Rating: 
Summary: Great camera
Review: I had a hard time deciding between the Olympus 3030 and the Nikon 990. In the end, I choose the Olympus because of the option of sound on the movie feature. (I bought the camera to take pictures of a new addition to the family.) I really like how easy it is to take basic pictures. Family picture takers will like this camera. It takes great pictures, easy to transfer using USB, and comes bundled with great software. The camera is also very compact - its about the size of an average point and shoot.The only thing that I would change about the camera is making the menu system more accessible. It is relatively easy to use, but I have not mastered making quick changes yet. A great addition would be a quick menu system in the top LCD area instead of having to power up the monitor. Or a button to quickly shift between some saved modes. You will also need to read the manual in order to really understand some of the features. They are not that intuitive for a Nikon SLR user... If you are buying this camera, you should also get extra memory and batteries. You should also invest in either an external memory reader or the AC Power Adapter. I haven't tried rechargeables yet, but that may be my next purchase.
Rating: 
Summary: IMPRESSED!
Review: Being a tech geek, I did a bit of research on the various websites and narrowed my choices between the Olympus 3030 and Nikon 9090. It seemed to be a toss up depending on which features you valued most. I chose the Olympus for a variety of reasons and haven't regretted my decision. First of all, the picture quality exceeded my expectations from the very first picture. I've taken a variety of shots from the different settings and even with the "avereage" quality setting of images, the detail the camera picked up is unbelievable. I've even zoomed in on the images with various photo editing programs and still can't detect any distortion. Secondly, the installation of the provided software was a easy. A nice bonus to the software was the supplying of Adobe Photoshop 5.0 LE, a slimmed down version of the very popular photo editing program that sets the industry standard for professional photo editing. Third, Olympus provided a USB cable for downloading images from the camera to the PC, which speeds up the process tremendously when comparing it to a Serial transfer. The few complaints I have concern more of the decisions of Olympus for what they provided instead of the overall quality of the camera. First, why in the heck didn't they provide a charger and rechargable batteries? Sure, they upgraded to Lithium batteries but this camera eats a lot of juice when using the LCD monitor. And how about providing an AC adaptor for those times we want to download all our images or use the camera indoors. Second, I had to go out and purchase a little lens cap strap since the cap isn't connected to the camera. Having to place the cap in and out of my pocket when I want to take pictures is asking for the cap to be lost (especially when making the family trips to Disneyland). Finally, the Olympus also uses the Smartmedia data storage and provides you with a 16MB card. This isn't bad depending on what setting you have your camera on (the higher the quality, the less pictures you can take) but I would consider purchasing an additional memory card with a higher capacity. As of this date, I believe the highest amount of MB that Smartmedia makes is 64Mb. I know the Nikon uses the Compact Flash system and can go a as high as 128MB. That's a feature to consider (well, the cost for a 128MB Compact Flash card runs on average is about $300).
Rating:
Summary: Don't believe all the junk below.
Review: This is my third digital camera. It is excellent with no complaints. The lithium batteries lasted about 250 pictures over 6 months. Now NiMh are doing great. The quality is super. Downloads to PC easy. You can't do better in this class. I will be happy with this one for a long time.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice camera, when it works
Review: I'm on my second one now. Both have been very gently treated. The first one was putting bright speckles on all its pictures, so I quickly exchanged it for another one. Thie second one worked fine (only one bright speckle, always in the same place) for a few hundred pictures, but now it refuses to erase or reformat its Smartmedia cards. I have three cards, with only a few images on each one at the moment, and the camera will neither erase nor reformat any of them any more. Nor will it take any more pictures on any card--it squeals and displays "Card Full!" on its LCD. I've tried different sets of batteries, leaving the batteries out for awhile (hoping it will reset itself, or something), and everything else I can think of. The troubleshooting section of the manual says nothing of this problem. So I don't know what to do now, except to send the camera back for warranty repairs. The pictures this camera takes are excellent when it works, excluding the little speckles, but I'm pretty disappointed in it otherwise. For a thousand dollars, it should be more reliable than this.
Rating:
Summary: Olympus equals Great Photo Quality!
Review: I owned an Olympus D-500L for about 2 years and just upgraded to the C3030 Zoom. Both camera's are AWESOME. When I went looking for a newer, better, faster camera to replace the D-500L I fist went looking at Olympus and found the C3030Z to be rated the best. Your rating system is right -- it has the best picture quality I've seen in a Digital Camera to date. Buy it -- now!
Rating: 
Summary: Warning to Windows ME users
Review: I have not used this camera, rather the D360L. However, when I upgraded to Windows ME (to take advantage of "My Pictures" and the built-in digital camera stuff), my camera wouldn't work. It wasn't in the driver list, so I contacted Olympus. This was my response (read - "doesn't work - we're not doing anything abount it") "The newer Olympus digital camera models -- D360L, D400Z, D450Z, D460Z, D490Z, C2000Z, C2020Z, C211Z, C2500L, C3000Z, C3030Z, and the C21 -- are not designed to use twain drivers, plug-ins, or the mini-apps to communicate with the computer. The Olympus Camedia utility software communicates with these camera models to download (copy) your picture files into a folder on your computer harddrive where they can be accessed by any software program that can use jpeg or tiff formatted graphic files. Only the following Olympus digital cameras are twain compliant: D200L, D220L, D300L, D320L, D340L, D340R, D500L, D600L, and D620L. Only the D200L and the D300L can not communicate using Camedia. "
Rating:
Summary: Real camera, couple of gotchas
Review: Make no mistake, this is a great camera. It takes good pictures in a variety of lighting situations. It has two problems; the first is that darn lens cap gets lost easily, the second is that the view through the viewfinder (not the LCD display) doesn't accurately represent the frame. Both can be solved (one with an elastic cord glued to the camera and one with practice) but they detract from an otherwise excellent product. I also like the ability to record a short audio segment on each picture, this is enough to describe the scene so that I can remember it later (try to remember everyone at your wedding for example!)
Rating:
Summary: Olympus C-3030 Digital Camera Review
Review: This is the Digital Camera you must have if you want outstanding photo quality. You can't tell the difference between prints from this camera and that of a good 35MM SLR. It's amazing. Be aware that this camera is only USB compatable if your PC has Windows98 and not the upgrade. Windows 95 users will need to purchase a floppy disc adapter for the smart media card in order to download pictures to a PC. A Serial Port Cable also works with Windows95. I had a Sony FD-91 Mavaca Digital before I bought this Olympus and the C-3030 has the Mavaca beat hands down. So if you want a digital camera that gives you by far the best print quality around then the expensive C-3030 digital is the one for you.
Rating:
Summary: Very professional equipment
Review: The Olympus C-3030 zoom is a high quality, professional camera that allows the photographer complete control over the exposure and the focus. Much of my photography is done with a tripod and a hand held light meter and this camera allows me manual exposure control. This and manual focus allows me to control the depth of field. The only real drag is that there isn't a way to preview the depth of field. I also purchased this camera because you can use an off-camera flash, but unfortunately, unlike the earlier models (c-2000 and c-2020) that used a regular pc socket, this camera has a special socket for use with a very expensive Olympus flash. I gather that I can buy a special bracket that allows the use of other flashes, but why couldn't they have added a hotshoe to the camera?
Rating:
Summary: Honest Opinion
Review: After owning an Olympus 460 Zoom and now the Olympus C3030, I would honestly say that the quality is pretty much the same. With both cameras, many indoor shots had be be "doctored" in Adobe Photoshop. Levels need to be adjusted and then the photos are just great. Outdoor shots are great. I did notice that battery life with the 3030 was considerably more than that of the 460. Rechargeable batteries are essential with any digital camera! I really like the "movie with sound" function of the 3030. Smart media reader buyers - beware if you have an AMD processor. After much research I have found that a Pentium processor is essential and your reader may not work with an AMD. Camera appearance very professional looking. For the true photographer, this camera is a must. For the amateur the 460 works quite nicely.
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