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

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

List Price: $249.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great camera...With the looks of fine jewelry.
Review: 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.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: BEWARE!
Review: This camera has a great concept of a weather proof, compact go anywhere body BUT... Beware that if you buy this, the software that comes with it to download your photos onto your computer will only let you edit and print those photos. In other words, you CANNOT e-mail or even save them to disk without purchasing the upgrade to the software from Olympus.

Also, the camera takes okay photos, but I noticed that 1 out of every 5 or 6 photos is blurred for no apparent reason. I am not a professional photographer, but this is my third Olympus digital camera and it is the most expensive and poorest performer overall. That's not to say that it's a bad camera, but I would have expected better for the price.

Having said that, it does have some useful settings, and I love the compactness and portability of this camera. I'm just very annoyed that they're expecting everyone to pay for the upgrade to the software to make the photos taken with this camera share-able digitally.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Mine died...... young!
Review: I purchased this camera from Amazon in June 2003, when it had just come on the market. I decided to buy this as my first digital camera because I had been impressed with the Olympus Stylus 80 film camera I have had for several years (and still do). The stylus digital takes reasonable pictures compared with other digital cameras my friends own, and the battery life is excellent. I invested in the 256MB memory card and still haven't found out how many pictures you can cram on it at normal quality, but it's a lot.

I had complaints from the beginning however, about the space of time between my pressing the button and the actual taking of the shot. When you are trying to take pictures of children, the 1 or 1 1/2 second gap makes it nearly impossible to get the shot you were trying to get, and the good pictures I have gotten of my kids have been almost accidental. I was also disappointed to discover the limitations of the included software, which does not allow you to e-mail pictures unless you give Olympus another $20 for the privilege. Frankly, I thought this was a simple gouge, and I resented it.

My worst disappointment however, came recently. The camera shut off because the battery was exhausted. However, when I put in the fresh battery I had (and later, the recharged battery I had been using) the camera appeared to have frozen up. The lens will not extend and the little orange and green lights next to the viewfinder flash simultaneously and the camera beeps, a signal which, according to the manual, means that the battery is dead. Well, it 'aint! I cannot get the camera to work and the warranty will not be honoured where I live. This is the only digital camera I have ever owned, and so I cannot make a comparison with any others as to durability, but for cripe's sake, I paid top dollar for this about eight months ago and have treated it with kid gloves. I expected better from Olympus.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: It is a good camera
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.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: All Weather
Review: .
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...

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: dead
Review: Fabulous camera for all 5 months that it worked. Now it turns on but the shutter button does not work. Olympus wants $125. to look at it and probably replace it with a refurb.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: my first camera
Review: This is the first digital camera that I have ever purchased for myself. I must say that I am pleasently surprised with its' capabilities.

When using a STEADY hand, the picture clarity is unbelievable, this is great! Not only that, but I was completely unaware that there was a movie capability on it...silent and short, but still it is pretty cool and fun. For 16 seconds, one can chase cats all over the place.

The video out function is cool too, being able to plug it into the TV and view all the photos and movies is swell...although it runs off of the camera's power.

My only complaint is the the battery case slides open for me, and it might be just how I hold it - but it is a little annoying.

Purchase this at Best Buy - for $60 you can get the service plan and they will replace the batteries for free when they are below 100% and will cover all wear and tear on it.

I expect this to be the only one I get.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: excellent stylish camera
Review: I made many searches when buying my new camera. Finally, I was between the Olympus Stylus 300 and Sony DSC P8, but after seeing some photos taken by the Sony I decided to purchase the Olympus, and I am quite happy with it. The pictures taken by Sony indoors were very dark and blurry compared to the pictures taken by the Olympus. The picture quality in door and outdoor is great, the camera is very user friendly, the battery life is awesome, the shutter speed is good, and the flash is pretty strong for indoor pictures.
I would highly recommend this camera for the amateurs who want to take good quality pictures with a user friendly camera.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Horrible pictures
Review: My girlfriend and I just purchased this camera from best buy two hours ago. After charging the battery and taking a round of shots in our apartment, it was decided that this thing will go back to the store tomorrow!

the pictures are horribly blurry! not acceptable at all!

would not recommend this camera to anyone.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great little camera
Review: I have a higher-end Olympus camera, which I absolutely love. However, I am going to eastern Europe, and wanted a smaller camera that, were I to lose or break it, would not be such a major financial loss. I stuck with Olympus when making my purchase, and was not expecting much from this camera. But it has turned out to be an excellent purchase, and I like it as much as my other camera.

First, the size is great. There are smaller cameras, but this one is tiny, and doesn't get heavy when you carry it around all day. The picture quality is good, and there are more features than I expected for the price. The zoom capability is not bad, either. And, of course, it is attractive, though a purchase probably shouldn't be based on that reason alone.

I actually like the movie-taking ability. I have a camcorder for real video, and don't mind that this camera takes short "movies" without sound. But, it's more of a novelty than a selling feature. Much like the panorama feature, it's useful only for recording particularly beautiful or interesting places for a more realistic memory.

The things I don't like about this camera are probably due more to personal preference than anything else. First, I don't like the fact that it doesn't take AA batteries. I like to bring a few sets of rechargeables on a trip, and know that I can buy regular batteries if necessary. It's also disappointing that the battery cannot be charged inside the camera. I suppose that the lithium battery is to be expected with a small camera, however. The battery life of this camera is good, and I bought an extra battery just in case. I don't expect that I will have to bring a charger and adapter unless I am going on an extended trip.

The xD media card is also not thrilling. It is small and makes sense with a smaller camera, but for those of us who already have digital cameras, it is annoying to have to buy expensive new cards when buying a new camera. It was not important enough, though, to deter me from making this purchase.

Like another reviewer, I have had some issues with blurry pictures, though the problem is not unique to this camera. I figured out that using the viewfinder rather than the screen greatly reduces this problem.

Overall, I would highly recommend this camera to anyone who wants something small and relatively inexpensive for travel, or to someone who takes casual pictures and doesn't care about attaching lenses, f-stops or that type of stuff. Olympus makes a great product. Almost everyone in my family owns one of their cameras, and the one time there was a problem, Olympus was very accomodating, and replaced the camera free of charge.


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