Evolt E-300
Over the past few years I've looked at a lot of digital cameras, but this is the first camera that I have fallen in love with.
The Evolt E-300 is an SLR camera, which means you can change the lenses as you can with a good 35mm camera. This feature, however, poses a problem for digital cameras. In 35mm cameras, the film moving through the camera shakes off dust particles that can infiltrate the camera when the lenses are being changed. In a digital camera, there is no moving film and dust can accumulate on the image sensor, causing specks and smudges on your pictures. Olympus solved this problem with its exclusive Supersonic Wave Filter, which uses a high-speed vibration to shake dust particles off the image sensor. Although this mechanism is unnoticeable to the user, it is constantly working to keep dust from being a problem.
There are several other great features. With 8-megapixels, the Evolt's picture quality is first class, and there is no noticeable shutter-lag time. You can use the Evolt as a professional would, choosing white balance and all the other settings yourself, but you can also let the Evolt adjust the settings automatically. It has 14 scene modes to choose from, including landscape, night scene, fireworks, and portrait.
Given all these choices and the complexity of the camera, the menus, buttons, and settings are easier to use than many other cameras of this type. The camera itself has a die cast aluminum chassis and top cover. Olympus has eliminated the hump on the top giving the camera an updated look. It is well weighted and feels sturdy and comfortable in the hand.
The Evolt is the first camera that was designed to be digital from the ground up. This gives it certain advantages. One of these is in the lenses. Digital cameras that use lenses created for standard cameras may have a blurriness along the outer edge. This is eliminated with these lenses. The Evolt uses Zuiko lenses that were created specifically for digital photography, providing edge-to-edge sharpness. A wide variety of lenses are available, including a telephoto lens and a fisheye lens.
A new flash design lets you take close-up flash pictures without the typical lens shadow The flash pops up then moves forward to illuminate the subjects better. I also tried the camera with the FL-50 flash attachment that has the ability to swivel, power zoom, as well as an impressive array of flash modes.
One of the image formats available to you with the Evolt is the RAW format. This format records exactly what the camera sees. If you like working with your images on the computer, with this format you can edit and adjust your photos as much as you like. The camera's software allows you to edit, store, and organize your images.
The Evolt is an excellent choice for wanna-be photographers like myself. When you don't feel like fooling around with the settings or when you want to concentrate on your composition, you can use the automatic settings. However, when you want to control your own setting you can. Oh, and the best part may be that the camera is well priced for the features and quality.
NOTE: Check out the prices carefully. What's included in the package varies depending on the retailer. Some include one or two lenses. Some don't include any lens at all.
Specifications
Product: Evolt E-300
Manufacturer: Olympus
Price: $899
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