Olympus IR-300 5MP Digital Solutions Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Includes Docking Station)

it's so difficult buying a new thing, comparing all the products and features and prices and really not wanting to be disappointed with your final choice and so on. anyhow, i had a 2MP camera and so i wanted to get a better one, but also i am a girl with tiny pockets so i needed a small camera, and i wanted to be able to zoom and use macro. i compared lots of cameras and looked at lots of sample photos on review sites, and overall the sample photos from canon cameras seemed to be the best ones olympus camera photos were good quality too, but only from 5MP cameras and above.

in the end, i narrowed the search down to the canon ixus range and the olympus stylus range. i was concerned about the fragility of the ixus cameras' LCD screens after reading lots of negative comments about them, so i decided to go with the olympus stylus 5MP. but then this IR-300 came out fresh on the market, $100 cheaper! so maybe i will find out something bad about it in the future, but it looks better than the stylus, and it's smaller, and so far it takes great photos.

pros:

+ huge preview screen on the back, which is sturdy and can be seen from any angle

+ scratch-resistant camera body

+ really easy to navigate/use

+ very useful & easy to use pre-set settings for types of photos e.g. portrait, night-time, landscape

+ camera recharges in dock

+ very easy to transfer photos to computer via dock (i didn't even install the olympus software, i just use the windows transfer wizard)

+ small

cons:

none so far!

update, 6 months later:

i'm still really happy with this camera. no complaints. to address two concerns i've just seen in other reviews i've found the soft camera case that it came with is quite sufficient for everyday use and regarding pictures at night, if you use the flash or any of the presets like "night scene", that also use the flash, then you won't get shaky photos like someone else mentioned... it's only if you turn flash off, or change to a preset that doesn't have a flash (like "available light portrait" or "candle"), where you will get blurring or shakiness. so you have to steady the camera by using your elbows as a tripod.. or just set the camera down to take the photo.. or stay still while you take the photo. i've taken heaps of great night photos, both with & without flash.

I knew I had bought the right camera when all my friends started suffering camera envy. It's very gorgeous, with sleek white casing ipods addicts will love it. It was very simple to start using the camera, although I haven't explored all the settings yet. V easy to download pics onto computer, with straightforward software (a first in my experience!). The screen on the back is large and has great colour depth, and the sound quality for the movie clip function is surpringly good for something this size. And because it is so small and slim, you end up taking the IR300 everywhere with you, and take loads more photos.

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I got this camera because I wanted to upgrade from my super old 1 mega pixel camera. Cameras have come a long way and this camera is really all you need. I bought this because I found it on sale for what I thought was a great deal. After I brought it home and discovered all its features, I feel like it was a steal for the price!

This camera has 5 mega pixels. It's incredibly small and pretty easy to use. There are so many ways to take pictures with this little gem. You can take a split screen, like a before and after in one shot, you have a macro zoom and can get in as close as two inches from your subject, you can change your pictures to black and white or brown and white, you can take pictures with special frames like a heart or traveling images which would be fun for a scrapbook. What I absolutely love about this camera is that you can even record digital movies with sound on this! I had no idea it could do this when I bought it, imagine my surprise! The movies typically range from 30 seconds to two minutes, but if you get a large memory card, I think you are able to expand on the video recording time.

There are a couple of cons. I wish they would have included a card with the camera. So if you get this, buy a card or you'll be stuck with just a few pictures. There is no User Manual included which is a major pain. You do get a CD with the manual in a PDF format, but I prefer to flip through a little pocket sized book and not waste my own time and paper printing out a manual that's over 100 pages. There are so many features that the menus are a little hard to remember where everything lives, but with practice, I'll get the hang of it which is why I would have liked a pocket sized manual instead of the PDF. It also doesn't come with a little carrying case which would have been nice.

I would highly recommend this camera if you are planning a trip or are a new parent (especially with the video feature), or are just looking for a new small camera that's fully loaded.

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I was a little weary buying this camera after reading that guys review below, but I bought the camera anyways just because I figured if it was that bad I could return it. When I opened the package, the camera was WAY smaller than I expected it's very compact and pretty. As far as blurry images go, I think there are some people who just take bad picturesbecause I tested out a picture while shaking the camera and it still came out clear as any of my other pictures-no blurring. I don't believe this Olympus suffers from "shutter lag" it's top speed 1/2000 is just as fast as any other camera on the market of comparable value. I think this camera is a great deal.

Pros:

1.Wide variety of picture taking optionsPanoramic view included

2.Docking station to recharge batterynever have to take out AA batteries and recharge(i find a hassle)

3.extremely easy to transfer photos to compjust plug usb in and device is recognized

4.great for an unexperienced camera user or someone who wants more depth and can navigate the features (i did all without even looking at manual once)

5.awesome camera at great price-and it looks really sweet

Cons:

1.Does not come with memory card-however most cameras don't. i bought a 128 mb xd pretty cheap and holds 100+ photos

2.Doesn't have a carrying case included, but those are pretty available and inexpensive as well

Overall I got this camera because I was sick of buying disposables and getting the film developed, over time the cost adds up, and this camera is not only very portable but takes great pics. I recommend it to others!

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The camera is small and attractive. The daylight pictures are great, as they are with all Olympus cameras. Flash pictures are lame unless you are within 8 feet of the subject. It comes with many pre-settings but most are useless without a tripod. The built-in lithium ion battery lasts FOREVER, which helps offset the fact you have to charge it in its own little cradle. Downloading pictures to your computer is a little annoying-it wants you to use the Olympus Master software that comes with the camera. But, once you attach it using the USB cable, the computer treats it like another external drive and you can just pluck the pix off that way. Finally, shutter lag is a major downside for me. It feels like a full 2 seconds. There's also a "movie" option-it takes low-res movie, a feature I personally could do without. But overall, no complaints about picture quality, which is the bottom line, isn't it?