Olympus Stylus 300 3.2 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

Rating:
Summary: invincible & useful...but only for a specific set of users!
Review: this camera has survived falls on concrete, mountain hikes through drizzle, and constant crushing at the bottom of my backpack. i take it with me everywhere, every single day. if you are like me, and abuse your electronics, but require a constant camera companion to capture unexpected moments, the olympus is worth considering. it's tiny and portable, takes satisfactory photos---excellent ones in daylight---and its battery lasts me days, even weeks. this is useful, since i'm very busy and do not have time to perpetually recharge the thing. i rarely have to think about it, but when i need it, it's there.

if, however, you are going to baby your camera (as well you should, this stuff is expensive), and immortal battery life is not an issue, then the benefits of the olympus 300 probably do not outweigh the cons. some things that have prevented me from snapping that "perfect shot": a noticeable shutter lag (although it is considerably reduced if you get the chance to half-press the shutter release to focus beforehand), mediocre shot-to-shot times, a weak flash (frustrating when your target is just out of range), no sports/action mode, time-consuming menu navigation for limited preset scenes (no manual controls to compensate for this either), and in low light situations, a tendency to focus on an object directly before your intended target if flash is employed (even if your subject is as obvious as a group of people...if there is a table or something in the way, you'll end up with an image of a brilliant table and a bunch of silhouettes behind it). to be fair, these seem to be problems common in many compact digital cameras. but some cameras have strengths where others have weaknesses, and vice versa, so if these details are important to you, you may want to consider other models.

i tolerate these deficiencies because the olympus 300 serves my specific needs well (priorities: size, durability, battery life, satisfactory image quality). i snap some fine landscape and impromptu city-life shots with this little camera, and the automatic preset works well for the vast majority of situations. i don't know how accurately my needs represent those of the average user, though...so make sure it serves yours before purchasing!

Rating:
Summary: Olympus let me down.
Review: My first digital camera was an Olympus c3000. I was so impressed with the photo quality from that camera that I decided to stay with Olympus when I moved to a more compact camera. I loved my C3000 but I found I was leaving it at home because of its size.

The Olympus name and the compact size of the Stylus 300 was what initially attracted me to it. The promise of being "weatherproof" sold me. I have to admit, although heavy, the size was perfect. Not too big. Not too small. I carried it everywhere. However, that's where my love affair with the Stylus 300 ends. The autofocus was slow. Woefully slow. I found a majority of my photos were blurred. Yes, I know how to operate the autofocus. However, for most spontaneous shots, the autofocus lagged behind.

I was willing to work around that because of its size and, again, the promise of being "weatherproof." That promise was broken a couple of months ago. On our way to an outdoor concert, it began to rain. "No problem!" I confidently told my companions, "I'll take my camera. It's weatherproof." It's not. Before leaving the car, I checked to make sure the port doors were closed properly and the camera looked as sealed as it should be. To be fair, the camera functioned for an hour or two just fine. I was able to snap a few pictures as the rains came down. But the next shot I attempted greeted me with flashing green lights. That's when I noticed the water. The viewfinder was half full of water! At this point, I shut the camera off and stowed it back in my rain gear.

Back at home, I opened all the doors to the camera and placed it on the dresser for several days. I'd hoped that the damage was limited to the viewfinder and that, once dry, the camera would be ok. No such luck. It hasn't worked since. The camera is out of warranty or I'd send it to Olympus.

Initially, I was mildly disappointed with the picture quality from this camera. Now, I feel cheated. For a brief second, I looked at the Stylus Verve because of its size and its claim of being "weatherproof." I soon came to my senses. Olympus let me down and won't get a second chance.

Rating:
Summary: good for day trips
Review: This is a great camera for day time use. It has taken horrible pictures in doors and at night. It takes beautiful pictures in the sun light though. Wouldn't recommend to a friend.

Rating:
Summary: I am impressed
Review: I bought the camera a couple weeks ago and I've been very impressed by it. It is very easy to use. The menus are very organized and the manual does a great job explaining all the features. Landscape pictures and portraits are incredible. The camera does a good job reducing red eye, and skin tone is captured very accurately. The zoom isn't great, but I was willing to sacrifice the zoom for the size. The 16 mb XD card that it comes with is very small. I would recommend getting atleast a 128 mb card. If you get a new XD card and you're planning on taking panorama's, make sure that you get an Olympus brand card (other brands don't support panorama shots). Battery life is great. I was able to take a little over 250 pictures with a fully charged battery (about 200 of them were in the lowest resolution and the other 50 were in the highest resolution). It can be difficult getting clear pictures if you don't have a steady hand. It is also difficult to determine if the pictures are clear from looking at the LCD screen. Sometimes they'll look clear on the screen, but when I download it onto the computer they'll be slightly blurry. The one negative thing about this camera is the slow shutter speed. Don't even try getting action shots. All you'll see is a blur. Also, night shots or lowlight shots within the flash range (with the flash on) come out very nicely, but anything beyond that comes out blurry. Overall, it was well worth the price and I am very satisfied with it.

Rating:
Summary: dead
Review: This was my wife's christmas present. I love the camera and learn to love Olympus products. I like the idea of an all weather camera. This must be a standard for every digital camera. Like the airbag for the cars. I took this camera everywhere, USA, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Mexico City, Cancun, in te mountains of Colombia in south america, and back to the USA. Excellent!!! No problem at all.
I recommend the Fujifilm memory cards, Lowepro camera bag and Lexar Media Multi-Card reader.