Great first time digital camera
Written: Jan 25 '03
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Pros: Easy to use, zoom, panorama
Cons: 8 mb SmartMedia
The Bottom Line: Learn about digital cameras with a 2 megapixel like this one.
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| fuzzytek's Full Review: Olympus Camedia D-510 Zoom Digital Camera |
This camera has me interested in photography. Before I took pictures from time to time and didn't think too much about it.
I've owned the camera since March 2002 (nearly a year). So I've seen the print on the plastic body fade with use. Scratches form from the lens cover mechanism sliding. But these are things to expect when you have a plastic shell.
At first I had to figure out what to do about batteries. It's common to want to view the picture you just took. That means closing the lens cover (runs a motor to retract the lens), run the LCD panel, then back to taking photos (extend the lens again). You can cut down on energy used by setting the camera's "Rec View" to Off. You can turn on the LCD panel for setting a photo manually instead. That lets you keep the lens extended, LCD off until you're ready to shoot... then turn on the LCD and snap your shot... turn off the LCD until you're ready to put the camera away (close the lens).
Regular alkalines drained very fast. A lithium battery lasted very little time. I soon found that Energizer 1700 milliamp rechargable Nimh work great! Rechargables are THE WAY with a camera. You'll have a lot of waste otherwise.
When I bought the camera I knew 8 mb memory wasn't going to work for me. So I bought a Viking 128 mb SmartMedia chip at Buy.com. I can get 255 HQ (1600x1200) photos on the chip. Problem however - the panorama feature on the camera doesn't work with the Viking memory! The Olympus chip works fine for panorama preview on the camera. This mode brings an edge from the previous picture up on the screen so you can line up the next frame in the panorama. Panoramas can go either vertical or horizontal.
I recently bought a laptop (Toshiba Satellite 5105-S701) that has a built-in SmartMedia port, and SD port. This makes those memory chips very powerful - like having 100 floppy disks in the palm of your hand. I still use the USB cable when transferring photos to other PCs.
Carrying the camera became an issue when I took it to dance clubs. So I stuck it in a fanny pack - works great when you're out bouncing around the floor.
If you're curious about photos taken check - http://www.pbase.com/fuzzytek/
I've reached the point where I want more from my shots than the camera will produce. Since I'm taking club photos in a dark setting I need a wide range of manual features - long shutter speed, long flash, faster acquisition of focal length (if automated). I'll be shopping around for a camera with more features in the near future.
I shopped online to determine this was the model I wanted, then had an occasion come up that I needed the camera NOW - so I traveled through 4 Detroit area stores finding them out of stock. Office Depot is where I finally made the purchase that day.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 299
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Easy Enough for Anyone to Use
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Epinions.com ID:
fuzzytek
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Member: Stephen Boyle
Location: Detroit, MI, USA
Reviews written: 6
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
Photographer / Web Designer with 20 years in Info Tech
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