The Olympus D-40 Zoom is Small, Light and Powerful!
Written: Nov 10 '01 (Updated Aug 30 '03)
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Pros: It gives you excellent photo quality!
Cons: No rechargeable batteries included and the 16MB SmartMedia card is too small!
The Bottom Line: If you want picture perfect quality, then this maybe the digital camera that you are looking for!
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| surferdude7's Full Review: Olympus D-40 Zoom Digital Camera |
The Olympus D-40 Zoom is a 4-megapixel digital camera that produces excellent photos up to a 2272 x 1704 pixel in size. It is only 1.7 inches thick, 3.4 inches wide, 2.7 inches in height and weighs in at 6.7 ounces without the batteries. This little beauty can fit in your shirt pocket.
To turn on the camera all you have to do is slide the cover over the lens to the side and the lens will come out and it is ready to use. To turn it off just slide it back toward the lens and the lens will retract and then the cover can slide over the lens, which turns the camera off.
With this camera you can just point and shoot, use aperture priority, shutter priority or manual mode.
The D-40 lists for $799 and can be found as low as $659 on the Internet.
The Lens
The built-in lens has a 2.8x optical zoom and a 2.5x digital zoom giving you a total of a 7x zoom. It is a 7.25mm to 20.3mm lens that is equivalent to a 35mm to 98mm zoom of a 35mm lens.
The lens is an all-glass, aspherical lens made of 7 elements in 5 groups.
The aperture range is F2.8/4.8 to F8.0
The Macro mode is from 3.9 inches to 31 inches.
The Normal mode is from 31 inches to infinity.
The manual mode is from 3.9 inches to infinity.
The Flash
The Olympus D-40 Zoom has a built-in flash with several modes to choose from.
With an ISO 100 the lens in the telephoto range has a flash range from 9.8 inches to 5.9 feet. In the wide-angle range the lens has a range from 31 inches to 9.8 feet.
Of all the flash modes on the camera I find myself using only two, the Auto mode an the Red-eye Reduction mode. The auto mode does and excellent job of filling in what ever is needed, plus in the auto mode it will only flash when needed. I find that the Red-eye Reduction mode gives you beautiful portrait shots without that red-eye appearance.
You can also turn off the flash.
Movies
Take movies with your Olympus D-40 in two modes.
320 x 240 at 15fps (frames per second) of QuickTime Motion JPEG, it will automatically stop at 32 seconds or you can stop it sooner.
160 x 120 at 15fps of QuickTime Motion JPEG in this mode it will take a movie up to 2 minutes and 10 seconds at a time.
The quality of the video is pretty good, though the 160 x 120 is too small for my viewing!
USB Connection
Olympus provides Auto Connect USB, which allows you to plug your camera into a USB port, and it will automatically down load your photos without any extra software needed.
SmartMedia Card
The Olympus D-40 comes with a 16MB SmartMedia Memory Card.
I highly recommend a larger one like a 128MB for plenty of photo storage, a 4-megapixel digital camera is a memory eater in the higher resolutions. Remember using things like making movies and adding sound to your photos eats up memory real quick.
Most cards come formatted but if you do need to format one the camera will do it for you.
With the SmartMedia Memory Card you can delete your photos one at a time or all at once.
The Viewers
There is a Viewfinder to take your pictures with.
Then there is the color 1.8-inch TFT LCD (114,000 pixels) viewer in the back made for taking your photos, reviewing your photos and editing them. The color LCD is also for your menu selections for camera setups and adjustments.
On top of the camera is a monochrome data LCD that shows some of the camera settings. This is very handy if you turn off the color LCD viewer and take your photos using the viewfinder.
Some of the Menu Functions
Here are some of the menu functions that can be made through the color LCD in the back.
CONTRAST -5 to 5 in 1-step increments
SATURATION -5 to 5 in 1-step increments
SHARPNESS -5 to 5 in 1-step increments
WB (White balance) Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent and One-Touch custom. The White balance can be fine tuned between red and blue.
This is just to show you a few of the things you can do with the menu.
TV Connection
You can connect the camera to a TV to view your photos and recorded movies from the camera. This is where the small remote comes in handy because you can sit back, relax and enjoy viewing your photos or movies without having to go to the camera.
Sound
This camera gives you the ability to add up to 4 seconds of audio to your photos. This is very nice if you wish to present a slide show and have a small description of each photo or music to go with the slide show.
The Resolutions
The Olympus D-40 Zoom has all kinds of resolutions to pick from. There are 7 sizes to pick from plus the Optimum Image Enlargement mode for more resolutions.
2272 x 1704 TIFF & JPEG
2,288 x 1,712 SHQ only in JPEG
2048 x 1536 TIFF & JPEG
1600 x 1200 TIFF & JPEG
1280 x 960 TIFF & JPEG
1024 x 768 TIFF & JPEG
640 x 480 TIFF & JPEG
There are 4 resolution modes to pick from, SHQ, HQ, SQ1 or SQ2.
Optimum Image Enlargement Mode
The Olympus D-40 Zoom produces photos up to 2272 x 1704 pixel files which are made to print up to a 11" x 14" photo.
The Optimum Image Enlargement mode is for producing larger photos so you can print images up to 16" x 20".
This is done through JPEG x2 with the maximum CCD resolution of 2272 x 1704 to produce 3200 x 2400, 2816 x 2112 and 2560 x 1920 sizes.
Noise reduction Mode
This is a neat feature that provides you with nice clear night shots. Without it the night shots are grainy looking.
This is a nice feature and after using it a few times you will see what I mean.
Shutter Speeds
In Auto mode ½ of a second to 1/1000 of a second.
In Manual mode 16 seconds to 1/1000 of a second.
In Night Scene mode 4 seconds to 1/1000 of a second.
Other Features
ISO 100, 200 400 in manual mode or auto mode.
A self-timer of 12 seconds using the remote
A microphone and a speaker built-in
Take 2 frames per second.
Auto Exposure Bracketing, 1/3 EV, 2/3 EV and 1 EV
Spot AF, iESP AF and manual focus modes.
Sharpness Settings, Hard, Normal and Soft
Contrast Settings, High, Normal and Low
Different modes of Sepia mode, black & white mode, blackboard mode and whiteboard mode
Automatic Pixel Mapping
What is in the Box!
The Olympus D-40 Zoom camera
16MB Olympus brand Panorama SmartMedia Memory Card
Lithium batteries
Wireless Remote (This remote is very tiny, carry it everywhere with you!)
Lens cap and strap
Cables to connect to your TV and Computer (USB)
Software on a CD and manual
My Last Words!
This is an awesome camera as far as photo quality, I personally think the camera is a little too small for my big hands and feel more comfortable with the Olympus Camedia C-3000 Zoom Digital Camera. Though a small camera like this has many uses when it comes to carrying it around with you all the time.
Two AA size batteries power the camera, they provide a Lithium battery that will not last very long. I highly recommend buying two sets of NiMH batteries and a charger so you always have one set of batteries ready to go when needed. A charger and 4 AA batteries will cost you about $29, an excellent investment.
It is Windows and Mac ready!
Overall it is an excellent camera with a lot of extras to help get the perfect photos that you are looking for.
~~~ Print your digital photos for 18 cents each; Click on Me to find out how! ~~~
Here are some of my other camera reviews!
Canon PowerShot G1 Digital Camera
Casio QV3000EX Digital Camera
Casio QV-2300UX Digital Camera
Fuji FinePix 2800 Digital Camera
Kodak DC215 Zoom Digital Camera
Kodak DC280 Zoom Digital Camera
Kodak DC3400 Zoom Digital Camera
Kodak DX4900 Digital Camera
Minolta Dimage E-201 Digital Camera
Minolta Maxxum HTsi 35mm SLR camera
Minolta Maxxum 7
Minolta Maxxum 800si 35mm SLR camera
Olympus C-3020 Zoom Digital Camera
Olympus C-4040 Zoom Digital Camera
Olympus Camedia D-380 Digital Camera
Pentax Optio 430 Digital Camera
Nikon Coolpix 900-s Digital Camera
Nikon Coolpix 3500 Digital Camera
Sony MVC-FD87 Digital Camera
Sony Mavica MVC-FD95 Digital Camera
Sony DSC-F717 Cyber-shot Digital Camera
Sony DSC-P2 Digital Camera
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 699
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Solid Enough for a Professional
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surferdude7
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