Rating: 
Summary: Three weeks in Canada & Alaska
Review: I think the camera is great, but more importantly, the pictures were fantastic. I should say that I bought an 128MB smart card, with a 64MB backup, and a Panasonic 1600 mAh NI-MH rechargeable battery system with spares before I left on the trip. We spent 3 days in the Vancouver, BC area, 7 days on the ship to Seward, AK with shore excursions, and the rest of the time on Buses, river boats, rafts, choppers, dog sleds, trains, and the good old foot.
I didn't care about printing 8 X 10's, but I did take almost 700 pictures and could have taken about 800 more using the lowest resolution. Used both the lowest (SQ) and the next lowest (HQ)on the 128 MB card.
Because I could take so many pictures, I just took them and so what if some are not focused or a tree moved in front of the moving whatever or the small boat was going rapidly up and down and/or sideways. I never ran out of battery as long as I put in a fresh set every morning. I should say the days were 22 hours long, but it rained every day but the last one in Fairbanks, AK.The zoom works like you can't believe, eagles, orcas, humpback whales, moose, caribou, grizzlies (lots of zoom is nice here), wolfs, black bears, Dall sheep, mountain goats with kids, sea lions, sea otters, birds of all kinds, seals, other wild life I don't know what they are and glacers calfing. Of course we had Buchart gardens, ship to shore, from domed trains, choppers, site seeing, and the Alaska pipe line, you name it, we took it. Got home down loaded using a Smart Card reader and reviewed the pics. Eliminated the mistakes, mostly mine, left with over 600 pics. Making a CD for the kids and grandkids of breathtaking sights. I about paid for the camera in the money saved in film and developing plus the albums to put them in.
I used the viewfinder to site the picture and to see what I took because it freezes the shoot as it records so I know what the pic looked like so I could take another if I needed to. I could also play back to show my wife to insure I got what she wanted. The camera was light and fit under my jacket. It also fit inside a zip lock bag in the rain. The lens cap is attached to the post where the carrying strap is placed before the carrying is placed there. I used auto for everything because when you are pitching on a boat, ship, raft, etc, you don't have time for anything else, plus why bother. The picture taken is better than what you see in the viewfinder. The zoom permitted me to take pictures out the other side of the train without focusing on the window reflections. You can't see the window. I took shots in dark, gloom, rain, snow, sunlight, and in the ship where there wasn't any natural light, they all worked. The shots of jets, choppers, and eagles taking off all worked. The Orcas feeding on salmon worked. It is a great camera that works. But I don't print 8 X 10s and I wear glasses but my monitor is 19 inches and about 18 inches from my nose.
Rating:
Summary: This camera is a marvel!
Review: This camera is a marvel! I bought it (my first digital camera) in December 2001 and since then have used it successfully in a number of situations. On the resolution side, this may initially seem downmarket at 2.1 MPs. However the picture quality on a computer monitor or in a 4x6 print is simply awesome and 8x10s are pretty good. I had done a lot of research before buying and while larger MP cameras may give even better pictures, the humongous file sizes and higher prices are simply not worth it for a non-professional. The kind of detail I have got on nature (Cherry Blossoms in Washington) and human photos (Disneyworld) is way better than anything I got on a regular camera. One reason for this is the super high quality optics. The aspherical glass lens is very, very good, making for both sharp images and deep detail. The 10x optical zoom (38-380 mm equivalent) is outstanding and I think easily the best on any digital camera. It also has a digital zoom but with such good optics, I have never needed to use it and anyway digital zoom is generally overrated. The Olympus has several pre-programmed modes in auto mode including the vanilla landscape, close-up and so on. There is even an Action mode for moving objects (about which more later). As a result, you can get started very quickly and go on to explore the features as you get more comfortable. I claim to be at best average technically and I had no problem understanding the operation of the camera. The LCD screen on the back is beautifully sharp and well positioned so that it is easier to frame an image holding the camera about a foot in front of you rather than the standard eyepiece - in fact the latter is pretty pathetic but I guess after the initial adjustment, few bother to use it. A good playback facility puts the shot pictures on the LCD screen either singly or in groups, making it easy to dump a bad shot and re-shoot. Images are stored on SmartMedia cards. Make sure you pick up a good 64 MB or even 128 MB card. It is a good idea to shoot on high quality and then scale down using the Camedia software. This means a typical picture will be about 400-500 KB and you will need lots of card space if you do not want to keep switching cards. The Camedia software is pretty decent too, allowing you to trim, filter brightness and contrast, rotate, scale etc. You can even add text captions to the pictures (somewhat tedious). Annoyingly, the images are given serial digital numbers as file names and this can get pretty confusing at times, especially with multiple cards. The camera has a good USB connection through which images can be downloaded to a hard disk / CD. However I suggest you pick up a SmartMedia reader ...so you don't have to over use the camera itself. Batteries, well that is the bane of all digitals, but keeping the LCD screen on power save mode helps you save on battery life. Avoid the AA batteries; they die fast. Stick with the CR-V3 Lithium cells which are more expensive but have a decent life. Or get a charger with re-chargeable batteries. I have found the re-charged cells to give excellent life. Some cribs. The lens cap is a disaster and Olympus seemed to try and cut costs with a flimsy cap that is hard to keep track off. Worse, I dropped it once and the spring slipped off. It's been 2 months and Olympus still can't get me a replacement! (I finally complained to Olympus Japan and got it post-haste!). Speed-wise, like all digitals, this camera can be slow, with the result that an action photo is pretty challenging since the action is often over by the time you get the camera to fire. But all in all, a great buy and no regrets from me. Highly recommended!
Rating: 
Summary: lacking instructions
Review: The instruction manual does not say anywhere that "FORMAT" means ERASE. This is new to me. I accidentally said YES to format option and erased 20-30 pictures. Instructions lacking for the novice....very poor otherwise camera is good/very good
Rating: 
Summary: Not Good For Low Light
Review: I was in love with this camera for a while because I was using it to take pictures while hiking. The Zoom feature and all the manual settings made it the perfect camera for me. Then I tried taking pictures indoors and the first think that goes wrong is that you can't see a thing through the view-finder because it is a digital image and without a lot of light you can't even see your target. An even bigger problem was when taking the picture the auto focus never seems to work properly without a lot of light. Very disappointed with the indoor use of this camera.
Rating:
Summary: I Love it
Review: This is a great camera! Nice big lens that gives real nice pictures even in low light situations. The optical zoom is extraordinary, and while things might look a little shaky through the view finder, the images come out clear and in focus. I think the shakiness may be just a facsimile of the small LCD through the viewfinder, and Olympus probably didn't spend a lot of money on stabilization software. The camera is easy to use, fits in my hand easily, takes pictures easily, and is a joy to use. I've been playing with it in the auto mode, and I'm really looking forward to playing with all the different ways I can set aperature and shutter speed and all those other adjustments that I never wanted to waste film on playing with. I bought the refurbished one through Raintrade, and so far (two weeks) everything is totally fine.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Camera, but Know Your Preferences
Review: First of all, let me say that this camera is very well designed with only a couple of exceptions, and the construction is flawless. I would definitely look to Olympus first on my next camera purchase. On the plus side, the zoom is awesome. Even with the digital zoom, pictures turn out just as you would expect. The 2.1 megapixel processor delivers pictures of greater quality than most other 2.1 MP cameras, thanks mostly to the quality of the lens. Controls are easy to get to and operate flawlessly. There are a wealth of camera settings that even most professionals would find appeasing. The Smart Memory Card system is awesome (go ahead and spend the extra [money] to get a USB Card Reader so you can take your memory card straight from your camera to your computer). Now for the bad. First, as you'll see in other reviews, one of the design flaws is the lens cap cover...it isn't attached to anything, so it's up to you to devise a way to keep up with it. The second (and more important to me) flaw is the viewfinder. It is digital, not optical. It tends to lag behind your range of motion, making it very difficult to tell what you're actually taking a picture of. The faster you move, obviously, the greater the lag. To me this is very annoying. Like other reviewers, I use the LCD screen more than the viewfinder for this reason. Another annoying thing is that the camera does NOT ship with it's own AC Adapter, which to me is unbelievable. Save yourself some time and money immediately...buy a compatible AC Adapter AND get yourself some good rechargeable batteries. The 8Mb Memory Card that ships with the camera is useless; it's too small to hold more than 8 pictures on the highest quality setting. I bought 2 Viking 64Mb Cards, and it's turned out to be about right for the volume of pictures I take (most of them on high resolution). But...finally, for me it's the resolution. I like to take close up pictures, or pictures in less than optimal lighting. The 2.1 MP processor just doesn't deliver enough crispness for my taste. Please understand that it's NOT the camera (other than the digital viewfinder); it does exactly what it was designed to do better than other cameras in the 2.1 MP class. But if I were buying another camera, I'd forego some of the options on this camera (ie the 10x Zoom), pay a little extra money, and get a 4MP Camera with an optical viewfinder. Olympus just happens to make one for about $900. Pricey, but you get what you pay for, especially when it comes to technology.
Rating:
Summary: Excelente relación Calidad / Precio
Review: Por muchos años utilicé una Nikormat SRL conformando mi equipo con 2 Zooms y 2 lentes convencionales y me encontraba en búsqueda de una alternativa practica que me introdujera a la fotografía digital con un equipo fácil de llevar, así que cuando descubrí esta nueva cámara Olympus Camedia C-700 con su espectacular Zoom, corrí a adquirirla. Considero que sus mejores características son: Capacidad para tomar fotografías en condiciones de poca luminosidad, capacidad "macro", posibilidad de enfocar manualmente, facilidad para "bajar" las fotos al computador vía la conexión USB y por supuesto, las posibilidades que brinda el lente zoom. Adquirí conjuntamente con la cámara un juego de cargador y pilar Ni-MH el cual resulta esencial y recomiendo adquirir un segundo juego de pilas para evitar sorpresas "in the field" y cometí el error de comprar un Memory Cards de otra marca diferente a Olympus por lo cual no puedo utilizar la opción "Panorámica" con dicha tarjeta por incompatibilidad con la Cámara, funcionando a la perfección en todas sus otras funciones. La Cámara ha resultado la favorita de mi esposa por las facilidades que van implícitas con la fotografía digital, tales como editar la composición, ajustar el brillo e imprimir rápidamente después de tomada la fotografía. Creo que la Cámara representa un buen compromiso entre Calidad de Fotografía, Versatilidad y Tamaño.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I was really anticipating getting this camera because all the reveiwers seemed to rave about it. I also wanted a digital with great zoom capabilties. The camera is light-weight and user friendly. It has an awesome zoom ability. BUT... the stability is poopy, unless you have extremely steady hands or a tripod everything comes out blurred. If you want to capture a spur of the moment photo forget about it! I'm sorry to give a poor review but I feel the stability is a major drawback and I will be exchanging mine for something else once I do a little more research.
Rating:
Summary: Excelente cámara
Review: Compré una Olympus Camedia C-700 y su comportamiento ha sido excelente tanto en calidad de fotos como en cantidad.
Soy un aficionado a la buena fotografia y he logrado obtener un muy buen equipo a un costo muy razonable hoy en dia.
La definición es perfecta para las necesidades básicas, por ej. para presentar un informe de visita de obra es perfecto pues para el tamaño de las fotografias que se necesitan y para manejar el archivo final del informe en calidad estandard es perfecto.
Por otro lado la velocidad de toma entre una y otra es muy buena, lo cual es muy importante en un evento en movimiento por ej un desfile.
Tengo 3 tarjetas de memoria y podria decir que es suficiente para unas buenas vacaciones, estoy hablando de por lo menos 1500 fotografias en calidad standard.
El objetivo inicial al comprar este equipo fué el de tener un buen equipo, con buena definición y buena velocidad a un precio adecuado, he logrado esto con creces, por esto mi calificación de 5 estrellas. Esta ha sido mi primer cámara digital y no tengo punto de comparación con otras. Suerte en su búsqueda.
Rating:
Summary: I'm impressed!
Review: Wow! This camera is easy to operate and gives good clear photos. I took many others' advice and use a tripod for those zoomed in shots. Everyone is amazed at the zoom capability and picture quality of this little light-weight.
I can't wait to take it to Alaska this summer and zoom in on those black bears and eagles. I'm sure to get some great photos.
The upload with the included USB cable is quick and easy. Just plug it into the camera and then the computer and it does the work without having to install any software at all.
If you are looking for an easy digital that will give you some real zoom, this just may be the camera for you.
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