Customer Reviews

Olympus Camedia C-3020 3MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Hello,

Well, to cut short some of the remarks in those reviews, a few points:

- The USB is not slow. Transferring a full 16Mo card to my computers (Windows XP/2000 or Mac OSX) takes less than 10 seconds. The slow USB problem is mostly due to computers running W98OSR2 (I don't have the exact reason, but the slow USB is not due to the camera).

- Batteries: Olympus has the great idea to accept AA cells, adapted to rechargeable batteries (1.2V). You can buy two sets of nickel-metal batteries in any store for 20 bucks, with the charger. And even if you're in the middle of Continental India, you will find AA cells without problems, compared to lithium batteries. NiMh cells last longer than alkaline batteries, but make sure you always have a set of 4 batteries charged, especially if you use the LCD screen at all times.

Now the good points of the camera:
- a good optical system, with little deformation at wide angle, and a decent aperture. It can be used indoor without flash if the subject is static.
- good flash exposure, and many capabilities (slow mode to keep the ambiance, red eyes reduction, flash off...).
- Overall good light exposure. It is not op-perfect but the multi-zone measurement makes a good job in classic composition. For highly contrasted scenes, you can use the 'spot' measurement, which is maybe too wide to be really 'spot', but precise enough to expose one part of the picture perfectly.

- Fast processing, probably due to a lot of RAM in the system. A full-size picture is processed in about a second.

Bad points:

- Noise of the zoom: it sounds awefull, but like most other digital cameras... The system that prevents the optical system to come out when the lens cap is on is a little weird, but proven efficient (I have that camera for more than 3 monts... Tested and approved)

- Batteries run out quickly... BUY SOME RECHARGEABLE NI-MH. Those cameras are power hungry. The other solution is to wait 5 years, technology will be better and more power efficient!

- Size? it's not a compact camera, and it won't fit in your shirt pocket. Price to pay for a decent lens, and a large LCD screen. In the other hand, it handles very well, and proves to be a very nice fit in your hand.

- No sound in video mode: at that price point, I'm not really surprised. And to answer the question:"How much would it cost to olympus to add a microphone", I can answer: about 3 dollars (microphone+analog front end+D/A converter+processing power to encode sound!), and something more to add inside this already squeezed camera. If you want sound with the video, go to a better model - more expensive. The main purpose of a camera is... TO TAKE PICTURES!

Overall rating: I like this camera, that provides good colors and very good exposure without hassle. A lot of manual features are available, very good for someone who knows how to use a regular film camera. At that price point...you will not get any better. The resolution is very good (3.3MPS) and detailled, indor photography is possible. If you need an even faster lens, check the C3030 (F1.8 constant), but you will pay a nice premium for the upgrade. The cameras are similar otherwise.

I've had my c-3020z for about three weeks now and really like it. As a beginning digitial photographer I was interested in a reasonably-priced 3.x MP camera that could take great point-and-shoot photos, but also offered enough manual control to take advantage of as my experience grows. I was also interested in a camera I could purchase a reasonably priced underwater housing for to take diving. The 3020 delivered on all points. I've found the image quality excellent, with sharp detail and accurate color. I take quite a bit of macro animal shots and I've found the detail it captures impressive, even if I blow it up on my PC. The menus are pretty intuitive as well once you learn what is where. I'm still learning when and how to use the manual modes; there are a few to choose from and I'm still figuring out how to take advantage of all this control. Having had a digital camera before, I didn't mess around with alkalines or memory and bought some rechargable NiMh batteries and a 128mb card. I've been pleasantly surprised to find that this camera doesn't chew through batteries nearly as badly as my Kodak did, and a 128mb card is nicely capacious. I can't wait to take it diving.

I've had no problems per se, but to be fair, here's what I don't appreciate about this camera:

1. The manual that comes with it is pretty poor. I'm going to get a photograpy book to help learn more about the manual capabilities and how/when to use them.

2. Construction is ok, but the design, quality & feel pales compared to the nice metal Sonys. Plastic back and buttons are not too sexy.

3. Why can't Olympus get the [...] lens cap right!? Since the cap catches on the inside of the barrel, if you leave it on when you powerup, you will hear nasty gear sounds as the lens trys to push off the lens cap. People have criticized this design for quite a while in other Oly c-class reviews. Olympus--this is inexcusable.

4. Macro capability is ok, but limited to about 8". For really close up work, I'm going to probably have to get a macro lens kit.

Overall, this is a nice, powerful camera which takes fantastic pictures for a very reasonable price.

Out of the box, the C-3020 works and does all the things it should very well. I have had mine for only a few weeks and continue to discover new things, but in the meantime you can use it as a 'point and shoot' camera as you learn. I was looking for a camera built by a camera company with good optics and an understanding of the needs of the beginner as well as the serious amateur. They have done a good job.

With 3.2 megapixels available, the quality of the finished photo can be excellent. I made a sharp 8 x 10 enlargement of our very hairy dog and every hair is sharply in focus and visible on the print. The built-in flash is surprisingly good. Exposures with available light are more than adequate. The almost overwhelming variety of controls will take a while to learn and require referral to the manual, but many will not be used reqularly anyway. The printed manual is inadequate, but the manual on the CD included is excellent.

The camera does not have 'video out' or sound, but if you don't feel you need those features, you can save $200 as compared to models which include them.

All in all, I could give this camera five stars, but nothing is perfect. First accessory needed, a battery charger and rechargeable batteries. Why doesn't the manufacturer include them? Olympus does include Adobe Photoshop Elements which is an excellent program and will cost nearly $100 if bought separately. If you buy a C-3020, I predict you will like it.

Our first digital camera was an early Ricoh RCD-2E (about 1 pixel?). Was a great learning camera, but photos could only be made up to 4 X 6. This 3.3 megapixel camera will do a great job on enlargements up to 8 X 10. Only complaint I have with it is that you must read the manual to know how to operate it--menu is not easy to understand on your own. Also, no holder for lens cap--could easily be lost. This is easily remidied, but a pain, nonetheless. We have used the lithium batteries and use the camera very frequently and after seven months, batteries are still showing full charge--with older camera using 4-AA's, we were always changing batteries. Have not even tried using the movie portion of the camera--have a digital camcorder for that purpose and understand that this camera will not take very long movies, but does an excellent job with still photographs.

Lightweight, buttons are large enough that you do not need super nimble fingers to change settings on it. Able to erase single pictures or all of card easily. Uses smart card which we put right into the slot on our HP Photosmart printer, so no need to download onto computer if we do not wish to do so. However, can download to computer via direct connection or with use of SanDisk adapter--both are quite easy to learn to use. Must have smart disk to take photos, whereas with our older model, there was possibility to take up to 10 photos on internal memory of camera. Smart cards are easy to insert and change, tho, so no problem.

If you have the money, this would be an excellent camera to learn to do digital on, and is an excellent camera to continue using throughout.

This is our first digital camera and I must say that we love this thing! I read all the reviews of all comparable cameras and decided on this baby. I'm well aware of the TV Out and sound functions being removed since the C-3000 Zoom. These are not important to most people and will not be missed. If you want to watch tv and have little movies with sound, get a camcorder. The optics are great and the lcd has great resolution as well.

Now onto the picture quality. The photos at high resolution are absolutely stunning. Make sure to take the lens cap off before turning on or it will cause the lens motor to grind. This is the only mechanical fault of this camera. Need to get NiMH rechargeable batteries and a charger. You'll also need to upgrade the Smartmedia card for big photo shoots. You can get about 24 pics at high res on the included 16 MB card. USB connectivity is plug and play. Your camera shows as a hard drive in Explorer and file transfer is blazing!

The included Adobe Photoshop Elements is $99 value, great program for picture editing. Included paper manual is lame, but the manual on the CD-ROM is great.

A great camera at a great price. Everything works great out of the box with no immediate need for additional accessories. Grab some batteries, charger, bigger Smartmedia card and a bag and your ready for anything the analog world throws at your Olympus C-3020 Zoom digital camera!

My first digital camera (2/5/02). I wanted the 3 megapixels to print up to 8x10 if I choose to. Fairly easy to use out of the box and takes great pictures with little effort. I am sure I will be able to customize for some great pics.

Here are the highlights/lowlights of the camera.

- The lens cap situation is horrible. If you leave the cap on and turn the camera on, the motor churns to expand the lens tube. I think the motor times out before any damage happens, but bad nonetheless. The camera should have an automatic lens cover, like some of olympus clamshell cameras. I've decided I can live with the lens cap issue.
- You can preview the picture after you take it without changing modes. VERY NICE feature.
- Olympus has a very effective red-eye reduction flicker flash.
- The optical 3xzoom is adequate for most shots. The digital zoom appears bogus. Haven't used it yet, manual says it could be grainy.
- Try on-line printing of your digital pics... Otofo is much higher priced. I tried it and the pics came out GREAT.
- The camera has different pre-set shooting modes for portraits, action, night scenes, and landscapes.
- The...price seems very fair for the optical zoom @3.2 megapixel.

You will have to buy a ac adapted to use the camera at your computer, also purchased the olympus rechargable batteries and the 128 meg smartmedia cart...

I purchased this camera in August 2002 as my first foray into the world of digital photography and have used it a lot since. Overall I have been very pleased. It feels comfortable in the hand and takes extremely clear pictures with good color balance. I have taken pictures in environments ranging from the beach at mid-day to the top of the Empire State building at night and the camera managed well in all cases, though as with any camera, camera-shake at night is a problem and you might want to consider using a tripod. The only time I have had any problem with quality is when taking pictures in low light in a restaurant when speckling noise became an issue. Overall this is a very good and functional little camera which takes excellent pictures, gives you quite a bit of manual control if you want it, but takes very good "snaps" automatically if you don't. I take it everywhere and since each shot is essentially free, take far more photos than I would have done with a conventional camera. I would now not be parted with it.

However, while generally very satisfied, I do have some complaints as follows: 1) The lens cap falls off FAR too easily. You have to be really careful when putting the camera into a bag or the lens cap will definitely be dangling on its string. 2) The on-off / mode-selector dial can very easily be knocked from the Off position when handling / storing the camera. This turns the camera on in one mode or another, which is annoying. If you don't notice this has happened, the convenient auto timeout will save your batteries but it would be better if the dial offered more resistance when in the Off position. 3) The zoom control is somewhat unresponsive making it very difficult or even impossible to accurately zoom by a small amount. You have to nudge the control very briefly and then wait for the lens to catch up with the requested tiny adjustment. It's very counter intuitive. Zooming from one extreme to another is easy but minor adjustments are something of a practiced art. So for occasions that need rapid shooting, you may find this frustrating.

I have found that a 3x zoom is somewhat inadequate for anything other than generally modifying the framing and composition of the picture. Forget any hopes of sneaking up on wildlife or people, since for that you will need 7x or more and this camera is just not going to deliver. Frustrating but not a fault. You can see upfront what you are buying and if 3x is OK for you, then go ahead, if not, spend more money and get a more powerful zoom on a different camera. This is the issue more than any other that is making me think of trading up for a different camera. Too often, I just cannot get the telephoto shots I can see presented in front of me.

The Camedia software shipped with the camera is very good and I use it a lot in "slideshow" mode to view all my pictures. However, now that I have about 1000 pictures in one directory, it is apt to crash at startup if I do not allow it sufficient time to scan all the images before scrolling through the list of thumbnails. Irritating but not a major problem. The USB interface works like it is supposed to with Win2000. No problem, it does what it says on the box. Fast and error free.

All in all, a very nice little camera at a reasonable price. The bottom line has to be good pictures and this camera definitely delivers. If it had a longer lens and got the few niggles ironed out, this could be close to being my ideal camera.

Thanks to all earlier reviewers. Your comments were very helpful and I'm very pleased with the camera.
I don't want to repeat much of what others have covered very well already. My lens cap has not been a problem. It stays in place after I click it onto the lens. Maybe they have responded to peoples concerns, lets hope that's the case. Once or twice I have forgotten to remove the lens cover and got a beeping noise to remind me (no apparent harm done). The provided lanyard keeps the lens cap from getting lost.
My camera makes no unusal noise when the lens moves in or out. I can only compare it to another digital camera I have and a 3x lens on a film camera I have. The noise generated is very similiar in all three cameras.
No Photo Elements software provided. The provided image editor was weak in capability and I am not using it. You can download pictures by bringing up "My Computer" (in XP) and when you turn on the camera a removable drive appears. You click on it and on a folder thats follows it and your pictures are available to drag and drop to a folder of your choice.
The printed documentation was not very helpful. The PDF file was very good. If you have not mastered using pdf documentation yet, this might be a good time to start. Very easy to get to any place in the guide. Then go full screen and arrow left and right to move through the information. Very easy On the eyes.
If this camera sounds right for you, I think you will be very happy with your choice.

Mid-range digicams are all over the place, and selecting one over another may be as much a question of personal taste as one of true competitive advantages. Having said that, I have always been an Olympus fan, and my satisfaction with them dates back many years. This model has 3+ meg resolution to allow for great enlargements, a capable a 3:1 optical zoom, very good optics and a nice flash. The battery arrangement is okay (AAs), and connectivity to your PC is through a nice USB (at least until you get a separate card reader). At this price point however, I might be more tempted to get the Minolta S304 and pick up a better zoom lens.

This is my first digital camera, and I am most pleased. It was purchased to replace a middle grade 35mm point and shoot, but it appears that it will be able to do far more than that. Everyone comments on the battery usage, and the advice to buy two sets of rechargables is good. One must learn to remove the lens cap or suffer the noise, although so far no apparent damage. I do miss having a UV filter and am waiting for Olympus to offer one so I can dispense with the lens cap. Some of the bells and whistles like panorama, macro, and bracket shooting are in reality quite valuable. Red eye prevention is good, but the delay is more than I would like. The manual can be printed from disc, but if you do that, get a good 3-ring notebook to hold it and make yourself a little index everytime you look something up. It's a good value !