Olympus iS-20 QD Date 35mm SLR Camera

by Olympus

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00004TQ0T
• Item model number: iS-20
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,056 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
  • #94 in Electronics > Camera & Photo > Film Cameras > SLR Cameras
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 4, 1973

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

With true 4x zoom and date printing, the fully automatic Olympus IS-20 QD SLR camera offers versatility and professional quality. It combines the advanced functionality of an SLR camera system with a compact, lightweight package. The 28-110mm aspherical glass lens provides a high degree of optical resolution with reduced distortion. A full-auto mode automatically sets shutter speed and aperture, while audible beeps confirm focus.

A set of direct mode select buttons make creative photography easy. A landscape mode captures foreground and background with equal clarity. You can also create dramatic portraits with a sharply defined subject and shallow depth of field. A night- scene mode keeps the shutter open for up to two-second exposures. An intelligent flash automatically fires in low-light situations and includes fill-in flash, red-eye reduction, and soft illumination settings.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Happy Medium, October 23, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Olympus iS-20 QD Date 35mm SLR Camera (Electronics)

As one reviewer wrote, I reluctantly gravitated toward an autofocus SLR because my eyesight (even at 30) isn't perfect, and the one thing missing from the shots taken with my traditional Pentax SLR is "focus." An autofocus camera fixes that problem for me. But I want some options as well, to allow for some creativity amidst all the automation. From the moment I got the IS-20 QD out of the box and put in the batteries, it has been a dream to own. I finished off the first roll within an hour, and the pictures, even from the 1-hour shop at the drugstore, were outstanding. I'm not commenting on my picture-taking; I give all credit to the Olympus. Everything from portraits to landscapes to action (it stopped a spinning backyard windmill in its tracks) came out great. I know that I am sacrificing some of the freedom that one would get with a traditional SLR, but for my money (and my experience) I waste much less film by avoiding experimentation, and I can concentrate on the subject matter of my shots. I recommend this camera for both novice photography buffs, and for those who just want a fantastic hassle-free high-end camera.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Everything you need, nothing you don't..., June 21, 2002

By 

Dr. Leslie Brown "Doc Brown" (Tenerife, Spain, Canary Islands.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Olympus iS-20 QD Date 35mm SLR Camera (Electronics)

I actually own the IS-30, which is almost identical to the IS-20, the only difference being that the IS-30 has exposure compensation (from -2EV to +2EV in 0.5EV steps), but I don't know if its still available, so I'm writing this review instead. I've had it for 2 years and it is a marvellous camera.

This camera has all the features that you need and none that you don't. It is essentially a fully-automatic SLR camera, so you have the best of both worlds. With an SLR, when you look through the viewfinder, you're actually looking through the lens, so what you see is what you get (with composition and focus). Unlike a fully-automatic camera, which has parallax error associated with its separate viewfinder.
The IS-20 is "zoomier" (28-110mm) than a standard SLR camera lens (28-80mm), but yet it is quite a small camera when compared to most SLRs. You can also get a telephoto extender that screws on the end making it effectively a 210mm lens; although you will have to use that pretty much at full-zoom and the camera lens cap won't retract when it is in place.
The other advantage it has over fully-automatic cameras is that you can use various filters on the end of the lens. You might first consider getting a 2X macro lens and a red lens for improving the contrast in B&W photography.

I used my sister's Canon EOS-500N for two overseas trips and I found that about half of the features I just didn't use. With this Olympus, however, I use ALL the features. The two most commonly used modes are the scenery mode and the portrait mode. It also has spot metering, a timer, and a nifty lens cap. Plus it has full-auto mode; just press the green button and shoot!

It has twin flashes, one for wide-angle and one for telephoto, and they are mighty-powerful! There are four flash modes: autoflash, no flash, red-eye reducing, and forced flash activation. They're all important. Having no flash is crucial for night time scenes; just put the camera on something steady, select the timer -that way the camera will go off by itself and you won't bump it- and you will take photos that look like a pro.

Initially, the thing that bugged me most is that you can't manually set the shutter speed and have the camera figure out the correct aperture. But now I tend to think that the only time I really wanted to set the shutter speed myself is when I wanted the fastest possible shutter speed, and the camera has a mode that automatically does that for you (up to 1/2000 sec). You can only manually select the shutter speed for long-time exposures greater than 1 sec (1, 2, 4, 8, 15, 30 & 60 sec), but then camera fixes the aperture at f8, so you have to take a few shots to make sure the photo won't be under/overexposed. You can, on the other hand, choose an aperture from f4.5 to f22, and have the camera automatically use the right shutter speed. That allows you to change the depth of field of a scene.

On the down side: for the smallish size, it is on the heavy side. But even though I am usually very obsessive when it comes to lightweight objects, in this case I can easily overlook that, because of its sheer convenience.

If you're thinking of buying a digital camera, know that film has the equivalent of 1500 "pixels" per inch, so that a 24x36mm negative, assuming a good lens and fine-grained film, will have over 3 megapixels. Not only that, but this camera can use a wide range of film speeds, from 25 ISO all the way to 3200 ISO!!
The other reason I didn't want a digital camera, is that I've been known to take about a thousand photos while I'm travelling, and I refuse to fork out that much money for the high-capacity memory cards required. Remember that 35mm film can be bought ANYWHERE.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Auto camera with manual preciseness, October 2, 2000

By 

Jennie (Newnan, Georgia USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Olympus iS-20 QD Date 35mm SLR Camera (Electronics)

I've had a manual-focus camera for years, set apertures, speeds, etc. This camera gives you all the exactness of that medium with the total convenience and ease of a fully automatic package. Plus you can set your own apertures if you wish to move "outside the box" and the camera sets the speed for you! The settings are easy to figure out, auto focusing is a bit tricky, but once you get the hang of it, there's nothing easier. Great versatility in a reasonably priced package! I highly recommend it.