Labs

A feature-packed camera capable of decent pictures, if you can master its controls.

Image Quality

The C-300 was not at all bad at reproducing colours and photos were sharp enough, but we were expecting more after the amazing results of the Olympus C3020 Zoom we reviewed back in July. The flash failed to bring out much detail in the dog, and while outdoor work was generally good, indoor action shots were dodgy, presumably

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because the Olympus chose a very slow shutter speed.

Features

The C-300 lets you choose from multiple shooting modes, take video clips, change the white balance and switch ISO modes. You can even do a spot of photo editing using a cropping tool and a black and white converter.

Design

The menu is awkward to use, and you'll have to refer to the manual to find out what some of the symbols and terms mean. We set the camera to take top quality images but found that it reverted to a lower setting every time it was switched off. There is a setting to prevent this automatic reset detailed in the manual. All this complexity reduces the chance of catching impromptu moments. Worse still, viewing and erasing images requires that the front cover to be shut and the camera switched off, which adds delay to your shooting. This is the camera's weakest feature.

Overall

Nice pictures, but it's not immediately simple to use and you have to jump through hoops to delete unsuccessful shots.