Customer Reviews

Olympus Camedia C-4000 4MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(56)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Four primary factors pushed me to buy the Olympus C-4000.

1. I already own an Olympus D460 Zoom and have been very happy with it. The Camedia software is the best I have found for fixing pictures that are under-exposed or off color, and that is saying a lot. I have used many of the main image software including Microsoft and Adobe and the Camedia is still the best in my opinion.

2. Cost - when compared to the Canon G2, which in my opinion is the only other camera close in the 4.0 MP league, there was a $200 to $250 price difference. The on-camera ease-of-use features are slightly less on the Olympus C-4000, meaning you need to go into more menus and adjust things manually instead of turning a dial or pushing a button, but overall the camera will do all the same things that the G2 can.

3. Batteries - The largest cost savings advantage is the savings you get in batteries. The G2, and many other cameras like it, require special batteries. The C-4000 will run on 4-AA batteries. Of course standard alkaline will run out quickly, but using NiMH rechargable batteries works EXCELLENT. They last a very long time and you can use them over and over again. The camera comes with 2-CVR3 batteries, but don't let that scare you, the literature clearly states you can use standard AA batteries.

4. Maximum PC Magazine put the Olympus C-4000 head-to-head with the Canon G2 and several others and the C-4000 came out on top. Their review is worth reading. Their motto is (and it is on the cover of each magazine) "Maximum PC, Minimum BS" and they certainly live up to that claim in my experience so far.

WHO IT'S FOR: With its complete set of manual controls, the Olympus C-4000 is for the serious amateur photographer or a novice wanting to learn a lot more about photography. If you're one who would rather just point-and-shoot, this camera or its rivals (like the Canon S45) is NOT for you, better just save your $200 and go for the cute compact types.

Granted that YOU ARE serious about your photography BUT you are on a tight budget, then this camera is perfect for you. The 4MP is just right for the occasional 8x10 prints and more than enough quality for 5x7 prints. Among the competition (Canon S45/G2, Nikon Coolpix 4300, Sony S85), its price and features stand out.

I bought this camera here at Amazon 5 months ago for 2 main reasons:
- given the features and full manual controls, it had the most competitive price among the competition.
- although not included in the package, the camera uses standard 4 AA-sized NiMH rechargeable batteries.

I brought the camera to Europe for my honeymoon and have taken 300+ pictures with it. I am extremely pleased with it. Prints on 4x6 came out as crisp as my 20-year-old SLR (the excellent Nikon F3), and sometimes better (mainly because you can preview a shot and tweak exposure and composition without worrying about the cost of film: an obvious advantage for all digicams).

PROS:
- excellent daylight exposures on full auto or manual modes.
- a fully-charged set of AA NiMH batteries lasts me two days of shooting 60+ pictures and previewing the LCD, something the proprietary batteries of other digicams would be hard-pressed to match.

CONS:
- You have to remember to remove the cap before turning the camera on -- an annoyance for all C-class Olympus cameras. Forgetting that doesn't damage the camera, but it's an annoyance still.
- No remote control. You have to turn on the timer every time if you want to be in the picture or you want to take long exposures.
- The lens cap more often than not gets removed inadvertently when removing or replacing the camera in its case. Be sure to always bring lens tissues or whatever you use to clean lenses.
- The paltry 16MB card that comes with it. Although all camera brands have this fault of not including enough memory, I hoped Olympus would just do the right thing and pack it with a 128MB card.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
- Always have two sets of 4 AA NiMH batteries. Buy the Olympus B-50SU Quick Charger or the Kodak Max K2000 Battery Charger. They both come with 4 NiMH AA batteries and works whatever a country's voltage is. Then buy an additional set of 4 Kodak Max 1850mAh NiMH batteries.
- Buy at least 2 128MB SmartMedia cards. Each 128MB card stores about 60-70 pictures at full 4MP SHQ resolution. Better still, bring your laptop along when going on extended vacations to backup your pics. I made the mistake of not bringing mine and had to look for shops to transfer my pics to CDs whenever space on my cards were running out.

Finally, just go ahead and buy it (with the charger, extra batteries and extra memory cards). It's an excellent camera given its features and price.

Pros: Lots of manual options, incredible feature set, superb four megapixel digital images, Fantastic optics for color and clarity, Manual and automatic controls for pros and debutants, Very little lag, Excellent image quality and easy to use buttons, Fast, Many settings and options, great zoom ratio, nice control layout, nice size LCD

Cons: Slightly Heavy, Not as cool looking as other cameras, 8 MB Storage card supplied with camera is woefully inadequate, User manual, software kind of plain, battery life, Size of pictures and erase features are not what I would like.

Summary: The C-4000z is a very impressive digital camera and for the price it can't be beat. This camera packs a serious punch with features only found on higher end digital cameras. I have been using digital cameras for the past four years from Kodak to Sony but this one out beats them all. Now I won't beat around the bush and say there are no flaws with the cam, the first being the batteries shipped with the cam (they are one time use only)! So right off the bat you have to spend a couple more dollars for rechargeable batteries. The batteries I got I'm able to take about 200 hundred high res. (TIFF) pictures before being replaced. The second problem is the small memory card shipped with the cam (at the time of my buy Olympus was giving free 64 mb cards with mail in rebate). The camera does come with a owners manual but has very limited information in it, for a extensive manual you have to read it off the installation disk in PDF form which isn't bad for me because it makes it a little easier to look something up using the word find feature. Now for the good things about the camera. This camera is packed with features and this should be taken into account if your new to digital cameras there is a lot to take in. Everything is arranged on the camera that makes it easy to navigate and set up. Olympus even went and put a user choice setting button which is nice if you use certain setting such as focal length, shutter speed etc. which enables you to set your preferences and return to them without having to set the whole camera up again. The pictures that result from this camera are amazing! I was at Yosemite a couple of weeks ago and shot some impressive pictures which I framed and had hanging on my wall a service tech who was doing some work in my house actually wanted to know where I had bought the pictures. Several other features that Olympus thought of were the ability to attach an external flash (optional). The camera also gives you the ability to crop pictures right on the camera. The panoramic feature takes a little to get used to but works really well. I don't want to bore you with the fine details (exposure settings, shutter speeds etc) but just wanted to let you know if your looking for a decent digital camera at a fair price the C-4000z is for you. Oh just one more thing a little tip I use all the time, If you happen to have a smart media card take it along with you to your local camera shop or electronic store and ask the sales person if you can insert your card and try the camera. You can then take the card home and if you have a media reader or printer that has a reader built in you can see the results of the camera prior to buying it (just a suggestion). It also gives you the opportunity to see how your digital dark room will do when it come to printing from this camera.

They almost got it right. I have owned mine for about 2 months now and have learned enough to make an informed comment.
The camera takes very sharp pictures, and most of the time the color is true. I love the ability to manually adjust everything, and the ability to adjust flash levels has come in very handy for me.

The main problem with this camera is big, but stupid. It has a lens cap instead of a retractable lens. That isnt the bad part. The REALLY stupid part, is you HAVE to remove the lens cap before you turn on the camera, or the lens tries to extend, and it bangs into the cap which is attached to the body of the camera, not the lens. All this technology and this was the solution for the lens cap? I am still suprised that this is how the camera works.

It is excellent that you have the ability to manually adjust everything, however it is a bit cumbersome until you get accustomed to it. You cannot be adjusting and taking pictures "on the fly". It is too hard to do that. Set the camera for the best general setting you are in and keep shooting. I had lots of problems taking pictures indoors of my one year old running around. Every shot was blurred, even if she wasnt moving very much. I had to change from "point and shoot" to manually setting the ISO to 400. That fixed the blurring problem. I now leave it at 400 for all general shooting. It is nice that it has a button you can program settings into, so you can use a one button push to change to your prefered settings. I havent used this option yet, but I know it will be helpful.

The other big bonus for me on this camera was the ability to add lenses. This may be why the lens isnt retractable. I am going today to get some filters, and possibly a wide angle lens for it. I looked at many cameras that didnt have this ability. I am crossing my fingers that the lenses dont behave like the lens cap. If they do, I will make another review probably somewhat different than this one.

Bottom line for me, is that it is much better than my old Cannon 2MP camera.... I have grown accustomed to the lens problem and I dont even think twice about taking off the cap first. The menus...well, I am still working on those. If you buy one, plan on there being a learning curve involved.

Knowing what I do now, I would still buy this camera.

I upgraded to the Olympus C-4000 from a 2 MPix camera about a month ago and have taken about 400 photos since. I am very impressed with the results.

First the plusses: Photos are extremely sharp. Very high quality output - no comparison to my old 2 MPix model. The pre-programmed modes are convenient and work great. Automatic mode is a decent default setting if you're in a hurry or don't have a pre-programmed setting for some shot (not as common as you'd think). Really very easy to switch from mode to mode. Camera is also very comfortable to hold and use. Everything is adjustable on this thing. If I find something I don't like (too much lag between pushing the button and taking the picture), there is usually a remedy (change to contiouous focus mode which makes the camera focus change wherever you point it without pushing 1/2 way - burns up batteries that way).

Only negative is that in manual mode, it is a major pain to jump from menu to menu adjusting apeture, exposure, etc.

I recommend this camera for anyone looking to upgrade.

With research and talking to everyone we could think of before buying, we finally decided on the Olympus -- which we took on an extended New England vacation to see the ocean and the changing fall colors of the area. Terrific subject matter for testing out a new camera. We also took a 35mm Nikon and used 200, 400, and 800 film. All pictures are back now to compare and WOW! Considering we didn't know everything about properly using the Olympus digital, we were amazed at the pictures! The colors were often better and more true in digital than the Nikon 35 mm. The digital pictures had much better lighting indoors by far (compared to our 35mm) when we were inside large buildings, like old barns, museums, and a manufacturing plant, where a flash was useless. The digital camera picked up details at great length with excellent exposure and clarity. It also had zoom capabilities, and for our picture taking style, it is the only part of the camera we wish offered more -- more zoom. Another great feature to us was that it has rechargable batteries. We recharged at the end of each touring day and were ready to go again the next day. We took several hundred pictures and nearly every one was a keeper.

This is a very full featured camera for not a lot of money compared to other similarly equipped cameras out there.

Relatively compact size with a nice comfy handgrip. Menu features are easy to access, although this sometimes makes it difficult to quickly customize your shot (such as setting f-stop, shutter speed, ISO, etc). Fortunately, the automatic mode takes very good pictures and does a good job adapting to lighting conditions. One of the buttons can be set to access a feature you commonly want to change, such as picture resolution or ISO. Two of the menu items can also be customized for quicker access to shot settings.

It does a much better job at focusing in low light conditions and seems to be a little easier on batteries than older Olympus C model cameras I've used. The flash is adequate, although if you want to light things up more than 5 meters away, you'll probably need something with a little more oomf. The viewfinder is reasonably accurate (actual photo is a little bit larger than what's seen in the viewfinder), but for close-up shots you'll want to use the LCD.

One nice feature I have been taking advantage of is the ability to take panorama shots using panorama-compatible Olympus SM cards (the cards will indicate this compatibility). Switch to Panorama mode and you get two boxes on either side of the LCD that you can use to help with registration.

Overall, an excellent camera with tons of features for the price.

I bought this camera as an upgrade from a 1.3 Mega Pixel camera. I expected and received excellent quality photos with the Olympus. It comes with a 16 MB memory card, which I upgraded to 256 MB - a must do for this camera. Automatic settings produce sharp pictures, but manual settings are available for the adventuresome. Adjusting camera settings is a little cumbersome. Lense cap is very nice. No camera bag; wasted lots of time shopping on line - just go to Walmart and get a $6 bag. AVI videos are pretty crude, definitely not a replacement for a camcorder.

Needed a camera that would operate with ease for spouse who just wants to shoot good snapshots, and at the same time have enough manual capabilites for me to have some fun as an enthusiast. This camera takes great shots, is easy to learn how to use, and connects to our computer USB without installing or hassling with software. It does all we could ask of it. It is also small enough to be carried and large enough to help this 50 year old see and navigate the controls. Only beef is small memory that comes with it. Do yourself a favor an buy more memory and battery charger immediately.

I have to say that I waited a long time for this camera, but it was worth it. The picture quality is outstanding with the capability of producing 20X30 photos using the default settings. The camera does not have the appetite for batteries that the earlier high-resolution digitals had. All the functions are completely adjustable and the capacity of the memory cards is very good (about 1 meg per picture at the default resolution). I have been into photography for more than forty years and can honestly say that I may never use my 35mm camera again.