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Olympus Camedia D-40 4MP Digital Camera with 2.8x Optical Zoom

Olympus Camedia D-40 4MP Digital Camera with 2.8x Optical Zoom

List Price: $799.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Beware LEMONS!
Review: I can't lie... this is a great digital camera with many advanced features and excellent photos (see the other reviews), BUT... It took me 3 orders to get a camera that worked properly. Had it not taken me so long to find a camera that worked I would surely have rated 5 stars.

Camera #1 took excellent pictures and worked properly, EXCEPT that it managed to drain its battery while it was OFF - usually in less than 12 hours. (I used the recommended CR-V3 batteries, for anyone who might think I had simply used AA Alkalines.) I shipped this lemon back to Amazon and was promptly furnished a new model.

Camera #2 did not even turn on! The lights would blink and it gave an error message indicating problems with the Smartmedia. I tried swapping the card with one that I knew worked, but to no avail. Also, while OFF, this camera heated up to about (I'm guessing) 100°. I took the battery out fearing an explosion and promptly exchanged this model.

I've had Camera #3 for several days and everything seems to be in order. I'm still using the original battery after taking many pictures and movies. I am now thoroughly satisfied with my purchase, but I advise you to keep my problems in mind as you consider this camera!

I must put in a good word for Amazon's replacement policy. My new cameras arrived quickly and all the return postage was prepaid.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good picture quality, fairly usable
Review: I concur with the first two reviewer's comments, generally. The camera takes excellent, clear, vivid pictures and is very small (not as tiny as the Canon digital Elph line, but the small Canons are currently only at 2.1 MP).

Although you don't have to be a genius to figure the camera out, ease of use is not the camera's strong point. Icons and menu labels don't make immediate sense; you must read the manual (PDF format on the CD -- no print version!) to understand what the menus and dial-mode positions do.

Though the controls are complex, they're also deep and feature-rich. The camera gives an Auto mode, a Program mode, Shutter priority, Aperature priority, and full Manual modes, and automatic scenery, portrait, and people-in-front-of-scenery modes. Macro mode and night-time mode are also on the dial for quick access.

Olympus includes an infrared remote control in the package (nice not to have to go buy one separately).

The 30-second movie mode works fine, but don't think of it as a substitute for a camcorder--the microphone doesn't work that well.

It is a mystery to me why Olympus chose to use a proprietary battery size. The included NON-rechargeable lithium battery is about the same size as two AA batteries, and you can use two AA batteries in place of Olympus-brand lithium batteries... Ni-MH rechargeable AA batteries are the cheapest solution in the long-run; the camera chews up Alkaline batteries like crazy, and lithium AA batteries are about as expensive as the Olympus-brand battery, per picture. Note: you can't recharge your Ni-MH AA batteries inside the camera; you must have a separate charger. Silliness. But not so silly that I wouldn't recommend the camera. I'm happy I bought it.

Last item: I use Windows XP Home, and I tried hooking up the camera to my computer via the included USB cable. It worked the first time, but it crashed my system the second and subsequent times. This might just be my fault, but I can't be sure yet.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: cool features, great pix, too long lag time to shoot
Review: I enjoy the camera quite a bit, it is user friendly, has great features, but the long lag time from when you press the shutter button to when the picture actually takes means you miss quite a few great shots and get the bad ones seconds later. I have to e xplain to people when I take their picture to not move for several seconds after I press the shutter. Thus candid shots stink.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Camera for size and price
Review: I had a 2.1 megapixel Epson for over a year and upgraded to the D-40. Pretty good battery life compared to other cameras - but still goes through batteries <frown> when using the LCD (to be expected). Everything else top notch, including menus and ease of use and size.

Bonus - it comes with Adobe Photoshop Elements - full version. That makes it a real steal!

What I wish it came with, AC/DC adapter...

Other then that - this is one of the best buys I have seen.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: just buy it ....you'll be glad
Review: 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!!!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Excellence with qualifications
Review: I have had this camera now for 7 months and I have years of experience with the Olympus IS-3000 180 Zoom. Here are my thoughts:

1) The D40 takes pictures better than a 35mm because: a) with digital you can instantly see the pictures and take more if needed, b)you tend to take a lot more pictures resulting in a better chance of excellent photos (and you delete the useless ones), c)the small display -- if you shoot with this -- causes you to take lots more closeups than you would with a 35mm and the result is better because of this, d) the print quality on photographic paper is on par with a 35mm (I do notice the "hot pixels" sometimes only because I read these reviews, e) I really have not used much of the digital editing using the software -- this would be an extra edge over regular cameras.

2) The minimovie mode takes reasonable movies -- better than the reviews would have you think. I have some keepers. Although I have not got the audio to work right. And the Quicktime format means that if you burn CD's with the movies to send to others you need to also send them the QuickTime program if they don't have high speed internet.

3)Why I deducted a star in my rating: no redeye reduction. I think most digitals don't have this -- why not? It means that you get lots of redeye shots. The software takes out most but not all of the redeye and is inconsistent, and its an extra labour that we should not have to do.

4) As you do not look down the lense as with my IS-3000 the viewfinder is not so good -- I think a common drawback of digitals. You don't really get what you see. This is an area where my IS-3000 is superior: framing shots. I recommend using the LCD to frame shots. It is more accurate although on bright days it is difficult to see.

5) Installation. I could not get the software to work with 98ME after visits to the website and calls to customer service. I then upgraded to XP and it worked like a charm.

6) I agree with commenters that the owner's guide is not so clear. It is true that the camera is intuitive on all the basic features and more. However, there are some features I would like more explanation about. Shame on you Olympus! You could put details on the web if you don't want to put them in the owner's guide.

7) This camera, probably like all digitals, is a bit slow to fire up compared to a regular camera. It takes a few seconds to turn on, then two seconds to fire up the LCD. Also, like all digitals, there is about a second delay between when you press the button and when it takes a shot.

8) Zoom is limited. I may have considered buying extra zoom if available.

9) I was expecting the camera to be a battery eater and it is. When I go on trips I carry the charger along with.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Love it
Review: I have never owned a decent camera of any kind so this is a first for me, But with all that aside, It was easy to figure out, and it takes really nice pictures. You can be standing in a room so dark you cant see your hand in front of you and the picture will come out like its broad daylight. (nightmode) Took it to Horror Nights at universal and everyone was like wow your camera is cool! Thanks Olympus :)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Love this Camera
Review: I have owned 4 other Olympus digital cameras, always upgrading towards more pixels. My last Olympus was the C3000 zoom, an excellent camera. The only reason I bought the D-40 zoom was for it small size.
If you are looking for great quality photos, ease of use ,many,many extra features and small size (fits in your shirt pocket), this is the camera for you.
As to battery consumption, if you use the view finder instead of the screen, you get over 200 pictures. It only uses two batteries and I use rechargeable, so power consumption is not an issue.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Small, but some draw-backs
Review: I have owned about 4 digital cameras so far, and this one is the smallest by far. While I like it's size, there are a couple of things I do not like about this camera:
1: I do not care for the smart media format. Not enough memory.
2: The zoom is not big enough
3: The colors are a little reddish
4: The LCD screen is too small, making it hard to judge if you made a good picture worth saving or not
Eventhough it has these drawbacks, it is still a nice camera that will get used a lot because of it's size. The noise reduction feature works well, which is a definate plus if you plan to make a lot of pictures at night.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The best you can have for the price.....
Review: 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.


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