Rumours had been circulating of an E-2 to follow the professional-level Olympus E-1, propagated by a barrage of compatible, high-end lens releases.

However, it was the eight million pixel E-300 that visitors were introduced to - a digital SLR designed to court 'prosumers' rather than professionals.

Built to FourThirds standard, the E-300 is compatible with the complete range of Olympus E-System lenses and will come in a kit with a new 14-45mm Zuiko digital zoom lens.

The new release boasts a Full Frame Transfer CCD which, Olympus says, means that it has a larger pixel area than models using Interline Transfer, as well as bigger photodiodes and transfer channels. It adds that this means the camera is capable of a high signal-noise ratio and wide dynamic range.

A new technology for keeping the CCD clean has also been included. The Supersonic Wave Filter generates ultra-high-speed vibrations to dislodge dust from the CCD. This function operates automatically from start-up but also can be operated manually.

The E-300 aluminium chassis is light at 580g and more compact than its predecessor, due to the replacement of the pentaprism with a TTL Optical Porro finder. This allows a 94% field of view and is capable of approximately 1x magnification with a 50mm lens set to infinity at -1 dioptres.

The camera offers single and sequential shooting, the latter at approximately 2.5fps up to four raw or TIFF files. JPEG capture will depend on the compression ratio and resolution though the camera is capable of eight-bit colour recording in TIFF format and 12-bit colour in raw format.

Further features include a USB mini B PC interface, a rechargeable Li-Ion battery pack, NTSC or PAL video output, as well as a range of exposure modes, white balance settings and scene programs.

Olympus has stated that the camera will be available from early next year, but Andy Parker, marketing and communications manager at Olympus, said that the price would not be released until the end of October. He said that the E-300 would compete with cameras such as the Nikon D70, however, and its price would reflect this. He added: 'This is an entry-level digital SLR, aimed at amateurs or social photographers. There is significant growth in the digital SLR market at this level as people work their way up through the digital compacts.'

More information is available at www.olympus.co.uk.

Key features:

Eight million pixel capture

Compatible with Zuiko digital, FourThirds system lenses

4/3 type Full Frame Transfer CCD solid-state image sensor

2.5fps for up to 3 frames

TruePic Turbo image processor.