i read really good reviews on the e300, except that its not recommended for lowlight users. I probably will have many occasions on which i will be in low light. would this problem be fixed in post processing, or does it even exist and its hype?
They usually mean stuff like ability to autofocus in low light, noise in picture at high ISO, etc.
Of course a lot depends on what lens you use on the camera, the 14-45mm kit lens is an F3.5-5.6, but the 50mm lens is an F2 which means you can let in more light (at a more expensive cost of course).
Also, because the E-300 uses a porro-mirror layout (instead of a penta-mirror layout), the viewfinder is darker...that may be another reason.
I've never been in a situation where I couldn't get a shot, I'll use the focus assist beam on the external flash (rather than the strobing that comes from the internal), or use the manual focus, and of course use a tripod. The E-330 may be a little better as it has live view on the monitor, but in my experience with electronic view finders I prefer optical, especially for low light shooting.
1. The e-300 is said not to have the best low-light auto-focus around. However, I don't know if you can find anything better without paying a lot of more money. I have taken a number of handheld low-light photos (mostly parades): usually you can find something at a similar distance to focus at. I have only once had to use manual focus - it was v-e-r-y dark and near impossible to do manually.
2. Secondly, the e-300 is said to be a bit noisy on 800 and 1600 ISO. I clean the photos in Neat Image (though some swear to Noise Ninja) if necessary (if you over- or underexpose, it seems always necessary) with good result. Note that the photos even before cleaning are far better than anything I have ever taken on 800 ASA films, so we probably shouldn't complain. However, if you are a pixel-gazer, you may want to look at other camera makes as well.
i have used my e300 for night shots and results are really good
deepends what your wanting to do i suppose, mine where shot on manual mode on a tripod as i wanted to catch the light trials etc, maximum exposure is 30 seconds
shot at 100 iso and got noiseless perfectly sharpe images
The E-300 offers a whole lot for the price. I have been able to consistently get excellent images at ISO 800, if I keep then very slightly underexposed. Night photos are excellent.
the only grumble i have heard the really bothers people is noise at high iso, but as i dont ever intend to shoot at high iso its not something that concerns me at all, i preffer to keep iso to as low as itll go to keep noise out
and i have lived with the e-300 for about 5 months now and cannot fault it at all, bad shots i have taken are due to me not the camera, i moved up from the c4040 and had to re think shots again, mainly to no live preview as i used that lots on c4040, by taking different reading from different places in the shot to see what image would be before i took it.......now i gotta look at final image and see if it needs reshooting by getting light reading somewhere esle or put it on manual and tweak settings one way or another.......:-)
