Review on Olympus Camedia Digital Camera Optical by Reginald Pitt

This was my first digital camera; It's a fairly dated model, but it was one of the best in the range when it was made and in some categories it still holds its own against today's much more expensive models. The greatest strength of this camera is that it demands great photos. The automatic setting works very well. It supports ISO-400 and has less noise than many new cameras. It also takes decent flash photos. And it has a modest optical zoom. The settings are fairly easy to use and give you a lot of flexibility, although the fully manual mode is impractical. It's very small and very durable - I've been using mine for four years and the plastic port cover has chipped off and the symbols have worn off the face, but it still works like a charm. Long exposures are also great at night. Weaknesses are pretty obvious. The preview screen is tiny, the camera has a very slow startup time, and the flash switching is pretty slow. And digital zoom is practically useless; modern photo programs can also interpolate. I think this would be a great buy for anyone looking for a cheap digital camera. It simply sweeps away current models in the sub-$100 price range. Now I have a Canon PowerShot A700 (around $300) and I can safely say that this old Olympus still outperforms my new camera in some situations. Especially for people who take a lot of low light photos but want a cheaper model, this is one of the best options.