Olympus C 2040 Zoom

I don't know what it is about this camera, but I always seem to get terrible red eye everytime I use it. I'm to the point that I will no longer take flash pictures of people for fear of terrible red eye. The camera is rather bulky also. It was my first digital camera and has served its purpose, but now its time to move up to a real digitial camera. And yes, that MSRP is about what this thing cost many years ago. Now you can buy 4x the camera for 1/2 the price.

Numerous manual adjustments. Uses off-the-shelf AA batteries.

Bulky. Terrible red eye, even with red eye reduction on. Expensive compared to todays cameras.

Lots of 35mm point an shoots. Yashika SLR.

good color balance, nice macro, fantastic indoor flash shots.

f/1.8, powerful flash, accurate meter, loads of manual features

menu system hard to use

olympus Z-490

This is my first digicam purchase, and I am by no means a professional photographer nor computer whiz. I was looking for a quality camera I could use for immediate basic picture taking for newsletter use with "room to grow" in the future. After reading numerous consumer reviews & reports here and elswhere, I decided this was the camera I wanted. My main hesitation at purchasing this camera was the comments I had seen in several places about having trouble with installing/using the Camedia software and using the USB (i.e, not being able to find a driver). I had no trouble with either of these. I went to the olympusamerica.com web site right off the bat and was able to find, download and print Document #2739 that told me exactly what I needed to know about installing the USB driver to be used with Win 98. I was up and running in no time which was not at all what I had anticipated given what I had read. I thought I was in for a nightmare, but that was not the case. I was also a bit daunted by the comments about the submenus and how many there are. This is true, and I have not sat down at all to review them. I think with a little studying of the manual, though, I will, in time, be able to use the more advanced capabilities. So far, I am very pleased with the camera and the pictures it takes. I look forward to advancing and learning more about using all of the other bells and whistles on the camera. I was hoping to be able to find one at a slightly cheaper price, but as it was, I had a difficult time even finding this camera in stock anywhere.

Easy for a beginner to pull out of box and start taking pictures. Not so basic that it will be "outgrown" any time soon.

If you forget to remove the lens cover, it makes the awful grinding noise. Sounds like you could be doing damage to something.

Not needed yet.

Second digital cam I''ve owned. Incredible pictures even at SHQ. Zoom is good. Controls a little fussy but not to complicated. Indoor flash shots have only worked for me in RED EYE Reduction mode otherwise the image has come out blurry. Case is too slick. The other camedia''s have a black case with textured grip surface. Setting software up for USB download to computer involved call to Olympus tech support which was very quick, curteous and professional. Got me downloading pictures in just a few minutes. Their software and drivers for the camera to emulate a disc drive did not work immediately on Windows 98. This camera works very well with an HP 1115 ink jet (Photo Smart) printer. The 4X6''s are incredible. Have not done a 1 or 2 mega pixel 8X10 yet. In conclusion, a little pricey but worth it for the image quality.

Image quality and features such as movie mode and zoom. High quality lenses.

Slick case and w/o the textured grip surface the other Camedia''s have.

Poloaroid $100 digital camera from 2 years ago.

Tech support excellent. Bought this camera at a local Ritz and Ritz nationally has had a falling out with Olympus and does not currrently sell them. The local Ritz assures me they will still handle

Buy it! Under "Strengths" below, I will avoid duplicating what''s been said here and elsewhere. I will use my entire "Weaknesses" space to comment on the April 27 and April 24, 2001 reviews here which are of poor quality and which drag down the overall rating of this fine camera.

See other reviews at this site, as well as November 2001 Consumer Reports (which rates picture quality as good as the best 3-4 megapixel cameras tested), and http://www.epinions.com/511638_Olympus_Camedia_C_2040_Zoom/display_~reviews. For people switching over from 35mm cameras, I would also note that this camera''s short focal length (7.1-21.3 mm) means a huge depth of field which is a strength in most situations. (When a short depth of field is desired, the background can be blurred in Photoshop etc.)

The April 27, 2001, review here says: "Major problem with lens cover necessity as telscoping grinds gears. ... Camedia software very difficult to use. ... Not practical for average user." About the first sentence, I would agree, but I do not find evidence of permanent damage from the "grinding." About the second sentence, I disagree in that Camedia Master 2.5 is as easy to use as comparable software, and I like its ability to batch rotate or delete photos. (OTOH, Camedia is not very powerful in manipulating images compared with Adobe Photoshop Elements, MGI PhotoSuite, etc.) About the third sentence, I''m not sure what it refers to. If the reviewer meant the entire camera, I disagree in that putting the camera on "P" (program) mode will enable the camera to act like any "practical" film-based point-and-shoot. Besides the lens cap problem, the April 24, 2001, review says (I have inserted numbers for reference): "[1] I was never able to run the CAMEDIA 2.5 software on any of my three computers!! [2] The Olympus site is completely outdated and of absolutely no help. [3] Ends up to be a very expensive camera if you add the "options" that other cameras are offering in the equival

No previous experience with digital cameras, but have used Canon 35mm SLRs and various point-and-shoots, and have manipulated digital images using Photoshop LE.

Not tried.