Digital-Camera Reviews

Received lens in new condition in a timely fashion. Pleased with purchase.

The first thing I tell people when they ask me what sort of digital camera they should buy is: "Make sure you buy one that doesn't use a proprietary battery." In other words, if you can't walk into a drug store and buy batteries for it, keep looking.

Any battery can go bad, even rechargable lithiums (all it takes is one out of the three to die and you're out of business). I'm a big fan of rechargable AA batteries. Take two sets with you on vacation and if something goes wrong, drop into a drug store and buy replacements until you can find more rechargables.

I have, however, found that Olympus makes the best digital cameras I've ever used. The D-550 3-megapixil is superb and it uses AA batteries. One of its best features is in the Camedia software that comes with it. It corrects for the distortion found in ALL single lens digital cameras.

If Olympus goes to propriatary batteries, they've lost me as a customer. I don't want to be out in the middle of nowhere and suddenly have my battery go down. Nor do I want to find out, three years from now, that my battery is special order only and goes for an exorbitant price. I've got a laptop computer by Lexmark in my closet that I could still be using, except the proprietary battery's no longer being made.

Finally, while the Olympus Stylus 410 4MP Digital Camera renders very nice photos, it has minor annoyances like "noise" -- digital interference that pros can spot as coming from a digital camera. In low light, it also suffers from a slight purple cast in dark areas, neither of which my D-550 has.

After batteries, quality of photos is my next big buying point. This camera is capable of taking great photos that are frameible, but you'll have to add Photoshop Elements to the purchase to boost saturation and change color casts. The camera's the right size. Anything smaller and it becomes unweildy.

Have a 300 Stylus and tested a 410, will buy one soon. Lots of myths out there:

- Never buy a camera that uses non-rechargeable batteries (i.e. AA). You'll go through piles of them with even light usage. They'll die just when you need more. Why is it so hard to simply recharge your Li-ion battery more often than letting it run down to zero?

- I know it so hard to be inconvenienced, but you have to press the shutter down so the camera can focus. If you're on a strange angle or poor lighting, the camera just won't take the shot - it's trying to focus during that time and conks out. Anyone who wants "instant" shutter snaps needs to return to analog film.

- Skin tone is hard to get with any flash camera unless it's professional. The Olympus flash does tend to be rather bright, I must admit. But I'd rather have brighter (can adjust later with some editing software) than too dark (can't do anything.)

- Who wants all this extra bulky photo editing software? I just want to plug the camera into my computer's USB slot and download the photos without all this baby-handholding "editing software" that comes with other cameras. Only the Olympus allows you to do that. If you're at someone's house or at work or wherever, you can download right to their computer. Can't do it with others if they don't have the editing software CD.

Beats Fuji and Canon, this camera.

The Olympus Stylus 410 is great for my needs. I use it for snapping photos around campus and on outdoor adventures. The 410 takes quality photos outside, but inside is a different story. When the light is good, and flash is not required, the photos come out very well. When flash is required, people often complain about how bright it is--and how much more brighter it is than other cameras. The flash also makes the photos turn out horribly, in some instances.
If you need a digital camera for outdoors/recreational use, the 410 should suit you well. Not only does the camera take excellent outdoor photos, it also makes reds and blues more radiant. I look forward to boating and canoeing this summer! One suggestion: buy a 128 or 256 MB card-you'll need it!

This camera takes good pictues in well-lit, close-up situations--a good point & shoot camera.

I have a major complaint with Olympus' failure to honor the 1-year warranty on this product. A plastic component of the USB port broke, rendering the USB port useless. Olympus refused to honor the warranty for this repair, despite repeated requests from both me and the camera shop where I purchased the camera.

Also, the "metal body" description of this camera does not apply to the media door--it is plastic, and prone to breakage.

I own about 15 cameras. This was my first Olympus, and based on their failure to honor the warranty, it will be my last.

I'll not repeat the praise most have for this camera except that I agree with most. It's really a nice camera.

The big problem this camera is the weakness of its flash. I find that fully 50% of my photographs are underexposed even when I set things on "P" program mode which should adjust for lighting (of course at the expense of video noise....

If you have kids and like to catch them in the act - you can do so in good lighting but NOT with the flash. It takes fully 7-8 seconds to recharge, even with a full battery.

Look, I understand that the pictures won't bring you to tears of joy with their intense colors and riveting detail. If you want that, spend more on a camera that will be much larger and feature laden.

However, if you want to throw your camera in your pocket and run out to a bar, the beach, or wherever (knowing full well that you might not even use it on said trip) it doesn't get a lot better than this. It's stupid easy to use, it's light, to this point it's been indestructible, and about 95% of my pictures, even from dimly lit places have been high quality. For some reason the quality suffers when you DON'T use the flash, but it really doesn't make much difference.

So it's really all about what you're looking for. If you're in college or are a young person looking to document adventures, get this camera. If you're taking family vacations, probably you could do better. Either way, I love the thing.

I purchased this camera from Amazon in June 2003, when it had just come on the market. I decided to buy this as my first digital camera because I had been impressed with the Olympus Stylus 80 film camera I have had for several years (and still do). The stylus digital takes reasonable pictures compared with other digital cameras my friends own, and the battery life is excellent. I invested in the 256MB memory card and still haven't found out how many pictures you can cram on it at normal quality, but it's a lot.

I had complaints from the beginning however, about the space of time between my pressing the button and the actual taking of the shot. When you are trying to take pictures of children, the 1 or 1 1/2 second gap makes it nearly impossible to get the shot you were trying to get, and the good pictures I have gotten of my kids have been almost accidental. I was also disappointed to discover the limitations of the included software, which does not allow you to e-mail pictures unless you give Olympus another $20 for the privilege. Frankly, I thought this was a simple gouge, and I resented it.

My worst disappointment however, came recently. The camera shut off because the battery was exhausted. However, when I put in the fresh battery I had (and later, the recharged battery I had been using) the camera appeared to have frozen up. The lens will not extend and the little orange and green lights next to the viewfinder flash simultaneously and the camera beeps, a signal which, according to the manual, means that the battery is dead. Well, it 'aint! I cannot get the camera to work and the warranty will not be honoured where I live. This is the only digital camera I have ever owned, and so I cannot make a comparison with any others as to durability, but for cripe's sake, I paid top dollar for this about eight months ago and have treated it with kid gloves. I expected better from Olympus.

I've had the camera 3 moonths now and I still love it! It is compact, takes great pictures, and easy to use. It took very little time to learn how to use it. If you're looking for a point and shoot digital camera, this is a great choice. I was initially concerned that it only uses a rechargeable battery, but the battery life is surprisingly good. I used it on vacation took 70-80 pictures and still had plenty of battery life left. The compact size is also a plus - can be comfortably carried around in a pant pocket. Compared to other digitals I've tried, the Stylus 300 has a solid, sturdy feel to it. For the everyday photographer, this camera is a great choice.

I've had no problems with indoor photos unless trying to take a shot a a great distance. Picture quality is always excellent unless I don't hold the camera steady. The Olympus software is simple but let's me do everything I've wanted - e-mail, print, etc. I rarely used my old film camera,but I carry this camera with me everywhere now. With a 128MB card I snap all the pictures I want with no concern about space. This is the best toy I've bought in years.

If you use a digital camera, you need to get off those 4 AA from your drug store. They are just not practical, the battery on this camera last for a whole 250 MB card at max resolution. Additional battery is cheap (cheaper than buying those 4 AA batteries over time). Just like you would charge a digital video camera, you plug the charger in the wall, place the battery eaily on top and leave it. In less than the time it takes you to drive to that drig store, you got a full charge!
The media card is the one you would use for this camera, why would you want CF for example? Average user would have one digital camera with one card, that easily download into your PC.
I bought the Canon powershot and this by far has a better color especially for Macro shots. Go ahead and get it, it can be used everywhere, it wont run out of battery even if you store ity for a month as long as it is charged and it wont die as soon as as a little increase in humidity hits it. I have been useing it for 2 years and no problems, highly recommended.