Olympus E-300 Preview

by Saul Bryan
7th November 2004
© 2004, All Rights Reserved

Introduction

I want to start this by making a few things clear to everyone. Please read the next three paragraphs before going any further!

Firstly, this is not a review but rather a preview of the E-300. The camera I tested was a pre-production model. It is standard industry practice to restrict use of pre-production camera images as the production model may yet have hardware or firmware alterations which change features and results. My testing was bound by these restrictions and thus any photos taken with the E-300 will not be shown or discussed. The image is what the camera is all about, so final judgement of this camera can only be made once the pictures are freely available. If I get a chance to use a production model in the future I will update this preview and convert it into a proper review.

Secondly, I am previewing this camera from perhaps an unusual perspective - someone who has owned a "prosumer" digicam (the Olympus C-5050) for a fair while and is looking to upgrade to a dSLR (digital single reflex). I am not a professional photographer, and I do not make my living taking photos. If this bothers you and makes you think that this preview is invalid, well, I'm sorry about that. I have no affiliation with Olympus. I also live in Australia and some of the information is relevant to this country only.

Thirdly, I intend to avoid re-hashing what is already known about this camera - there are plenty of web sites with this information. I will try to cut through some of the technical jargon and explain what practical value the features have, if any. Also, I fully expect other web sites, such as the excellent dpReview, dcResources, Imaging Resource and Steves Digicams to have full reviews quite soon. You might have missed the one at wrotniak.net, which I reccomend. There are lots of good web resources actually, and I will provide links to some of them. However, it is one thing to read reviews and another to hold a camera in your hands. What feels right for one person is completely wrong for another. You should spend time trying the camera in a store, and I strongly recommend you take your time doing so before purchasing anything.


Marketing and Environment

The E-300 is not officially launched in Australia yet (as at time of writing), and is expected to be launched in mid December. If you want to get a camera this year though, you should probably get your order in now as supply will initially be limited. I am told that it will ship with a kit lens which is the new 14-45mm f3.5-5.6 lens. The street price will be "around" that of the Canon 300D and Nikon D70, which is approximately $2000 AUD. Other countries may get the E-300 model with a different name, the EVOLT.

The E-300 is based around Olympus's 4/3 ("Four thirds") system, which is an open standard designed specifically for digital cameras. This is their second camera to use this system - the first being the larger and more expensive E-1. There is therefore a range of lenses for the E-300 in the market already, and they are generally premium lenses. With the launch of the E-300 body is also the launch of some new value lenses, so that there is now a reasonable number of 4/3 lenses which vary in price and features. In 35mm terms, you can go from an ultra wide 14mm all the way to a telescopic like 600mm. Check out the E-300 System Chart from Olympus UK (160K PDF Document, well worth the download) for all the lenses and optional equipment. It's comprehensive. When the 4/3 system was introduced there was reluctance to buy into the system for some people because of the lack of lenses. I think that this problem has well and truly been solved now.

There are roughly three types of buyers for this camera - existing 35mm camera users who are new to digital, Consumer/Prosumer/Old dSLR users looking to upgrade and E-1 users who want a second body. Interestingly, the camera will appeal to all of these groups but for slightly different reasons. I'll touch on these reasons further in the preview.

I was surprised to learn of the sales figures and forecasts for the digital camera market in Australia. They are huge and still growing rapidly. Much of this growth is coming from new users, and 2005 is likely to be a very big year for dSLR's. There is also a trend for the dSLR's to be coming down in price; the Canon 300D (aka Digital Rebel or KISS in Japan) having much to do with this.

The introduction of the E-300 fills a gap nicely in the Olympus digital camera line up. In a nutshell, it's the "entry level dSLR". The other big models in this class are the Canon 300D, and the Nikon D70. In the Olympus line-up, the camera below the E-300 is the highly regarded C-8080 (a fixed lens eight megapixel prosumer camera), and above it is the E-1, which as I have already mentioned uses the same 4/3 lenses. The E-300 will take sales away from all of these models to some extent when it hits the market. It is worth noting that the 300D has had quite a head start in the marketplace, having been out since the start of 2004. Comparing these cameras is quite a task, as they all have their strengths and weaknesses.


First Impressions and Basic Ergonomics

The E-300 is an unusual looking camera. At first, you may not quite put your finger on why this is. Something is not quite right, you might think, but what is it? Well, it's the "hump" for the penta-prism. Almost all of the 35mm and dSLR's have this hump. This camera does not have one, and the top of the camera is flat. Also the lens is off centre a little.

This may seem trivial, but I think it's quite a significant point in some ways. For some professional photographers, having equipment that looks professional is important. Actually, having equipment that the client thinks looks professional is maybe more important. Partly that means looking like a dSLR and not a point-and-shoot. Does the E-300 look professional? Well, I think it does - somewhat unusual, but the black metal body carries it off. I must admit that I was not entirely taken by the overall look at first, but having held the camera for a while I think the design grows on you. Now I honestly like it.

E-300 Front Thumbnail      E-300 Front Thumbnail
Click on image to enlarge

Size wise the camera is small by current dSLR standards. Most of this is in reduced height, and is due to the lack of penta-prism hump. It certainly is a great deal shorter than the E-1 and Nikon D70. It is a little smaller than the Canon 300D, but not by a lot really. I took a few photos (above) of the camera with a CD in it's case to compare size with. In the side shot, the CD is not quite flush to the body, so please take that into account.

When you first pick up the camera you can tell that there has been some attention given to the materials used. This is not a full metal body, but it is metal where it counts, and it feels solid and durable. In some photos the top panel (where the flash is) may look slightly two tone. It's a very dark grey aluminium which for all intents and purposes looks black under most light. This is a big step up from the silver plastic body of the Canon 300D. So far, so good.

A small niggle is that there is a ridge in the hand grip at the front which is quite prominent. I am sure it is there to provide more secure grip, but it feels a little uncomfortable under the knuckle. It seems the exception to an otherwise comfortable design. One solution suggested online is to simply cut it off with an exacto knife, which I guess is an option if you really don't like it.


E-300 Back Thumbnail
Click on image to enlarge

Rear of Camera Controls

The next thing I did was turn it around and have a look at the back. The very first thing I noticed was the bank of vertically aligned buttons to the left of the LCD. These are clearly labelled, and are from top to bottom : Exposure Compensation, White Balance, Image Size and Quality, Trash and Info. The last button turns the whole LCD into an information display, and makes up for the fact that there is no dedicated second LCD for this task. The C-8080 has a similar system.

Several of these buttons work with the command dial, which is near the top right hand corner of the camera. You press and hold the button while you roll the dial. This two handed control works quickly, and it becomes second nature to use after a while. However, I found the command dial to be a bit inconveniently placed; to use it you have to go over the thumb-rest moulding on the body. It's not impossible to use but just not quite where my thumb expected it to be.

The rest of the buttons on the right hand side are almost the same, and in the same position as those on the E-1. This is a very good thing as they will help E-1 users feel at home with the camera. Your fingers will instinctively "know" where to go. I personally like the "OK" button to be in the centre of the 4-way controller (eg the way they are on the C-5050 or C-8080). Given the choice however, I think they did the right thing making it the same as the E-1.

One more thing to mention, and to applaud Olympus for, is the four way controller buttons having dual functions. While in shooting mode, they now enable you to get at ISO setting, Flash Setting, Metering Mode and Auto Focus setting. This is a really nice touch, and I know a lot of people will be pleased to be able to get to the ISO setting so easily. On saying that, it's not the easiest to use. The problem I discovered is working out how to press and hold one of these buttons while using the command dial. I did not find it easy to do while still holding the camera with two hands.


Taking Photographs

I tested the camera with the new 40-150mm f3.5-4.5 telephoto zoom lens and also later with the 150mm f2.0 telephoto prime (which is quite a large lens). The first look through the viewfinder was a pleasant experience. I was looking to see firstly if the image was nice and bright, and it seemed fine. The field of view is 94%, which may annoy some people, although I don't see it as a problem.

The information panel in the viewfinder is vertically aligned on the right hand side. It shows lots of things - read the specifications if you are interested in the details (See below). I did notice a few other things - it is monochromatic (black on light grey), does not appear to be backlit and does not display ISO setting. It seemed otherwise functional.

Using the 40-150mm lens, I then half pressed the shutter to see how the auto focus worked. I was pleased by the quick and sure focus lock. It leaves the C-5050 for dead, which is the camera I had with me at the time. As for other dSLR's, well, it seems on par. I couldn't see how you could get much quicker. When the camera gets a focus lock, it lets off a little beep. I am fairly certain this is something you can turn off in the settings.

Now a full press of the shutter and the magic happens. Click. It's all over in a fraction of a second. The viewfinder goes black, of course, as the mirror swings sideways and lets the light go to the CCD sensor. What happened next was a bit of a surprise, the viewfinder image returns and it flashes a little red dot on the autofocus point used. This camera has three autofocus points (left, middle, right), which are manually selectable with the button marked […] near the thumb rest. Was it quick? Yes. Did it feel good? Yes! Once you take a shot, it automatically displays the image on the LCD.

Some people are very interested in the sound of the shutter release. They don't all sound the same. The Canon 20D, for example, is quite loud while the D70 is less so. This can make a difference for Nature shots (ie to not frighten the animal) or Candids (to not alert the person you are photographing them, although this has some ethical issues!). I did not have any sound measuring system with me other than my ears, but it was a very quiet environment so I could hear clearly. My conclusion on this score is that it did not seem too noisy to me. I know that's not a scientific measure, but it's the best I can give you.

I will say that I had some issues getting focus lock with the 150mm prime lens. I suspect this is a pre-production glitch, but I was still a bit surprised by this. It would work correctly most of the time, but every now and then the half press would not get the focus lock beep. This seemed to be an issue only with this lens. I note it here but I would not read too much into this. Keep in mind I was using pre-production equipment.

This is about as much as I can say on actually taking photos with this camera. I only had a short time to test the equipment - much less than I would have liked, but you take what you can get. In that time however I found it responsive and easy to use.


E-300 Specifications

It is worth having a read of the specifications of the E-300 on the Olympus UK web site. Here are the things that I noted as being significant.

  • CCD Sensor. One thing that I found interesting is that the sensor has 8.89 million pixels, but outputs 8 million pixels. I don't think it means all that much, but it's curious.

  • Autofocus. The E-300 has three autofocus points, like the E-1. The Canon 300D uses 7, the Nikon D70 has 5. It is generally considered that the more autofocus points the better.

  • AF Assist. The E-300 uses the flash for autofocus assist. The Canon 300D is the same, but the D70 has a dedicated autofocus lamp.

  • ISO. The E-300 has ISO range of 100 to 400, which can be further expanded to include 800 and 1600 in manual mode. The 300D is the same, the D70 has ISO 200 to 1600. Higher ISO settings allow photographs to be taken in lower light but can also introduce noise in the image.

  • Continuous Shooting. The E-300 is on par with the competition, at 2.5 frames per second. The D70 is a bit faster at 3 frames per second.

  • Flash Compensation. The E-300 allows you to control the flash intensity. I find this a very useful feature. The Canon 300D does not have this capability.

  • Compact Flash. This is standard, so no problems there. I was just a bit surprised that they did not also include a dual card reader that handles the tiny xD format. Some consumers upgrading from other Olympus cameras may have a collection of these memory cards.

  • USB 1.1. I was hoping that Olympus would put the faster USB 2.0 on this unit, as it would make downloading the pictures quicker. The 300D has USB 1.1, and the D70 has USB 2.0 but not running at full speed, so it's on par with the competitors


E-300 Specific Features

The E-300 has some cool features that set it apart from the competition, and are worth discussing briefly in some detail.

Dust reduction

One of the perils of interchangeable lens systems (ie all dSLR's) is that dust can get into the chamber while you are changing lenses. This dust can find its way onto the CCD, and then consequently appear as blobs on your photographs.

Olympus have developed an ingenious system for solving this problem. They shake the CCD 35,000 times in the first second after the camera is turned on. This "ultrasonic wave filter" makes the dust fall down onto a sticky pad where it lives forevermore. This system first appeared in the E-1 and by all accounts works perfectly.

If your camera does not have this system, and that means all of the competition, you are reduced to sending your camera back to the manufacturer for cleaning for a charge, or doing it yourself. How often does this happen? Of course, it depends on how you treat your camera, how often and where you change lenses etc etc. The problem is real, but it affects people to a variable extent. Casual dSLR users may be lucky and only need to clean a few times a year, professional press photographers may need it done weekly. To a point you can also fix the problem in software later, such as with Photoshop's heal tool. Keep in mind though that once the "dust bunnies" come to live in your camera, they are there on every shot you take. Have a read further about this issue using this page as a starting point. Doing it yourself is not for the faint hearted.

Exclusive 8MP CCD and 4/3 advantages

The E-300 has a new and exclusive sensor, which is 8 megapixel in the 4/3 standard. This is a Full Frame Transfer CCD, which means it has larger pixels for capturing light. This should make for less noise in the images, and greater dynamic range (capture subtle shadow and highlights together). The 4/3 system by design also promises better edge-to-edge brightness and focus, and handles very wide angle lenses. Watch for the corners of the image on other systems to see if they are dark or soft.

The proof is in the pudding, and we will see when sample E-300 images are available, but it all sounds logical and very promising. The E-1 has a FFT CCD as well, and it's image taking ability is highly regarded, so I do not expect the E-300 to disappoint in this area.

Side Swing Mirror

When you take the lens off the camera, you get this slightly strange sight

E-300 Mirror Chamber


This is the side swing mirror. The Olympus Japan web site has quite a nice animation showing the light path of the traditional and this system. It is worth watching that here (click on "new design"). The advantage of this design is the size reduction, particularly in height.

Smart Flash

The flash in the E-300 has some nice features. For a start, when it pops up it slides forward as well, giving it a better angle over the lens. This means that it's less likely to give a shadow, and in fact clears completely the 40-150mm lens (which is quite long).

Another nice thing about the built in flash is that it works with an external flash. For example, you can bounce off the roof with your external flash and have the built in flash do some fill in work.

In low light the built in flash works as an Auto focus Assist, by firing to focus. If there is an external flash the auto focus lamp on it can be used instead.

Ease of Use : new modes

If there are less technical users in the family who want to use the camera, they may appreciate the modes which are now in the camera. These include things such as Sunset, Fireworks, Museum and Candle to name a few. This has a nice example image and explanatory text. It's a lot easier to use than in the past, and I think it is a nice touch for the less confident users.

Hypercrystal LCD

It was pointed out to me that the LCD display is a new technology, which gives greater view angle and increased contrast. I found the 1.8 inch display easy to read, and don't doubt those claims. It would have been nice for Olympus to have beaten the competition with a larger 2" LCD. Keep in mind though that there is no live preview using the LCD so it is less important than on prosumer digicams. You really have to use the viewfinder.

User upgradeable firmware

A small point, perhaps, but one worth making is that the E-300 will have user upgradeable firmware. The E-1 has this as well, but some of Olympus's prosumer digicams have not had this in the past.


E-300 vs fixed lens prosumer digicam

If you are a current owner of a digital camera that isn't a dSLR, or are thinking about the high end "prosumer" cameras, then there are a few things to consider.

First the good news. With the E-300 (and any dSLR) you are gaining a few things over a fixed lens camera. Most notable is the overall performance in focus lock and shutter lag. You also have flexibility to put high quality, customised lenses onto your camera which best suit the photo you want to take. The images themselves are generally of higher quality too, because of these lenses and components. You can have shallower depth of field - that is have shots where the subject is in focus but the background is blurred out. There is also the manual component if you want it, you can easily and directly focus using the lens ring. 35mm photographers feel right at home with a dSLR, so there is a familiarity component. Sports photographers like dSLR's too because of the zoom lenses you can attach and also the high speed drive modes where it takes a series of shots very quickly. So I would summarise the advantages of dSLR by saying it provides quality and control. If you want the best quality photos above all else, it's the way to go. There is also an upgrade path. If you invest in lenses you can use them with a different body in the future.

You should be aware that you do lose some features when you go to dSLR too. They are more expensive, larger and heavier than a fixed lens camera. You do not have live preview in the LCD, and also don't have a tilt/swivel LCD. Some people don't realise this, so it's worth saying again. You must use the viewfinder to frame your shot, you can't hold the camera out at arms length and shoot accurately using the LCD to frame. The sensor only gets the light when you press the shutter, and the mirror moves out of the way for this. Light is going to the sensor so the viewfinder blacks out for a moment. dSLR's don't have a video mode either. Most prosumer cameras can take short movies suitable for playback on the computer. You don't change the lens, so there is also no dust issue. Lastly, the consumer camera tends to have a good all round ability built in - macro mode plus some sort of zoom. In summary, I would say that you lose some convenience when you get into dSLR. If you are looking for a "carry everywhere" camera, a dSLR may not be the right answer.


E-300 vs 300D and D70

If you have been reading this preview from the top to the bottom you know that I have already compared the E-300 to the Canon 300D and Nikon D70 in several places. These cameras are likely to be quite similar in pricing, and so it is worth comparing them. So, which one is better?

If you take megapixels as your only yardstick, then the E-300 is the clear winner. It has 8, while the others have 6 (approximately). Those two extra megapixels are useful for cropping and composition, but are unlikely to make a big difference in prints unless you are going for huge sizes. So, I would not suggest you use this as your only measure, but it is certainly something in the E-300's favour.

Physical camera size is also a point to consider. I didn't have a 300D and D70 with me, but there are pictures on the internet already comparing the cameras. See this Japanese web site which shows some nice pictures. You can see how much taller the D70 is than the other two. The E-300 is the widest (by less than 1cm) but is a lot shorter and thinner. The 300D is also a plastic body, while the E-300 has a die cast aluminium subframe and metal/plastic panels.

D70 140 x 111 x 78 mm
300D 142 x 99 x 72 mm
E-300 146.5 x 85 x 64 mm

They are all excellent cameras, and choosing between them is not easy. You will need to probably consider them all, and work out what is most important to you. If you have an investment in lenses already this will sway you to one brand.


E-300 vs E-1

There are a number of existing E-1 users looking for a second (or third!) body to go with their collection of lenses. The E-300 is an attractive option because of the cost, size and weight compared to the E-1. It also has the built in flash, which the E-1 doesn't have. It makes it perhaps a better "street" camera. Lastly, there is the issue of the 8MP versus the E-1's 5MP.

There may be some confusion about this : is the E-300 a better camera than the E-1? Olympus are not marketing the E-300 as an E-1 replacement. The E-1 has a full metal body and environmental seals on the controls. In short, it's built like a tank. The image quality from the E-300 is unknown, but the impression I get is that the E-300 will have more megapixels but they won't necessarily be better megapixels than the E-1. Do not automatically sell your E-1 for an E-300! To me it's fairly clear that the E-1 is a very professional piece of equipment, albeit a little old now. Rumour has it that the E-1 will be replaced/updated some time in 2005, but this is just conjecture at this stage.


Sample Images

This is a preview. I am not allowed to show images taken with a pre-production camera. Sorry!


Conclusion

Overall my experience with the camera was a positive one. As I have mentioned several times though, this is a preview and no images were sampled. No firm conclusion can be made without these pictures! Also, I was not able to put the camera through all of its paces due to time limitations. I did not explore all of the menus, for example.

However, the E-300 is clearly a very interesting proposition, and has a lot of things going for it. I would encourage anyone who is thinking of purchasing in the entry level dSLR market to consider this model as a contender. You owe it to yourself to at least pick it up and try it.

Final Preview Rating : Yes - Check it Out!


Preview Pros

  • 8MP vs 6MP competition
  • Dust reduction
  • Lots of one touch buttons to change setting quickly
  • Smaller than competition form factor
  • Black metal/plastic body is solid with metal subframe

Preview Cons

  • No top information LCD panel (but a button does display the same on the main LCD).
  • Some ergonomic niggles, but nothing major.
  • 3 Autofocus points is less than the competition (and the same as the E-1)
  • USB 1.1




 © 2004 Sauly Bryan
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