Rating: 
Summary: sweeeet!
Review: I've had this camera for two weeks. Its great. I use 1800mah NiMH batteries and I don't have much problems with the camera draining the batteries. Compare to my other digital camera (Nikon 775), I like this one much better even though the nikon has a better macro mode.
Rating:
Summary: Finally.. a high resolution pocket size digital camera!
Review: I've used Olympus point-and-shoot cameras for years, starting with the XA. Though my 'main' camera is a Nikon F3, over the years I've opted to carry the small Olympuses for travel. If it can't fit in my pocket or purse, it doesn't go!Finally... there is a pocket-sized digital camera that rivals the resolution of a film: the Olympus D40Z. It has more bells and whistles than the average photographer will ever need, but it also runs just fine in the 'PHD' AUTO mode. And the quality is fantastic! Another feature I really liked was the drag-and-drop feature that allows you to offload pics direct to a PC hard drive through the USB port makes download a snap. On a short boat ferry, I powered up my laptop and had the pics downloaded in less than 30 seconds. (One friend uses his Olympus to transfer files from one PC to another at home!) Battery life has not been a problem - I've run several hundred photos through the camera and am still on the original battery. I don't however use the viewer much - I save battery life by downloading photos to the PC rather than viewing and editing them in the camera. Nevertheless, purchasing the rechargeable batteries is recommended in the long run. I was looking at the Nikon CoolPix 990 and 995 before this camera was released. Though the quality and durability is very good, I was put off by the larger body size and weight of the Nikon (if it's not small, it will probably be left in the drawer more often than not). So if you're in the market for a digital camera and need small size, high picture quality with enough features 'headroom' to allow a high degree of control over the image, you should definitely consider the Olympus D40Z.
Rating: 
Summary: Finally A Compact Digital Camera Worth Buying
Review: My wife and I have shopped the smallest digital cameras for a few years and for one reason or another have never been able to take the plunge. Maybe part of it is that we've been using higher resolution, more fully-featured digtal cameras and have been unwilling to accept the compromises of their smaller siblings. But finally, I've found the camera for us - small enough to stay in my wife's purse or clipped to my climbing harness, yet flexible and high quality enough to not make us cringe when the images are printed. The D-40 shares the strengths common to Olympus cameras: excellent optics, flexibility of operation, high quality of manufacture and excellent image quality. Unfortunately, the major problems common to older Olympus digital cameras are still existant: mediocre software, a non-rechargable battery and a tiny media card. The D-40 lens is excellent for a camera of this size and price, resulting in superior image sharpness, even at the wide angle limit where most consumer digital cameras suffer. It's zoom range is equivalent to 35 to 98mm on a 35mm camera and the aperture is f 2.8. The camera weighs under 7 ounces and it is tiny, easily fitting in a shirt pocket. Standard AA batteries will work with the D-40 if the standard lithium battery dies and you can't find them locally. I'm psyched up that we'll be carrying a camera with us to more places. We've missed too many photo opportunities since moving from film to digital. Our bottom line is image quality and for a compact camera, the D-40 delivers.
Rating:
Summary: Yet another good Camedia, but.....
Review: not a great one. I had a chance to use this one for a couple of days and while I certainly liked it, I don't miss not having it.
My complaint focuses primarily on its balance of features; it is rather expensive, and a good part of that expense is due to its outstanding 4 megapixel resolution. ("resolution" describes the number of digital dots that make up the image; as you enlarge a picture, the dots begin to pull apart and the picture begins to look grainy). For Internet purposes (either emailing pics to family members or for posting pics on websites), about 1 megapixel is fine. For printing standard 4" x 6" photos, 1 megapixel is also adequate. The 2+ megapixel cameras (that's a big group) do a fine job with enlargements of 5" x 7"; the 3+ megapixel cameras easily handle 8" x 10". While this latter group can produce pretty good 11" x 14" enlargements, it is at this level that a 4 megapixel camera begins to make sense. But how often will you take a pic you want to enlarge to that size? Pictures taken at higher resolution slow down the camera ("write time"), increase battery use, take up much more space on memory cards and on your PC, and email or open on websites more slowly.
For my purposes, a powerful zoom lens with good glass optics will always trump resolution. To be sure, other features do matter: size, balance, battery setup, connectivity and the ability to shoot QuickTime movies. Having said all that, I would much prefer to grab the Canon S300 or the Camedia 700 than the D-40, but if someone just gave you a D-40 for the holidays, you still did pretty well. Enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: Bought a second one already
Review: Our first D-40 and an older Riccoh digital were stolen along with our carry-on bags on a recent vacation. We promptly replaced both cameras with 2 more D-40s! Checked out the D-50 and decided we didn't need the extra resolution. Checked out bigger zooms and decided to crop and blow-up shots with the computer instead of having to carry a larger camera. Have an 8x10 of our dog's head that was cropped via computer and you can virtually count the hairs [printed on an Epson with good paper & ink]. Got MAHA batteries and a charger for longer battery life. Have Adobe Photoshop Elements and found the software that came with the camera to be plenty adequate for most purposes. Like having all the settings available for when you need to tweak a shot, appreciate usually not needing to. Love dropping it in a pocket-which is where they'll get carried on our next trip!
Rating: 
Summary: It's very frustrating
Review: The camera is small and compact. The resolution is great and if you buy extra memory it can hold tons of pictures. But...sometimes i want to just use a disposable camera because this one is soooo frustrating. The auto-focus takes forever, so many times, you miss "kodak moments" because the camera isn't ready to shoot. When you have the display screen on, it sucks up the batteries. You can't view pictures right away unless you close the lens...which takes forever. Little things like this are very frustrating. And the dial for photo settings is so convenient that it often moves without you knowing so your settings will be off and you get a messed up picture. I'm no camera genius, i know how to use all the functions but this camera really tests my patience and i've missed alot of good shots. It's not just point and click like many other cameras i've used.
Rating:
Summary: Christmas overseas without a camera
Review: The D-40 zoom is a great camera on paper- small, full of features, and high quality pictures. The little remote control always got a "ooh ahh" from my friends. Yeah... it was fun while it lasted (a whopping 3 months).
The first warning sign was the camera ate batteries (Lithium, NiMH, alkaline, whatever) like beer pretzels. This was accompanied by overheating around the smartmedia door even when switched off- which was great for warming my hands but not a feature I look for in a digital camera. The D-40 limped along like this for several more weeks until it stopped working altogether with lights flashing and a media card error. Despite Olympus' denials, Im not the first reviewer to have this problem. (see "beware of lemons" posting on this site) I find it rather ironic that the example service claim document at olympus.com is for a D-40 zoom.
Now Im sure for every lemon sold by Olympus there are some (dare I say a few) good ones. But this is the bottom line: Im down ..., Im stationed overseas away from my family, its Christmas, and my camera is in a warehouse somewhere in NY. So if you're buying this as a present for someone, I hope they need a space heater as much as they need to take pictures.
Rating:
Summary: Christmas overseas without a camera
Review: The D-40 zoom is a great camera on paper- small, full of features, and high quality pictures. The little remote control always got a "ooh ahh" from my friends. Yeah... it was fun while it lasted (a whopping 3 months).
The first warning sign was the camera ate batteries (Lithium, NiMH, alkaline, whatever) like beer pretzels. This was accompanied by overheating around the smartmedia door even when switched off- which was great for warming my hands but not a feature I look for in a digital camera. The D-40 limped along like this for several more weeks until it stopped working altogether with lights flashing and a media card error. Despite Olympus' denials, Im not the first reviewer to have this problem. (see "beware of lemons" posting on this site) I find it rather ironic that the example service claim document at olympus.com is for a D-40 zoom.
Now Im sure for every lemon sold by Olympus there are some (dare I say a few) good ones. But this is the bottom line: Im down ..., Im stationed overseas away from my family, its Christmas, and my camera is in a warehouse somewhere in NY. So if you're buying this as a present for someone, I hope they need a space heater as much as they need to take pictures.
Rating:
Summary: An ultracompact that has it all
Review: The D40 is an unbeatable combination that has several key features: 1. Very compact--fits easily in the pocket or a small purse when going out. If the camera is too big to carry around with you, it's worthless--you won't get any pictures if you don't bring the camera 2. High resolution--4 megapixels is enough to make a high quality 8 by 10 print. Unless you're a professional photographer, it has all the resolution you need. 3. Takes AA batteries--this was key, as the Olympus was the only ultracompact that takes AA's rather than proprietary batteries. The lefetime is a little less but if you buy a set of 4 NiMH batteries you can always have a spare pair handy. Other cameras' proprietary batteries will cost another $50-75 over the base price, if you want a spare. And since it uses AA's you can always buy more if you don't have spare rechargables handy, or if you forget to bring the charger on vacation. 4. Optical zoom. Digital zoom is a meaningless number--it's the same thing you can do with photoshop after the fact. Only true optical zoom gives you zoom while keeping the resolution, and the D40 has it. I was looking for all those features, and the D40 was the only digital that provided them. We took it on our 3 week honeymoon and the pics turned out great. A pair of NiMH's last about a day of fairly frequent shooting. All in all, I'd highly recommend this camera.
Rating:
Summary: great quality photos, poor battery management
Review: The quality of the photos that we've taken with this camera have exceeded our expectations, but it has two problems. The response time is slow and the battery management has been poor. On a number of occations, the camera has indicated a low-battery condition and refused to take a photo even with newly charged batteries. We close the camera, open it, and then it shows a fully charged battery - but we have missed the photo op.
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