Olympus C2500 2.5MP Digital SLR Camera

by Olympus

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 5 x 4.3 x 3.2 inches ; 1.2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B000035YC2
• Item model number: C2500 SLR Digital Camera
• Batteries: 4 AA batteries required.
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #27,683 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 4, 1973

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

60 of 63 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Seeing Is Believing, January 31, 2000

By 

J. Esteban (Lakewood, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Olympus C2500 2.5MP Digital SLR Camera (Electronics)

If your into computers and you'd like to integrate your photography into your computer world this is definitely the camera for you. If you already know how to use a 35mm SLR you'll find learning how to use most of this camera fairly easy. It has an auto mode that makes it possible for anybody to use and it has some manual modes that I've not yet totally conquered. It has enough pixels to blow your mind most of the time. You can't buy a monitor big enough to view the shots in SHQ mode all at one time with your browser.

You can change pixel density on the fly. You change the effective film speed in steps of 100, 200 and 400 ASA. You can vary your exposure plus or minus 2 fstops in 1/3 fstop increments. You can focus down to 0.8 inches and set it at infinity. You can get 150 or 200 shots out of a set of batteries. You can put on a slide show into a standard TV set right from your camera. You can take great remote control shots without even touching the camera or a cable. You can view your pictures on sight and zoom in to see quite good detail right on the camera. The controls are easy to use and and very ergonomically designed. You can delete pictures. You can transfer pictures from a smart media card to a compact flash card for extra storage. You can run off of AC power (I never do). The built flash works okay but the red eye feature sucks. You can use averaging or spot meter mode for exposure calculation.

It's really nice to have a laptop computer with a PCMCIA card in it. When you fill up a smart media card you can stick it into the PCMCIA card and the computer see's it as an extra drive on your machine with all of your JPEG files readily accessible. I normally put my laptop on my network and drag and drop all of the files on to a CD Burner in Adaptec mode. I've used the serial port adaptor but it's very slow and anybody who spent this much money for the camera probably wont tolerate such bad performance for long.

Don't spend all of your money buying this camera. Buy 3 sets of batteries. (3 hour charge time) and the PCMCIA card adapter (much faster and hot plugable). Get a CD Burner for your computer. I have a friend that has an HP for his laptop...He doesn't like. I have an HP and a Sony for two of my desktops and I like them both. I've had the camera for about 3 months now and I've taken about 2000 shots with it. I'm on my second CD. One day at work I spent the whole day taking pictures of old photographs on the wall to send to a guy at a trade show.

The CAMEDIA software is simple but very useful. It's good at renaming your shots in batch mode and it has a good browser mode for previewing new shots. The Adobe Photo deluxe is tolerable but slow. I've purchased Print Shot Pro and I like it a lot more. It's also good to have Image Robot and Smart Media Center as well (all from Jasc software). Smart Media Center has a feature that creates a HTML environment that allows you to create photo albums viewable totally by your browser. It's great for sending photo CD's to your friends and family. If you want to see some photos I've made go to http://www.studioavenue.com and search on for the album named "Singing Youth of Denver at Dahlia Street".

A lot of people have asked me the price of the camera and I've told them. However, the real price involves a lot more. You need to have some computer power available to you. You need to not be afraid of the technology. Installing a PCMCIA card is easy for me but my father would not have done it. This camera will force most people who purchase it to learn some new things and if they do so willingly then they will enjoy the experience. If you must see your pictures on paper (I don't) then be prepared for some additional cost. Your average printer will not do that great of a job.

I've been waiting for a digital camera of this performance for a couple of years and it's been worth the wait. I suspect that in five years everyone will have a camera like this. This is the perfect camera for a CEO. You can take useable pictures of anything and view them anyware with your laptop.

47 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, A digital 35 SLR, December 16, 1999

By 

Gregory Norris (Orlando, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Olympus C2500 2.5MP Digital SLR Camera (Electronics)

If you like using a 35mm SLR, the Olympus C-2500 is so close, it's difficult to tell the difference. The view finder, like a SLR, is through the lens, allowing you to compose your photos as they acutally appear. With the ability to chose aperture or shutter preferred selections, you can obtain the same effects as a SLR. The download time is so fast, you can take photos in rapid succession. The menu is somewhat cumbersome until you learn how to use the toggle button and understand all the features but with all this camera can do, it is worth learning. The camera comes complete with rechargeable battiers and a charger. The resolution is fantastic and the software included not only allows you to clean up your photos, but seam them together to get a full 360 panorama effect. I am very pleased with this product.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Probably the best digital for advanced amateurs, December 16, 1999

By 

J. Block (Hauppauge, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Olympus C2500 2.5MP Digital SLR Camera (Electronics)

If you are an advanced amateur photographer who wants a digital camera, you should take a serious look at the Olympus C-2500L. It has one of the few true through-the-lens viewfinders available on the market today, and it takes pictures with excellent color and resolution.

If you add the dedicated FL-40 flash, and the add-on telephoto or wide-angle lenses, you have a true digital photography system, capable of handling almost any situation.

Advantages: TTL SLR, excellent quality lens, very high resolution, excellent color, remote control, long battery life (NiMH), automatic or manual operation, TTL metering, spot metering and flash metering.

Disadvantages: Limited number of aperature settings, no continuous manual focus.

Overall: the best digital camera that I have seen for less than the [higher priced] professional models.