Rating: 
Summary: Lens cap notwithstanding...
Review: This is my 2nd digital camera after doing 35mm (Olympus OM-10) for about 20 years. I started with an Olympus D-510, but after getting used to it, I realized that I needed to upgrade to a camera with better resolution and more manual settings. The C-3020 was just what I needed, and my 35mm is now for sale. I love the special effects (try a few shots using "white board" and see what people think.)I think the biggest factor for me in choosing digital, besides the much lighter weight, is the ability to edit and alter my own pictures without being at the mercy of photo services. About the lens cap. I may be able to offer a tip to make it stay on a little better. When you put the cap on, start with the "Olympus" logo upside down as you face the lens. Put the cap on. Then, while applying light pressure to the cap, turn it clockwise until it is snug and the logo is upright. The pressure will allow one side of the cap to seat itself one groove farther in, making for a tighter fit.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best Digital Camera Values
Review: This is a great camera with features that are hard to find on other cameras in this price range. Many may consider the Zoom a little, short but it is actually just right. A 32mm to 96mm range gives you EXCELLENT wide angle unavailable in similar cameras, and still a good zoom for practical photography. If you are taking pictures of the kids just about any digital will do, but if you like scenic and landscape shots, the wide angle capabilities and 3.2 REAL mPix will give you excellent 8x10s and beautiful sunsets etc. with the noise reduction. Remember to buy a nice table tripod for those low light situations and you won't need a more sensitive lense. I also own an Olympus 2040Z, and I have never been able to take a bad shot no matter how bad I mess up. Keep it on auto and it will probably do better than you can with manual unless you want special effects. The battery advantage has been discussed elsewhere but I thought of getting the Cannon S40. Nice Camera BUT check out the price of a few extra proprietary lith ion batteries. Very high and the same with Sony. NiMh AAs are available with near the capacity of Lith ion these days and keep getting better. I use 1600 mah and 1800+ are available. Only down side is Smart Media, but I started with smart media and it is doesn't quite have the high capacity of Compact Flash but a 128 Meg will hold quite a few TIFFs even not to mention 70 or 80 very low compression JPEGs. I've heard criticism of the lack of a software bundle. Well if you buy a scanner, printer, or new computer you get that anyway so why pay for more. I'm glad they kept the price down and left the software out. I have Photoshop Elements and 5 others anyway so certainly didn't want to pay for another copy. Resolution is not what's cranked up to be. Cannon's S40 is actually 3.9 real pixels. The 3020Z is 3.2 real pixels. I don't think that from a practical standpoint it makes much difference for the extra cost. Olympus listened to the needs of its previous users and made this one right! Great camera -- 5+ stars
Rating:
Summary: This Camera is So PERFECT for me!
Review: I have been in camera "heck" for what seems like years....ever since my trusty Canon SLR bit the dust. Since then I have been through at least five different cameras trying to get the right fit. The Olympus C-3020 is it for me. Easy to use and very comfortable to handle. I love that it can be used totally automatic and get great shots AND that you can choose to set things manually for special shots. The resolution is great! When shooting at the High Quality setting you can choose to crop just a small portion of the image to print...and it comes out so crisp and rich.
And downloading to your computer is just too easy! I do recommend purchasing a 64 meg flash card though...because the 8meg that comes with the camera really does fill up fast. With the 64 it is like traveling with 2 to 3 rolls of film plus you have the 8 meg back up. Also be sure and purchase a set of rechargable batteries...they last so much longer than standard AA batteries.
This camera is a great value for the money. FYI...I do publicity shots for a local theater and it is so great to have a dependable comfortable camera so that I can just concentrate on the subject not the equipment.
Rating:
Summary: Stunning photo quality and easy to use
Review: This is fifth digicam I've owned and I'm just blown away by the marvelous quality of the photos at HQ 2048 x 1536 resolution. Even indoor shots came out crystal clear with no red-eye; colors are crisp and beautiful, and the detail is stunning. I'll take this camera over any other one at the ...price point. I just printed a couple 8 x 10-sized shots on my cheap HP-845C inkjet using Kodak premium photo paper, and wow!!! The prints are indistinguishable from 35mm photos. A couple of other positives about the C-3020 that other reviews may not have mentioned: (1) Olympus backs the camera with a full one-year parts AND labor warranty (Sony only does 90 days for labor, and trust me, their labor charge is ridiculously high); and (2) there is a very good camera manual contained on the CD ROM, in addition to the shorter printed manual. Incidently, my package did not have Adobe software but Olympus' own program called Camedia 2.5, which is a rather basic photo program. No big deal, though; the camera is well worth the price. Also, I think the C-3020 has just the right size, look and feel: it looks and feels almost like a professional SLR camera, yet is not bulky or heavy. Granted, it won't fit in your shirt pocket, but it's fairly light and thus no hassle to carry about. Concerning the batteries, you can buy rechargeable NIMH AAs fairly cheaply these days, and they last a LONG time in this camera. Bottom line: if you want a quality, mid-priced 3-plus megapixel digicam that takes beautiful 8 x 10s (indoors or out) and is easy to use yet has enough manual adjustment options for creative photography, then you can't go wrong with the C-3020.
Rating: 
Summary: After !!MUCH!! research, very happy with this camera
Review: As far as the camera, we are very happy with ours. It does everything we wanted and my wife knows how to use it. It has plenty of mega pixels. That was one of my first criterion. The second, and this came from a guy I work with that is a camera NUT, was aperture. This is the camera specification they give with an "f" and a number and tells you how much light is allowed in the lens when a picture is taken, especially important at night. This camera has an "f" of like 2.7. The TOP OF THE LINE Olympus had one of 1.7 (the lower the better) and some cheaper Olympus models and others had "f's" of 4.something. This guy from work convinced me that aperture was important enough to go down to 2.7 from the high 4's but not important enough to go all the way down to 1.7, certainly not at the additional cost of $[money] that the top of the line Olympus commanded. This also does little things that I like: black and white picture option, exact time and date stamp attached to the picture file but not on the picture itself, red eye reduction, timer and a decent size LCD screen that I can zoom in and out on. And downloading pictures to pc is easy.
Additionally, even though this camera includes a 24MB SmartMedia card, I would buy an additional 128MB SmartMedia card (the 24 only holds about 24 "normal" pictures). 2 cards are nice (especially if 1 is plenty big) so you don't have to bring many cards on say vacations and such. Also, get 2 sets of rechargeable batteries. All digital cameras go through batteries like water.
Rating:
Summary: Words cannot describe :)
Review: Well, after reading lots and lots of various digital camera reviews, and trying the C-2040Z, I went for this one. And, I cannot tell you how glad I am for doing so! It's a great camera, automatic modes are peachy, but the real treat are all the manual options you can set by yourself, and experiment, in order to take some of the coolest photos around. Fenomenal! As far as other remarks go, I see a lot of people minding it has no audio in jack. Well, after all, this is a digital photo camera, designed to take stills right? Filming movement is only a bonus, but if you need movement and sound, think for a moment. You need a movie camera, not a photo one. So, I realy don't have any bad words for this one. The price is affordable, the quality is superb, and it has most of the features you'll likely need.
Rating:
Summary: My first digital---easy to use for newbies or advanced
Review: This is my first digital camera. I don't have previous experience to compare it to. I did consider the Canon S-30 as well. I liked the fact that Olympus would take AA batteries...I can just imagine running out of my rechargables on a once-in-a-lifetime photo situation. At least I can get AA from a supermarket. Pros:
* easy to point and shoot out of the box
* preset modes for portrait, action, nighttime, etc. work well
* uses AA battery, not proprietary cells
* EASY to load pics onto computer. It recognizes the camera if you simply plug the USB in...no drivers needed!
* Photoshop Elements software that it comes with is pretty powerful
* pictures are clear and colors are sharp
* has optional manual modes to set shutter speed, aperature size, or full manual
* easy to preview and delete unwanted pics Cons:
* bigger than Canon S-30
* lens cap issue--if you take it off you'll think you broke your camera!
* only comes with 16MB card for about 15 pics
* you need to buy rechargable batteries---the one's that come with it are disposable and only last 30 minutes Overall, it was the best of all worlds vs. the competition. Price good. Features great. Take great shots.
Rating:
Summary: Not bad, but there's a lot of competition out there
Review: This was my fourth digital Camera. I had a 640x480 and a 1.3 before my trusty Olympus 35 mm died and I made the decision to cut my ties with the film developing house completely. My first attempt at a 3+ megapixel camera was actually a 2.5 megapixel Fuji number masquerading as a 4.7 megapixel camera. Very compact, fairly nice, but I wanted the resolution that a 3 megapixel would give me. So I returned the Fuji. I did a LOT of research - but a friend who owns the place I bought the camera at suggested that I not bother going to the C4040 because there wasn't enough gain in the extra megapixel to justify the price and extra storage; That unless I was printing much larger than 8x10, it was going to be a waste of resolution. I wanted the C3040, but he had no inventory and he talked me into the C3020. On the issue of resolution he was right. However there are some nits: 1. There is some minor edge convergence artifacting on high resolution shots. Normal people might not notice.
2. Unlighted and dark shots must be manually focussed.
3. Movie mode without sound? Come on!!!
4. By now everyone has complained about the lens cap - it stays on when you want it to pop off (like when you turn the camera on) and it falls off when you want it to stay put.
5. It would be nice if the software they provide with the camera would actually work with the camera!!! They don't support the C3020 with Camedia 2.5 - why not?
6. If you're doing anything extensive in underlighted environments the flash on this (and on ALL digital cameras I've seen) is somewhat anemic. An external flash adapter wuold be nice. OK. Not all is bad though. The 'My Settings' subsystem is very smiple to use and allows you to tailor the settings the way YOU want them to be so you don't have to wander through various menus getting thigs 'just right'. The user interface is quite intuitive and the camera is ergonomically correct when taking shots - though a bit on the clumsy side, shape-wise for storage - fits nicely into slightly baggy pant pockets though. The USB connection does work very well, so I can transfer a day's shooting to the server in a few minutes - but what's the point of the home grown software? I REALLY like the fact that it uses AA batteries. I have 2 sets of 1800 ma batteries and if I've run out of power between charges I can always buy alkalines at ANY store - try doing that with a Canon!!! I get about 50 'average' shots to a set of batteries and about 80 high resolution shots to a 128 meg SM card. The Panorama feature is neat - I have a package that lets me set up non-Olympus memory with their panorama package (OK, so I've taken maybe 2 panorama pictures), but it is NEAT. Summary - It is a very good camera, but next time I go with my gut and wait for what I want - in this case it would have been the C3040 (or rather it will be the C6040,, because by then it will have become available).
Rating:
Summary: Great Camera
Review: I purchased this camera for taking pictures of family events and fun activities. The extent of my photography experience was limited to the throw-away point and shoot Kodak cameras. I must say that this camera is great for someone like me. The "P" mode is perfect (in this mode, the camera does everything for you). At this point you have a great point and shoot camera with the results being great pictures and you don't have to fiddle with many camera adjustments. It didn't take me long to figure out the basic operation of the camera and get it to the point where I could actually take pictures. I was able to successfuly load the software on my home computer, install the USB driver and insert the smart media card in both my camera and printer in a relatively short order. Instructions were pretty self explanatory. The camera also has advanced features - such as apperture and shutter control priority. The menus are fairly intuitive once you get the hang of how they work. I have found the display window to be visible in most outdoor conditions - although with high intensity sun exposure, visibility is somewhat hampered. It has been exciting learning all the things that the camera can do. I agree with many of the other reviewers, the lens cap and the grinding noise that the camera makes it you attempt to turn it on without removing the lens cap is somewhat of a minor annoyance. However, given the price of the camera, it's relative ease of use, it's features and the quality of the pictures that it delivers, the lens cap situation is not a terrible over annoyance. It's a great camera for introducing yourself to the digital world. It's primary features are the ability to give it's users pretty good pictures with very simple operation while at the same time offering adjustment capability for the more experienced photographer. I like the fact that it is 3 megal pizels because you can print pictures with pretty good resolution in the 8x10 size. Pictures from the camera work well with the HP photosmart printer. All in all, I would purchase this camera again. I've owned the camera for about 3 months. As I become more experienced, I'll update this review and share my experiences.
Rating:
Summary: A very nice camera - great value
Review: I really like this camera. It is full-featured, compact, light, cute-looking, and well-constructed. The zoom works great, the LCD screen is bright and colorful, and the indicator displays are very helpful once you decode the cryptic language in which they speak. I am particularly pleased about the camera taking AA-size batteries. I use rechargeable batteries in the camera, but I know that I can just pop into any store and get regular AA batteries to run the camera in case my rechargeables unexpectedly run out of juice. This camera works great with Apple's iPhoto software. I plugged in the (included) USB cable to my iBook, and iPhoto recognized the camera. It imported the pictures from my camera, and deleted the originals from the camera (per my request) without a problem. Here are a few complaints I have about this camera, though:
The lens cap is poorly constructed and easily pops off when slipping the camera into a camera bag. The panoramic photo mode is difficult to use. When enabling panoramic mode, a bunch of blue lines appear on the LCD screen, with arrows. Pushing any of the directional buttons changes the positioning of the arrows and the lines, but it really doesn't help with composing the photo at all. You have to play with the panoramic mode and take a bunch of shots to figure out how it works. The manual is no help here.
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