As a professional aerial photographer I don’t think I ever have come across the perfect camera. Whether it’s film or digital, medium format or 35mm all cameras are a compromise which may work well with one group of photographers but less so with others. And much of it is personal preference.

With that qualifying statement I have found my initial two weeks in the company of the latest Digital SLR from Olympus a most pleasant experience.

Let me share my findings on the E-300 – also named Evolt in other countries – in this introduction (a more in-depth report may follow later).

For the uninitiated, Digital SLRs (Single Lens Reflex) cameras are the tools of choice for many professional photographers. The high resolution and versatility (not to mention the interchangeable lenses) make the DSLR invaluable.

Until recently I stayed away from DSLRs for my aerial work as most of my clients demanded high-quality enlargements (18x12” being the minimum) which only medium format cameras could produce.

I had one further requirement for my gear: single-handed operation. That’s kinda handy when you have to fly an airplane at the same time…

DSLRs have the buttons in the right place (no scrolling through endless menus to quickly change settings), are fast (almost as fast now as film cameras) and if you have made a significant investment in lenses, a DSLR of the same brand might be the obvious way to go.

With that as a background briefing, the E-300 was everything I expected from renowned camera maker Olympus.

Here’s why:

• Responsive and intuitive machine

• Easy to read LCD (although not overly large)

• Great design (more on that below)

• Two specially designed lenses

Intuitive because this reviewer’s model (the first in the country) came without a printed manual. Rest assured: all production models are complete with manual!

Before I downloaded the manual from the Olympus site I played around with it for a few hours and found that you really don’t need a manual until you really want to eke out all the camera has to offer. Which is quite a bit.

The design is unlike any other DSLR on the market, missing the characteristic hump on the top where the pentaprism resides.

The E-300 has a clever new way of ensuring the same result:  it has an optical “porro” finder that uses four mirrors -- one of which swings sideways rather than upwards -- to bend the light up from the lens and to the viewfinder eyepiece.

The slimmed-down look makes for a unit that’s easier to “bag” but others may mistake it for a sophisticated Point & Shoot camera.

Handling is well-balanced and when I tested it on some aerial photo missions I found it easy to manipulate while still keeping the aircraft under control.

Normally, I need to use the full range between, say, the 28-200mm equivalent, so the supplied lens, the EZ14-45mm zoom, was not enough but the other lens, the EZ40-150mm, fills out the spectrum quite nicely and results in the full 28-300mm equivalent coverage. These lenses are probably not as good as the glass Zuiko ED digital lenses but then again these EZ  lenses are much more affordable at the sub-$300 level.

I try to avoid changing lenses when in the high-pressure environment that aerial photography presents but if you need to change, the E-300 has a clever way of keeping the dust out:  the Supersonic Wave Filter, unique to Olympus, removes dust and particles from the sensor and ensures a clean image. The Supersonic Wave Filter is located between the shutter and CCD. The filter vibrates at 350,000 times per second and is automatically activated when the camera is turned on. Alternatively, you can manually select this function from an on-screen menu.

What happens to the dust?

Apparently it just drops off onto a sticky piece of material below the sensor…

Sounds like a clever and great way to deal with the perennial problem of dust!

Any “negatives”?

Being a digital unit there aren’t any “negatives” so let’s call them downsides… actually I can think of only one.

I would have expected a USB2.0 connection instead of the 1.1 port. Or a FireWire port.

A more personal request/requirement would be a zoom lens for the full 28-200mm range but I could live with having to change lenses on occasion…

The two weeks with the Evolt was not enough for an in-depth review but enough to realize that Olympus has a winner in the E-300.

If they had a lens that covered the 28-200mm range it would absolutely be the camera of choice for my aerial photography work. This is just a personal requirement though and most folks would be happy to change lenses on occasion.

The 8MP resolution gives brilliant enlargements and the price of US$1000 seems to be just right for what’s offered: a camera that does not disappoint the discerning pro. The official Australian price at $1999 doesn’t do justice to the low exchange rate however. A straightforward exchange should bring it closer to the Aussie 1300 mark…