Olympus D-620L Digital Camera

Rating:
Summary: A good digital camera with frustrating flaws
Review: Bought the camera in Dec 1998 and, after several months of use, have found two problems. The camera will not allow you take night photographs even with the built in shutter adjustments; the shutter will simply not take the picture and allow you to decide whether it is useable or not. Secondly, the plug in cable from the camera to the PC is very sensitive (am on my third one)and at times I have to hold the input plug on the camera firmly during the download or it will stop the transfer. The upside...great pics and this camera takes standard close-up, telephoto or wide-angle lenses.

Rating:
Summary: Entry-level digital camera, but great photos!
Review: I bought my Olympus D-620L four years ago, in November of 1999, just about the time that digital cameras were beginning to attract the interest of novice camera users. My camera has been a workhorse since then, helping me capture excellent photos for use on Ebay as well as in some brochures I've produced for small businesses. My friends have newer and fancier models, but my photos turn out as well as theirs do, and seem far easier to shoot. Unfortunately, last week my beloved old D-620L developed a problem when using the built-in flash. The flash doesn't flash until a second or so after the photo has been taken, so unless I use the camera outdoors or with good indoor lighting, the photos are too dark to use. I returned the camera to Olympus for repair, knowing that an out-of-warranty fix was probably going to be pricey. Well, I just got the estimate to fix it: $262.00. I'm guessing that's a standard fee that Olympus charges for any repair because before I mailed in the camera, someone I spoke to in the Olympus customer service department said that I'd probably be looking at "$262.00 to fix any problem." Still, I sent the camera to Olympus, hoping that the repair would be less than the estimate. It wasn't, so I'm having the camera returned without having the repair done. It doesn't make sense to put that kind of money into a camera that's 4 years old, even though I don't want to buy a new camera at this point. So, my old D-620L will be used for outdoor shots only until I make the move to buy another digital camera. I don't need a 3, 4, or 5 megapixel camera, movie capabilities, or many of the other bells and whistles that are standard on most digital cameras today. But I do want a camera that looks and feels like a camera, not a toy, and one that has a decent viewfinder and zoom. Until that perfect camera jumps up and grabs me, I'll be making do with my Olympus D-620L. By the way, the only reason I rated this camera with 4 stars instead of 5 is because of the steep cost of repairs after the camera is out of warranty. To be fair, however, the sky-high repairs on an out-of-warranty camera are probably a universal problem. Canon has a similar policy; my fairly new, barely out-of-date Canon Z155 died on me not long ago, and the repair estimate on that thing was MORE than the cost of the camera when purchased new. I ditched the camera.

Rating:
Summary: Would recommend
Review: I bought this camera in March of 1999. I absolutely love it. I had planned on keeping my Canon 35MM figuring that there was no way that the Digital camera could compare in quality. Boy was I wrong! It is so easy to use, very solid and looks very much like a 35mm camera. I would most definately buy this one again!

Rating:
Summary: Olympus builds a winner
Review: I have had my Olympus just over a month now and after taking litteraly hundreds of pictures, I have had no problems at all. I did try running the camera off of AA batteries and was not impressed with the life span, however, the camera continues to perform like a champ.

Rating:
Summary: Camera buff for 40 years adds perfect compliment to stable
Review: I have had them all, 35mm, point and shoot, hasselblad and all the lenses. I am not ready to give the rest up, they all have their place, but the Olympus and the smart media with a floppy disk adapter have taken me to a new level. It all works great, probably better in day than night, but great.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic and at this price, a steal
Review: I remember when my office bought this camera back in 1998 for three times the price. I thought it was a great camera then, but even now it's fabulous. I love being able to focus in on small objects or use the wide angle to get the big picture. And with the extra 8 megs of smart media, it's like carting around three more rolls of film. The batteries only take three hours to recharge and they last. All in all, it's everything I wanted and more.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic and at this price, a steal
Review: I remember when my office bought this camera back in 1998 for three times the price. I thought it was a great camera then, but even now it's fabulous. I love being able to focus in on small objects or use the wide angle to get the big picture. And with the extra 8 megs of smart media, it's like carting around three more rolls of film. The batteries only take three hours to recharge and they last. All in all, it's everything I wanted and more.

Rating:
Summary: Optical Zoom, Size are Great
Review: If you're considering buying a digital camera for the first time, consider the following three items as necessary: 1. optical zoom 2. built-in flash (as in light, not memory) 3. highest possible resolution

This camera has two of the three. Technology is moving so rapidly that Olympus has introduced two newer models (D-2000 and D-2400) that are higher resolution. I guess that this will just be like my PC -- I replace the camera every three years.

It is easy to handle and the software that comes with it is good. Memory cards are inexpensive to purchase. There's an interesting accessory, a 1.45X lens attachment, that gives better optical zoom characteristics.

I recently had my Olympus D-610 smooshed by a horse trailer and replaced it with the D-620. There's no real differences.

The only negative: other reviewers are correct about there being NO WAY to force the flash to go off at night. Recently I had to turn on the patio light just to get enough light for the flash to work.

Rating:
Summary: Not the best choice.
Review: Pick this camera up and you'll be reminded of the heft of older, metal-bodied 35mm film cameras. It seems that the SLR setup has added a significant weight burden, while supposedly lending better optics to the camera. In this price range, most digital cameras now offer potent optical zoom lenses (7-10x not uncommon), while the 620 makes do with a marginal 3:1 setup. In addition, while most offer resolutions in the 3+ megapixel range, the 620 is a 2.1 megapixel camera. While there are some user-controlled features that make it fun to use, it is still pretty much a computer chip controlled digicam with a particularly slow autofocus system. In this price range, I'll take the Olympus 700 anyday!

Rating:
Summary: High quality pictures with a few glitches
Review: PROS:

Overall, I love my 620L. The images it generates are excellent and you have the choice of three different quality settings. Spare NiMH batteries are a must, but that is true with any digital camera, especially one with a flash. We have had prints made from pictures taken with this camera and they were great.

CONS:

Difficult to take night shots or low light shots. The camera is equivalent to a 100 ASA film so if you are planning on taking low light shots, this isn't the camera for you.