Digital Cameras > Olympus Digital Cameras > 8 Megapixels

Advantages: Durable magnesium case, excellent lens.
Disadvantages: Auto focus sometimes fails on long distance shots, manual focus fiddly.

I chose this option as cheaper than a full blown DSLR and because of the online reviews. In practise the camera is an excellent bridge camera - part way between point and shoot and the DSLRs. The camera is substantial. It is reasonably heavy and feels solid to hold - certainly not one for putting in your pocket. The body is magnesium, and so durable for regular use. The lens is excellent, and 8mp more than sufficient. The actual sensor is smaller ...
...with this comes a small degree of noise due to the smaller senor elements. The camera works well in most situations producing top quality shots. Occasionally it can fail to focus on long distance landscapes. The manual focus facility does not have a proper ring on the lens, but instead uses the up down keys on the camera body. Taking images in RAW mode can take 10 seconds to save. Apart from these niggles the camera is a great workhorse and will ... Read review

Advantages: Image quality, wide angle, handling
Disadvantages: only 5x optical zoom

This is a superb camera, which sadly doesn't seem to be widely available anymore, after only a year and a half of being produced. I'd really recommend it as an upgrade from a compact digital camera. It provides most of the features and image quality you'd get from a digital SLR but, is cheaper and more user friendly. I bought mine from the excellent 7dayshop.com for just over £400, but by now you can get it cheaper elsewhere. The greatest feature ...
...wide, equivalent to 28mm for an SLR. This means you can get more into your landscapes or family shots, without having to walk backwards (and fall over) to fit it all in. the 5x optical zoom is enough for most shots, although most other 8 megapixel cameras offer 10 or 15x, you've got to have rocksteady hands or a tripod to make decent use of that range. The 8 megapixels are plenty for shots that view beautifully on a projector, or to be blown up ... Read review

Advantages: Lovely images images, superb construction.
Disadvantages: Less convenient than a compact. Auto-white balance and metering occassionally incorrect.

It's a pity the E300 is no longer available, because I think it's a fantastic tool. I bought the E300 twin lens kit after my first digital camera, the discontinued Nikon Coolpix 4500 expired. Actually, that camera took some beautiful photographs and was incredibly versatile. It's only real fault was slow and somewhat unreliable autofocus. I guess I learned the basics of photography with it. The E300, however, was a real revalation: instant focusing, ...
...and truly stunning images. I recently had a picture of my little boy printed at 32" by 24", and it's still pin sharp which says all you need to know about the capability of the 8Mpixel sensor. I really don't see the need for more pixels than this. True, you need to learn how to use the camera to get that kind of performance from the lenses every time. But I really do get very few duds. Battery life is amazing too. ... Read review

Advantages: High quality pictures
Disadvantages: Abit complex but easy to pick up

...experience with cameras I myself get on very well with it with many options for night snaps etc. I would recommend getting this from ebuyer however i belive this camera is being replaced by another olympus model an its not as good so get one while you can! ... Read review

Advantages: Daylight photos and battery
Disadvantages: Night photos

This machine will be your best friend. Especially if you don't have a mobile that take photos. You can carry with you easy cause to the small size. Perfect image colours for the daylight photos but not the same for the night especially if you try to take photo people further than 2 meters due to the week flash. The battery last longer than other cameras cause the optical zoom is internal (Minolta pattern) and the LCD screen at the back is small(less ...
...that last with less money is a good selection. Definitely there are better cameras with better night photos. But is difficult to find any camera to take photos at night. Tip for nights photos don't use the flash. Press the button for photo and wait . Try this to take photo a town from above at night. It needs 30 second to take a photo like that but the result is perfect. Have fun. ... Read review