The Olympus E-300, also known as the Olympus EVOLT is the latest entry in a line of digital SLRs based on the “Four Thirds” standard developed jointly by Olympus and Kodak, first announced in fall of 2002. The first Four Thirds camera was the Olympus E-1 SLR, aimed at the professional market, but the new Olympus E-300 brings the Four Thirds system down to a price range accessible to amateur and “enthusiast” shooters. The new model uses the same lenses and sensor format as the original E-1, but offers an impressive 8-megapixel resolution, and will ship with a new ZUIKO DIGITAL 14-45mm lens.

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DC views wrote in ‘Olympus E-300 review’: The Olympus E-300 is an excellent photographic tool with comfortable handling, nice controls and superb built quality. It provides you with comprehensive image info at all times through the convenient LCD monitor on the back, which remains clearly visible even in direct sunlight.

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The Olympus Evolt E-300’s flat top and elongated body make this camera look more like the Olympus Camedia C-8080 Wide Zoom, an enthusiast-type digital camera, than a digital SLR. Yet despite its unusual profile, the Evolt is a true single-lens reflex—an SLR—with an eye-level through-the-lens optical viewfinder and interchangeable lenses. And for less than $1,000 for body and starter lens, it’s far and away the least expensive 8-megapixel D-SLR on the market. But while it’s a very good camera, the image quality isn’t quite what we’d hoped to see. Still, if $1,000 is your price ceiling, this is the best camera we’ve seen for the money, beating out the Canon EOS Digital Rebel.

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Writing these reviews is always difficult. You can actually like the camera a lot but still find many things that bug you. I did like Olympus E-300. It’s not perfect camera and it lacks in some areas (autofocus speed was sometimes an issue) but for this price I think it’s a very good camera. So if you’re looking for your first digital SLR I suggest you certainly give E-300 / Evolt a try.

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The Olympus EVOLT E-300 is a very good digital SLR whose most impressive feature is its price. Okay, maybe the dust removal feature is up there too. Anyhow, the E-300 gives you more resolution than any of the low cost D-SLRs out there, though the photos seem softer and fuzzier than I would expect from a D-SLR. One solution to this problem is to shoot in RAW mode and then convert the images to JPEGs — this improved sharpness and color too. In addition, high ISO performance isn’t quite as good as those cameras. But for $999 (with the lens) you get a heck of a camera. Camera performance is what you’d expect from a D-SLR, with pretty fast focusing, no shutter lag, and fast shot-to-shot times. The Nikon D70 does beat the EVOLT in terms of startup and continuous shooting performance, though. In terms of features, the EVOLT has plenty, from full manual controls to custom white balance to support for RAW and TIFF images. While the camera doesn’t have a dedicated AF-assist lamp, it will use the built-in flash for that purpose, and the flash does its job well. Being a D-SLR, the E-300 is totally expandable, with several lenses, flashes, filters, and more available. As you’d expect from a totally new system (FourThirds), there aren’t as many accessories out there as you’d find for the Canon, Nikon, or Pentax cameras.

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