I won't bore you all with the manufacturer's specifications of the camera since you can get this from previous reviews or online from Olympus. I'll just give you the facts (as I see it of course).

The price of the camera has fallen over $100 in the past six months and it's mostly because the camera is on the way out. Olympus has a C-4000 (4.0 megapixels) replacing this model. Currently the C-3020 retails for about $300 or less. I bought mine two months ago for $329 (clearance at Target).

The maximum resolution is 3.2 megapixels (MPx), which is more than adequate for your average user. If you were to take a regular film photo and scan it, your typical scanner would only reproduce the photo at about 2.5 MPx. You can select the resolution from anywhere between .3 MPx to the max of 3.2. Honestly, I'm not sure in what situation you would consider taking a .3 MPx photo. Your decision on megapixels will determine how many pictures you can take on the memory card.

The camera comes with a 16MB Smartmedia memory card, which is not adequate if you're taking the camera away on a two, or more days, vacation. At 16MB, the card only holds 165 pictures in .3 MPx mode, and 8 (YES, only 8) in the 3.2 MPx mode. I've found that High-Quality (HQ) mode, about 2.5 Mpx, is sufficient for most situations and you can take 21 of those on the 16 MB card. I would highly recommend an additional 128 MB card (approximately $50), which would increase your storage to 168 HQ photos (or 256 Standard Quality 1.9 MPx).

It's sort of hard to describe the size of the camera. It's not heavy like a SLR, but it's not considered small either. It's definitely not in the category of your point-n-shoot digital cameras. There is a lot of stuff in this camera and the casing shows. It won't fit in your pocket or purse, that's for sure. I find the camera to be a good size because I personally never preferred the pocket point-n-shoot cameras anyway.

There are various picture modes that you can set it to. There is the standard point-n-shoot (PnS) mode which sets everything for you (aperture, speed, focus), and the 'My' photo mode which is almost all manual. You can set the aperture, speed, focus, etc. to your liking to take pictures the way you want to. In the PnS mode, you can use either the viewfinder, or the display, but be warned with the viewfinder. For some situations (ie. if objects closer than two feet) it is not WYSIWYG. Use the display, but then this depletes the battery of power faster. It's a give-n-take at times. In My mode, the display is always on because that is where your settings are displayed.

The auto-focusing of the camera is great in clarity, but not in speed. You have to push the picture button down halfway to set the focus, and then full down to take the picture. If you push the button full down before focusing is set, the camera hesitates while it focuses and then snaps the photo. Fixing the focus first is to ensure that focus is set if you wish to move the center of photo off the object you had original focused on.

I have tried to correct this with "maximum" power batteries like Duracell Ultra and Energizer Platinum, but to no avail. The power refresh for the flash is slow, really slow. It takes a good 5-7 seconds for the flash to refresh. So, if you're indoors and looking to take some quick 'action' sequence photos, forget about it. There is a 3-photo quick mode that you can select with the camera which takes three quick consecutive photos, but if you need a flash, forget about it.

Using mostly Duracell Ultra, the camera gets you about 120-140 exposures or so, without using flash and without using display. With flash and display, cut that by atleast half.

The camera has a red-eye reduction setting, but I've found so far in PnS mode that it's not too good. There is still a slight hint of red-eye in drastic situations. With it off, and taking flash photography indoors, almost everyone gets red-eye.

** NOTE ** remove the cap BEFORE turning the camera on. I have read of people breaking their lens cap by not removing it first before turning the unit on.

The telescoping lens (7.5 times zoom) comes out once you turn the unit on, so if your cap is still on, it pops the lens off, but enters into 'error' mode. Once in error mode, you have to turn the unit off and turn it back on to reset. Another reason to remove the cap first.

I'm not sure if you take my review as being negative or not because I seem to have written more negatives about the camera than positives, but overall this is a very good camera. For the price, it's great resolution and functions. I used, and still use sometimes, a SLR camera (Canon AE-1 circa 1985) for many years, and I've found this camera to be almost comparable in ability to take special effect photos. If you're looking for function, this is it for you. If you're looking for a camera to take quick photos without the need for fancy settings, then this probably isn't the camera for you. A small pocket PnS camera would do better.


Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 329.99
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Flexible Enough for Enthusiasts