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Olympus E-100 Rapid Shot 1.5MP Digital SLR Camera w/ 10x Optical Zoom

Olympus E-100 Rapid Shot 1.5MP Digital SLR Camera w/ 10x Optical Zoom

List Price: $1,699.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: LOVE IT! tons of cool features...
Review: ...This is a really great camera to say the least. It was pretty easy for me to figure out how to use it after playing with it for an hour. I love that it can shoot in both color and black & white. It can also take QuickTime movies. It works with both Smart Media and Compact Flash cards. If you have a 128 mb card and use the cam in a the lowest resolution, it can take almost 1,500 photos!! Pictures are high-quality (crisp and detailed). Colors are vibrant and true. Works EXCELLENT in low-light conditions. There are tons of other things and settings to play with and you can even program your favorite settings into it. It has Telephoto, macro mode, and image-stabalization. One feature that I found particularly useful is the tiny remote. Just put the cam on a tripod, (press a button & a red light shows you exactly where to stand), get in position and take your self photos. I absolutly LOVE this camera! FYI, this camera is somewhat heavy, not a big deal if it doesn't bother you. I recomend getting a good sturdy tripod. The camera also comes with very high-quality batteries. None of the rechargables I bought lasted nearly as long, but I would recommend getting at least 2 spare sets of rechargables for when you're "out and about". An ac-adapter would be a good investment if you plan on using the camera for extended periods of time indoors. Oh, it also comes with Adobe Photoshop 5 LE. The other software that comes with the camera is "ok", I didn't really need it since my preffered method of downloading photos is with a card reader.

Hope this helps!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Take lots of pictures
Review: Great Camera! But, there is a learning curve. Be prepared to take lots of shots. The "shutter" does not snap immediately so if you are taking action fotos you may miss the action sometimes. I take sports action fotos and if you will be taking pictures outside at night I suggest the external flash, (bracket and cable also needed). I could only get 21 pictures on the 8m flash card that came with the camera so I bought a 64M and can get 173 on the card (at midrange pixel levels). One great feature is that the camera, when plugged in on USB, looks just like a removeable disk drive and you can copy files to and from the flash card.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: versatile action camera
Review: I bought this camera (my first digital) to use for action photography. My kids ski race, so I needed a camera that had a good (250+mm) telephoto and a multi-shot sewquencing mode. The E-100 has both and a whole lot more. Although the highest resolution is not up to some of the other cameras in this price range, the E-100 can print beautiful 8X10 glossies on my deskjet printer (who needs 5+ megapixels). The only drawback is that I can't load into the supplies software on my mac powerbook G-3. I tried several fixes, but the best seems to be using a Viking card reader and Adobe Photoshop. All in all a fantastic camera.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Joy to Use
Review: I bought this camera in the hope that it would allow me to get close to the action in sports. (My daughter is a baton twirler; you get the idea.) I am not the least bit disappointed despite the fairly hefty price tag.
This has become MY CAMERA. This is the camera that I take with me. I leave home the Nikon CoolPix 990 (which is also an excellent camera but lacks a respectable zoom) and the Canon S100 (which I find handiest as my wife's purse camera).
I know that this camera lacks a zillion-pel CCD. But the pictures are really quite excellent. Printed at up to 5x7 produces no image degradation; beyond that I expect you begin to notice the camera's limitations. This camera makes you appreciate that there is more to a camera than pixel count. The E100RS optics and metering system are both excellent (IMHO). In short, this is a truly super camera for what it's designed to do --- action photos, especially when it is tough to get close to the action. And when you aren't using it in this manner, it's still a darned good camera for everyday shots.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good camera to grow up with
Review: I bought this camera, my first, after a lot of research and I am very happy with the purchase. It is a versatile camera with a lot of features (check out the product specs), but beginners can take great pictures in the automatic mode even while learning to use the advanced features. The resolution is more than enough for viewing images on a computer. Haven't tried printing yet.

Works great with Mac OS X and iPhoto without any external drivers. Just hook up the camera to the USB port and iPhoto starts up by itself. The software provided with camera - Adobe PhotoShop LE, Camedia Master and Genuine Fractals - are Mac 9.x versions.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good camera to grow up with
Review: I have used a Kodak DC-215 which I felt was a great value when I purchased it for [PRICE] a couple of years ago. It has a 2X optical zoom and produces excellent quality pictures.

I have used this and other digital cameras with a great deal of success, but have been dissapointed with the lens limitations compared to my SLR on which I can change lenses from 28mm wide angle to a 70 to 210mm zoom.

The E-100RS is the answer to all of my concerns about digital photography. Even without the external flash unit, which is really slick too, the camera as delivered from Olympus is complete and needs nothing to give you great digital photos.

Given that most digital photography ends up on the Internet, the 1.5 MegaPixel rating is not an issue at all. Photo quality is excellent even at 1.5.

The only thing limited is that it comes with an 8MB card, which is almost useless. Thankfully, memory card prices have dropped and a 128 MB Smart Media card can be purchased for less than [PRICE], and Compact Flash cards are even less expensive.

Oh and the camera can hold both at the same time and only requires you to make a menu selection to store your photos on one or the other. You can even copy from one card to the other! Then, using the supplied USB cable, you can access the active card from your computer just as if it was another hard drive. Excellent!

The "rapid shot" features work well. The issue of not taking shots right away is not a problem at all.

I charged the supplied 1600maH NiMH batteries right away after getting the camera. I played with it, taking lots of shots, quick time movies(it'll do those too), rapid-shot sessions, and only then, after a full week of this, did the batteries go weak. High maH batteries are a must for this camera. Extra sets of 1800 maH (even better) batteries are economical.... Keep one set in the camera and one in the charger to be safe. I did run one set of Energizer alkalines through it and they did not last very long.

This is a professional quality camera and slightly above a consumer price range. The improvements are well worth it.

Get one while your can!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: E-100RS - What a bargain !
Review: I have used a Kodak DC-215 which I felt was a great value when I purchased it for [PRICE] a couple of years ago. It has a 2X optical zoom and produces excellent quality pictures.

I have used this and other digital cameras with a great deal of success, but have been dissapointed with the lens limitations compared to my SLR on which I can change lenses from 28mm wide angle to a 70 to 210mm zoom.

The E-100RS is the answer to all of my concerns about digital photography. Even without the external flash unit, which is really slick too, the camera as delivered from Olympus is complete and needs nothing to give you great digital photos.

Given that most digital photography ends up on the Internet, the 1.5 MegaPixel rating is not an issue at all. Photo quality is excellent even at 1.5.

The only thing limited is that it comes with an 8MB card, which is almost useless. Thankfully, memory card prices have dropped and a 128 MB Smart Media card can be purchased for less than [PRICE], and Compact Flash cards are even less expensive.

Oh and the camera can hold both at the same time and only requires you to make a menu selection to store your photos on one or the other. You can even copy from one card to the other! Then, using the supplied USB cable, you can access the active card from your computer just as if it was another hard drive. Excellent!

The "rapid shot" features work well. The issue of not taking shots right away is not a problem at all.

I charged the supplied 1600maH NiMH batteries right away after getting the camera. I played with it, taking lots of shots, quick time movies(it'll do those too), rapid-shot sessions, and only then, after a full week of this, did the batteries go weak. High maH batteries are a must for this camera. Extra sets of 1800 maH (even better) batteries are economical.... Keep one set in the camera and one in the charger to be safe. I did run one set of Energizer alkalines through it and they did not last very long.

This is a professional quality camera and slightly above a consumer price range. The improvements are well worth it.

Get one while your can!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great camera for action shots
Review: I just purchased my E-100 last week and took it on vacation with me. I used my vacation to learn how to use the many features of the camera and there are many. I have been using a Canon, EOS IIe with a couple of different zoom lenses, so I was most interested in how much I was going to like the zoom feature of the E-100. Of course one of my main concerns was the lag time after the shutter release button is pushed as this is rather slow on most, if not all, digital cameras.

The first thing I had to get used to was the view finder. This is really not an issue for me after using the camera for a week. It only took a few shots to realize you don't really need a true through the lens view of the subject. I would, however, prefer a lens that focuses like a true SLR, but then again once I got used to the zoom and learned to use it, it is no longer an issue.

As for my main concern with the lag time after the shutter button is released, don't worry folks, with the right settings there is not only no lag time, the pre-capture feature will even capture the shots you normally miss. I tested this on a go cart track my kids just had to go on. It was evening so I had to rely on artificial lighting. It was also a multi tiered, spiral track and there wasn't a good view of most of the track. I picked out a small area where I could see the go carts for only about three or four seconds and was able to get some outstanding shots. I can't wait to start shooting sports where the lighting will be a lot better. Because of the speed of the go-carts and the dim lighting, however, some of the shots didn't turn out very clear.

As for the digital zoom; I have digital zoom on my camcorder. I never use it because it breaks the picture apart and is really not usable. On the E-100, however, it is a totally different story. Standing on the second story balcony of my condo I turned on the digital zoom and took a picture of a squirrel running on a fence. Surprise, this feature really works. I have read some reviews that say this is not really a zoom but a cropping feature. Well, I don't know how it works but the squirrel was magnified and filled the frame. And the picture came out crystal clear.

Another feature, or lack of, that a lot of reviews criticize is the 1.5 megapixal resolution. This does not seem to be a problem. Although I haven't tried printing pictures from this camera yet, I have printed pictures from my Olympus D-360L which is only 1.2 megapixal, the pictures come out great. I even printed an 8 X 10 on photo paper and the resolution is outstanding. I suppose that a photo expert could tell the but I would say that at least 90 percent of us will never notice the difference. Bottom line, don't get wrapped up in the pixal count.

Well, it won't be long before the kids are back in school and they are once again playing soccer, basketball, baseball, etc. I can't wait to use this camera for these sports, as it certainly has been a challenge in the past.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great camera for action shots
Review: I just purchased my E-100 last week and took it on vacation with me. I used my vacation to learn how to use the many features of the camera and there are many. I have been using a Canon, EOS IIe with a couple of different zoom lenses, so I was most interested in how much I was going to like the zoom feature of the E-100. Of course one of my main concerns was the lag time after the shutter release button is pushed as this is rather slow on most, if not all, digital cameras.

The first thing I had to get used to was the view finder. This is really not an issue for me after using the camera for a week. It only took a few shots to realize you don't really need a true through the lens view of the subject. I would, however, prefer a lens that focuses like a true SLR, but then again once I got used to the zoom and learned to use it, it is no longer an issue.

As for my main concern with the lag time after the shutter button is released, don't worry folks, with the right settings there is not only no lag time, the pre-capture feature will even capture the shots you normally miss. I tested this on a go cart track my kids just had to go on. It was evening so I had to rely on artificial lighting. It was also a multi tiered, spiral track and there wasn't a good view of most of the track. I picked out a small area where I could see the go carts for only about three or four seconds and was able to get some outstanding shots. I can't wait to start shooting sports where the lighting will be a lot better. Because of the speed of the go-carts and the dim lighting, however, some of the shots didn't turn out very clear.

As for the digital zoom; I have digital zoom on my camcorder. I never use it because it breaks the picture apart and is really not usable. On the E-100, however, it is a totally different story. Standing on the second story balcony of my condo I turned on the digital zoom and took a picture of a squirrel running on a fence. Surprise, this feature really works. I have read some reviews that say this is not really a zoom but a cropping feature. Well, I don't know how it works but the squirrel was magnified and filled the frame. And the picture came out crystal clear.

Another feature, or lack of, that a lot of reviews criticize is the 1.5 megapixal resolution. This does not seem to be a problem. Although I haven't tried printing pictures from this camera yet, I have printed pictures from my Olympus D-360L which is only 1.2 megapixal, the pictures come out great. I even printed an 8 X 10 on photo paper and the resolution is outstanding. I suppose that a photo expert could tell the but I would say that at least 90 percent of us will never notice the difference. Bottom line, don't get wrapped up in the pixal count.

Well, it won't be long before the kids are back in school and they are once again playing soccer, basketball, baseball, etc. I can't wait to use this camera for these sports, as it certainly has been a challenge in the past.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Digital with low light action
Review: My application is taking dance pictures of my kids (no flash, dark environments except on stage). This camera is great once you get the lighting and shutter speed issues figured out (not difficult). The preframe grab buffer is also great (but you will wish you had huge memory storage capacity when you start using it). I have not had time to fully explore the camera but the results to date are great. The only issue I have had is selecting the right lighting to make sure the pictures come out OK colorwise.

My old D-490 cannot even get close to capturing some of the images I have. If you take action photos with a flash or outside in well lit areas, the minimum shutter speed is great and you can grab awesome pics.

As far as not being able to get 2.1Megapixels - the 10x optical and more digital zoom really elimates the need. I can zoom and take pics in the back of an auditorium at HQ or SHQ and they come out great.


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