Rating: 
Summary: A decent entrey-level camera.
Review: I have been following Olympus's cameras since the D-360 and D-450 came out, and had been waiting for them to release one with a certain feature set. I wanted 2 megapixels, USB, and a reasonable price. The D-520 has that, and unlike its predecessor (the D-510) it is pretty compact and runs on only two AA batteries, not 4. Finally, receiving my tax refund, I decided to break down and buy a digital camera. There were really three contenders in my mind: The Fuji Finepix 2600Z, the Olympus D-520, and the Canon Digital IXUS 330. A friend of mine highly recommended the Canon model, but its list price was [money], which was out of my price range (also, nobody had it in stock). So for me it came down to the Fuji and the Olympus. I ended up going with the Olympus because a local electronics retailer had it for [money]. The camera itself is pretty simple to use. It has four quality settings: 640x480 (sq1), 1024x768 (sq2), 1600x1200 low (hq), and 1600x1200 high (shq). While some Olympus models I've used previously allow saving as a TIFF, with the D-520 all of the pictures are saved to the camera as JPEGs. This is a shame, because it means you are stuck with the camera's JPEG quality level. If they had allowed you to save as TIFF, you could easily set your own JPEG compression level in photoshop. That is part of the problem I have with this camera, and part of the reason I only gave it 3 stars. The picture quality is not that great. The camera seems to have an extremely difficult time focusing in low-light situations, even when the flash is used, and the pictures come out very blurry. I played around with some of the settings, but I can't seem to fix this. And even in bright sunlight, I find images taken with the camera not to be very sharp at all. Also some colors seem to bleed: I took a picture of some flowers in direct sunlight and the picture came out as some pink and red blobs, losing all the detail of the flower. I tried adjusting the white balance, but it didn't seem to help. The camera does take some nice pictures too, however. Pictures of people come out very nice, and since I mostly take pictures of people (at family gatherings, etc), and not scenery, it's an OK camera for my needs. The USB connection is extremely handy, and in my opinion, the best way to access a digital camera's files. My girlfriend's brother has a smartmedia floppy adapter, and that is extremely slow. With the D-520, I simply plugged the USB into my computer, and my PC (running Windows 2000) recognized the camera as another hard drive. I then simply copied the files over. The camera comes with some software for editing pictures and stuff, but I haven't bothered to install it. I don't believe that Windows 98 will allow you to simply plug in the camera and have it recognized as another hard drive, you probably have to install extra drivers. Battery life is OK; I have rechargable NiMH AA's, so it's not something I worry about too much. The fact that it only takes 2 instead of 4 effectively doubles battery life over most cameras, in my mind at least. The included 16 MB Smart Media card can hold: 99 pictures at SQ1, 58 at SQ2 (my preferred size), 33 at HQ, and 11 at SHQ. All in all, it's a decent camera for the price, but don't expect perfection.
Rating:
Summary: The D-520 is not a worthy opponent
Review: After much research, I replaced my Fuji 2300, non-zoom camera with the Olympus D520. This was a huge mistake. First of all, the D-520 is 2.0MP vs. the Fuji's 2.1MP. Okay, I'll admit that's not a real issue since the difference cannot be detected anyway but I'm just listing differences. The Fuji is made of metal vs. the cheesy feel of plastic the D520 is made of. The Good: The first few pictures were great, despite the cheesy feel of the camera. It was all down hill from there. The Bad: The flash would not flash in a dimly lit room causing all the pictures to display extremely dark with an amber over cast. The Ugly: I was not able to get the amber color out of the picture with software or any other means. The bottom line: I sent it back and decided to stick with Fuji for which I already had an extra smartcard. I ended up with the new Fuji S602 which was 3x the money but seems to have the best ratings. The Olympus was cumbersome to use, to see the pictures in the display, you have to close the lens cover and push the on button. To take pictures, you have to open the lens cover.....etc. Summary: The Olympus Camedia D-520 is an okay camera when it works and is best as a first time Digital experience.
Rating: 
Summary: Quite good.
Review: The D-520 is another of the Olympus line of clam shell cameras dating back to the old (non-digital) Stylus models of the mid-80s. In that sense, the design is tried and true and I like it for its compactness and its ability to protect the lens from those with a penchant for losing lens caps. For the vast majority of digital camera users, this camera will meet all of their needs well into the future. The D-520 offers adequate resolution at 2 megapixels. As I have stated in numerous reviews of other digicams, resolution much beyond 2 megapixels is worse than useless for *most* applications, it is costly. It not only costs money in the sense that it raises the initial price of the camera, but operationally, it requires greater battery use, usually involves longer lag times between shots, takes much longer to download to a PC and especially prolongs both phases of e-mailing photos (your uploading the file and your recipient opening it). These latter issues are, in my opinion, the most important, as the real purpose of digital cameras is their neat integration into the world of personal computing. [note: For those folks whose needs are enlarging photos beyond 8" x 10", higher resolution is required] The other features of the D-520 worth noting are its very adequate 3X optical zoom *plus* a vaguely helpful 2.5X digizoom (do not accept digital zooms in place of optical zooms; they are not equals), its ability to operate off readily available AA alkalines (though it will accept rechargeables and these make more sense in may ways), its easily expandable memory (it uses SmartMedia, not quite as good as CompactFlash cards, but close enough) and an adequate number of user-controllable settings, all of which can be handled automatically if you prefer. The only drawback of significance has been slow focus on the Olympus digital cams, resulting in more blurred pics than I think acceptable (and this even with my 700, self-stabilizing model!). Anyway, at the current price, which is about half what it would have been 18 months ago, this is a good camera and a good deal, though for even money, I'd take the Canon A20.
Rating: 
Summary: Viewfinder Problem Update
Review: I stated in my previous review that i had returned my D-520 for a faulty viewfinder and discovered that every unit in the store had a faulty viwfinder. It must have been a bad batch, because I went to a different store and their D-520 display model was fine. So I bought another D-520. I had the opportunity to compare all the digital camera models again, and again i decided that the D-520 had the proper combination of features/price/quality/size for my needs. If everything remains reliable, I will consider this a great little camera.
Rating:
Summary: Very nice little camera!
Review: I bought this camera yesterday and I love it. I had mixed feelings at first. It took an hour or two to get used with the interface and the numerous menus. But with some pratice, I found the camera quite easy to use. Don't forget to buy a bigger memory card!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Problems with D-520 ZOOM: Out-of-focus viewfinders
Review: After comparing features of many similar cameras in the same general category, I selected the D-520 ZOOM. I immediately noticed that the viewfinder was out of focus, but initially, I assumed that it was my own eyesight, or a smudge on the lens, or that there was a focus adjustment I hadn't found, so I used the camera for about a week before deciding to return it for an exchange.
When I went to exchange it, we discovered that all five additional cameras in stock also had out-of-focus viewfinders ! It was verified by the store's sales people.
So i simply got a refund. I like the features of the D-520, and the digital version of the pictures always turned out well; but it was just too irritating to be looking at a blurry image through the viewfinder when trying to frame the shots. How difficult can it be for a camera design to make sure the viewfinder focuses properly ?.....especially a company of Olympus' reputation ! That is why i wasn't more critical of the flaw when I first noticed it. The sales manager said he was contacting Olympus and returning all his defective stock. So I will probably just wait and see if Olympus solves this quality control problem and perhaps buy another D-520 unless I find something I like better in the interim. If you are thinking of a D-520, be certain to check the viewfinder very critically. It is just irritating to have the subject always out-of-focus when taking pictures, even if the digital version comes out looking good.
Rating:
Summary: First Time Digital Camera User
Review: I just bought this camera. I have never used a digital before and am not a serious computer user. I really like the camera. It is extremely easy to use. I read the directions once and started to take pictures and videos the same night. I had no trouble with it. I recommend the rechargeable batteries. It ate two AA batteries the first day. The picture quality is as good as my 35 mm camera and it is easy to download and store your pictures. I am very happy with it.
Rating:
Summary: Great camera, great buy!!
Review: I'd say I was pretty lucky to have found out about this Olympus D-520, which replaces the popular D-510. For about the same price, you'll get more with D-520. It's smaller and lighter. It comes with 16 MB card (instead of 8 MB card that comes with D-510). And, it only uses 2 AA batteries instead of 4, so you don't have to charge them too often (assuming you're using rechargeable batteries, because it's a MUST for digital cameras). The pop-up flash design is a little bit better in D-520, however, I wish that it pops down everytime the lens barrier is closed. The LCD screen is reduced to 1.5", but it doesn't really bother me, as long as the pictures are there :). The menu is easy to use, and the pictures are great. It's my first digital camera, and so far I'm really pleased with its performance. A great buy!!
Rating: 
Summary: I hate this camera with a passion
Review: If I could give this camera 0 stars I would! As a teenager I'm not looking for anything too snazzy in a camera. I had a pretty cheap digital olympus that lasted me about 3 years and I loved it. No fancy modes, no high-tec fancy smancy mumbo jumbo... not that I wouldn't like a high-tec camera, just that I don't particularly need it. I just want a camera that allows me to take a few hundred pictures at a time, for trips with friends and the family, for soccer games, for concerts, the beach...ect... My old reliable camera broke last summer after I got thousands of great pictures out of it, and so for the last x-mas my mother (who didn't do much research, but with good intentions) bought me this PIECE OF CRAP... If you like all the fancy ways to take pictures- there is a tiny possibility you might like this camera... It has all that...somewhat... no wait... not at all...
It maintains a pretense that its high-tec, but it's really just a piece of crap.
When I first got it I brought it with me on my trip to Paris and I was highly dissapointed that after I shot a picture it took literally 15-20 seconds for the flash to re-whatever and let me take another one. I missed about 70% of the pictures I wanted to take, and whenever people posed in my pictures- it took about 5 minutes for my camera to "let" me take the picture. NO CANDID SHOTS here.
Then halfway through the trip, I'd turn on the camera, the screen would pop up, I'd try to take a picture, the orange and green lights would flash and then it would simply turn off... I looked through the manuel and it says that this is simply a problem with the batteries (although the battery symbol came up as full) and so I bought a fresh pack and re-loaded them. And of course it continued to flash and turn off.. I'm not done- I took it to a camera shop, and the guy had no idea what was wrong- I missed pictures of half my Paris trip, a concert , and a beach trip with my friends all because of this horrible joke-of-a-camera.- I also spent the equivolent of the price of this piece of crap on disposable cameras that gave me horrible pictures. BIG TIP- If you have a son or daughter and you're buying them a camera DO NOT buy this one just-because it's cheap(in case I haven't made myself clear), because they will hate it and resent you for not researching or caring about it...
Rating:
Summary: Worst camera I have ever owned - terrible response time
Review: Olympus has an outstanding reputation in 35-mm and digital. I had owned an earlier generation Olympus Camedia so I did not hesitate to purchase the D-520 zoom as a pocket camera for quick snaps of our newborn daughter to email the grandparents. Easy to carry in a pant pocket, quality digital pictures, right? WRONG. I have a simple expectation of a camera...point it at an object, push a button, and capture the image. The D-520 only occasionally takes the picture when you push the button, sometimes not responding at all. When you have your infant sitting beside her dog, smiling, both dog and daughter looking at the camera, you have a very limited window of opportunity to snap the shot. The D-520 fails miserably. I have no problems with the quality of the pictures taken, but the response time on the camera between pushing the button and the camera taking the picture is painfully slow. I have missed so many shots, while waiting for the camera to decide that it is ready to take a picture, that I have plan to chuck the whole camera into a landfill somewhere. Worthless digital disaster. My suggestion, get a 35mm and never miss a candid shot again.
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