Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(19)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

This is a snap response after recieving this camera today and playing with it for about an hour or so.

First, THE GOOD:

The first thing you're gonna notice about this camera is it's apearance. It's simply GORGEOUS! It's called the STYLUS for a reason! It's STYLISH! It's hands down the most attractive looking camera I've seen, it just looks cool. You're bound to get compliments any time you whip it out among company. The shiny aluminum case is no just very classy looking, but also makes for a durable and sturdy frame.

The Stylus 300 Digital by Olympus is very well made, and feels firm and durable in the hand. It does'nt feel flimsy at all. You get the feeling that if you dropped it on a sidewalk a few times it would probably survive with little more than a dent (Although I wouldnt try that!). Also, it's supposedly made for all-weather use, so you should be able to take pictures in driving rain if you wanted to. You'l notice that all the ports and connectors are protected by rubber covers and all the little compartments with plastic doors (for example the little cover that you flip up to put in a memory card) covering them are sealed with rubber rims to keep out water. This is a great camera for anyone who tends to be a bit clumbsy or who wants to be able to have take pictures in bad weather.

The camera is also pretty small. It may not be the smallest camera out (when compared to other super-tiny models) but it's pretty damn small! It's about the size of a pack of cigarretts! It's actually smaller than my wallet!

The camera is also very well designed. There is no lens cap to loose or have to remember to put on. Instead a door slides over the lens and protects it. This same door/sleave is used to turn the camera on/off. Turning it on is as simple as flipping the door over. Start up is very quick! I was able to turn the camera on, take a picture, and turn the camera back off and in my pocket in about 10 seconds! It's pretty responsive. It's pretty quick taking pictures too, the wait time between pictures is very short (shorter than my 35mm), not quite as fast as would be wished for though.

Olympus also through in a remote control! This is great for self portraits or when you want to actually be IN the pictures you're taking. The battery life apears to be pretty good, and a lithium Ion battery is included as well as a charger. Also included is a 16 MB memory card. I wish there was a little built in memory or a larger card had been included for the money. The card technology is either a new one I am not familiar with or a proprietary one - it's called "XD picture card". The 'card' is a TINY (about the size of thumbnail).

USB is supported (as expected) and you can ussually plug the camera right in and windows (XP and ME) will automatically recognize it as a removeable drive. This is great as you can even use you're camera's memory to carry around or transfer other types of files as well which might be useful in a pinch. It also supports video out so you can view pictures on your TV.

Finally there is also a movie mode that lets you take 16 second video clips. The down side is that this is in quicktime format (I would much prefer MPEG or AVI). Another thing is that the length is ALWAYS limited to 16 seconds - even if you have a 128 MB card in there, you can only take 16 second clips... that's just dumb. If I have enough memory why cant I take longer clips? Come on Olympus, release a firmware patch to allow us to take longer clips or use a different video format. There is also no sound, which is a feature that IS present in models made by cannon and Kodak (who provde both built in mics, built in speakers, and the time of your movie clips is only limited to memory restraints). This is a significant drawback if this featureset interests you, but isn't enough to weigh down the rest of the quality present.

The interface is also pretty easy to use and supports plenty of features. It's not QUITE as easy as the Kodak DX4330, but most people will find it pretty simple with a minimal learning curve.

All in all, this is a GREAT camera. While you're probably going to want to buy a bigger memory card, you'll probably be VERY happy with this as a choice. The only cons are the lack of support for video features - the lack of sound and the time restraints are both unexcusable considering the price.

Still I give it a 5 star rating for the quality of construction and the over-all design. Im very happy with this camera, they just need to add sound to the next version. Heck, if they would just release a patch t allow video clips to use MPEG or even just allow us to take longer clips, then I would call this the ONLY CHOICE in digital cameras for the price range.

I purchased this camera a couple of weeks ago and couldn't be more happier with it.

I bought this camera for its size (small and compact)and I am delighted. I'm a point and shoot type of guy and love to take photos but hate to carry a camera. After buying the Stylus 300, I took a 5-day trip to the desert with it in a small carrying case on my belt. After five days of hiking and climbing, I didn't even know I was carrying a camera on my belt. If you carry a cell phone on your belt, you won't notice the Stylus 300 there.

Compared to my previous digital camera (Kodak 4800)this camera is a dream to carry. In addition, the battery life appears to be much better than the Kodak. I bought an extra battery for the trip and took approximately 150 photos during the five days and didn't run out of battery life.

A couple of small gripes. First, the camera doesn't allow you to date stamp a photo. I like to use the date stamp on occasion and the Stylus 300 won't allow you to do it.

Second, there is a setting that allows you to reset the camera's settings when you shut the camera off. Or you can choose to keep your setting when shutting down. I would have like to see a chose to lock certain settings and have the camera reset the remaining settings you don't wish to lock.

Third, the camera doesn't come with a carrying case. I bought one for less than $10 that worked fine but an Olympus case would have been nice.

However, these are minor issues that do not distract from the overall performance of the camera. I am very happy with the Stylus 300 and would recommend it to those "point and shoot" folks that don't like the hassle of carrying a camera around all day.

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If you're looking for a digital camera for all weather situations, this (or the Stylus 400) is it. Otherwise, move on. There are better choices in the market for the money. Yes I know, if you're looking at this, you've already decided on the minimum megapixels and optical zoom capabilities...

This camera is compact with a metal casing. It fits well in the pocket and feels good in the hand. And it takes decent pictures outdoor too. However, the slow shutter delay can make you miss your shots. In addition, don't expect all pictures taken in low light (indoor) to be sharp. I consider myself as a pretty well versed photographer, and I've ended up with some blurry shots. You'll have to hold the camera very still while waiting for the shutter to finally snap. Please note that you won't know that the shots are blurry until you've uploaded them onto your computer - the camera screen is too small for checking this.

This camera is good for toting around (small, rugged, and all weather) in case you want to take a quick snap shot for the collection and sharing of your memories. However, my brand-new camera broke down electronically one week after purchase (second day of usage; and no, it wasn't the battery) while on work assignment off the shores Puerto Rico (and no, it didn't get wet... much). Luckily, I had my professional Nikon SLR with me. It took the Olympus America Inc. repair shop in Hauppauge, NY one month to repair it - they didn't have the parts on-hand. I didn't return the camera to the store because I needed the all weather feature (note that there are no features for adjusting f-stops, and such). By the way, I also have an all weather Olympus Stylus Epic Zoom, which uses regular film (film image resolution is still far superior to digital). OK, gotta stop messing around and get back to work now...

I'm a photo amatuer, so I purchased the Olympus Stylus 300 based on its reported ease of use...and I have to say I was initially impressed by that and the quality of the pics. However, after about a month of use the camera would not power up after a recharge. It was completely dead, as I tested the unit with AC power. I exchanged for the exact same model, and the same dang thing happened with that one after about a month also. I returned the second one, and the technician at the store said that this was a common complaint...there appears to be a bug in the Stylus software...anyway, I exchanged it for the Canon Powershot S400 so goodbye Olympus

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!

I am very pleased with the Olympus Stylus 300. I have owned other digital cameras and this one is by far the the best. Small and compact, lots of features, easy to use and produces high quality photos. No fumbling around with lens caps with the built in slider. The camera is weather resistant and has a nice big display for viewing photos. It is everything I wanted in a digital camera and not overpriced.

Pros: Weatherproof with excellent photo quality, Small design, easy to use, excellent resolution, great features, Stylish(cute), metal housing.

Cons: Shutter lag is a little slow, No manual controls, Movie mode doesn't have sound, short video length.

Summary: have to admit that this is the only digital camera I've ever owned, so consider all of this novice information. I just went into Best Buy and Curcuit City and asked, "What is your best compact model?". Both recomended the same. I purchased this one from CC, along with a 3-year replacement warranty. I figured I would just return it if not completely satisfied. They offer a 30-day no questions deal. I think I'll keep it, though.

Picture quality is amazing, both on my television screen or printed via PC. I will never own another 35mm again. I have 2 Olympus SLR's(OM 2000) and 3 lenses. You'll probably see them on Ebay soon. Great cameras, but I just got tired of carrying the units around, which later led me to not using them at all. I was going to purchase a high quality compact 35mm to replace them--glad I waited.

Construction seems to be very durable. The entire housing is made of metal and almost has a jewelry-like look to it. It's hard to see in advertisments but the "OLYMPUS" logo on the front of the camera is holographic, and changes colors at different angles to the person viewing it.

It is sold with a 16MB memory card that stores anywhere from 99 images in the lowest pixel mode, to 6 in the super high quality mode. I noticed they had larger capacity cards at the store, but I wanted to see what I needed before I started purchasing extras.

The zoom feature is very nice. The manual says the maximum is "a maximum of approximately 15X". This is when optical and digital are combined, however that works.

I just bought this camera with these in mind:
1. price
2. shutter speed.
3. resolution
4. form factor

The remaining characteristics were sort of secondary (but still important) such as flash memory type, zoom (zoom is a relative new technology so I'm not expecting much in terms of the zoom lens).

So based on those, here are the pros and cons:

PROS:
1. Nice and small. All weather is a plus. I can drop it in the sand and know it won't break (Of course, the camera has to be in the off mode. If it's on and the lens is extended, then sand will definitely get inside and break it.)
2. Excellent resolution and clarity outdoors. I took many at both sunny days and cloudy/twilight nights and the clarity (without the flash) was outstanding.
3. I like the fact that it comes with a rechargeable battery. I've heard nightmare stories of dig. cameras that eat up batteries.

CONS:
1. Shutter speed was disappointing. indoors with flash, it took just over 2 seconds to register the picture. I timed it. Outdoors, it took a touch over 1 second (1.1). I don't know much about digital camera shutter speeds but those values seem a little long for me.
2. The card type is xD. Proprietary and expensive.
3. It wasn't intuitive to learn. I had to read the manual. For instance, I was trying to view the pictures on the LCD screen without learning how from the manual (it was a user-friendly test) and I couldn't.

First, the bad: indoor, no flash pictures are poor. We took about 60 pictures this weekend for my brother's graduation, about half inside with no flash, and only 4 of them came out okay. Even the "good" ones weren't particularly sharp when I reduced them to 800x600. We mostly took pictures of people; any movement on the part of the subject or the camera made the picture very blurry. Guess it's using a slow shutter speed to compensate for the low light, though I'm surprised that it's as bad as it is! Though, this is the only digital camera that I've used, so it might just be that I had high expectations

Besides indoor no flash shots, this camera is great. It's pretty. It has some weight to it which makes it feel more solid. It's small---it easily slips into a jeans or shirt pocket. The lithium battery that comes with the battery is great---it lasts forever. The camera comes with a charger. I used the camera off and on over the weekend (~60 pictures) and didn't run out of battery. Outdoor shots are sharp and the colors are good. The memory is pretty speedy. I transferred over 100 meg worth of pictures in just a few minutes. Oh, and since the battery is so good, you don't need to worry about buying one of those special download hookups. Just plug the USB cable into the camera and start downloading!

One thing that I particularly love (being the computer geek that I am) is that I can mount the camera as a USB drive under linux, no special software needed. I just "mount -t vfat /dev/sda1 /mnt/usb" and copy the files over. No hassling with Windows!

In summary, if you don't mind using the flash for indoor pictures, this is a great little camera, well worth the money.

This is the first digital camera I have purchased and it is wonderful. I would recommend this camera to everybody. The body of this camera is great its small, light and compact and its fits right in your pocket. It also takes great pictures the zoom could be alittle better but its still good. Easy to use the software installed it the same day I got the camera. If you want a camera thats small and user friendly than this is the camera for you.