little or as much work as you require and produce excellent, vibrant images.

The camera has been built digital from the ground up using the Four Thirds System, making it an ideal choice for those wanting camera bodies and lenses that are smaller, lighter and interchangeable across brands.

Personally, I really liked the E-300 and both the lenses I used. In fact, I would be more than happy to have one kicking around our studio.

Both camera and lenses are travel-friendly and I can see it working especially well for people who need to use a dSLR on-site, out in the field or on holiday. The supersonic dust remover is also perfect for people who like to change lenses on a regular basis.

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