Due to me working as a Marine Technician i'm away from the net for weeks at a time, don't worry if m...
Due to me working as a Marine Technician i'm away from the net for weeks at a time, don't worry if my responses are a bit late, i'll get there eventually.
Member since:20.08.2005
Reviews:1
Members who trust:1
I purchased this camera 4 months ago mainly to take photos of items for uploading onto Ebay, and general album photos. I did a little bit of research before purchasing and for the cost it appeared to be good value for money. I should mention that I've never owned or used a digital camera previous to this one. It is a very rugged, compact and weatherproof unit which was proven on a recent stag weekend in Berlin, it spent the whole weekend in my pocket and came away unscathed (not an easy task for anything).
Simplicity itself to operate, you open the lens cover and the lens comes out automatically, there is a two-stage shutter button, you press the shutter button gently (halfway) which auto focuses and determines automatically if the flash is required, when the lamp on the viewfinder lights (approx 1 second) it's ready to take the photo, which is done by fully pressing the shutter button.
Various modes are available
but I have found the auto program to be adequate for most situations. The other options are Portrait, Landscape + Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene, Self Portrait And Movie. It's a simple case of pressing one of the 6 control buttons on the rear of the unit to select the mode you require; there is no sound with the movie option.
The unit comes with a 16MB picture card, which takes 12 - 16 photos. I upgraded to a 256 MB card, which enables you to take approx 326 photos in normal mode. I also purchased a spare battery in case I was caught short, however the battery seams to last forever, but it's nice to have a backup. I also purchased a case separately as it came without one. On hindsight I should have purchased the larger picture card, battery and case with the camera and saved on postage, and could have maybe struck a better deal.
The battery charger is a small and light unit which takes up hardly any space in your luggage, the battery which has to be removed from the camera (a very simple process) to recharge takes approx 2 hours to reach full capacity. Once full charge has been achieved the lamp on the charger changes from red (charging) to green (charge complete). This is a problem for me being partially colourblind as i cannot tell the difference, however, I just leave it charging for 3 hours and an overcharge is not possible. Giving a clear and concise time on how long the battery will last is not easy, it depends on a lot of factors, ie: is the flash being used, how many pictures are you taking and in what mode, are you using the movie and flicking through the pictures already taken etc etc, When the battery meter indicates half charge i normally recharge the battery, by then i could have taken up to 60 - 70 photos, from what i've heard from friends with digital cameras this is extremely good.
The macro (close-up) setting is handy and again operated by one of the six control buttons; you can use the manual focus-rocking button to zoom in or out.
The 3.2 Mega pixels are enough to produce nice quality photos and the 3X optical zoom is adequate. I could copy all the specs into my review but for the people who require and understand them, the Olympus site is the place to visit.
The software that was supplied was simple enough to setup on my PC and was just about adequate for basic needs, I upgraded to the Pro option, which takes approx 20 minutes and is just a case of downloading the upgrade after paying for it, the link to carry out the upgrade is emblazoned on the original software. Once installed you can cut, crop, rotate, edit, change background, In fact the original picture can be changed to almost anything you might require.
To download from your camera to the PC is just a simple case of connecting the USB lead and the program starts automatically, follow the on screen directions, it's as simple as that.
The only problem I've had is when I'm operating the camera and my thumb (which rests on the battery compartment cover) has accidentally released the battery cover. This has happened a couple of times but now that I'm aware it's just a case of taking more care. If the battery should drop out, all the photos on the picture card could be lost.
I paid £132.00 for the camera complete with the accessories mentioned above. The following are optional extras and you should have a think about your own requirements before splashing out. The Olympus 256Mb XD picture card was £17.99 (smaller cards are less expensive), Spare Battery £9.99 and the case was £12.50. The software upgrade was £16.21. Without to much shopping around better deals than this are available.
This camera is a very versatile and resilient piece of equipment, which is easy to operate, and should cover the needs of most budding photographers.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: Showerproof. Great pictures. Fast transfer. Works OK with my 512Mb XD card. Reasonably quick autofocus and flash Disadvantages: Build quality concerns: Plastic switches. Weak zoom switch. Silver colour soon wears -off all switches. Sliding front has switch which often fails due to dirt/dust. Noticably slower startup when using a large (512Mb) card. Short videos. No sound.
Advantages: Excellent value for money, good range of features, high quality camera and photos Disadvantages: No manual adjustment of exposure duration, only short videos possible, with no sound
Advantages: Gorgeous design, weatherproofing is a plus, easy to use Disadvantages: Few override options, no sound on the video mode, loses out in the value stakes these days
![OLYMPUS Battery LI-12B For C-50, C-5000, C-60, C-7000, C-765, C-770, Ferrari Digital 2003, FE-200, µ[mju:] 1000, µ[mju:] 300, µ[mju:] 400, µ[mju:] 410, µ[mju:] 500, µ[mju:] 810 Battery Rechargeable Battery](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/107364544.jpg "OLYMPUS Battery LI-12B For C-50, C-5000, C-60, C-7000, C-765, C-770, Ferrari Digital 2003, FE-200, µ[mju:] 1000, µ[mju:] 300, µ[mju:] 400, µ[mju:] 410, µ[mju:] 500, µ[mju:] 810 Battery Rechargeable Battery")
![OLYMPUS LI-42B Battery For FE-150, FE-190, FE-230, FE-240, FE-280, FE-290, FE-300, FE-360, µ[mju:] 1050, µ[mju:] 1060, µ[mju:] 1200, µ[mju:] 700, µ[mju:] 720, µ[mju:] 725, µ[mju:] 730, µ[mju:] 740, µ[mju:] 750, µ[mju:] 760, µ[mju:] 770, µ[mju:] 770SW, µ[m](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/107371944.jpg "OLYMPUS LI-42B Battery For FE-150, FE-190, FE-230, FE-240, FE-280, FE-290, FE-300, FE-360, µ[mju:] 1050, µ[mju:] 1060, µ[mju:] 1200, µ[mju:] 700, µ[mju:] 720, µ[mju:] 725, µ[mju:] 730, µ[mju:] 740, µ[mju:] 750, µ[mju:] 760, µ[mju:] 770, µ[mju:] 770SW, µ[m")
![Olympus µ[MJU:] 300 Digital](http://imagesb.ciao.com/iuk/images/products/normal/037/product-5333037.jpg)
![Overall user rating: Olympus µ[MJU:] 300 Digital](http://images.ciao.com/ide/images/stars/2003/stars45.gif)
Aug 23rd, 2005
(Aug 24th, 2005)
very helpful by (91%):
helpful by (9%):
![Olympus µ[mju:] Tough 8000](http://imagesb.ciao.com/iuk/images/products/small/655/prod_small-7056655.jpg)
