Olympus Reviews

The camera is good. Its jpeg file has all information you took shot (every bit!!!). But you are unable to print any of them, including date and time, when you send for printing. You have to manually edit jpeg file to add basic things such as date and time. A very pitty fact for such good camera.

In the before time, long long ago, I had a Panasonic Coolpix. This horrible [camera] took 640x480 pictures, had no flash, 2 shutter speeds, a light filter, and came with a 2MB compact flash card...after this nightmare, I purchased a then just-released Olympus C2000 zoom -- first generation, no USB, and an 8mb smart media card. After 2 long years of service, thousands of really really cool pictures, and much abuse, I sold the camera to a friend and decided to upgrade. The experience with Olympus was quite pleasant; I knew I wanted
one again. After looking at the 3040, I decided to go all-out and get the latest/greatest, and so I have the C4040. 4.1 megapixels of glory. Quicktime video with sound. More pro-photography toys than you can shake a Pentax 35mm at. I LOVE THIS THING. You can take pictures in black & white, sepia, black/white board, you can take panoramas, you can manually adjust the flash to your liking, and you can control the exposure, aperature priority, shutter priority, and even a virtual film speed control (100-400). You can even edit the movies you make on it. (15fps, they look pretty slick) I can't describe in words how the pictures look out of my HP1315 PhotoSmart printer (another of my reviews here) -- it has to be seen to be believed. What you should get:
- a set of NiMH AA's
- couple 64 mb cards and a 128mb card (you will play with the movie feature...trust me)
- tripod so you can play with extended exposure

Other cool features:
- read/write light for the smart media
- keeps everything off for USB download mode
- finally has a lens cap strap (lost my old camera's cap about 1 week after I got it)
- uses AA's or the new photo batteries
- much lighter than older models

Anyway, go BUY THIS CAMERA!!!

This makes the third camera in the Camedia series that I've purchased. (I had the 2000Z and the 3030Z too.) I've found that I can sell my older models (about 16 months) after I purchased them, to family and friends for just over 50% of the original purchase price... making the net cost of the new upgrade about ....

Although the older models took good pictures, each upgrade was easier to use and took sharper pictures. (I have about 6 gig of pictures over the last 3 years.) The model 4040 is again, a giant leap forward in ease of use and picture clarity. For example: at normal portrait distances 5 to 7 feet, without any zoom... after you download the pic into the computer, you can zoom in and literally count the number of eyelashes on the person. This is a result of the high number megapixels AND the Olympus quality lens that has been specifically designed for their digital CCDs.

When choosing a digital camera there is a trade-off. On one side you can get cameras with as much as a 20x optical zoom (but it adds considerable size and weight). On the other side of the trade-off is that you can get something small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, like the 4040 (but only have a 3x optical zoom). I think the best compromise is to get a small digital camera with the most megapixels, then take the pictures with the 3x optical zoom, download the image to the computer and zoom/crop the picture (on the computer) without concern of loosing detail (because of the high megapixels). The Olympus 4040 fits this alternative.

Although I think it is one of the best digital cameras on the market, there is always room for improvement. To make this camera better I'd:

1. Include removable NiMH batteries with an in-camera charger adapter. (My purchased add on NiMH batteries that last for around 70 pics per charge.)

2. Although the CCD is rated at 4.1 megapixels, the camera records about 3.8 megapixels.... Why? Where did the other 0.3 megapixles go?

3. Included is a 16meg smartmedia card. This is only enough for about 20 pics. A 128meg card runs about ... and can store more than 160 pics per card. Add a few bucks to the camera and give us a usable card.

4. Since the user manual is about ½ inch thick, you think you have plenty of detailed instructions. Then you realize only 1/8 inch of the manual is in English (the rest is in five or six other languages). And, what is in the manual, does not give sufficient detail about many of the various options. (You have to read/study the instructions on the included CD to get an idea of what many of these functions mean/do.)

This camera generally takes very good pictures but I do have one complaint that has not been resolved. Even with red eye reduction feature on, it still takes bad redeye, especially with babies. The software does not eliminate it either. I have been through their customer service several times for this and one other problem and they were not helpful. I felt I was being talked down to and I finally gave up. I like the camera except for that, but I probably would not buy another Olympus unless customer service is more helpful.

Four primary factors pushed me to buy the Olympus C-4000.

1. I already own an Olympus D460 Zoom and have been very happy with it. The Camedia software is the best I have found for fixing pictures that are under-exposed or off color, and that is saying a lot. I have used many of the main image software including Microsoft and Adobe and the Camedia is still the best in my opinion.

2. Cost - when compared to the Canon G2, which in my opinion is the only other camera close in the 4.0 MP league, there was a $200 to $250 price difference. The on-camera ease-of-use features are slightly less on the Olympus C-4000, meaning you need to go into more menus and adjust things manually instead of turning a dial or pushing a button, but overall the camera will do all the same things that the G2 can.

3. Batteries - The largest cost savings advantage is the savings you get in batteries. The G2, and many other cameras like it, require special batteries. The C-4000 will run on 4-AA batteries. Of course standard alkaline will run out quickly, but using NiMH rechargable batteries works EXCELLENT. They last a very long time and you can use them over and over again. The camera comes with 2-CVR3 batteries, but don't let that scare you, the literature clearly states you can use standard AA batteries.

4. Maximum PC Magazine put the Olympus C-4000 head-to-head with the Canon G2 and several others and the C-4000 came out on top. Their review is worth reading. Their motto is (and it is on the cover of each magazine) "Maximum PC, Minimum BS" and they certainly live up to that claim in my experience so far.

This is a great camera, it takes excellent pictures. Definitively I recommend buying it if you can afford it. I took more than a hundred pictures and used the display constantly and the batteries didn't run out. The only thing is that when using the digital zoom the pictures came out blurry and if you leave the camera without batteries for more than an hour it erases the memory and you have to set everything again.
It comes with a lot of extra features and settings. You can manually set the camera or use the auto mode. You can adjust everything including the shutter speed. Even in low light conditions the pictures turned out great.
It has everything I look on a camera and more, it even has a socket in case you want to add an external flash and the option of video out to an RCA jack, in case you want to see the pictures/videos taken through the TV either in NTSC or PAL format.
It has a lot of cool stuff. It is a little heavy because it uses 4 AA batteries but I bet you won't regret buying it once you see the results.

I chose the D230 for ease of use and low price and Olympus quality. This camera has met my expectations.

There are only a couple of improvements I would like to see. The LCD monitor is about useless in the bright sun (most are) but the view finder works well in this situation. There is also no battery meter other than a low battery indicator.

It's a sturdy camera with a nice feel. Small, lightweight, and compact. For 2MP it takes great quality pictures with little or no effort. If your looking for a great camera for point and shoot ease of operation you may want to look into this one.

I purchased mine on eBay from Olympus America for $81.00.

I am not a heavy picture taker and had only been using disposibles. I had been unhappy with the photo quality of disposibles and had been scanning in the few good ones to email anyways. So when I saw a price break on this one, I grabbed it and haven't looked back. I absolutely love the ease of picture taking and transfer. The pictures are beautiful and it is just point and click. Because the camera is so small, I wind up having it in my purse most of the time anyways, so I'm taking so many more pictures than ever before. I don't feel guilty taking any picture that I want, b/c there's no cost involved with bad pictures, just delete them from the card. Two accessories I would recommend you would also buy:
1. a bigger card than the 16mb included (I purchased a 128 mb); and
2. rechargeable batteries....it makes it really cost free!

I highly recommend this for the casual users. There are a lot more features for it I have yet to avail myself of....but look forward to doing so!

If you are looking for a fantastic digital camera for a reasonable price, this is the camera for you. I know people with higher megapixel cameras, and the photographs I take with the 230 are just about as clear. I was really impressed by the macro mode. I get crystal clear close ups. Its features include a movie mode... something other 2 MP cameras don't really have. Alkaline batteries don't work well with any digital camera. Buy the rechargable batteries. They'll work just fine. The digital zoom also is just fine. If you want super wazoo features, save up and buy a [more expensive] camera. You get plenty of bang for your buck with this camera. Highly recommend.

I am no photography expert and this is my first digital camera. I agonized over this purchase for several hours reading all the reviews I could find. This seemed like a good all-round camera for the price. I rather get the impression that in camera terms you get what you pay for.

I think that this camera represents very good value for money. If you want to put pictures on the web or email them then this camera certainly does an excellent job. The software that comes with the camera is not great, but then you just plug it in and you can access the images using Windows Explorer (the camera is recognized as a removable hard disk).

I would say that indoor pictures in low light taken with flash are not too bad, however I understand that the flash is weak on many digital cameras, and this one is no exception. I bought a 32Mb memory card, which can store 35 really high quality or 99 medium quality pictures, which I think is more than enough. That card cost ...and medium quality is 1280 x 960 in 24bit, which is more than enough for my purposes.

I have not tried to print the pictures out in any way, but I am a web designer and so really I only want pictures in computer form for web or email use. All in all I am quite impressed. There are a few minor shortcomings but generally if you want high quality digital pictures for a reasonable cost this would be a great buy. If you want awesome printable pictures that beat a quality 35mm camera, you're going to have to spend a little more I think.

The Olympus D-150 is an excellent entry level digital camera. It has most of the major features that is needed to do general purpose photography, whether it's computer based (web/email) or print based (great pics upto 5x7), with the ease of use of "point and shoot, auto everything" technology found on most "traditional" 35mm cameras. All features are easily accessible from the menu system and there are quick access buttons for flash and marco zoom modes. The D-150 is is one of the few digital cameras in it's price class that has optical zoom (3X) which is far better than digial zoom (the D-150 also has 2X digital zoom for upto 6X zoom). The included 8MB Smartmedia chip is small and you need to get at least a 16MB chip to do any serious shooting(the memory chips are not that expensive). The 1.5in LCD display is handy for precise framing of your subject. Also, buy the Lithium batteries!!! Do not buy the Duracel or Energizer or other alkalines unless you are desparate. It's worth the $10 (19.99 for two packs) to buy the Lithium battery pack. They last considerably longer than alkalines, especially when using the LCD display. Unless you have Photoshop or MS Office's Photo Viewer or equivilant, the software on the CD is useless except for PC driver support since the pics are jpeg format. If you're using a Mac (especially G4 w/OS 9.x and higher), you don't even need the CD for the drivers thanks to it's USB connectivity. Make sure your USB ports are working properly and try not to connect the camera through a hub or keyboard on both platforms. All in all it is a nice, "fun", little camera and takes great images for 1.3 megapixals. The D-150 is highly portable (unlike the high end Sony Mavicas...) and is feature packed for $300. Truly a "Best Buy".

For a first camera, I wouldn't trade it for the world. It's small, durable, and takes great photos. The interface is easy to use and the photos it produces are printable quality.

Sure, if you want to spend a few hundred dollars more, you will get a better camera. But, if you want something simple, with an optical zoom, this is the camera. Photos print out fantastically (with the proper paper and printer, of course), and they are great to use for online purposes as well. Add on a pack of rechargable AA batteries for it (or any camera), and a larger memory card, and you're set to go forever.

This was my first digital camera. I found it very easy to use with the quick start intructions. The pictures came out nice and they downloaded easily into my pc. I took 8 pictures, downloaded them, and spent some time learning the menu options. I figure about 60 to 90 minutes. I turned the camera off. The next day I went to take pictures and the battery was dead. It was late, so I used some Duracell AA batteries, which the instructions said you could use. It took 8 new batteries to take one picture and download it. Forget about making any changes to the settings. I had to put batteries in and take picture right away. These AA batteries lasted about 30 seconds if that much. The next day I went to Walmart to get another battery, the lithium type that it came with. They had several sizes, but they did not carry the size for this camera. And they sell Olympus cameras there, although not this model. It must be an odd size available at camera stores. I called tech support and asked him if this is the normal life span of the so called long life battery. He said that it did not sound right and something must be wrong, he had never heard of this problem. He put me on hold to check it out. When he came back on he said, and I quote, "This camera is battery intensive and we reccomend the rechargeable nich (?) batteries" I asked him again if this was normal for the other batteries or was something wrong with the camera. He replied" The only thing I am allowed to say is that this camera is battery intensive and we reccomend the rechargeable batteries." His attitude leads me to believe I had a bad camera, but that they were not admitting to it. I would be interested in future reviews to tell how the batteries lasted.

I got this camera for my birthday last week, it is very easy to use, put battery and mem card, and off you go.
At first I couldn't stop taking pictures, and the battery lasted about 3 days of almost non-stop usage. Although by the 4th day the battery had died and I put 2 alkaline batteries, and after maybe 5 pictures, it would just turn itself off. I think it just drained the alkaline batteries extremely fast, so I don't like that one bit, maybe the rechargable batteries won't be so bad.
The camera itself is very fun, although it doesn't have the same features as the D-370, but it comes darn close!
If you want to use this camera for basicly just emailing pictures, this camera will be definitely a must have for the quiality (quality is pretty descent) and price ...!
I just don't like the battery drainage at all, and that's one thing that really worries me, because I've read reviews on this camera on here, and people are saying the same thing about it!
Just one thing, rechargable batteries/AC Adaptor are a must!!

My wife bought this camera 3 years ago after reading a positive review. She likes the camera because it is small, simple to use, and has been dependable. She isn't a computer whiz but she has no problem using the program that comes with the camera. Her only complaint was battery life. She recently bought a Digital Concepts battery charger at walmart that comes with 4 - 2000mah Nimh AA batteries for $17.00. Now she can get over 70 pictures with no battery complaints. With good batteries and a good charger this camera is an amazing value at the price.

Hello,

Well, to cut short some of the remarks in those reviews, a few points:

- The USB is not slow. Transferring a full 16Mo card to my computers (Windows XP/2000 or Mac OSX) takes less than 10 seconds. The slow USB problem is mostly due to computers running W98OSR2 (I don't have the exact reason, but the slow USB is not due to the camera).

- Batteries: Olympus has the great idea to accept AA cells, adapted to rechargeable batteries (1.2V). You can buy two sets of nickel-metal batteries in any store for 20 bucks, with the charger. And even if you're in the middle of Continental India, you will find AA cells without problems, compared to lithium batteries. NiMh cells last longer than alkaline batteries, but make sure you always have a set of 4 batteries charged, especially if you use the LCD screen at all times.

Now the good points of the camera:
- a good optical system, with little deformation at wide angle, and a decent aperture. It can be used indoor without flash if the subject is static.
- good flash exposure, and many capabilities (slow mode to keep the ambiance, red eyes reduction, flash off...).
- Overall good light exposure. It is not op-perfect but the multi-zone measurement makes a good job in classic composition. For highly contrasted scenes, you can use the 'spot' measurement, which is maybe too wide to be really 'spot', but precise enough to expose one part of the picture perfectly.

- Fast processing, probably due to a lot of RAM in the system. A full-size picture is processed in about a second.

Bad points:

- Noise of the zoom: it sounds awefull, but like most other digital cameras... The system that prevents the optical system to come out when the lens cap is on is a little weird, but proven efficient (I have that camera for more than 3 monts... Tested and approved)

- Batteries run out quickly... BUY SOME RECHARGEABLE NI-MH. Those cameras are power hungry. The other solution is to wait 5 years, technology will be better and more power efficient!

- Size? it's not a compact camera, and it won't fit in your shirt pocket. Price to pay for a decent lens, and a large LCD screen. In the other hand, it handles very well, and proves to be a very nice fit in your hand.

- No sound in video mode: at that price point, I'm not really surprised. And to answer the question:"How much would it cost to olympus to add a microphone", I can answer: about 3 dollars (microphone+analog front end+D/A converter+processing power to encode sound!), and something more to add inside this already squeezed camera. If you want sound with the video, go to a better model - more expensive. The main purpose of a camera is... TO TAKE PICTURES!

Overall rating: I like this camera, that provides good colors and very good exposure without hassle. A lot of manual features are available, very good for someone who knows how to use a regular film camera. At that price point...you will not get any better. The resolution is very good (3.3MPS) and detailled, indor photography is possible. If you need an even faster lens, check the C3030 (F1.8 constant), but you will pay a nice premium for the upgrade. The cameras are similar otherwise.

My first digital camera (2/5/02). I wanted the 3 megapixels to print up to 8x10 if I choose to. Fairly easy to use out of the box and takes great pictures with little effort. I am sure I will be able to customize for some great pics.

Here are the highlights/lowlights of the camera.

- The lens cap situation is horrible. If you leave the cap on and turn the camera on, the motor churns to expand the lens tube. I think the motor times out before any damage happens, but bad nonetheless. The camera should have an automatic lens cover, like some of olympus clamshell cameras. I've decided I can live with the lens cap issue.
- You can preview the picture after you take it without changing modes. VERY NICE feature.
- Olympus has a very effective red-eye reduction flicker flash.
- The optical 3xzoom is adequate for most shots. The digital zoom appears bogus. Haven't used it yet, manual says it could be grainy.
- Try on-line printing of your digital pics... Otofo is much higher priced. I tried it and the pics came out GREAT.
- The camera has different pre-set shooting modes for portraits, action, night scenes, and landscapes.
- The...price seems very fair for the optical zoom @3.2 megapixel.

You will have to buy a ac adapted to use the camera at your computer, also purchased the olympus rechargable batteries and the 128 meg smartmedia cart...

I have owned this camera for approx. 18 month and I still love it. It is one of the easiest digital cameras to get to know and use. From the first day I got it I had it out of the box and shooting right away. It's that simple. The only negative factor of the camera is the lack of a Hot Shoe Flash option. The C3020Z has several flash options for various lighting conditions; however, I have grown in my photography and require more advanced lighting options. As a starter camera this is a perfect introduction to digital photography. It has certainly helped me to expand in my Digital skills and knowledge, but as I move towards being a Professional Amateur I have out grown this model. That's my $0.02.

I needed a cable to replace the one I lost for my Olympus 460-Z Digital Camera. Naturally I needed it in a hurry for the upcoming holiday season. The only place I could it was the Olympus website. I couldown it for $39.99 and wait two weeks for shipping! Once again, Amazon.com came to my rescue. I got exactly what I needed, at a fair price and I recieved quickly. Thank you for being so reliable and keep up the good work!

I looked all over the net and also on Olympus' home pages to find a special camera to PC cable without success.... VIOLA, you guys had the exact same cable that I use at my office that came with the camera.... Now I have the same exact set-up at home to process my pictures...

Thanks much. . . .

I looked for this item through OlympusAmerica.com and many other stores, but was unable to find the products I needed, even though it was an Olympus item. I was very glad to find the connection cables I needed for my Olympus D-460 digital camera. Thanks.

Ernie

I bought this camera few months ago and I think its amazing product for beginners! Images are very precise and nice. I suggest to use Energizer alkaline batteries, these allows to take the highest amount of pictures, around 50-90 high quality with moderate/smaller use of flash and display. In case of heavy usage I strongly recommend rechargable batteries. Camera itself is very comopact, easy to use and full of features. The best feature is PANORAMA, you can take up to 10 images and put them together by enclosed CAMEDIA software.

I've owned a lot of digital camera's before, and they always disappointed me when it came to the quality of the lens. Non-flash pictures with non-natural light always turned out yellow or had ugly spots in them, or were way too dark, which enhanced light parts in the picture too much when I enhanced it with a graphics program. But this one certainly didn't!

The camera behaves like a 800$ camera, it seems to be designed and developed with that price in mind, and I bet that 800 bucks was what it costed when it came out. But since 1,3 megapixel camera's are "passé" these days, even a camera like this has to lower in price, and that's where it gets interesting for all of us.

Imagine having a former top-of-the-range camera, with an excellent quality lens, a lot of changeable settings, a design that resembles a normal camera, and that also behaves like a normal camera, well, it's there, the Camedia C-860L, and it's amazingly cheap.

I bought mine in a shop in the Netherlands, and paid only 250 USD!! All right, I confess, that's without the usb reader and the pcmcia adapter, but it's still very cheap. Later on I bought this package (reader and pcmcia adapter, from a company called PixoMedia) for the price of 61 USD (I use www.currencycalculator.com to calculate this). So all together the price was 311 USD.

The editorial reviewer says it has high battery-use, but that's because Mr. the reviewer doesn't read manuals. The manual clearly states that they STRONGLY advise NOT to use Alkaline batteries, but to use NiMh or other rechargeable batteries instead, because they last much longer. That I did, and I bought 4 rechargeable NiMh 1600mA batteries with charger, for 38 USD. But actually, the battery-use isn't that bad with alkalines. It's definitely not 60 low-res pics, but more like 50/60 high-res (HQ) pics, with the use of flash regularly and the use of the LCD-display to look at pictures afterwards (not during taking of pics, ofcourse that drains!).

All and all I can now use the camera for a very very long time without ever having to worry about the battery-level, using the display to look a pictures, and even to zoom in, although this only can be done by choosing out of 9 different parts of the picture, but it's still very nice.

If you want proof on the quality of the pictures, visit my website on www.gekkevogel.com/midzomer.html and click on any of the pictures to see the full-size version, and you'll be convinced, just like me, that this is a kick-ass camera!

I didn't know which Camera to buy D360-L or this one C860-L after reading the customer rating I chose the C860-L and to let everyone know I am very very please this is the best one for the money. The pictures are great and it is very easy to use. The reader-writer that it comes with is great it saves alot of use on your batterys. I don't know if I will ever use film camera again. I printed the pictures and they look better than any film camera. BUY THIS CAMERA IT IS GREAT. Good luck with it