DON'T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID **UPDATED**
Written: May 18 '00 (Updated Feb 11 '01)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good Camera, Good Price
Cons: NO OPTICAL ZOOM LENS
The Bottom Line: Although it's tempting to buy this camera, spending a little more money will get you a camera that you won't easily outgrow.
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| DENGNY's Full Review: Olympus Camedia D-360L Digital Camera |
First, the Olympus D-360L is a good camera that takes decent shots. Unfortunately, it has one major missing feature making it impossible for me to recommend it to anyone. OPTICAL ZOOM LENS!
I made a costly mistake. When I first decided to buy a digital camera I thought I'd buy a cheaper model because I was only going to do some shots here and there for web pages. I also thought that a 2x digital zoom would be sufficient for my needs. I was dead wrong on both counts and ended up buying another camera altogether.
First, digital photography is a blast! I fell in love with it immediately. You can snap photo after photo, and get instant gratification by checking out the built-in display. It's also fun to snap a photo of someone and then show them the results. I share photos with friends and relatives, and even with people I meet on vacation. Now that I know I like digital photography, I'm sorry I purchased a camera without an OPTICAL ZOOM LENS.
Just to clarify a major point for you if you're thinking about buying this camera, the 2x zoom feature is not very useful. First, digital zoom on this camera does not work like an optical zoom lens. What the digital zoom feature will do for you is double the size of your composition via a built in computer program. Digital zoom is NOT incremental. It's either normal, or twice normal...there's no in between.
Second, since the zoom is digital, you must compose your photograph via the built-in LCD display...not through the viewfinder. In bright sunlight it can be difficult if not impossible to see the LCD display, especially if you have the sun at your back.
Lastly, digital zoom feature only works in standard mode (640x480) not in the HQ mode that you will want to shoot in. Once you start snapping photos on a digital camera and compare the quality between standard and HQ modes, you won't want ever use standard.
When you decide to take the plunge in digital photography, you're making a substantial investment. My advice to you is spend a little more ($100 to $150) and consider the Olympus D-450Z (this is the camera I own now), or D-460Z (460 is the newly released upgrade to the 450). With either of these cameras, you'll get every feature of this one, plus an excellent 3x Optical Zoom Lens. The D-450Z should now be available at a substantial discount due the fact that the new model is in stores now. I wrote an opinion on the D450-Z which goes into all the major details about it.
If you think I'm wrong, and you can live without the Optical Zoom Lens, then go for it! Like I said at the beginning, this is a good camera that takes decent photos. But I know you don't want to hear me say, "I told you so!"
UPDATE...You may be wondering, why did I devote an entire page to talking about a zoom lens. Before you buy, think to yourself for a moment, "Would I be satisfied with a 35mm camera without a zoom lens, or would I use it too often to live without". Think in terms of what you want in a 35mm camera, and then translate that into its digital counterpart.
Now, to support my opinion that a little more $$$ would get you a lot better camera, I checked some prices and the best I could find are:
D450-Z... Best Stop Digital (www.beststopdigital.com)... $362.00
D460-Z... BUY.COM (www.buy.com)... $399.00
Also, read my opinion on the Olympus D450-Z. I go into a lot of detail about the workings of this camera. The D460-Z is an upgraded version of the 450. Most of the major features of the 450 carry over into the 460. In other words, if you want to know what the 450 or 460 is like, you can get a pretty good idea by reading my review at:
http://dengny.epinions.com/elec-review-1D5B-4451FA-39104F1B-prod2
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
DENGNY
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 - Top 1000 |
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Member: Dennis G
Location: Morris County, NJ
Reviews written: 85
Trusted by: 38 members
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