Olympus E-300 in the garden.

[grahams]

The Olympus E-300 DSLR, aka E-VOLT 300 that I gave my Best Beloved for her

birthday continues to impress. I was allowed to share in it's pleasures this

last Sunday when we both took a number of shots with it in our garden. The

file format was set to RAW + Jpg. The firmware installed is V3.1

 

I downloaded our shots immediately to the PC as we progressed in our endeavours

to capture that perfect picture. The Jpg files enabled us to have a quick look

at the shots on-screen and to delete those not up to scratch. I then processed

the RAW files in Photoshop CS2 without any other adjustment besides the

appropriate amount of sharpening for the final useage - web or print, and

printed out the results on the Canon i9500 as glossy 8 X 10 prints.

 

All of the shots were hand held and the only accessory used was an A3 size

black card as a background to my shot of a rose. No reflectors, no flash. The

metering was left on ESP, which is matrix metering in Olyspeak, and the mode on

aperture priority. The lens used was the only one we have, the 14 - 45mm f3.5-

5.6 "kit" lens. The white balance was set to auto. When taking the shot of

the rose, with my Best Beloved holding the black card and balancing

precariously so as not to stand on any plants, I shot the first shot without

any exposure compensation. I then realised that the black back-ground would

cause the meter to overexpose, so I applied first a minus half stop and then

minus one stop compensation. Guess what? The first non-compensated exposure

is the one I used - the histogram was perfect!

 

The more I use the E-300, the more I like it. It has a solid feel and a nice

heft to it, similar to the Canon 20D or 30D. The viewfinder is brighter than

most DSLRs that I have tried, without clutter. Just the basic f-stop and

shutter speed and AF indicator appear on the right of the frame. Other

information such as battery level, exposure compensation and flash only appear

when necessary. If you are familiar with the ledgendary Olympus Pen-F half-

frame SLR of the '70s and '80s it will be obvious to you where the E-300 design

philosophy stems from. The mirror and viewfinder construction is of the same

principle. Here are some of the shots:

 

 

 

Begonia

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/4776938-lg.jpg">

 

Rose

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/4776936-lg.jpg">

 

Dahlia

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/4776927-lg.jpg">

 

Campanulas

<img src="http://images.fotopic.net/yxdrpc.jpg">

 

Begonia

<img src="http://images.fotopic.net/yxdrpa.jpg">

 

Pink Begonia

<img src="http://images.fotopic.net/yxdrpb.jpg">

 

Daisy

<img src="http://images.fotopic.net/yxdrp9.jpg">

[chepas_nigs]

great shots! i used to have one before i switched to pentax. i used the ex-25 + 45-150mm for macro shots and a tokina 400mm SD (via OM-4/3). it was really good even for further cropping. the vf just hurt my eyesight though after a whole day shooting - and i do have the Pen F also. :-)

 

Enjoy!<div></div>

[GerrySiegel]

Very stunning colors. Olympus has done some interesting engineering with the E volts. Meaning apparently successful use of penta mirrors swinging sideways. Not to mention putting a device in the camera to shake off dust. It is fascinationg to see what comes out of the Olympus laboratory this next year. I like the lenses also for size and solid feel. EVen the lens hoods go on and stay on easily. Little nice touches. Someone will be surprised that you compare E300 construction to the the three times priced Canons,makes for horse races:-).

 

I know a lady who does weddings and events with a budget priced E 300 plus a not so budget 50-200 mm which gets her some prize shots,even cloesups of flowers. Give yourself credit for good technique,Graham,needless to say. Look good on my monitor...

[OCULUS New York]

Some brilliant colors and great textures. May I suggest a scrim of some sort to diffuse the harsh sunlight? Or, you could get up and head out before the actual sunrise or shoot in evening.

 

I think softer lighting (and aperture prioirty/shallow depth of field to blur out background) would improve your shots dramatically. I just learned all this at a workshop; see my post below here on E-1 Goes to School.

 

Good luck,

Ray Hull

[w. roger keagle]

Magic...

 

Never did I ever dream that my Pen F would evolve to the Evolt...but I am glad it did...you have found the soul of this camera and allowed it to spring forth with it's MAGIC<div></div>

[josphy]

The one with the spider web is really nice. The lighting and use of the black card set off that spider web perfectly!