The overall rating of a review is different from a simple average of all individual ratings.
Advantages:
Showerproof . Great pictures . Fast transfer . Works OK with my 512Mb XD card . Reasonably quick autofocus and flash
Disadvantages:
Build quality concerns : Plastic switches . Weak zoom switch . Silver colour soon wears - off all switches . Sliding front has switch which often fails due to dirt/dust . Noticably slower startup when using a large (512Mb) card . Short videos . No sound .
Hi. I'm an I.T. consultant into dangerous extreme sports like blackberry-picking and full-contact ca...
Hi. I'm an I.T. consultant into dangerous extreme sports like blackberry-picking and full-contact car boot sales.
Member since:19.08.2004
Reviews:2
The Olympus Mju300 3.2 MegaPixel proved a fine camera for my recent 12 months of backpacking around the world. My selection criteria was for a strong, compact , metal bodied, shower proof camera, with a compact multi-voltage charger, good optics, a reasonably quick auto focus at a keen price. I chose Olympus since they are and have always been a camera maker (as opposed to Sony or Casio et al) so should know a thing or two about lenses and camera construction. This was my first foray into digital photography, and boy am I glad I went ahead - I simply don’t know how travellers managed lugging around rolls and rolls of 35mm film before. I returned with 5-6000 pictures which is just a modest fist-full of CDs.
For a fairly inexperienced photographer such as myself I found the camera offers a useful range of exposure modes chosen using the idiot-proof (useful for me) graphical menu system which is accessed via the 4 cursor buttons and two function keys on the back. Simple, but here lies a problem. With all the use that these buttons receive I have found the metallic silver colour wears off them within 6 months of heavy use to reveal drab, grey plastic underneath. Additionally, the camera’s model name written along the top of the body gradually wore away within 6 months.
Further build quality concerns extend to the zoom rocker switch also losing its silver colour. This button cracked straight down the middle during normal use travelling around New Zealand. Fortunately the excellent local Olympus service centre in Christchurch replaced the entire camera's back in a jiffy. Metal bodied camera…. plastic buttons. Olympus take note.
This camera takes both Fuji or Olympus XD cards but comes equipped with a disappointing 16Mb card which only stores 6 pictures in the maximum "Super High Quality" (2048 x 1536 pixel) mode. I recommend dropping the resolution however, particularly when on the road, to SQ1 "Super Quality 1" (1600 x 1200 pixels) which enables 24 good quality pictures to be stored on the 16Mb card. This resolution still offers superb picture quality and surprisingly good 6x4 prints, but may not be sufficient for enlargements.
Speaking of memory, I soon purchased one of the new, whopping 512Mb XD cards to allow more freedom whilst travelling in less developed areas where CD burners and Kodak shops are few and far between. A memory card of this size allows the little Olympus to go on and on and on:
SHQ Super High Quality 2048x1536 allows 223 pics HQ High Quality 2048x1536 allows 652 pics SQ1 Super Quality1 1600x1200 allows 798 pics SQ2 Super Quality2 640x480 allows 3195 pics
Yes you read that right - a very respectable 798 pictures in SQ1 mode. Excellent for boring friends to death with your holiday snaps! One slight disadvantage with using the mju300 with the large card is that you have to wait up to 7 seconds before the camera is ready to shoot with a full-ish card.
A power socket may also prove hard to find sometimes, so this camera's LION (Lithium Ion) battery life and quick recharge time from the included compact and well-built charger is a god send. The charger works faultlessly with all voltage and 50 or 60Hz supplies.
One last point to consider, and I have met several other mju 300/400 owners with the same problem, is that the sliding cover is prone to dust and dirt entering the concealed switch beneath it. This means the camera will sometimes not switch on when the cover is opened, and/or will not switch off (and wind-in the lens) when the cover is slid closed. Some wiggling and/or a blast of compressed air will fix this, but I feel it goes against Olympus' weatherproof, and presumably outdoor-use, suitability claims (and yes, it did get rained-on many times and performed admirably!).
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: Gorgeous design, weatherproofing is a plus, easy to use Disadvantages: Few override options, no sound on the video mode, loses out in the value stakes these days
Advantages: Excellent value for money, good range of features, high quality camera and photos Disadvantages: No manual adjustment of exposure duration, only short videos possible, with no sound
Advantages: Gorgeous design, weatherproofing is a plus, easy to use Disadvantages: Few override options, no sound on the video mode, loses out in the value stakes these days
![OLYMPUS Battery LI-12B For C-50, C-5000, C-60, C-7000, C-765, C-770, Ferrari Digital 2003, FE-200, µ[mju:] 1000, µ[mju:] 300, µ[mju:] 400, µ[mju:] 410, µ[mju:] 500, µ[mju:] 810 Battery Rechargeable Battery](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/107364544.jpg "OLYMPUS Battery LI-12B For C-50, C-5000, C-60, C-7000, C-765, C-770, Ferrari Digital 2003, FE-200, µ[mju:] 1000, µ[mju:] 300, µ[mju:] 400, µ[mju:] 410, µ[mju:] 500, µ[mju:] 810 Battery Rechargeable Battery")
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![Olympus µ[MJU:] 300 Digital](http://imagesb.ciao.com/iuk/images/products/normal/037/product-5333037.jpg)
![Overall user rating: Olympus µ[MJU:] 300 Digital](http://images.ciao.com/ide/images/stars/2003/stars45.gif)
Aug 20th, 2004
very helpful by (90%):
helpful by (10%):
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