Olympus Reviews

The technical detail:

a. The printer may be operated as a standalone product independant of a computer. It contains slots for both SmartMedia cards and compact flash PC card adaptors so you don't have to have a computer connected to the printer to use it. The printer has its own small LCD display which can be used in lieu of a computer interface to help you select pictures off your cards for printing and the printer also has a rather sophisticated built in capability to format the final product.

b. The printer has both a parallel port and a USB port for computer connection and is compatible with both PCs and MACs. Configuration software is included on CD for both types of machines. No computer cables are included and will cost you about $20 at your local computer store.

c. If connected to a computer, the printer is used to provide printed output for whatever photo editing software you already own. No computer photo editing software is included with the package.

d. Documentation is complete and voluminous. However, the technical document giving all the nitty gritty is provided as a computer PDF file readable by Adobe Acrobat software (supplied in multiple languages) and is not provided hardcopy. If you are buying this printer to use as a standalone device without a computer, this puts you at somewhat of a disadvantage.

e. The starter kit of paper and printer ribbon is adequate to print only five (5) 8x10" prints so you will want to purchase paper and ribbon with the printer.

f. Printing supplies (paper and ribbon) are expensive, costing almost $2 per 8x10" print.

The Subjective data:

The final print produced is 314x314 dots per inch and looks incredible. I have standard 8x10" Kodak prints produced from my digital photos that do not look nearly as good. Unless you are going to take your digital data to a custom printing specialist and stand over his shoulder, you will not be able to obtain a print better than this printer will give you. Recently, I was trying to restore an old 8x10" photo and scanned it into my computer at the highest resolution possible, edited it in Adobe Photoshop, and wound up with a wonderful restoration. By that time the digital image was up to 58MB size. I asked Kodak to print it, and they did. However, their system couldn't handle the large file size and compressed it to slightly over 2MB. Their final print was acceptable but a lot of the detail and my work was lost because of the compression. My computer fed the entire 58MB file to this printer and it produced a superb picture that made the Kodak image look like a childs effort in comparison. I don't know of any printer today that has comperable capability to the Olympus P400.

I spent the big bucks when this machine first hit the market. The only problem is through Photoshop -- the ppd doesn't print the picture as you see it on screen. In Mac, I've tweaked through Photoshop, then import into IPhoto then print out for picture perfect images through the computer. Otherwise, dumping them back on to the digital camera media then inserting into the printer was the second best way to go.

Prints faster through IPhoto on Mac than through the digital cards.

For 8x10 size photos, still love my P400, even with the cost of film/paper and supplies. Even though prints can be ordered cheaper on some sites through the web, the quality of this printer HANDS DOWN beats anything I've ever gotten back from photo houses on or off line.

Finally, a dye sublimation photo printer that gives you prints larger than 4" x 6"! The colors are rich, and the pictures are very sharp. There is nothing on the market today that is in this printer's class. If anyone is interested in quality prints of digital images, this printer is an absolute must have. I would recommend printing images that were taken with at least a 2 megapixel digital camera. I have an HP Photosmart P1000 printer that does very well, but it cannot compete with the P400. You can't achieve the same quality print with an ink jet printer.

I searched around and found the least expensive place to purchase cartridges for my Olympus P10. I bought enough for 200 4x6 prints.The price per 4x6 turned out to be app. 42 cents per print. I can go down to my local Walgeens and get prints for 29 cents. I'm not certain about quality yet, but at 42 cents, one has to be careful, or the whole thing can cease being fun.

I bought this for my wife to supplement our P-400 (8x10). We went digital almost 3 years ago with the Olympus C4040 and P-400 and I was looking for something to do 4x6s w/o having to cut 8x10s down all the time. I've always been partial to Olympus, having worked extensively with the OM-1 as a photographer in the early 90s. We were very happy with the results we received from the P-400 and I have to say the prints from the P-10 are stunning, if not better. The cost per print is about 39¢, which is a bit more than taking it to some of the local pharmacies (though we live in the middle of nowhere, we'd more than make up for it in time and gas). Plus there's something to be said for the convenience of printing at home. Print time is reasonable, what you'd expect from a dye sub. The greatest benefit to me is that you don't get the diffusion dot patterns you find with the ink-jet "photo" printers. If you want "photos", dye sub is the only way to go -- and the bottom line is the P-10 gives the quality I want at a reasonable price.

I've had this printer for a couple months now and would recommend it highly for anyone with occasional, low volume printing needs. The prints are indistinguishable from lab prints when printing high resolution shots and have a high quality gloss finish. Because it's a dye-sub printer, there's no pixelation as with many dot-matrix printers. Set-up and use is easy. In fact, I keep mine disconnected and stowed most of the time. It only takes 1 minute to plug it in and connect it. My only complaints are that there's no integrated imaging software to simplify printing (I use Powerpoint with good results) and the paper and dye-sub pack are a bit expensive (equates to 65 cents per print if you order the 4x6 kit for 100 prints). But if you only need a few good prints on an occasional basis, this printer is tops.

Photo's are good, but software ain't.

I've owned the Camedia 550 for a little over a year. I am very disapointed in the software that you HAVE to use with this camera. I upgraded to the "professional" edition, but it's still bad. It does not alow you to back up your photo's onto CD. (Floppy Disk Only, which is worthless). Also I have pixels dying on my viewing screen.
It is difficult to manuver through the options on the camera. Also uses a Smart Media Card, which the new ones do not use, and very few new camera do use, so I'll be stuck with $200 bucks worth of Smart Media Cards when I decide to chuck this thing.

This is simply a great camera for one with little experience with film in general, but experts may appreciate the functions as well (although, since I'm no expert, I'd have no idea) I was taking great pictures with the camera 5 minutes out of the box. Perfect for vacations, school, friends, etc. It's one of the best deals for a 3.0 MP camera out there now. Olympus also has a solid product line and reputation (along with Canon and Nikon).

-Pro's:
-Ease of use
-Feels substantial, like a real camera. The other cameras feel so fragile that I don't even want to touch it.
-USB works seamlessly with windows XP.
-Lens protector "clamshell" cover gives you ease of mind when camera is stored away.
-Value (A 3.0 MP for less than $.../MP is hard to come by)
-ergonomic: some cameras don't provide a grip, so it's hard to even take pictures.

-Cons: (Why it's 4 stars)
-Did not come with an adapter, bag, or rechargeable batteries.
-Turning it on is somewhat confusing. (switching between view pictures and taking pictures)
-Buying a new memory card is a must.
-Batteries die really quick.

If you can get past the Con's as I had, you will be 100% satisfied with your purchase.

Happy Shooting.

This is an excellent camera for the money. The resolution is good enough for a clear 8x10 glossy. It is easy to use and the panorama feature is great. I also like the 35 mm format option that can be selected. It would be nice to have a better zoom. The 2.8X optical zoom is good and is mainly useful for framing. Most of the 10X zoom is digital and I found that if you zoom much over 3X the pictures loose their sharpness. The size is perfect and the appearance and quality is excellent. I was only interested in the models that had the sliding door over the camera lens, so I sacrificed the zoom quality for this feature. I found the instruction manual to be lacking. There are features that the manual does not address, like how to make a panorama, and how to download to your computer. This information is in the software that comes with the camera but they could mention in the manual that one can basically use the camera like a drive on your computer. You don't really need the software to get the pictures to your computer. My only real complaint is with Olympus support. When I loaded my software, I could not run the Camedia Master 4.0 on my Imac because it required a serial number that was supposed to be on the sleeve but it was not. I got the run-around from tech support. They said they would send me new software but did not. I persisted and finally received the software, but it took nearly three months to get it and countless communications with some individuals that had no communication skills and in one case barely spoke English. I was disappointed in the software because it did not have "slide show" as the earlier versions did. To get that you have to pay for a $20.00 upgrade. In my opinion that is just a "rip off". All-in-all I have been very pleased with Olympus products, I just wish they had better technical support.

Our venerable Olympus D-400Zoom was stolen (1.3MP, 4AA batteries and $700 5 years ago) and we received a $200 credit towards a replacement from the insurance company. This seemed the closest equivalent for less -- 2MP, 2AA batteries and lighter with USB instead of a pokey slow serial connection. All is well except of 2 major and 1 minor annoyances you'd think they would have fixed 5 years later:

- the flash pops out always and can't be pushed back in when the camera is taking pictures (you can hold it back in, but that's awkward)

- the flash recharges slower than it did on the D400Zoom

- the picture quality setting is not "sticky" -- each time you power on the camera, the quality setting changes back to High Quality which is not necessary most of the time as we put our pictures on webpages primarily

That said, the refurbished camera for $145 was a bargain for this camera and we'll learn to live with the annoyances for now!

I bought this camera last christmas after a thorough search especially on the amazon site for reviews. I had several brands and models in mind, but I opted finally for the D520 for the price, its compactness, it uses only 2 batteries and came with a 16Mb card ( not 8 MB as with other brands at the time).
I am really happy with this camera. If you want an easy to use, all automatic, not expensive camera that gives GREAT pictures, then this is the one.

If I could give this camera 0 stars I would!

As a teenager I'm not looking for anything too snazzy in a camera. I had a pretty cheap digital olympus that lasted me about 3 years and I loved it. No fancy modes, no high-tec fancy smancy mumbo jumbo... not that I wouldn't like a high-tec camera, just that I don't particularly need it. I just want a camera that allows me to take a few hundred pictures at a time, for trips with friends and the family, for soccer games, for concerts, the beach...ect... My old reliable camera broke last summer after I got thousands of great pictures out of it, and so for the last x-mas my mother (who didn't do much research, but with good intentions) bought me this PIECE OF CRAP...

If you like all the fancy ways to take pictures- there is a tiny possibility you might like this camera... It has all that...somewhat... no wait... not at all...
It maintains a pretense that its high-tec, but it's really just a piece of crap.
When I first got it I brought it with me on my trip to Paris and I was highly dissapointed that after I shot a picture it took literally 15-20 seconds for the flash to re-whatever and let me take another one. I missed about 70% of the pictures I wanted to take, and whenever people posed in my pictures- it took about 5 minutes for my camera to "let" me take the picture. NO CANDID SHOTS here.
Then halfway through the trip, I'd turn on the camera, the screen would pop up, I'd try to take a picture, the orange and green lights would flash and then it would simply turn off... I looked through the manuel and it says that this is simply a problem with the batteries (although the battery symbol came up as full) and so I bought a fresh pack and re-loaded them. And of course it continued to flash and turn off..

I'm not done- I took it to a camera shop, and the guy had no idea what was wrong- I missed pictures of half my Paris trip, a concert , and a beach trip with my friends all because of this horrible joke-of-a-camera.- I also spent the equivolent of the price of this piece of crap on disposable cameras that gave me horrible pictures.

BIG TIP- If you have a son or daughter and you're buying them a camera DO NOT buy this one just-because it's cheap(in case I haven't made myself clear), because they will hate it and resent you for not researching or caring about it...

I was looking for a good digital camera at a reasonable price. The D-520 definitely fits the bill. I wanted to make sure the camera I bought had enough features to keep me happy, but wasn't so complicated that my wife wouldn't use it. This camera seems to fit the bill. She can power it up and shoot away without worrying about changing any settings. I like the 3X optical zoom, it gives you lots of options for framing a shot as you take it without losing resolution like you would cropping the picture later in your computer. All of the pictures I have taken so far look great.

The only down side to this camera keeping me from giving it 5 stars is the Camedia Master software that comes with it. It doesn't allow you to do much but download pictures off the camera and put them in albums. My biggest beef is that it appears that you can't change where the software stores it albums. You can upgrade to the "pro" version of the software, which adds some nice features like being able to rename groups of pictures to one name root with a numbered extension ...Thankfully, the ability to drag and drop the pictures from the camera (it shows up as a removable drive on your PC) offsets this drawback.

I would highly recommend this camera. As with all digital cameras, you should invest in some good nickel metal hydride (NiMH) rechargeable batteries and a good charger. You may want to carry some spare charged batteries as well. I also recommend getting more smart media cards as the included card is only 16 MB. Some people recommend 128 MB, but since I don't like putting all my eggs in one basket (what if that card gets damaged or lost?) I recommend getting two 64 MB cards. The price difference isn't that much, and you have a backup card in case on gets damaged.

First of all,...stop reading and get in tune with reality. For $$$the Olympus D-520 is a great digital camera. I'm trying one out now for a friend and I'm really impressed with it. My own digital camera is an older Olympus D-370 (1.3 mp) and I'm afraid I'm going to have to pickup the D-520 now for myself because there is no comparison. Looking at pictures from my D-370 now it's obvious that they were taken with a digital camera. Images from the D-520 on the other hand could easily pass for pictures scanned from a printed photo. I can't believe there is this much a difference between 1.3 and 2 megapixel images. Noted improvements between the two are the resolution, flash, zoom and auto-focus. If you're debating between the D-520 and the D-380 (the newer version of the D-370) I'd highly recommend the D-520. It really doesn't cost that much more and you will enjoy the optical zoom and auto focus. As far as batteries go, I'd recommend picking up a battery charger and rechargeable NiMH AA batteries. Rechargeable is the only way to go with digital cameras.

I've used several Olympus cameras at work and they were more expensive than this. I finally decided to buy one for my own personal use and, after reading LOTS of reviews, the D-510 seemed ideal for me. I'm familiar with the Camedia software package and the controls on the camera are similar to the cameras I've been using at work. I have been very pleased with the camera. The photo images are sharp, and some of the menu items have been simplified. My only complaint is that the camera defaults to HQ (high quality, but not super high quality) resolution each time you turn it off. I prefer to shoot in lower resolution SQ, so I get more pictures on the 32 MB SmartMedia card that I bought to go with the camera. (It comes with an 8 MB card, but it's worth the money to upgrade to at least 32 MB. I wish I'd gone ahead and forked over the money and gone up to 64 MB or even the new 128 MB...) Because of that, each time I use the camera I have to fiddle around and re-set the camera for standard quality. On the up side, there are two levels of SQ, two levels of HQ, and two levels of SHQ, for a total of six choices. In the lowest level of SQ mode, the camera can shoot several minutes of decent quality movie footage, which is fun -- but a REAL drain on the batteries. The camera comes with the Camedia software, which is adequate but not great, but it only works on Windows 98 and newer. I tried playing with it at work, where we have Windows 95/97, and it wouldn't work. That's OK, because my home computer has XP, and it does fine. Downloading with the Camedia 2.5 isn't as easy as Olympus says, but fortunately once you find your file, you can create shortcuts to get to your photos. The main thing about this, despite the small but pesky shortcomings, is that the quality of photos is good for such a low-priced camera. If I'd had a couple hundred more to spend I might have bought a better Olympus product, but for those on a smaller budget who want photos of the kids, vacations and other non-professional type photography, this small, solid camera can't be beat. It's as good, if not better, than the Olympus I use at work, which cost twice as much...

I've used mine for two years so far and gotten alot of mileage out of it. What I really love is that it doesn't require special software to download pictures. When we go to visit, we can just plug in the camera with the USB cable, treat it as a removable disc, and transfer our pictures to our hosts computer before we leave. One downside is that the viewfinder doesn't quite frame the picture accurately. For close-ups, I have to turn on the LED screen or I cut off half of the face...

After considerable research, I decided on the Olympus Camedia D-510Zoom for my first "real" digital camera. I couldn't be more pleased with the ease of use (considering the deep menu which is somewhat intuitive for a technophile), long list of cool features/controls, and excellent image quality. Although you can start taking pics immediately with the quick-start guide, TAKE THE TIME TO READ THE FULL MANUAL ON THE CD and practice!

The video clip and panoramic features are very fun toys/tools and proved to be much better quality than I expected. The Camedia software effortlessly stitches up to ten pics together for interesting panoramic shots and the video feature saves short silent clips in Quicktime MOV format. I would recommend spending the extra ten bucks or so on an Olympus-brand SmartMedia card with the panoramic code for your first or second large-capacity card (since the card that comes with the camera is only 8MB and other brand cards don't have the proprietary panorama code that works with the software.)

My camera says it will shoot about 22 pictures in the highest TIF resolution (1600x1200) and 1300 pictures in the lowest JPG resolution (640x480) on a 128MB card. The highest JPG resolution (SHQ at 1600x1200 w/minimal compression) is where I keep mine set most of the time and I get about 90 shots per 128MB card. The default JPG setting (HQ at 1600x1200 w/medium compression) gets about 230 shots per 128MB.

As with any zoom camera I've ever used, you need to keep the camera still or your image will blur. Use a tripod as often as you can, particularly for zooming, night shots and definitely for panoramic shots. The 3x optical zoom is nice but it will not make my SLR (35mm film camera w/zoom and macro lenses) obsolete by a long shot-perhaps if I dropped a grand or two on a high-end Nikon or Minolta digital...

The camera does eat batteries, but not as bad as I expected, considering all the moaning and groaning in these reviews. Just buy an inexpensive NiMH charger and eight rechargeable batteries. I find my Energizer ACCUrechargeables last much longer than the batteries the camera came with and I'm very happy with them. I also keep a set of Duracells in the camera bag just in case.

The housing has been described as cheap (among other things) but I think it has a good solid feel to it and if you treat it like the somewhat delicate piece of electronic equipment it is, instead of like a football, it will probably last a long time.

I don't have a card-reader or AC adapter yet since I don't see an urgent need for them. The camera works well by itself as a card reader and the transfers are quick (about 4 minutes to transfer a full 128MB card) so I don't think I'll shell out the fifty bucks for the adapter (ouch!).

I've used several Olympus cameras at work and they were more expensive than this. I finally decided to buy one for my own personal use and, after reading LOTS of reviews, the D-510 seemed ideal for me. I'm familiar with the Camedia software package and the controls on the camera are similar to the cameras I've been using at work. I have been very pleased with the camera. The photo images are sharp, and some of the menu items have been simplified. My only complaint is that the camera defaults to HQ (high quality, but not super high quality) resolution each time you turn it off. I prefer to shoot in lower resolution SQ, so I get more pictures on the 32 MB SmartMedia card that I bought to go with the camera. (It comes with an 8 MB card, but it's worth the money to upgrade to at least 32 MB. I wish I'd gone ahead and forked over the money and gone up to 64 MB or even the new 128 MB...) Because of that, each time I use the camera I have to fiddle around and re-set the camera for standard quality. On the up side, there are two levels of SQ, two levels of HQ, and two levels of SHQ, for a total of six choices. In the lowest level of SQ mode, the camera can shoot several minutes of decent quality movie footage, which is fun -- but a REAL drain on the batteries. The camera comes with the Camedia software, which is adequate but not great, but it only works on Windows 98 and newer. I tried playing with it at work, where we have Windows 95/97, and it wouldn't work. That's OK, because my home computer has XP, and it does fine. Downloading with the Camedia 2.5 isn't as easy as Olympus says, but fortunately once you find your file, you can create shortcuts to get to your photos. The main thing about this, despite the small but pesky shortcomings, is that the quality of photos is good for such a low-priced camera. If I'd had a couple hundred more to spend I might have bought a better Olympus product, but for those on a smaller budget who want photos of the kids, vacations and other non-professional type photography, this small, solid camera can't be beat. It's as good, if not better, than the Olympus I use at work, which cost twice as much...

I've used mine for two years so far and gotten alot of mileage out of it. What I really love is that it doesn't require special software to download pictures. When we go to visit, we can just plug in the camera with the USB cable, treat it as a removable disc, and transfer our pictures to our hosts computer before we leave. One downside is that the viewfinder doesn't quite frame the picture accurately. For close-ups, I have to turn on the LED screen or I cut off half of the face...

After considerable research, I decided on the Olympus Camedia D-510Zoom for my first "real" digital camera. I couldn't be more pleased with the ease of use (considering the deep menu which is somewhat intuitive for a technophile), long list of cool features/controls, and excellent image quality. Although you can start taking pics immediately with the quick-start guide, TAKE THE TIME TO READ THE FULL MANUAL ON THE CD and practice!

The video clip and panoramic features are very fun toys/tools and proved to be much better quality than I expected. The Camedia software effortlessly stitches up to ten pics together for interesting panoramic shots and the video feature saves short silent clips in Quicktime MOV format. I would recommend spending the extra ten bucks or so on an Olympus-brand SmartMedia card with the panoramic code for your first or second large-capacity card (since the card that comes with the camera is only 8MB and other brand cards don't have the proprietary panorama code that works with the software.)

My camera says it will shoot about 22 pictures in the highest TIF resolution (1600x1200) and 1300 pictures in the lowest JPG resolution (640x480) on a 128MB card. The highest JPG resolution (SHQ at 1600x1200 w/minimal compression) is where I keep mine set most of the time and I get about 90 shots per 128MB card. The default JPG setting (HQ at 1600x1200 w/medium compression) gets about 230 shots per 128MB.

As with any zoom camera I've ever used, you need to keep the camera still or your image will blur. Use a tripod as often as you can, particularly for zooming, night shots and definitely for panoramic shots. The 3x optical zoom is nice but it will not make my SLR (35mm film camera w/zoom and macro lenses) obsolete by a long shot-perhaps if I dropped a grand or two on a high-end Nikon or Minolta digital...

The camera does eat batteries, but not as bad as I expected, considering all the moaning and groaning in these reviews. Just buy an inexpensive NiMH charger and eight rechargeable batteries. I find my Energizer ACCUrechargeables last much longer than the batteries the camera came with and I'm very happy with them. I also keep a set of Duracells in the camera bag just in case.

The housing has been described as cheap (among other things) but I think it has a good solid feel to it and if you treat it like the somewhat delicate piece of electronic equipment it is, instead of like a football, it will probably last a long time.

I don't have a card-reader or AC adapter yet since I don't see an urgent need for them. The camera works well by itself as a card reader and the transfers are quick (about 4 minutes to transfer a full 128MB card) so I don't think I'll shell out the fifty bucks for the adapter (ouch!).

I've used Olympus point-and-shoot cameras for years, starting with the XA. Though my 'main' camera is a Nikon F3, over the years I've opted to carry the small Olympuses for travel. If it can't fit in my pocket or purse, it doesn't go!

Finally... there is a pocket-sized digital camera that rivals the resolution of a film: the Olympus D40Z. It has more bells and whistles than the average photographer will ever need, but it also runs just fine in the 'PHD' AUTO mode. And the quality is fantastic! Another feature I really liked was the drag-and-drop feature that allows you to offload pics direct to a PC hard drive through the USB port makes download a snap. On a short boat ferry, I powered up my laptop and had the pics downloaded in less than 30 seconds. (One friend uses his Olympus to transfer files from one PC to another at home!)

Battery life has not been a problem - I've run several hundred photos through the camera and am still on the original battery. I don't however use the viewer much - I save battery life by downloading photos to the PC rather than viewing and editing them in the camera. Nevertheless, purchasing the rechargeable batteries is recommended in the long run.

I was looking at the Nikon CoolPix 990 and 995 before this camera was released. Though the quality and durability is very good, I was put off by the larger body size and weight of the Nikon (if it's not small, it will probably be left in the drawer more often than not). So if you're in the market for a digital camera and need small size, high picture quality with enough features 'headroom' to allow a high degree of control over the image, you should definitely consider the Olympus D40Z.

i have had an olympus digital camera for 4 years now, and have been researching for the last 6 months on a new model.. just got the new d40 in time for christmas and also ordered the bu-100 charger and a 128mb extra card... buy both! amazon's service on these products was just great! ordered them 1 week before christmas and got them in 5 days....the camera takes great pictures and the featuers are easy after you play around with the camera.....for christmas my son also got me the olympus USB smartmedis reader which i really like useing to save the battery power...the quick time video uses alot of battery power but the sound and pictuer quality is just amazing and the zoom featuer works really good....compact size makes it a breeze to carry around in the shirt pocket...i mainly use the 1600x1200 sq1 mode
and the COLOR quality is just amazing.....get one now!!!

I have used about 5 digital cameras so far (pentax, sony, olympus) for more than 2 years. The D-40 is my last upgrade from the Olympus 2040. My remarks:

1: Olympus gives the best results when you print your fhotos(in an average quality... printer like HP-920). Simply you cannot tell the difference from a hi-quality film camera.
2: If you like the quick "point and shoot" photography without tripods and professional settings, the camera is amazing and the zoom is just what you need. It takes clear and sharp pictures. The camera of course has noumerous settings and capabillities but it works fine in auto mode. Just turn it on and shoot.
3: The camera is the smallest by far in 4 megapixels. You can have it always with you, everywhere, even in your shirt pocket.
4: Real plug and play. Just plug it into a USB port and that's it. No drivers no CDs...Just drag and drop like a hard drive. With the 128 MB SM card you can cary more files than a 100 MB zip drive. Yes I use it to copy and transfer files.
5:It gives you for an extra the pixel-maching technology. You never know when you could need this, but other brands, more expensive cameras, still haven't it.
6:Yes, it drains batteries fast but not faster than the other models by Olympus, if you take into consideration that it takes only 2 AAs. So you have 2 more for spare.
5 stars with no doubt. And remember : SIZE ALWAYS COUNTS.

I'll admit I'm no expert when it comes to photographic equipment but I CAN recognise a bargain when I see it. Olympus are a manufacturer who have always had my utmost respect and when it came to upgrading my 1.3 megapixel digi-cam to something with a little more juice they were once again my first choice. The D-380 was released around Feb 2002 (I believe) and is one of the few 2.0 Megapixel cameras... at a price you simply can not argue with for this kind of quality.

What you get for your money is a camera which is aestetically pleasing as well as functionaly impressive as well. It's not too bulky, around 5" wide and sub 7 ounces in weight, with a sliding lens protector to make transportation a breeze, a wrist strap, 8MB Smart Media memory card (although it takes upto 128MB) as well as 1MB onboard memory, USB connector, built in flash and a 1.5" digital viewfinder at the back for live preview or viewing of your snapped images...a good size for a small camera.

The camera requires 4AA batteries to operate and unlike the previous model I owned uses some kind of battery saving technology to give you more operational time before run down. It still gobbles the things like nobody's business though if you use the viewfinder at the back too often so you are best advised to buy a set or two of rechargable batteries for this camera...but it is MUCH better than the previous models.

When it comes to using the camera you'll find it a doddle. I'm not going to run through each and every thing it does or I'll bore the pants off you, ...[but] if you want a list of specs, then visit the Olympus website. What I will say is that it is dead easy to use. The menu system is accessed through 4 buttons on the back, and is very intuitive - you'll have no problem with using this unlike with some others. If you've ever used an Olympus camera around this price range before in the last couple of years then you'll be more than familiar with the set up because it doesn't seem to have changed much in this respect.

The most important thing of all though is the quality of the pictures and I have to say that once again Olympus has come up trumps with this camera. Colour saturation is generally excellent and whilst bright sunlight and very murky conditions give you somewhat under/over-exposed results at times, it is otherwise faultless for a 2.0 megapixel camera. There are various image manipulation options such as switching to black and whire/sepia tones built into the camera as well and an option to record video footage as Quicktime images which is great as well.

The only thing which is missing for the average user (no, it's not a pro choice obviously) is a zoom lens. You can digitally zoom if you so wish, but I find a slight jagged edge appearing on the images if you do, so it's not optimal.

Overall, for the price you can't fault it and I'd be happy to recommend it to anybody in the market for a 2.0 Megapixel digital camera without any qualms that they would be disappointed in their purchase. If you want professional quality images then look elsewhere, but for the general user this is a great purchase.

The Olympus D-380 is my first digital camera. I did my research, using online reviews and consumer publications. I wanted something high quality, user-friendly, and well built, at a reasonable price. I concluded that Olympus makes products that fit my criteria. This camera is everything I hoped it would be and more!

Upon opening the box, I was pleased to find an attractive, sturdily constructed camera. Though there's nothing cheap-looking about it (it's all classy looking metallic surfaces), it is very lightweight and comfortable in my hand. The lens cover slides with precision and covers the lens securely (many of the cameras in this price range don't have an integrated lens cover). The wrist strap attaches easily. The covers for the battery compartment, memory card, and USB and AC adapters are well designed and look as if they will last a long time. This camera is manufactured in Japan.

It took only about a minute, after scanning the "Quick Start" guide, to insert the included batteries and SmartMedia memory card and start taking pictures. The very first picture I took was a keeper; I was very pleasantly surprised at the quality. I handed the camera to my 6-year-old son, who snapped off a shot of my daughter and me, which I then printed on glossy photo paper. It looks so nice that I'm actually going to frame it and hang it on the wall. I have since taken pictures at all the different resolutions, and all look great when viewed on the computer. I have settled on the 1024 x 768 setting as my "standard", since it matches the resolution of my monitor, and makes for reasonable file sizes (around 180 KB per photo). 640 x 480 works great for e-mail, and 1600 x 1200 turns out beautiful results for printing, or those special occasion "keepsakes". Even the QuickTime movie mode does a decent job, certainly much better than those grainy webcam captures.

There is a 5X digital zoom (no optical). I detect a little graininess when using it, but for the money, it's fine and it's simple to use.

I am running Windows 2000 Pro, and setup for transferring files to the computer couldn't have been easier. Simply plug the USB cable into the camera, then into the computer. That's it! Open My Computer and you'll find a new removable storage drive. From there it's a simple matter of dragging and dropping files to wherever you want to store them. You can delete the files from the SmartMedia card from your computer, which is easier than doing it with the camera. The included Camedia software looked fun, but I haven't had a need to use it yet, so I can't comment on its functionality.

I received a free 32 MB Viking SmartMedia card from Amazon with this camera. Together with the 8 MB card in the box with the camera, this is enough storage for roughly 200 photos at 1024 x 768. The only thing I needed to buy to complete my setup was a carrying case.

I highly recommend this camera to anyone looking to enter the world of digital photography. It is stylish, extremely easy to use, very well constructed, takes excellent pictures, and is an unbeatable value!

I've used this camera for over 2 years now, and I've never had a problem with it. The battery life is excellent and the pictures are really sharp and good looking for 2MP. The camera has taken a lot of beating, but its really durable and still in excellent shape.