First specs of E300

[old_admin_CI]

Hi,

today Olympus lifted the curtain. The new Olympus 4/3 camera will be the E-300. It has 8MP, no Pentaprism, but an optical viefinder "Porro" (which makes it smaller) and shall cost with the 14-54 mm zoom below 1.000 Euro!

That sounds good...

 

[bdcolen]

Does anyone know precisely WHAT this viewfinder is, and how good such a device is in real life?

 

[old_admin_CI]

this is an illustration how this porro optical viewfiner works. But I never used a camera with a porro system

 

[ctburgess]

As a potentially new Olympus user, I was really hoping to see alot more dialogue about this set-up, especially since it is being heralded as a "breakthrough." Obviously, I realize that it will not be released until December, but other photo forums have more discussions going on! (And they're focused on Nikon/Canon!)

 

[bdcolen]

What do you mean by dialogue? Do you mean pointless mumbling by people who haven't yet used the camera? You can get all the specs from Olympus. But until there are some decent reviews, what does "dialogue" matter?

 

[biofos]

Listen not to any camera talk shops. Do your own research. In the forthcoming months log onto the mulitude of review sites and whenever the E300 is mentioned print the article. Don't expect any meaningful or accurate information until the camera is actually in production. This might be some time yet. Ask Olympus for information. Read the detail, not the headline. The E300 is by Olympus' own admission an OM10 equivalent (with E1 = OM1.) The breakthrough was the E1. Don't expect the new camera to be second generation E1; it isn't. That's the job of the E3. The E300 is aimed at the mass market and will be made down to a standard. There's nothing wrong with this strategy as, hopefully, it allows Olympus to recoup some R&D investment. Remember the OM10 was a good camera but it was not an OM1.

JF.

 

[biofos]

A porro prism is an optical device similar to a pentaprism but is designed to "turn" the light through more than the 90 degrees a normal prism acheives on a standard 35mm SLR. This is achieved through a mixture of prisms and mirrors. It appears to be the same as used on the 60's Pen F. Here the porro prism "turned" the lightpath either 3 or 4 times - that is (looking from the top rear of the camera) left 90/ up 90/ prismed/right 90/re-prismed and out at the exit pupil. A tortuous journey that obeys the laws of physics. The result is a less bright at a smaller exit pupil. The E300 has a stated viewfinder image of 95% rather than the 100% of the E1 (that's physics.) It is TTL/TTL metered. It is unlikely it can be fitted with interchangeable screens. To gain light, that is the onboard flash, more important light, for composition, has been sacrificed. This is retro progress.

JF.

 

[pjbw]

>I will consider changing my C-5060 for an E-300 only if the standard len= s on the E-300 has no barrel or pincushion distortion at the wide-angle s= etting AND it comes with a proper printed reference manual. I am an amate= ur egyptologist. Ancient Egypt is all about straight lines and mostly con= fined spaces and so a 28mm equivalent lens is essential. I had hoped that= my C-5060 would replace my humble Pentax 928 film camera which if anythi= ng, has a minute degree of pincushion distortion at wide angle (there is = considerable vignetting in very bright sunlight @ 200 ASA but I can live = with that). Reviews had mentioned that there was barrel distortion on the= C-5060 lens but I had not realised it was so bad. Provided (and now I ma= ke sure) that there is a straight line near the edge of the picture I can= visually correct the distortion with Paint Shop Pro 9 but it is that muc= h more hassle (using one distortion to correct another distortion!). > =20 > Peter

 

[andy_radcliffe]

I wouldn't hold out much hope for a printed manual being supplied with the E-300. Probably a basic printed guide will be supplied ,with the full version on CD.I really can't see that this is a huge issue - after all, once you have familiarised yourself with any camera, how often do you need to refer to the manual anyway? It's not like you have to carry it around with you all the time. I would have thought that you would be better off with the 11-22mm lens maybe for your useage?

Andy.

 

[jimblock]

I'd be VERY surprised if it didn't come with a detailed printed manual (in the US, at least.) I've owned five Olympus digital SLR-type cameras (including an E-1); all have come with printed manuals, which are detailed and fairly clear. In Europe, however, the same cameras came with short manuals plus the detailed manual on CD.