Rating: 
Summary: upgrade from 320L to 490Z
Review: I recently purchased the 490Z because of the zoom capability not available in the earlier versions of digital photography.I previously had a Olympus320. What a surprise when I started to look at the features and functions. They were so similar that I hardly had to look at the book. More importantly, all the accessories that came with the 490 were the same as my old ones i/e the cable for the TV, the cable to my computer. I commented to my spouse that I never had a product line, phones, auto dialers,etc., that had such vertical likeness. It was pure pleasure in the migration to the new product. Today simple is good and Olympus hit a bullseye with the continued product upgrades.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice camera, but no USB card reader!!
Review: The camera works well, but I applied for the USB card reader in December & have yet to receive it (It's almost April now!). If you own a Macintosh, you need this device. Without it, you cannot download the pictures. I'd suggest you look elsewhere if you are needing a card reader. (I have called the rebate line numerous times... they just say "it should be coming soon").
Rating:
Summary: No problems with Windows ME so buy this camera!
Review: I chose the Olympus 490Z with help from the reviews right here, and from a gut feeling that this would be a super camera. It is.I've owned this camera for about 2 weeks now, and would not put myself in the expert category yet, but it is so darned simple I will be there soon! If you're worried about ease of use, don't. I took a picture 5 minutes out of the box (after I figured out how the batteries went!) My 10 year-old watched as I showed him how to look at the pictures on the monitor and took a couple of him. Left it alone with him for a couple of hours and came back to find a cardfull of very interesting, excellent pictures. I cannot believe the picture quality, it is awesome! I have a new DELL laptop computer that I used to download (serial, waiting for my USB reader) my photos with, which has Windows 2000 ME, and have had no problems in that regard. Takes about 15 minutes for 18-20 photos to download. Still using the original batteries that came in the camera, but bought backups because nothing lasts forever. I almost gave this 4 stars, but decided that wasn't fair. I bought the camera for the picture quality and point-and-shoot ability, not the photo software (Camedia), which is lame. Some of the editing tools work well, other's don't seem to at all, and some I just can't figure out. Along with that, I'm not able to access any user's guide to the software - other than the help menu, which is not much help. The user's manual comes out on my computer as gibberish and is unreadable. I even tried loading on another computer, which was just upgraded with Adobe, and still can't read it. There is a magic wand editing tool that I simply cannot figure out, and can't find any help for. Will have to call tech support, I guess. To overcome these problems, I bought an HP 932c printer (around $150), and use the Microsoft Photo Editor (already on my computer) to create fantastic printed photos - look like they came from the developer. I made some gorgeous greeting cards by taking a picture of some flowers, then using the stained-glass effect in MS Photo Editor and printing them out. Too cool! I'm having a blast! Accessories I bought were a 16MB card (wanted 32, but not available where I was shopping), Nihm rechargable batteries and charger. Looking hard at the AC adapter, my free USB reader should be coming soon. Final words: I love this camera. I'm a klutz, and I can use this camera to take great pictures. The lens cover IS tricky, but thanks to this site I was aware it may be a problem, so have trained myself to be careful.
Rating: 
Summary: Olympus may be facing quality problems!!
Review: I recently bought the D-490 Zoom camera (which is regular in terms of picture quality) and it stopped working after one month. The camera just got off and never came back on. I tried Olympus support in internet and after a week got a message advising me to reset the camera but it didn't work. After some more days (a lot of them) I got the answer that my camera doesn't have a worldwide warranty and that I would have to pay for the repair (or ship to USA) since I live outside USA where I bought the camera. This is the second Olympus defective product I bought in a year, the first was a Smartmedia memory card.In my opinion 2 defects with the same customer in a year is too much. Although Olympus states having a world class service, it's far from it in my opinion. I don't recommend Olympus digital picture products for anyone, specially if you live abroad.
Rating: 
Summary: Poor design, quirky operation, excellent pictures
Review: First the good news: the picture quality is excellent with this camera. Even on the middle grade mode, clarity, and color are pretty remarkable. Now the not so good news: the designers need to just plain go back to school. Here is the short list: 1. Quirky software: Camedia is poorly laid out, and does not work dependably each time. Sometimes you can download pictures, other times no go, the clock just runs forever. I've switched the software to different computers, restarted cam, restarted computers, no consistency. It ran once for half and hour with no download. Worse, the programmers weren't bright enough to put an escape function when this happens, which means you have force quit Camedia to try again. When the camera does mount on your desktop successfully, the file names are nonsensical. What is "DCIM" or "IMOLYM"? The programmers must have been in brain jail not to think of a more user friendly way to name the files on your camera. The controls for rotation, enlargement, etc. are crude but they do work, though poorly. One would think that the software engineers would adopt more user friendly conventions ala Adobe Acrobat or Photoshop, industry standard conventions at this point. 2. Shoddy construction: from top to bottom, nearly every moving part of this camera seems on the verge of breaking, when used normally. Many reviewers have mentioned the cover, so I won't repeat this comment. The battery compartment cover design is awful, you truly feel that you may damage it permanently, simply by closing it with batteries loaded. The outport cover, (this is where the output lines for connecting to a TV or PC are located) This is held on my a tiny flimsy looking rubbery hinge. Scary. However, good news: the flash mem card cover IS sturdy! 3. Ergonomics: again, the designers need to wake up and smell the coffee. Really! One control that you will find yourself using over and over is the monitor button (turns on and off the little LCD monitor in the back). This button is located in an area that is just awkward to access repeatedly. Try it, you can do it, but it's not a natural movement or location. Another button frequently used is the "menu" button. The designers locate this button right next to the monitor button. Same shape and almost same icon. The result, one has to be careful which button to press, they are so similar. Hey guys, how about a different shape, or color? Or a different icon. Geeez, come on! 4. The control functions on the monitor are complex, but fairly workable with practice. Still, there are many features and selections, and one wonders why it's not laid out to be more user friendly. Conclusion: I know this cam has gotten good reviews here, but I think that the reviewers are either much brighter then myself, or very easy to please. I tend to think the latter.
Rating:
Summary: Taking the Best Shots of My Life With This Camera
Review: Wouldn't change a thing about this camera... Have taken approximately 150 shots in the last week--color saturation is beyond compare. Takes better shots in low light conditions than my 35mm (try some candlelit photos). I also bought the add-on 64 meg memory card, which holds 45 SHQ (uncompressed 1600x1200 JPEG), or 255 640x480 lower-res shots. I never use the lower resolutions, after seeing how great the 1600x1200 SHQ looks as an 11x14 poster. I am still using the lithium batteries that came with the camera; still showing full charge even after 150 shots and lots of "show and tell" through the LCD for my friends. I do use the add-on AC adapter to power the downloads, though. About that downloading: Using the serial port, takes about an hour to download the entire 64 meg card. I call it my "One-Hour FOTO", and count it well worth the wait. While you're purchasing add-ons, remember to buy a nice, new portfolio -- you're gonna need it...
Rating:
Summary: No Problems with Batteries
Review: In most of the reviews I have seen, the biggest concern has been battery life. I have to tell you that batteries are not a problem so long as you get good ones with high capacity. I have the Olympus Battery package which I got from Amazon . . .. The package comes with 4 AA 1600mAhr batteries. I charged them on 6 February, did a trip to Belize, took about 150 pictures which I was showing to all the people in our group every night.We only had power on our island for 2 hours in the morning and two hours in the evening, so I could not chagre them again, and so I brought some regular AA's for backup. It is now 25 Feb, and I have just finished editing the shots down to about 100 that I want to keep, and I am still working on the initial battery charge. The backup AA's I brought are still in the sealed package.
Rating:
Summary: easy and fun to use
Review: I've only had the camera for about a week but so far I love it. Ihave used the Nikon coolpix 950 and the Olympus d360l at work but this one has been the easiest to use. I decided to get the 490 over the 460 because of the higher quality pictures. But if quantity is your game you can lower the quality to be more like the 460. I spent about 30 minutes reading the manual and was able to figure out how to use all the features on the camera. It is very user friendly. In fact the first time I hooked it up to my computer it corrected the clock to my computer's clock. I don't understand why Olympus did not use the USB, but apparently they are compensating this by giving a free usb reader rebate. I don't mind having to open the flash because the camera lets you know when it's not open. The lens slide is a little cumbersome but it does protect the lens very well. So far I haven't had a problem with with this camera. If you look around you can find the Olympus 64mb smartmedia for $ (I found several places). That's only $ more than other memory cards and you get the panoramic shots.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Camera - costs more than you think
Review: This is my first experience with a digital camera and I am very impressed. Part of my decision to purchase this camera was the reasonable cost, but it didn't really turn out that way. By the time I bought the extra card, the adapter, the case, the recharage batteries, it ended up costing $200 more. Unfortunately, it will now cost me another $50 or so because the Camedia software that comes with the camera is, in my opinion, only good for viewing the pictures on your computer. It's ability to print multiple shots and resize your pictures for printing is very poor. The red eye reduction feature doesn't even work. I called tech support and was told it only works if the color is a true fire engine red in the eye. Well, I guess the eyes I photograph have a slight hint of orange in them, so it doesn't work. Oh, well! I'm looking at the Corel Photo-Paint 9 Digital Camera edition software or the Microsoft PictureIt. I'll probably go with Corel, based on the great reviews. Isn't this site great? Without it I wouldn't have known what to buy. As far as the camera goes, the features are easy to use once you learn them. Shutting the camera was a little scary at first (as other posts have mentioned), but if it's done carefully, no problem. I thought I was going to break the battery cover trying to put in back on once the batteries were inserted, so that's a little hard to get used to. But the pictures are great and the monitor readout is a nice size. Overall, I recommend this camera.
Rating:
Summary: If you are looking for 2 Mega Pixels, buy this camera!
Review: I was drawn to Olympus when I used a friend's C-2020 which they no longer make. The D-490 has the same optics, same guts as the 2020 so, naturally, I got the 490. I looked at Nikon's Coolpix 800, the Canon Elfs and even the higher end Olympus models, including the C-3000 and C-3030 which are 3.1 megapixel cameras. (The friend mentioned above is also a professional photog...he says that if you are not going to make prints bigger than 8 X 10, don't bother paying the extra dough for a 3.1 megapixel. 2.1's do just fine). For the money, I don't see you finding a better digital camera. I'm not saying it's perfect. You will read other reviews that find problems with the clamshell cover hitting the lens and the slow serial download and I have the same problems with the camera as they do. But, when it comes to image quality, versatility, ease of use and price, the D-490 wins, hands down. If you buy any other 2.1 megapixel camera and spend more than this camera is currently selling for you just threw away your money.
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