Fist step into digital camera scene.Got the chance of a new Olympus C-2000 camedia camera for #299.Would apreciate some comments on camera capabilitys and price. Interested in family and scenic shots.How do the images look when printed out to A4 size?

-- Robert Simpson (rob@bpool69.screaming.net), August 16, 2000

Answers

300 pounds is about $426 which is an excellent price for this camera. I have one myself and it is an excellent camera for what you stated you wanted it for. It has great manual control if you want it, but gives excellent results if the automatic mode. Get an extra set of NiMH batteries so you can always have a fresh set for the camera. Good shooting. Virg.

-- Virgil Howarth (vhowarth@aol.com), August 24, 2000.

I got my C2000Z second-hand from a relative (duplicate purchase), but totally un-used, for #400 at the end of November 1999.

In the UK (at least when I bought *mine*) one has to bear in mind that the Oly comes *without* re-chargeable batteries, charger and mains PSU. Plus, it only comes with an 8 MB smart media card. Thus, I spent the better part of another #200 pounds on bits that should've *come* with the damned camera. (Apart from the PSU lead, of course, all the bits can be used for other purposes in the future.) Also, I've always considered the C2000Z to be a little on the fragile side.

On the *plus* side, you'd have to use a crowbar to prise from my hot little hands...

I have a friend who does a little professional photography as a side line (weddings, etc). She has a medium format Hasselblad and was *very* interested in the Oly. I explained that the (then) leading edge resolution of 1600 x 1200 pixels wasn't even *close* to 35 mm resolution, let alone the Hasselblad. Even so, when I printed out a photo I'd taken, she was impressed. In fact, we were *both* impressed - I wasn't expecting much in the way of quality from a digicam at A4(ish) paper sizes, but it weren't half bad.

Facilities wise, it's pretty good although, of course, the later versions would appear to be better. One irritation on the C2000Z is that to delete the last photo taken (common when using a digicam), one has to navigate the menu system. That said, one soon gets used to poking all the buttons and so on. Also, make sure that you check out the *undocumented* features of this camera - all the ones I found on this site worked on *mine*, anyway.

All in all, I'm pretty pleased with it, though I'm not sure whether I'd want *another* Oly - having to buy extra bits *really* got up my nose.

Regards,

Mark Davis.

-- Mark Davis (chaos@glod.net), August 25, 2000.