Lomopedia: Olympus AZ 300 Super Zoom

Introduced in 1988, the Olympus AZ 300 Super Zoom (also called Infinity 300 and IZM300) joined the ranks of Yashica Samurai X3.90 and Ricoh Mirai as the first examples of bridge cameras — advanced autofocus cameras with a built-in zoom lens of a high specification.

The AZ 300 Super Zoom belongs to the Infinity AZ series and features a high-resolution 3x zoom lens with a range of up to 105 mm. While bulky and unusually designed, this camera boasts of being the first lens shutter camera to be equipped with a viewfinder that also shows the correct view as the lens zoomed in, an innovation that earned it the European Camera of the Year award in 1988.

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Technical Specifications

Type: Full-automatic 35 mm autofocus lens-shutter camera with built-in zoom lens
Film format: 35mm standard DX-coded film (24 x 36mm)
Lens: Olympus 38 -105 mm f/4.5 - 6 lens with 12 elements in 11 groups
Shutter: Programmed electronic shutter
Viewfinder: Kepler type 0.46 - 1.2x bright frame zoom-finder (with autofocus frame, AF indicator, flash indicator, spot metering indicator, macro indicator); Parallax compensation system in macro photography
Finder view-field: 85% of the actual picture field
Focusing: Passive autofocus system with focus lock
Focusing Range: 1.3 m (4.3 ft) - infinity; 0.8 m (2.6 ft) - 1.3m (4.3 ft) in macro photography
Exposure control: Automatic exposure control with a programmed electronic shutter (Center-weighted average light metering, switchable to spot metering)
Auto exposure range: WIDE - EV 3.4 (F4.5, 2 sec) - EV 17 (F16, 1/500 sec); TELE - EV 4.4 (F6, 2 sec) - EV 17 (F18.4, 1/400 sec)
Exposure compensation: + 1.5 EV Compensation possible (1/2 step)
Exposure counter: Progressive type, displayed in LCD panel
Self-timer: Electronic self-timer with 12 sec. delay
Film Speed range: Automatic setting with DX-coded film ISO 25 - 3200 with colour negative film (Actual setting at 25, 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200. For other intermediate film speeds, the camera is automatically set to the lower speed. For ISO 32 film, it is set to ISO 100)
Film loading: Automatic loading (automatically advances to the first frame when camera back is closed)
Film advance: Automatic film winding
Film rewind: Automatic film rewind (automatic rewind activated at the end of the film, automatic rewind stop), rewind possible at any point with rewind button
AF Illuminator: Automatic actuation in low light
Flash: Built-in zoom flash
Flash modes: AUTO (automatic flash activation in low light and backlight); FILL-IN (forced activation, slow-synchro possible with the longest shutter speed of 2 sec); OFF (activation stop)
Battery check: Displayed in LCD panel
Power source: Two 3V lithium batteries (DL 123A) (replaceable)
Dimensions: 132 mm (W) × 79 mm (H) × 92 mm (D) (5.2" × 3.1" × 3.7") excluding protrusions
Weight: 585 g (20.6 oz) without batteries

All information for this article was sourced from Camerapedia, Olympus Global, and Camera Manuals.

written by plasticpopsicle on 2014-05-19 #gear #people #lomopedia #review #olympus #1980s #zoom-lens #bridge-camera #lomopedia #olympus-az-300-super-zoom