I have had this digital camera for about a year and a half and have been very pleased with it. I previously owned an Olympus point and shoot digital camera (C300) and was very pleased with the ease of use and the quality of the photos. After a while, as I became more interested in photography, I wanted a camera that I could control as many of the functions as possible. I also wanted to be able to zoom in much more than was possible with the C300 (3x optical zoom). The things I wanted from the camera prior to purchase were as follows - large zoom (10x) - manual aperture control - manual shutter control - full manual control - larger photo resolution (4 megapixels at least)
I looked at all the cameras available at the time that had a large zoom and the manual controls facilities.
I chose the Olympus as it seemed to be able to carry out all the functions I wanted plus many many more. I also chose the Olympus as I was very pleased with my previous Olympus camera.Camera Features: - It has a metal body which tends to make it more rugged (the little doors on it to access the memory card and connection sockets for USB etc. are a silver coloured plastic). -10x zoom (38-380mm equivalent) - 1.5 inch LCD display - colour electronic viewfinder - this displays exactly what is shown on the LCD display including text and menus. - uncompressed TIFF, JPEG and Quicktime movie formats - I only ever use JPG format and have not really used the movie mode in anger. - 4 megapixel resolution. - Program, AE, shutter priority, Aperture Priority and full manual exposure modes - 6 scene program modes and four custom MyModes - the MyModes is the one I use the most as you can store settings for four different setups which the camera will automatically switch to when selected. I have Program Mode, Super Macro, Aperture Priority, and Shutter priority set up on my camera. -flash hot shoe for connection of an external flash. - xD memory card (they only supply a 16Mb one with the camera which is not sufficient you need at least a 128Mb one) - 1/1000 to 16 second shutter speeds (you can only use the 16 second one in full manual mode) - there are multiple other settings that you can adjust (white balance, noise reduction, manual or automatic focus, ISO settings, macro modes (3.9 to 23.6 inches), etc etc. the numbers of combinations of functions is immense. - sound (you can record a brief message with each photo you take which is very useful) - 4 AA or 2 CR-V3 batteries.
My Opinions The menus on the LCD or EVF(electronic viewfinder) are fairly easy to use, if you have used an Olympus digital camera before they are vsery similar to other models. The camera has so many functions that it is difficult to list them all. The most useful that I have found is the MyModes where you can set up to four of your most used settings and quickly select them from the menu. The lens mechanism extends out of the camera by quite a bit when first switched on and to me is the most vunerable part to get damaged. My solution to this was to buy an extender ring along with a UV filter which completely cover the lens mechanism and protects it. I leave these permanently on the camera. You can use the camera as a point and shoot if you want and use the automatic mode - I don't know why you would want to do this when you have bought a complex camera. The camera is brilliant for taking photos outdoors and in conjunction with the zoom lens takes superb photographs. Indoors under low light conditions it still takes good photos but it takes an age to focus etc. when using the flash. It means that if you are taking photos of people they have to wait several seconds before the flash goes off after pressing the shutter. People tend to move or get impatient. One very useful accessory you get with this camera is a IR remote control which can take photos from distances of up to about 10 feet (can be used if you have the camera on a tripod)
I have been using this camera for over a year and I love it and would recommend it to anyone for use outdoors. If you intend to taking mainly indoor photos I would go for another model.
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Jan 6th, 2006
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