Customer Reviews

Olympus D-490 2.1MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I upgraded from the Olympus D460Zoom to the D490Zoom. The D460 is a fine camera - I was generally very pleased with it. But having owned the D460Zoom for six months, I found two major faults. First, the "boot-up time" (how quickly after you turn the camera on that it is ready to shoot) and the lack of "burst" shooting (the ability to take one shot quickly after another). These two faults lead to frustration when trying to take any type of action photos with the D460. You see the action emerging, but the camera is still booting up; you take a shot, but the action gets better and you want to take another but the D460 says "not yet" because it is still writing the first photo to the media. Infuriating.

The D490 addresses each of these problems beautifully. Boot up time is about 20% faster. Timing both of my cameras side-by-side, the D490 is faster (1.1 seconds versus 1.3 seconds, in five trials using the same 32Mb media cards). More important than boot up time is burst shooting. The D490 has a RAM buffer that allows you to take about 1 shot per second in the "HQ" mode (2.1 megapixels with JPEG compression). The D460 requires about 2.5 seconds between shoots in the same "HQ" mode (but the resolution is 1.3 megapixels). Also nifty if you are using the TFT screen to take shots, there is a "gas gauge" showing you how full the memory buffer is as you are shooting.

I simply can't express how happy these faster response time made me, especially at this price. I was so unhappy with the D460's sluggishness that I was about to buy the $900 Olympus C3030. Similar to the C3030, the D490 also can take QuickTime movies (though much shorter ones). Another nice D490 feature is that you can erase all photos off a card while the card is still in the camera, instead of having to do the erasing on your computer (I often forget to erase after downloading to the computer, put the media card back in and find it still full when I want to take more pictures).

While the D490 lacks the C3030's B&W options it does have the two more important features - the QuickTime movies and the burst shooting (both admittedly not as good as the C3030, but likely good enough for most of us). Beyond the $400 saving, the D490 still retains a much smaller footprint; it can easily slip into a pants or shirt pocket.

As for the enhancement from 1.3 to 2.1 megapixels (D460 vs D490), I can't really tell much difference. I took two identical shots both "HQ" mode, printed them 4x6 on my HP970Cxi; they look the same. Currently the D490 is about $100 more than the D460. I would say the "burst" shooting alone is easily worth the extra money. Go and get one! Shoot happy!

I almost took a point off because this camera doesn't have a USB port, but I found a SanDisk USB card reader locally for $40. Amazon didn't sell this reader at the time I write this. The card reader is a necessity, a full 16MB card will take about 20 seconds to transfer with the reader, using the serial port you can go have lunch or something while it downloads. NiMH batteries are also a necessity, for the price of a few lithium batteries you can get 8 NiMH batteries and a charger, that way you can always have a set charged up.

Image quality is excellent. I was looking at the C3030 and couldn't see spending that much for a few extra features and another million pixels. Unless you plan on printing out 8x10 prints the extra resolution isn't needed, use the extra money on accessories. Printing the D490 HQ images at 3x5 inches they look as good as 35mm prints. I have run several tests shooting the same image using all the modes of the camera and found the best mode to use is normal HQ, under certain conditions SHQ will give you better color reproduction and slightly sharper edges. The SHQ-TIFF mode images are huge and I have yet to see any difference between it and SHQ mode, even in macro mode with a complex object the images look the same. As for the soft setting and the digital zoom, you are better off taking a normal HQ image and using software on the computer to soften or resize.

The QuickTime movie feature is fun to play with, kinda like having an old 8mm movie camera. I like the fact that you have to raise the flash manually, if you don't want to use the flash you know it's off when it's down. That's better than having to find a button and look at a display to tell if you've turned it off.

The size, price, and image quality make this a great camera to have.

After purchasing the D490, I found this camera extremely easy to operate and to be the best digital camera for this price, that not only takes still shots, but also MPEG movies. Depending on the quality of picture you require, you can store hundreds of picture on the 32mb smartcard, which I purchased in addition to the 8mb card included in the package. 60 second MPEG movies can be recorded and played back with ease. There is an abundance of flash, editing and viewing features on the camera. The D490 is lightweight (in fact, most of the weight is the batteries) and easy to use, although on the downside, I find that the manually operated shutter closing mechanism to be slightly awkward as the lens has to retract fully before the shutter can close completely. Also, the flash has to be opened manually, and I found it to be a bit fragile, and was always worried that I might just pull it off accidentally.

I upgraded from the Olympus D460Zoom to the D490Zoom. The D460 is a fine camera - I was generally very pleased with it. But having owned the D460Zoom for six months, I found two major faults. First, the "boot-up time" (how quickly after you turn the camera on that it is ready to shoot) and the lack of "burst" shooting (the ability to take one shot quickly after another). These two faults lead to frustration when trying to take any type of action photos with the D460. You see the action emerging, but the camera is still booting up; you take a shot, but the action gets better and you want to take another but the D460 says "not yet" because it is still writing the first photo to the media. Infuriating.

The D490 addresses each of these problems beautifully. Boot up time is about 20% faster. Timing both of my cameras side-by-side, the D490 is faster (1.1 seconds versus 1.3 seconds, in five trials using the same 32Mb media cards). More important than boot up time is burst shooting. The D490 has a RAM buffer that allows you to take about 1 shot per second in the "HQ" mode (2.1 megapixels with JPEG compression). The D460 requires about 2.5 seconds between shoots in the same "HQ" mode (but the resolution is 1.3 megapixels). Also nifty if you are using the TFT screen to take shots, there is a "gas gauge" showing you how full the memory buffer is as you are shooting.

I simply can't express how happy these faster response time made me, especially at this price. I was so unhappy with the D460's sluggishness that I was about to buy the $900 Olympus C3030. Similar to the C3030, the D490 also can take QuickTime movies (though much shorter ones). Another nice D490 feature is that you can erase all photos off a card while the card is still in the camera, instead of having to do the erasing on your computer (I often forget to erase after downloading to the computer, put the media card back in and find it still full when I want to take more pictures).

While the D490 lacks the C3030's B&W options it does have the two more important features - the QuickTime movies and the burst shooting (both admittedly not as good as the C3030, but likely good enough for most of us). Beyond the $400 saving, the D490 still retains a much smaller footprint; it can easily slip into a pants or shirt pocket.

As for the enhancement from 1.3 to 2.1 megapixels (D460 vs D490), I can't really tell much difference. I took two identical shots both "HQ" mode, printed them 4x6 on my HP970Cxi; they look the same. Currently the D490 is about $100 more than the D460. I would say the "burst" shooting alone is easily worth the extra money. Go and get one! Shoot happy!

I received the Olympus D-490 Zoom camera three days ago. Out of the box I was taking still and movie pictures within about ten minutes. Not only is the camera extremely easy to use, but the manual does a great job of explaining the features and functions with minimal confusion. The only exception here is that I didn't find information in the manual on how to switch to the SQ-HIGH and SHQ-TIFF modes. I later found out that to switch to the latter, the user must hold the "up" arrow for two seconds. I still haven't figured out how to access the SQ-HIGH.

Quality wise, the D-490 Zoom takes crystal clear and colorful images, capturing details that my Olympus film camera couldn't possibly match. The zoom features allow the user to take close-up shots of subjects quite a distance away, while the macro feature allows true close-ups from as little as four or five inches away.

My comments about specific features are:

1. The built-in multi-mode flash does an excellent job of balancing degrees of light on and around the photo subject. 2. The red-eye and slow-synch features, combined with the 12-second timer resulted in a warm close-up self-portrait that makes it hard to believe no one was holding the camera! 3. The LCD screen is clear and true to actual color, giving the viewer a good idea of what the actual image will look like. 4. The clarity of the images that I downloaded were extremely clean, even at the mid-setting (HQ and SHQ).

The only real downside I found to the Olympus D-490 Zoom is that downloading images to the computer using the serial cable is VERY slow. I had read and heard this, but until I downloaded the images myself, I hadn't realized just how slow. Still, once the download was complete, the resulting images made up for the wait.

The Olympus D-490 Zoom is overall a wonderful camera, far exceeding my expectations, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a quality digital camera. I would suggest, however, purchasing at least a 32MB memory card, as well as the USB card reader. With the 32MB card, you shouldn't have to worry about running out of image space, and the USB card reader will allow you transfer/download images at about 1MB per second.

First off, i would like to suggest that the writer of the previous review check which product he or she is bashing before posting a review with starred ratings.

The Olympus D490 camera is worth your wait. I have been watching the market, waiting for the digital camera that would take high quality photos and would be balanced as a camera. I have broken the plusses and minuses of the review below for your reading ease

Plusses + Size (At first I was almost dissapointed that the camera was so small. I have been used to seeing digital cameras that were huge and unweildy. The D490 Actually is the same size as film using relatives in the Olympus family. If you use the optical viewfinder instead of the LCD screen, most people wont have a clue that you even are using a digital camera)

+ Ease of use (The D490 is very easy to use. The included software makes downloading the images easy, and the camera operates like any other regular camera.)

+ Pictures (The pictures are beautiful. They are huge and vivid.)

+ Speed (The camera uses a RAM buffer to store the images temporarily as they are written to the EEPROM Chip. What this means is that you are able to take multiple photos while the camera is writing the pictures to memory. This is a marked advantage over the D460, and is discussed in another user's review)

+ Reliability (I've had it a few months, never had a problem yet.)

+ Movies! (This camera takes 15 second high quality movies! It also has an option to take low quality 60 second movies, however since the high quality movies only have a resolution of 320 by 240, the low quality ones really are worthless... for reference i think they are 160 by 120)

Minuses

- Software problems (I think it may just be the software i got since i havent heard anyone else complain in this area, but my camedia software cannot splice together the panoramic shots.... oh well... i didnt buy the camera solely for this purpose so it doesnt bother me so much)

- Movies dont have sound

- Lack of USB connectivity (This feature is a must these days, and although i did get a Viking USB card reader, it would have been a great feature to add one into the camera to begin with)

Overall i think this camera is GREAT. Digital cameras are still a bit pricey for most people, and really the consumer is still paying a hefty chunk of the R+D costs instead of the manufacturing costs, however when a company produces such a high quality product such as this one, i dont really mind it.

If you want a digital camera buy this one.

AOL is advertising two digital cameras. One of them costs[more than] $200 and with barely any memory and 640x480 resolution! They are also advertising another camera with 2mb space and 240x480 resolution!

Now, if you are looking for a digital camera in order to create GOOD pictures, then I'll give you some pointers:

1)It should have optical zoom
2)It should come with AT LEAST 8mb of storage space
3)Smartmedia is more convenient than compact flash
4)Sony cameras that require memory sticks are NOT GOOD (they could easily change their memory format soon, and they are the only company with memory sticks)
5)It should have about 1084x1280 resolution or more in order for it to come out good
6)Always remember that you can always buy more memory for your camera, so don't worry about that too much (the memory does cost a lot, however)
7)Go to activebuyersguide.com for their opinion (that's what I did)
8)Most importantly, if you don't find anything better, GET THIS AWESOME CAMERA!

Good Luck!

After using this camera for the last few weeks I found that it has exceeded my expectations. The camera has enough nice features to make it a pleasure to use without overwhelming the user with too much configurability.

The two things I like about the camera the most are the ability to take rapid sequence pictures and the quality of the flash. The rapid sequence capability allows you to take actions shots (like kids playing soccer) without the standard 2-3 second delay. The camera has an onboard cache that allows HQ quality pictures to be taken at a sub-second rate. The flash is adequate at illuminating an entire room with enough light to capture a quality picture.

Accessories that I have found useful are 2 sets of rechargable batteries, Viking USB reader for the flash card and another flash card.

This Olympus 490 is my very first digital camera, but I've been getting recommendations from friends for about six months. I chose the Olympus brand simply because several friends who owned this brand said they were the simplest to use. I had my eye on the 460, but when Amazon lowered the price on both, I decided to save and get this one. I love it!! You can spend a weekend reading the manual and playing with all the features, or you can read the quick instructions and take your first pics ten minutes after you get the box open. There are lots of choices on resolution, and zoom is a great feature. This camera also takes panorama shots and quick time movies. You download to your computer using a serial port, which although people tell me it's slow, I find extremely handy, as I can use almost any computer - my one at work, home, my boyfriend's house, etc., without worrying whether or not there is USB support. Also, I did have to call Olympus tech support to ask a simple question, and I got a very friendly, extremely helpful guy who answered my question in two mnutes flat. You can't beat that service! An excellent little product that I'm *very* happy with.

This is a great little camera. The pictures were execellent in the HQ and SHQ modes (1600x1200), the SQ mode (640x480) was okay for posting on the web. I have a 35mm Olympus XA2 which is almost the same size so I am comfortable with the D490Zoom. If you're the type of person who's in a rush all the time you might want to get a different camera as you do have to wait a few "long seconds" for the lens to come out or go back in when open/close the front sliding lens cover. It isn't a big deal for me. Also the flash doesn't present a problem to me and I like the fact that I can control if it is up or down. You do have to be careful when closing the sliding lens cover (but I haven't lost a lens cap yet either).

The only negative I found was that the manual mentioned the 5 modes but didn't say how to get to SQ-HIGH and SHQ-TIFF. But there was a smaller quick-start booklet that tells you to hold on the up arrow for 2 seconds to get to the other two modes.

I found the menus (one for picture-taking and one for pictrue-viewing) real easy to navigate thru and the icons made sense to me (kind of scary). I ordered the bare camera and not the extras.