Rating: Summary: A Great Camera Review: I have always been a photography fan, but have always lacked knowledge. When we got our first "real" computer, we also decided it was time to get a digital camera. We got at the time what we felt was the "top-of-the-line" and we were not disappointed. This camera is very easy, and delivers incredibly crisp, clear photos. The zoom is a bit disappointing, aftermarket lenses are ok. Frustrating to go from attached zoom to regular view...zoom lense needs to be detached or you have a circle in the picture...the lense does not really fit the camera...have yet to find Olympus zoom and/or wide angle lenses for this camera...would love to as I completely LOVE my camera!
Rating: Summary: A great camera, but small annoyances.... Review: Like many people have said, this camera has so many features, it's hard to figure out how to use all of them. I've had my 3040 for several months, and I haven't gotten around to trying out half the features. Overall, I have been pretty happy with it. While it does eat batteries, most digital cameras do, and it's easily solved by picking up some rechargables. My only complaint is I can *not* get the lens cap to stay on. It's not much of a problem if you always keep it in a camera case, but sometimes I throw it in my purse and inevitably, the lens cap will come off while I'm putting it in because it does not attach securely at all. A minor inconvenience mostly, but still happens often enough to become frustrating.
Rating: Summary: Good Digital Camera Review: I have had this camera for a couple of months and have really come to lke working with it. I consider myself a serious amatuer photographer and have a range on Nikon cameras and a darkroom in my home. This is my first digital camera and it had to do alot to make me happy given my background with film.The camera is very easy to use and the menu system is quite straight forward. For everyday pictures of friends and family the automatic program mode offers very good point and click shooting. I do not hesitate to let others snap away with it. On the flip side, if I want to take photos requiring more control of the cameras functions I've been able to do so without having to resort to the manual. Exposure compensation, flash control (red eye reduction, synch, exposure comp), aperture and shutter priority modes are all very easy to manipulate through the menu and cursor. There are still a few controls that I've not yet tested and that I think says much about the depth of functions given how much I've tried to push this camera. The images are quite sharp and very esy to work with. All of my computers run either Windows ME, 2000 or XP andthey all support plug and play USB so getting files from the camera to the computer has been very easy. I've used this camera with at least a half dozen computers without any trouble. I have a few complaints, but I think these are endemic to digital cameras and not limited to this model. The camera uses batteries quickly. I wish there were more and better lens accessories. I would especially like to work with graduated nuetral density filters for landscape shots. Memory cards are expensive. If you buy this or any digital camera you should consider at least a couple 64 or 128 MB cards and rechargeable batteries. Adding these will boost your purchase price by a few hundred dollars, but will make your shooting that much more enjoyable. In standard mode this camera will take 80 pictures on one 64 MB card. Given that you can delete bad shots instantly this is like having three or four roles of 36 exposures in one camera. I would not hesitate to buy this camera again. However, if you have some additional money to invest I would consider the Camdia 4040 which is basically a 4 megapixel version of this camera.
Rating: Summary: Excellent camera! Glad to upgrade from my 340. Review: I have owned an Olympus 340 for two years and I've been very happy with it...but I felt like I needed to graduate to the next level. The quality and features were not as good as I would have liked. So, after MUCH research where the Olympus 3040 was frequently popping up, I bought it about a month ago. My first set of photos, when I still hadn't learned how to use any of the features, printed beautifully! Stick them in a frame and you'd have trouble telling them from a 35mm photo! That is what I was looking for in a digital camera! The only problem I might mention is just that I've been using it for a month and I still cannot figure out how to use much of it! The menus are not very intuitive and I end up doing a lot of searching when I want to do basic things like change the default photo quality setting or use the timer! I'm sure I'll learn it all soon, but I think they took a step backward on the "user-friendliness". But, for the HUGE upgrade in quality, I wouldn't go back to my 340 for anything!
Rating: Summary: Smart Media is a poor choice Review: an "ok" camera with a good lens but crummy memory type. It needs used Compact Flash memory cards. Smart Media is much smaller in capacity (128mb vs over 1000mb). This is a very important consideration when looking at any camera which produces such large image files. Smart Media isn't very smart. Since unlike Compact Flash it has no onboard controller. (meaning fatal error happen much more often). Transfer speed is much slower. How long do you wish to wait between shots? The slower the memory card, the longer the wait. And including a measly 16mb memory stick is a JOKE. It can hold 4-5 raw images. Also in a camera costing this much, rechargable batteries and a charger should be standard (and for most other cameras it is).
Rating: Summary: Great resolution, but requires you to rethink how you photo Review: There really two perspectives here, one from someone who has owns/uses a high-end Nikon (2 1/2 *), and the other from a new digital camera user (4 1/2 *). I point this out because mid-range digital cameras are NOT really going to placate all of the needs of the amateur photographer, but may be appropriate for your situation. Caveat photographer. The biggest adjustment I've had with the C-3040 is the slowness in taking pictures -- delays of 1 to 5 seconds (fresh batteries, not including the startup time for the lens to extend to the default setting) before the photo is actually grabbed. While fine for still life, this is a problem for truly spontaneous photos, such as of one's kids. Expect blurry pictures on anything that's moving at more than a walking pace. A second criticism is the flash seems too bright and colors wash out. You can compensate for this in Photoshop, but I don't really think you should have to. On the positive side, uploading pictures is extremely easy: on my Win2000 machine, I just plug the camera in, and the camera's pictures appear as a removable device. Just cut and paste to your local machine. Resolution is very good and services like Ofoto can print up to 20x30" prints from the default (2048x1536) image size. (With a 128Mb memory card, you can get 162 pictures at this resolution.) The menu system in the camera is fairly extensive and you can alter default behavior such as turning off the camera's beep, changing color mode, shutter speed, color balance, date, and resolution. Another nice feature is you can enable verbose data display, which will show you what settings were used for each photo. The movie feature is actually more fun than I thought it would be. Pictures are jumpy and the audio is fair, but I enjoy having it as an option. You can record up to 74 seconds in one swoop -- this is a limit of the camera's internal memory, not the memory card size used.
Rating: Summary: I'm a believer Review: Although I'm hardly an expert photographer, I feel like one now with this camera. I love just about everything about it. First of all, it looks like a real camera, not one of those pieces of junk that pass for cameras these days. It takes incredible pictures right out of the box. I have the option set for the camera to ask me everytime I take a picture whether I want to keep it or not. That way, I can quickly zap any bad pictures. The LCD monitor is easy to see so you have instant feedback as to whether or not you want to retake the picture. The manual was very well written -- I spent a good deal of time reading it. Even thought the camera does many things, the menu function is very intuitive. After a day or so, I was able to do pretty much anything, even use shutter priorty mode or aperature priority mode. Although many software programs have color options, I love the fact that you can shoot in black and white, color or sepia tones. Also, this camera has both a digital and an optical zoom -- beware of false claims by other cameras. I did a great deal of research before buying this camera and I'm happy to say after a month of using it, I have not been disappointed at all. Some suggestiosn for accessories: buy a card reader! You don't want to drain the battery by using the USB cable right from the camera. They only cost around $35. You'll want at least a 64 MB card! The one it comes with is too small (for the price of this camera, I think Olympus should throw it in). The battery it comes with was dead on arrival and since it is not recharchable, forget it. Buy AA rechargable batteries (one charger, two sets of batteries) and switch them often. The batteries lose charge fast when you use the monitor feature, so beware and carry spare batteries when you travel! A great camera.
Rating: Summary: Wonder no more Review: I wondered about a digital camera. I wondered if it would have good quality pictures, if it would be easy to use, if I would like it, if it would be worth the money, if it would be convenient, . . . ? Wonder no More! This camera is the best. When I take pictures on the SHQ setting the quality is beyond amazing. This camera is a must have! It is easy, fun, creative, convenient. It is the best camera I have ever had. I love it! I just jused it at my daughters engagement party and the pictures are wonderful! Combine this camera with Paint Shop Pro 7 for adding text and other fun stuff and your creative capabilities will be unlimited!
Rating: Summary: my darkroom is back Review: This camera has been a joy. I've seen other reviews state that getting to items in the menu can be difficult, but if you spend some time reading the manual and actually using the features, finding the various settings is not that bad. I keep learning new ways to use it and now carry it with me to work for those photo ops. My two 35mm Nikons may end up gathering a lot of dust. If I had to refine my review to three items, it would be: 1) good ergonomic design; fits the hand well and finally fixes that bad lens cover problem 2) exellent features (burst, MOV, manual adjustments, etc.) 3) accepts rechargable AA batteries I waited 3 years for cameras to get their resolution/features up and prices down. It was a toss up beteen this one and the new C-700 (love the optics), but I'm glad I waited.
Rating: Summary: amazing for this camera Review: I think this is a product whit more details and I found this is a spezial price for all photografy.
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