Rating: 
Summary: 1st time set up started an argument
Review: The camera comes with an easy set up extra instruction sheet. Easy? Sounds good. First the Olympus batteries wouldn't fit. Wife says "Take it back" Finally a VERY hard push got them in. Second the SmartMedia memory card wouldn't connect. Wife says "Take it back" Finally a hard push got it in. Third was setting the time. This was a major production due to the very complex menu. "Wife says "Take it back" Finally it's time, maybe, to take a picture. Turned camera on. No picture on the back screen. Hmmmm, this is not good. Re-read the easy set up extra instruction sheet word for word. Wife says "Take it back, it doesn't work" Finally in very tiny print we find that there is a "monitor" button. Take some snaps. So far this was the easy part. Installed the Camedia software on PC which comes with virtually zero documentation. Plugged in the USB cable and camera. Win98SE sees camera but doesn't find a driver. Easy set up instruction says nothing about software or drivers. The thick, mostly foreign language instruction book says see driver instructions on the Camedia disk. I look and look and look. No driver instructions could be found on the disk. Based on previous PC experience I point Win98SE to the Camedia disk sub sub directory for drivers. Win98SE finds driver. Whew. All is good, so I think. Boot up Camedia and attempt to transfer pictures from camera to Camedia. NO GO. Camedia can't find camera. Call a friend for help. Friend tells me actually the camera is now just another hard drive. Shut down the worthless Camedia and let Windows98SE go find the new Olympus hard drive. FINALLY I find the snaps on the Olympus drive and insert the snaps into some family email. Time to call it a very long night.
Rating: 
Summary: It can be as simple or complicated as you want
Review: The Olympus C-2040 has been nothing short of perfect for my first digital camera. It can be wonderfully simple for the point and shoot photographers, and it can also be set up for more complicated shots (adjusting shutter speeds, ISO, and many other things that can go over a tourist photographer's head) If you want to jump into the digital camera market, and don't want to feel the need to replace a "beginner's digital camera" in a year or so this is absolutely the one. Just make sure you buy a larger memory card to go with the camera. You'll soon find that since you don't have to worry about running out of film you can take several shots of the same scene to hopefully get that perfect memory.
Rating:
Summary: Great Camera for the price.
Review: The very fast f1.8 lens is great. It allows many indoor pictures to be taken without the flash, which saves lots of battery power.
The non-electronic view finder is a bonus when taking pictures in dark rooms or at night. The c-700 has a electronic view finder that won't work (display anything) in dim lighting. I used a c-700 at a wedding reception and it was point, guess and shoot... then try again. I used my 2040 the other night outside taking a picture of my daughters building a snowman. The dim light of the street light was was enough to find them in the view finder.
Its fairly easy to use. The 2.11 megapixel is a nice blend of picture quality and picture size on the Smartmedia card.
The only thing I've had problems with is the movie mode and taking smooth movies. I can't seem to hold the camera still enough and follow my daughters around the room at 100mph. That could just be me though. I've only tried twice.
Rating:
Summary: Very nice refined camera
Review: The very fast f1.8 lens is great. It allows many indoor pictures to be taken without the flash, which saves lots of battery power.
The non-electronic view finder is a bonus when taking pictures in dark rooms or at night. The c-700 has a electronic view finder that won't work (display anything) in dim lighting. I used a c-700 at a wedding reception and it was point, guess and shoot... then try again. I used my 2040 the other night outside taking a picture of my daughters building a snowman. The dim light of the street light was was enough to find them in the view finder.
Its fairly easy to use. The 2.11 megapixel is a nice blend of picture quality and picture size on the Smartmedia card.
The only thing I've had problems with is the movie mode and taking smooth movies. I can't seem to hold the camera still enough and follow my daughters around the room at 100mph. That could just be me though. I've only tried twice.
Rating:
Summary: Great all-around digital camera
Review: This camera has been terrific thus far. I have owned it since February of this year, after it was first became available in the US. (It is my first digital camera) The photo quality is great, and of course you can instantly re-take any pics that don't meet your standards. I find it very easy it use and the menu fairly easy to navigate. I have had a lot of success manually varying the shutter speed and opening settings when in low-light or fast-speed settings where the camera's auto-focus doesn't cut it. I recently purchased a 64-MB smart media card to use for this camera. On the HQ setting (mid-quality = great for normal size photos, maybe not for blow-ups), I can take 128 photos with this camera. With the 8-MB card that comes with the camera, you can manage 16 HQ pics. This camera is a great value for someone who wants the versatility and ease of a digital camera, as well as the quality you would expect with a higher-end model. This model has some great expansion capability too...
Rating: 
Summary: Lovely piece of work
Review: This camera was a birthday gift. I had asked for a digital point-and-shoot but my husband, a photography instructor, thought better and bought a camera with manual modes. The camera is a joy to use and takes beautiful photos outdoors and in, with the default JPG format of 1200x1600 pixels. This is fine if the biggest you want to go is 5 x 7 (8 x 10 if you're not picky). If you're an amateur, like me, turn the blasted flash off and go with natural light, but remember to adjust the ISO "film" speed up accordingly (the default is 100). All compact flash units are a pain, though this does have an option for a separate flash. Yes, rechargable batteries and an AC adapter are must-haves. Leave the camera plugged into AC while the batteries recharge so you don't lose the date/time settings you've entered. The parallax distortion in the viewfinder is different from what is described in the instructions -- if doing closeups, use the monitor to center the composition. The nested menus to control the various functions are confusing, my only real complaint about this camera (other than the "lens cap of doom" that you MUST not leave on). You will live with the manual for a while. Laminate the flimsy paper covers, it gets dogeared fast. The Camedia Master software is confusing -- you click on the "download pictures" menu and get a message that there's no communications with the camera! Obvious this feature must work with some other Olympus camera. Same message if you click on the little "my camera" icon. The software sees the camera up as a removable drive, and you have to drill down two levels to get to the pictures. Once there, you can just drag and drop the pix like any other file in Windows. For that matter, you can just drag and drop in Explorer, if you don't want to look at the thumbnails. A serious amateur will need to get better editing software, like Photoshop, to manipulate the captured images. Make sure you program the camera with date and time, otherwise all images are given a date of 01/01/00, very confusing, and the default names will overlap (default names include the date it was taken). All in all, a very nice camera.
Rating:
Summary: Great optics, great features
Review: This is a great camera for a serious or semi-serious amateur that wants full control of all the camera settings and rarely needs to print pictures larger than 8x10 inches. If you commonly desire larger photos you should stick with film or look for a camera with a higher resolution (e.g., a 3+ Megapixel Olympus). Olympus cameras are known for the quality of their optics and this model carries on that tradition. The F 1.8 lens will allow you to shoot good pictures in situations which would be much too dark for many digital cameras. I highly encourage you to go with the F 1.8 lens. I have used the camera in a variety of settings from full daylight to multi-slave flash photography in caves and have gotten wonderful pictures everywhere. The pictures that I have had professionally printed on traditional photo paper have been awesome, and the colors are great. I highly recommend this camera for the serious amateur that wants a small, feature-packed camera to carry instead of, or in addition to, your SLR. Things I really like: 1) The optical quality and color depth of the pictures. 2) The ability to completely customize the default camera settings 3) The number of optional accessories that Olympus produces for the camera 4) The include video out cord for hooking the camera up to your TV. This is great for showing your pictures of to family and friends after a trip. There are a few minor things about the camera that you should be aware of: 1) The LCD screen for viewing pictures is 1.8 inches which is on the small side (but comparable to many competitors cameras) 2) If you turn the camera on without first removing the lens cap the camera will have a fit!! 3) There is no bulb setting and the longest exposure you can set is for 16 seconds 4) Unlike its 3 Megapixel cousins, Olympus does not include the RM-1 remote control with the camera. Buy it separately . . . if you do tripod work or will use the included video cord to show your pictures on your television.
Rating:
Summary: A step above for a lower price.
Review: This is a wonderful camera. The instructions that come with the camera are at once complete and concise. It is versatile, it can take motion pictures, it is totally adjustable allowing for wonderful artistic control, and the price is very reasonable.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, with sharp, rich color
Review: This is my first digital camera bought after researching the web reviews. I took 16 pictures at a 4th of July parade and the results were fantastic. It's easy to use the default mode and just point and shoot with excellent results of clarity and color saturation. I made 2 4x6 prints on my HP 932 and people couldn't believe these weren't photo lab quality. I tried the software on a Windows 95 computer and couldn't get it to work (possibly no Windows 95 driver on the disk) but my Windows ME with USB had no problem with fast downloads.
Rating:
Summary: Easy to operate - just read the instructions!
Review: This is my first digital camera. So far it has been excellent. If you can read.....then it is not difficult at all to set up and start using the camera. In under 30 minutes, I had unpackaged the camera, installed batteries, taken pictures, erased pictures, shot in movie mode, loaded pictures on computer and printed a photo, not bad for a novice! Being a novice, I almost did not buy the 2040 based upon a few reviews stating it was too complicated, it is not, as stated earlier, just take a few minutes and read the quick start instructions. Enjoy!
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