Context :

Aims : [ O iii ] 5007 Ã Â on-band off-band images , obtained with the Very Large Telescope ( VLT ) and FORS 2 spectrograph in two zones ( center and outskirts ) of the spiral galaxy NGC 300 , are analyzed searching for emission line objects .
In particular we search for planetary nebula ( PN ) candidates to analyze their distribution and luminosity properties , to perform follow-up spectroscopy , and to study the planetary nebula luminosity function , PNLF .

Methods : In the continuum-subtracted images , a large number of emission line objects were detected .
From this sample we selected as PN candidates those objects with stellar appearance and no detectable central star .
[ O iii ] 5007 instrumental magnitudes were measured and calibrated by using spectrophotometric data from the follow-up spectroscopy .

Results : We have identified more than a hundred PN candidates and a number of compact HII regions .
The PN sample is the largest one reported for this galaxy so far .
For all the objects we present coordinates , instrumental [ O iii ] 5007 magnitudes and apparent nebular [ O iii ] 5007 fluxes and magnitudes .
The [ O iii ] 5007 observed luminosity function for PNe ( PNLF ) was calculated for the whole sample and for the central and outskirts samples .
The three PNLF are similar within uncertainties .
We fit the empirical PNLF to the observed PNLF for all the samples .
From our best fit for the whole sample we derived a maximum value for the apparent magnitudes of m ^ { \star } _ { 5007 } = 22.019 \pm 0.022 and we obtained a tentative estimate of the distance modulus m _ { 5007 } - M _ { 5007 } = 26.29 ^ { +0.12 } _ { -0.22 } mag , which agrees well with the recent value derived from Cepheid stars .

Conclusions :