The E-system, introduced by Olympus in 2003, reminds us of the Olympus of old: lean, daring and technically very clever. Driving the new system is the industry's ambition to reduce the size of the 35mm format, so that cameras can be smaller and lighter.

A key innovation of the E-system is the use of near-telecentric lenses: the rays leave the lens nearly parallel, whether they're wideangle or telephoto. This simplifies the design not only of sensors but viewfinders as well, which helps keep cameras very compact.

E-system cameras

The Olympus E-1 was the first camera to use the E-system, and although it's aimed squarely at the professional user, it offers a disappointingly small resolution of 4.9 megapixels.

The E-300 is the second camera to use the Olympus E-system, and with an 8-megapixel sensor, it's designed and priced for the mass market. At the same time it accepts all the pro-quality lenses of its sibling.

So, on paper, it offers a combination of innovation, low cost and high performance. The E-300 is one of the lightest and smallest DSLRs around. With its 14-45mm (28-90mm 35mm equivalent focal length) zoom that comes in the kit, it's not much larger or heavier than some fixed lens DSLRs.

The camera's compact, low profile is achieved by using mirrors instead of prisms to fold the light path and reverse the image. It's like one half of a binocular, so the eyepiece is located to one side of the lens. As a result you view through the lens well to the left of the camera's centre-line, making it easy to use for both left- and right-handed photographers.

Usual features

The E-300 offers the usual range of camera features, such as four metering modes (Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority, Manual and Programmed), metering patterns ranging from a simple pattern evaluation based on three zones, to a 2% spot meter and auto-focus on three zones.

The shutter runs from a respectable 1/4000 sec up to 60 sec, depending on the mode selected, and flash synchronisation is 1/180 sec. Digital controls such as white balance, image processing to improve sharpness, saturation and contrast, as well as black and white and sepia modes can all be set - some via menus, some through their own buttons.

The various image sizes ranging from Olympus Raw (giving 13.4MB files) through to VGA resolution are easily set: the range of sizes offered is impressive and helpful.