Olympus Digital

[chris]

I thought I'd try going digital so I bought Olympus' cheapest digital point and shoot, the D-395 Camedia. It has no zoom, 3.2 million mega pixels, and is very basic. Cost is $129 and it weighs about 5 oz. I took it out this morning on a romp up a minor peak in the Olympics and am pleased with the photos. Uncompressed, the pictures are about 700K each, but I compressed them quite a bit to make them better for transfer. The compressed pictures are, I think, rather nice. The full format ones look good on a full size computer screen. If you are in the market for a digital and don't want to break the bank, you might look at:

http://www.pierce.ctc.edu/faculty/cwillett/local/rose

I'm not a particularly good photographer and I wasn't really trying, but am happy with the photos. The pictures are cut down to be 25% of the original, by the way.

[orangebug]

What sort of price? Have you weighed it, or are you guessing? What sort of batteries and memory card?

Most digital cameras have at least a digital zoom, which usually creates more grainy, jagged photos from the enlarged pixils. The amount of compression really depends on what you plan to do with your photos. If only for email and web pages, compressed is good. If for printing and putting into albums, you might as well use the highest quality and less compressed pictures. Invest in a few memory cards, they are cheaper now.

I've been playing with my new camera this weekend. I plan to give a trip report when I return from my section in about 4 weeks.

Bill...

[smokymtnsteve]

I have an olympus stylus 300, I am satisfied ,

Little chicken used an Olympus this year also...

[Hammock Hanger]

I have an olympus stylus 300, I am satisfied ,

Little chicken used an Olympus this year also...

I used an Olympus 400. Love the pic and the ease of use. HOWEVER, be very careful that the lens cover is locked in the closed position when you slide it back in your camera case. Apparently mine was pushed slightly down and the motor burned out, just after Gorham, NH. I had to bum pictures from friends after that point. My partner had the same camera and no problems. The camera was under warranty and once sent to Olympus came back fixed within days. Sue/HH

[Ramble~On]

Chris,
I have an Olympus D-395, it does have a 2.5 Zoom.
It's a great camera for the pack and I have no complaints.
A couple of 64mb cards and some rechargeable batteries and I get snap happy.
As mentioned in another post be careful to make sure the lens cover is closed.
If the cover gets bumped open it will eat batteries and the motor.
When not in use I remove the batteries and when on the move I use a rubber band to keep the cover closed.

[chris]

What sort of price? Have you weighed it, or are you guessing? What sort of batteries and memory card?

Most digital cameras have at least a digital zoom, which usually creates more grainy, jagged photos from the enlarged pixils. The amount of compression really depends on what you plan to do with your photos. If only for email and web pages, compressed is good. If for printing and putting into albums, you might as well use the highest quality and less compressed pictures. Invest in a few memory cards, they are cheaper now.

I've been playing with my new camera this weekend. I plan to give a trip report when I return from my section in about 4 weeks.

Bill...

As indicated in the first post, cost is $129. I added a set of NiMH batteries, with charger, and a 256 MB card, so the total cost with shipping was something like $200. Weight was not from my scale. However, the manufacturer lists something like 5.2 oz (no batteries, no card) and I am inclined to agree with them. I could put it on my scale and come back with a weight of 5.38 oz, but I don't think it is significant.

In terms of memory cards, I'm planning to get another 1 or 2 256 MB cards for my winter trip. I'm not sure how I'll handle the summer. Another 1 or 2, or I might buy a portable storage device.

[Magic City]

I've had an Olympus C-720 for over a year now, and am very happy with it. I haven't taken it on any long distance treks but it does well in wild. It might a little on the heavy side but I'll be taking it along in 2005.

[orangebug]

Sorry I didn't see the price in the initial message. What I am curious about is the type of batteries it requires, as well as the format of the memory card (SD, memory stick, CD, XD, etc.). I'd be very surprised if it is less than 6 ounces with batteries, unless it requires some sort of hearing aid or watch battery.

[chris]

Sorry I didn't see the price in the initial message. What I am curious about is the type of batteries it requires, as well as the format of the memory card (SD, memory stick, CD, XD, etc.). I'd be very surprised if it is less than 6 ounces with batteries, unless it requires some sort of hearing aid or watch battery.

In my second post, I tried to indicate that my perceived weight is without batteries or card. That is, when I said that the manufacturer lists a weight of 5.2 oz, without batteries or card, and that I tend to believe them, I mean that the weight of the camera without batteries of card is something around 5 oz. Batteries do add weight, and a non-trivial amount at that. I'll try to remember to put the fully loaded camera on my scale tonight and try to bring an exact number tomorrow.

The D-395 takes AA batteries, which means you can use longer powered NiMH rechargeables along with standard AAs. I didn't want to get a camera with Li-Ion batteries, as I intend, at some point, to take the camera into the Third World and getting special batteries might be tough. AAs are available anywhere.

In terms of zooms, the D-395 does have a digital zoom,as SpiritWind indicates When I said that it didn't have a zoom, I should have specificially said that it had no optical zoom. I don't think an optical zoom is terribly useful, as once you get the pictures onto a computer you can zoom on parts of the pic, with the same corresponding lack of sharpness, with many computer programs.

[orangebug]

I'd be surprised if it doesn't have some sort of optical zoom from talking to some aficionados. I was surprised to find it present on my little camera.

The camera junkies advised me to turn off digital zoom and forget it was ever there, but to depend on the optical zoom and editing software. I've somehow learned how to turn off the LED display, the part of the camera that eats the most power and battery.

[chris]

I'd be surprised if it doesn't have some sort of optical zoom from talking to some aficionados. I was surprised to find it present on my little camera.

The camera junkies advised me to turn off digital zoom and forget it was ever there, but to depend on the optical zoom and editing software. I've somehow learned how to turn off the LED display, the part of the camera that eats the most power and battery.

I don't quite know how to convince you that it doesn't have an optical zoom, other than saying that it doesn't. Take a look at B&H's webpage (http://www.bhphotovideo.com) or go to Olympus' page if you want someone's word on it. While optical zooms are fairly standard on most point-and-shoot cameras, the D-395 Camedia does not have one.

[orangebug]

Wow! I'm convinced. Let us know how you feel about it after your next hike!

Bill...

[Mags]

For what it is worth, I use an Olypmus D-300.

The weight (with battery) is 6.75 oz according to my digital scale. There are lighter cameras, but I find the weather resistance and 3x optical zoom to be big pluses for me. The camera has proven itself to be very rugged. I readily admit I am hard on gear and this camera has proven itself to be up to the challenge.

It does take a non-standard battery, but by taking off the LCD screen was able to get 300 pics w/o having to change the battery on a recent Colorado Trail thru-hike.

If you want to see pics from this camera, I suggest going to anything from these links:
anything from Sping '03 on in my Colorado album:
http://gallery.backcountry.net/comags
or my CT photos:
http://gallery.backcountry.net/magsct04
Utah from Escalante '03 to present:
http://gallery.backcountry.net/magsutah
Or Wyoming:
http://gallery.backcountry.net/mags_wyo

That's enough for now.

[attroll]

wbdent Hey Mags, Was every picture that you have at Paul Magnanti aka Mags' Outdoor Adventures posted with a Olypmus D-300?

The site I am refering to is: http://gallery.backcountry.net/mags

wbdent The reason I am asking is because I looked at quite a few of the pictures and they look good. I am in the market for a new digital camera because mine is giving me problems and I am undecided on what one to get.

[smokymtnsteve]

this is an olympus 300

http://www.whiteblaze.net/gallery/sh...sort/1/cat/500

it has a close up feature for flower shots.

HH is right about the lens cover door slliding and eating up your battery.

One of the reasons that I pick this model is because it is weather resistant and seems to be pretty tough, it does operate on the special battery, you must have access to your recharger.

[chris]

I put the D-395 on my scale last night while making beer and came up with a weight of 7.2 oz for camera, card, and batteries (all ready to go). Two NiMH batteries weigh 2 oz on the nose. The camera will get put through its paces, other than on weekend jaunts, this winter when I go for a little walk in California.

[Mags]

Hey Mags, Was every picture that you have at Paul Magnanti aka Mags' Outdoor Adventures posted with a Olypmus D-300?
The site I am refering to is: http://gallery.backcountry.net/mags

AT Troll,

Any pictures from Spring 03 to the present was taken by that camera. A good chunk of the other pics (any pre spring 03 Colorado pics, Long Trail '99, PCT 02, some Utah and New England pics) was taken with the Olympus Stylus, the 35mm version of my current camera.

The others pics (AT98, New England pic, LT97) was taken with a mixture of a Yashica and disposable cameras. The Yashica died in the Smokies; the main reason why I now go with weather resistant cameras.

I plan on re-scanning my AT pics soon as I have a much better scanner and converting the Power Point presentation to .jpgs was just a quick and dirty way of getting my AT photos posted.

Hope this helps!

[hikerdude]

Pros and cons. You can shoot pictures. Your hooked into buying expensive $oftware and hardware. There is no cheating the $oftware, not even on something like a waterfalls till you pay for the lunker models with the $2000 $oftware. The math is;You need a 7mpx digital to compair to 35mm film quality. You have to pay a premium for Xd cards, $100+. They take up to 5 seconds to load the next shot so alot of wildlife shots are lost even if the Xd card is faster than the SD card, it's still slow and a Sd card is cost half as much per memory. Finicky to temperature changes. One drop down the rock trail and its broken for good, so I don't want hear nobody say; " you must be rich". But all and all; its that slow loading the first picture and of the next picture that makes us all sick if we see a mountain lion or Moose run across the trail somewhere around Antlers.
Yes the digital age.