Rating: Summary: Olympus C2040 digital camera Review: I really like this camera. The operating instructions included a quick start page of just the necessary basics to get started taking pictures. The more detailed instruction booklet was clearly written and included diagrams. This was very helpful. The camera's controls are easy to use. The picture quality in daylight or flash is very good. I had a problem connecting the camera to my computer through the USB port. My computer running Microsoft XP wouldn't recognize it and would freeze up. The software that came with the camera did not seem to help. I currently download pictures to the computer through my hp Photosmart printer which can read the smart card. A little round-a-bout, but workable for now. Overall, however, I am very satified with the camera.
Rating: Summary: Great features at a great price! Review: I spent weeks researching digital cameras and the more reviews I read, the more undecided I became. But, in the end I bought an Olympus C-2040 digital camera. The main reason why I decided on the C-2040 is the fact that it has the new super bright f1.8 lens. Digital cameras in general have had a history of taking poor quality pictures in low-light situations. The C-2040 and its bigger brothers the C-3040 and C-4040 have same super bright lens, which in my book is the best lens on the market for the price. The only disappointment that I have with the C-2040 is the fact that I have to use the SHQ mode to get anywhere near the quality of pictures that I desire. I am a graphic/web designer and I am by far so much pickier than what the average photo enthusiast would be. So, I have decided to return the C-2040 and I have ordered the 3.34 mega-pixel C-3040. The average user will be more than satisfied with the C-2040 and its list of features. However, if anyone is as picky as I am, I demand only the best in my images. In another year or two I hope to upgrade to a 4+ mega-pixel SLR digital camera and when I do, Olympus will be the first manufacturer that I will look to.
Rating: Summary: Nice Camera! Review: I was a reluctant convert to digital photograhy and settled on the C-2040 after carrying out extensive research. The clarity of the photos are fantastic and the colours are beautifully saturated. It is very well featured with a good selection of exposure modes and settings, including spot metering. The build quality is excellent and it feels very solid. I cannot go back to film after this!! The f1.8 lens and the ISO400 setting are particularly valuable, allowing you to take natural light photos in conditions that you wouldn't dream of with a film camera. Complaints.. you'll need to get a decently sized memory card - 64mb is useful, and a rechargeable battery set. It is not as pocketable as I thought it would be, and the lens cap is not integrated. The lens is not as wide as I'd like, though you can get adapters to fix that. You'll also miss the lack of sound on your quicktime movies. The Camedia software is not the best but it does the job. And finally, as with most digital cameras, you'll have to work around the slight shutter delay. Overall though, the camera has given me nothing but joy! It has all the functions a typical enthusiast needs, with the control of a decent film SLR and the size of a reasonable compact snapshot camera. You may baulk at the initial cost of a digital camera, but as soon as you start downloading those pictures it will all start to make sense. For all photographers looking into the waters of digital photography, this is as good a place to jump in!
Rating: Summary: I love this camera! Review: I wish to add further comments to my first review of this camera. Now that I have had a chance to use it, I know that I made the right decision when I bought the Olympus C-2040Z. I could not be more satisfied. It takes some of the sharpest pictures these old eyes have ever seen, especially nature shots. I have pictures taken by this camera and printed on my Epson C-80 printer that are National Geographic quality. And I am talking about 8X10 prints in full living color. This camera has more than met my expectations. I cannot recommend it strongly enough. The excellent review by Consumers Reports should help further convince anyone who might be trying to decide which camera is the one for him or her.
Rating: Summary: The Olympus C-2040Z - a second review Review: I wish to add further comments to my first review of this camera. Now that I have had a chance to use it, I know that I made the right decision when I bought the Olympus C-2040Z. I could not be more satisfied. It takes some of the sharpest pictures these old eyes have ever seen, especially nature shots. I have pictures taken by this camera and printed on my Epson C-80 printer that are National Geographic quality. And I am talking about 8X10 prints in full living color. This camera has more than met my expectations. I cannot recommend it strongly enough. The excellent review by Consumers Reports should help further convince anyone who might be trying to decide which camera is the one for him or her.
Rating: Summary: Fabulous camera (once you get it working). Review: I would have given this camera five stars if I hadn't had so much trouble getting started. The reviews point out the problem with the driver if you have Windows 98. My computer is only 3 months old and has Windows Me. When I tried to download pictures, Windows couldn't find the driver. After trying the CD rom provided by Olympus and the system disk that came with the computer, I went to the Olympus website and downloaded the driver for Windows 98. It still didn't work. Frustrated, I called Olympus the next morning. I was told that the first time it had tried to install the driver, it had done so improperly, so I had to delete that before it would run with the downloaded driver. It took a half hour on the phone with an Olympus technician telling me step-by-step what to do before it would work. The software that comes with the camera stinks. I use another photo editing program. That said, once it was up and running it's an amazing camera. Even on full auto it takes amazing pictures under all kinds of conditions. I took it to Florida and took pictures out a car window, in low light, on the beach and through glass in an aquarium -- all of the pictures are beautiful. I'm just starting to learn how to use the more advanced functions. It's a great camera to "grow into." It takes great pictures on the default settings while you learn how to adjust it yourself to get a desired effect. I don't find the menus to be confusing once you've used the camera a few times. The 8 MB card is a joke, I don't understand why they bother making and selling them. I highly recommend this camera because of the lens and the quality of the pictures. However, there's no excuse for the problems with the drivers and the awful software. That said, I did a lot of research and this is, overall, an amazing camera.
Rating: Summary: GREAT camera! Review: I'm not up on the technical jargon, but I know what I like. And I like this camera! Unlike some previous reviewers, I've had NO problem with any aspect of installation and use. It worked like a charm right out of the box. Coupled with my new Phillips CD-RW I have been able to create a great system for storing pics on CD. And the camera itself is a breeze to use. The pics are great, and even at the lowest quality resolution, I can print a great 8 x 10 photo. I have been using NiMH rechargeable batteries, and they lasted for a month with lots of use. I find that the 32 mg card is plenty for me, and I can't think of anything else I would need for great pics with total ease of use. I highly recommend this to anyone!
Rating: Summary: Great camera, great value for the money Review: Other reviewers have wrote at lenght about the technical aspects of this camera, you should read them. My c-2040 has been wonderfull as well. I like very much the lens wich is very clear, allowing pictures imposible with other cameras. It also has a lot of pro options wich makes it great afterwards. The learning curve is a little bit steep with some of the options, but the manual is very informative (yes , you have to read it) .I was amazed by the fact that this camera use the same interfase of the Olympus E-10 digital SLR, the only difference being the fact that the E-10 puts almost all the controls as buttons (great: you don't have to go in to a menu to change options before a shot). Do buy two 4 reachargeable batteries sets and a fast charger, this puppy eats power like crazy .
Rating: Summary: Great image quality, good value, but slow to focus & shoot Review: Purchased with a 128MB flash card, which gives about 120 low-compression JPEG 1600x1200 images. I'm very happy with the image quality, but it takes the camera about 1.5 seconds to focus & shoot from initial shutter press, which is too slow for my style. However, you can pre-focus by holding the shutter down halfway which reduces the shoot time to about 0.1 sec. The autobracket, white balance, priority and full manual, and flash intensity features are welcome (and necessary for many shots), but it takes a lot of button pushing to access them in the menus. I don't have much use for the QuickTime movie feature; the 320x240 resolution is too low to be useful and it eats RAM like crazy. If you buy this camera, I highly recommend you also purchase the Olympus CLA-1 lens adapter tube and a 43mm filter for same, to get some armor on the delicate zoom lens.
Rating: Summary: This Camera is Awesome Review: The 2040 comes with just the right amount of manual features to do some really interesting stuff. It takes amazing pictures in low light and has great resolution. I only wish the batteries lasted longer and the lens cap stayed on better. I recommend this camera wholeheartedly to beginners and advanced amateurs alike
|