I want to return my Olympus E300 camera to its factory settings as the set up has been changed beyond recognition. How do I go about this?

Return to Olympus for service

In the manual on page 27 you can find what settings and how the settings can be set back to the factory settings.
Because of the icons, you better read the menial than read my descriptions of the icons.
Link to the camera manual for download.

• Page 72 on the advanced manual - see below - explains how to use remote control
• Page 74 show full details on using the remote control - setting needed on the camera

Advanced Manual http://www.olympusamerica.com/files/oima_cckb/EVOLT_E-300_Advanced_Manual_EN.pdf
Heres the support site for that camera http://www.olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_archived_product_details.asp?fl=2&id=1140

The problem you are describing is a problem with a sensor inside the lens assembly of the camera. It seems to have failed and needs to be replaced. Following are the instructions to send your camera to Olympus for service.

http://olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_servicerepair.asp

Olympus will charge a flat rate repair fee for this product if beyond the one year factory warranty or the warranty is voided. The cost is $86 plus your local sales tax. This covers parts and labor, factory cleaning and diagnostic check, 6 month warranty and the cost of shipping the product back to you is all included in that price.

The problem you are describing is a problem with the flash charging indicator switch inside the camera. It seems to have failed and needs to be replaced. Following are the instructions to send your camera to Olympus for service.

http://olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_servicerepair.asp

Olympus will charge a flat rate repair fee for this product if beyond the one year factory warranty or the warranty is voided. The cost is $83 plus your local sales tax. This covers parts and labor, factory cleaning and diagnostic check, 6 month warranty and the cost of shipping the product back to you is all included in that price.

Following are the instructions to send your camera to Olympus for service.

http://olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_servicerepair.asp

Olympus will charge a flat rate repair fee for this product if beyond the one year factory warranty or the warranty is voided. The cost is $282.85 plus your local sales tax. This covers parts and labor, factory cleaning and diagnostic check, 6 month warranty and the cost of shipping the product back to you is all included in that price.

The problem you are describing is a problem with a sensor that has failed in the lens assembly of the camera. It needs to be replaced. Following are the instructions to send your camera to Olympus for service.

http://olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_servicerepair.asp

Olympus will charge a flat rate repair fee for this product if beyond the one year factory warranty or the warranty is voided. The cost is $83.85 plus your local sales tax. This covers parts and labor, factory cleaning and diagnostic check, 6 month warranty and the cost of shipping the product back to you is all included in that price.

Have you tried to reset the camera back to factory defaults to see if it is maybe a setting that has the flash disabled? To reset the camera: go to Menu - left arrow to reset and press ok. Highlight yes and press ok. This will put the camera in factory default settings. See if the flash works now. If you see a red squiggly flash arrow blinking on the screen constantly, this is actually a repair issue and the camera would need to be serviced to replace the flash charging indicator switch. Following are the instructions to send your camera to Olympus for service.

http://olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_servicerepair.asp

Olympus will charge a flat rate repair fee for this product if beyond the one year factory warranty or the warranty is voided. The cost is $73.85 plus your local sales tax. This covers parts and labor, factory cleaning and diagnostic check, 6 month warranty and the cost of shipping the product back to you is all included in that price.

There is a function in your camera menu called Pixel Mapping which may correct the issue of dead pixels. If you go to Ok button - right arrow to Mode Menu - press Ok - go to Setup tab - right arrow over and then down arrow to Pixel Mapping - right arrow to Start and this will attempt to correct the CCD and remap the pixels in the camera. If this does not work then you would want to send the camera to Olympus for service.

http://olympusamerica.com/cpg_section/cpg_servicerepair.asp

Olympus will charge a flat rate repair fee for this product if beyond the one year factory warranty or the warranty is voided. The cost is $89 plus your local sales tax. This covers parts and labor, factory cleaning and diagnostic check, 6 month warranty and the cost of shipping the product back to you is all included in that price.

Try updating the firmware on your camera to the latest version using the Olympus master software. There have been several revisions since the camera came out.