Customer Reviews

Olympus C-2000 Zoom 2.1MP Digital Camera

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This camera takes great pictures and is easy to understand and use. It has a MAJOR drawback though, and I may be returning this camera and buying a different one. The drawback.... It EATS batteries ! A set of Heavy Duty Alkalines will barely last 20 minutes (even with the LCD display turned off.)! I bought two sets of 1200 MA rechargeable batteries from Radio Shack plus a quick charger ($60 worth), and can barely get one set recharged before the other runs down. Don't count on being able to fill up your 8Meg flashcard AND download pictures on the same set of batteries!

A second NECESSITY is the AC Adapter. Without this accessory, battery life becomes even more of a problem. This should be a standard feature with this camera.

We own a Toshiba and a Sony, and neither one of them consumes power like the Olympus.

The camera is postively amazing. The quality of the pictures are great, the controls are easy to pick-up (even for someone who is new to photography), and if you bring it to a party---the "oohs" and "ahhs" will still be echoing throughout the room hours after you leave. Two friends, after borrowing and playing with the camera, have since went out a bought their own (I wanted mine back!). The only grudge I have is not really against the camera itself, but the company. When you buy the camera...make sure you also buy a 32mb Smartmedia card (the 8mb card that comes with it is nothing), make sure it also *comes with* 4 NiMH rechargable batteries (the camera is supposed to come with these!), and buy a Floppy Path Adapter (though optional...makes downloading the images *a lot* quicker).

I bought the C2000 over the summer, and Olympus enclosed a mail-in certificate for free NiMH batteries and charger. The NiMH batteries largely fixed the battery problem (before, I had to carry a pile of spare alkakines). I'm not sure how Olympus's folks signed off on some strangeness in the mechanical design (wayward lens cap, oddly-placed strap attachment things, power switch / shutter button placement). Also, the Flashpath (floppy) adapter is a major pain to use. The PCMCIA adapter is simpler and works better. A PCMCIA reader for a desktop PC/MAC is cheap. An included case would have been nice. Olympus sells one for this camera, but no one ever has it in stock. I don't even know what it looks like.

Having said that, I'm very pleased with picture quality and ease of use. Resolution and color are excellent. The automatic mode tends to overexpose flash pictures taken in some situations (like across a dark room), but the overrides for shutter and aperature priority work well. You can also fine-tune the exposure, among other things, and still use the fully-auto mode.

Bottom line: an amazing piece of technology; takes excellent photos (for a digital camera); very good value for its capabilities.

Got my camera and it worked well, with impressive results. I was amazed at the detail in the 1600x1200 medimum compression mode. Pictures can be enlarged about 400% without noticing grain.

However; then I had to purchase a camera case to keep it in. (This was very hard to find because of the odd shape of the camera. None of the "off the shelf" ones fit well. I had to settle for one much larger than the camera because of the odd shape.)

Then after the first 20 pictures I had to replace the disposable batteries that came with the camera with rechargable batteries and a battery charger. (It eats batteries - BIG TIME.)

Then I had to get a lens cap keeper. (The camera "spits" the lens cap on the floor if it is left on the camera, when the camera is turned on.)

Then I had to get an additional 32 meg smart media card. (Since I wanted to take more than 8 quality pictures without downloading.)

Then I had to get a USB smart card reader to download the pictures in an acceptable amount of time without running down the rechargable camera batteries.

Now, all I need to get is a photo quality printer to print some of the pictures that I've taken......

Bottom line, it took me $1,300+ to get the camera set up the way I wanted.

I feel the camera case, rechargable batteries, bettery recharger, lens cap keeper, 32meg smartcard and USB reader should have been included with the camera... (I would have gladly given up the stink'n "remote" for any two or three of these things I had to purchase afterward.)

Most people don't realize that the best thing about the Olympus C-2000 is that its zoom lens goes from an aperature of f2.0 to an aperature of f2.8.

Most people don't even know what an aperature is or why a 2.0-2.8 range is good. So if you're like most people then let me explain.

A lens that has a 2.0 rating lets in more than twice as much light as a lens with a 3.5 rating, like the Nikon CoolPix 950. Therefore, if you are indoors, and you want to take a picture without a flash (which is highly recommended to preserve natural-looking colors instead of washed out pictures of people with red eyes), then the Olympus C-2000 is definitely the best camera.

Also, the C-2000's form factor is better than Nikon or anybody else. The camera is small and light, and feels well-made as you hold it. The Nikon however feels flimsy and the zoom responds slower. The Nikon is in two pieces as well, connected by a swivel joint. That seems more likely to break, and I don't see why having a swivel joint is important or useful.

Overall, in my two years of working at a camera store, the C-2000 is the first digital camera to deserve true merit. It's well priced and has image quality comparable to models costing ten times as much. Also the lens is a high quality aspherical Olympus element. I wouldn't recommend anything else.

jonathan s gilbert

I just purchased the C2000 and can't believe some of the negative comments I have read. The positives far outweigh the negatives, and would recommend this device to anyone. I too have some complaints with respect to what Olympus could have done, but once again the quality of the pic's and ease of use speak for themselves. Anyone considering a Nikon 950 should compare picture quality, and I'm 100% convinced you too will opt out for the C2000

I won this camera through ClubPhoto and though I have limited experience with digital cameras, this was a breeze to use. I found the resulting pictures to be of excellent quality. So far I have not experienced any nagging problems. I do find that uploading images is slow and I am uploading to a Pentium III 450. Great fun with the software that came with this camera! So far those I have taken pictures of and printed out using the accompanying software were very impressed.

I decided to get the (newer) 2020 Zoom and I am also very satisfied with it. The 2020 Z can be had for about the same $$$ as the 2000. The lack of sound when recording quicktime movies isn't really a concern. I think I'll wind up buying a Sony digital 8mm camcorder soon anyways...

I also bought a microtek CameraMate smartmedia card reader (USB) to hook up to my PC. Had to upgrade the PC from win95 to 98 though, in order to activate the usb ports.

I bought an additional 32MB smartmedia card and a Flashpath floppy adapter, as well. The flashpath works just fine, but it's slow. Also, you have to install the special flashpath software before using it, which Olympus does not tell you in advance. So you need to keep the software with you if you want to be ready to move files to "any" pc. Other than that, it's OK. I mostly got it for ease of connectivity between my home and work pc's, laptop, etc.

For the price of the C2020Z, the flashpath adapter should be included, as well as the case. expect to shell out another c-note if these are important to you. It would also be nice if Olympus had designed a special one-piece battery for the 2020Z, as many manufacturers do. Transferring the four AA-size batteries in and out each time for recharge is a pain in the neck.

Overall, these are minor gripes. The camera is outstanding in every other way, and I highly recommend it.

The 2000 is an outdated model. Current Model is the 2020 and it is better than the 2000.

I am still getting used to it, but every feature of the camera is exellent (including computer down-load, doing a "slide show" on the TV, and even its little REMOTE). When my wife and I were researching this buy we decided against disk storage camera's (our friends have them) because the disk drive is just something else to eat the batteries. Also the C-2000 can take a 32MB smart media card which greatly increases picture capacity at higher resolutions - about 489 standard, 64 high, and 32 TIFF...it will take about 120 standard with its included 8MB card. I already upgraded the card and bought an AC adaptor (not included)...and the charger for the batteries is on the way. I will not use alkaline batteries again. Right now I am using lithiums and I am seeing about a 4-5X greater life over alkaline. My friends who had digital said that it is better to not take pictures using the LCD screen...I agree, we use the view-finder, then check the pictures with the LCD (eats the batteries). I am sure I will be happy with this camera for years. Good advice is to read the whole instruction book right away, the camera does a lot more than I thought it would. By the way, we bought the camera in a retail store (going on vacation, wanted it NOW) and even with comparision shopping we now wish we got it on-line. My wife told me to add that it is really easy to use once you know which buttons to push...the instruction book is thorough.