Olympus D450 1.2MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

I started out thinking I was still a year away from affording a new digital camera with the features I wanted. I decided to hold out for a zoom lens and at least 1024 x 768 resolution, or wait. After a lot of research, I knew I wanted an Olympus, because of their excellent optics and their camera-first, digital-device-second approach, and because my Olympus 35mm point-and-shoot had served me well.

I thought my best deal would be on a used or discontinued model; however, because the original price of the 500L, 600L, and 400Z had been so high (in the $800-1200 range), the asking prices for these had not come down as much as I'd hoped, and what I had to be willing to pay had crept up as I shopped. When I saw what the 450Z was going for, I whipped out my credit card. Now that I've played around with it for a few weeks, I can't imagine there's a better digital camera for the money right now. I've compared with a couple of friends that have Nikon CoolPix cameras, and I suppose there's something that's better about them, but I can't honestly tell you what that would be, and the Nikon is twice the money!

The 450Z is an improved version of the well-received 400Z, but at a radically lower street price. Some of this is due to the packaging - the 450Z leaves out the FlashPath floppy adapter (typically $70-90 alone) that was standard in the 400Z -but clearly the manufacturing costs are coming down rapidly.

This camera performs incredibly well on the bottom-line measurement: It takes stunningly detailed and accurate pictures under a wide variety of conditions.

We've gotten used to accepting less than perfection for pictures taken in other than bright sunlight at normal distances. The 450Z adds several categories of picture-taking where you can now get predictable results: Flash, macro (including with flash), indoor lighting, low light, etc. There are just enough features to make the camera useful over the range of conditions, but not so many as to intimidate the snap-shooter. Because of the intelligence of the autofocus, exposure control, and white balance, it is still a great point-and-shoot camera.

Many features are related to getting the picture right at the right resolution, such as spot metering, exposure override, mode (resolution), different flash modes, macro, etc. Other features are related to viewing and managing the pictures you've taken. You can plug the camera into a VCR or TV monitor (RCA video jack) and give a quick slideshow of what's in memory. You can get around the small size of the LCD display (and this is one of the better ones) by zooming in on one segment (out of a 3 x 3 grid) of an image, to make sure the detail is there.

One other feature that other reviewers have found important: The 450Z will store images uncompressed, if you choose (the file size is huge); most other cameras up to this point perform at least some compression, even on high-quality settings.

The only thing I couldn't do well -and this may just take some practice -is action shots. All digital cameras have some lag between the time you decide to pull the trigger and the time the image is committed to memory, and this takes some getting used to, but the 450Z is quicker in this respect than its earlier counterparts. One significant feature is the "burst mode", which allows you to keep capturing images (about 1-2 a second) as long as the shutter button is pressed, and until the buffer fills up (seems to be about 6-10 images).

Most of us get into digital because of the cost and overhead of dealing with film and processing, only to have to scan prints or pay extra to the processor for digital images from film. Depending on resolution, you can get up to 122 images onto the standard 8MB memory card before unloading, and that's very liberating -no more agonizing over whether to take another shot! However, once you play around with it a while, the mind starts to boggle at the possibilities, and film cameras seem like Stone-Age technology (especially since we are approaching the resolution of film with the million-plus pixels you can store in an image now).

The 450Z is a milestone in the improvement of digital cameras, a quantum leap in value vs. features and quality, even compared to other Olympus cameras. You won't believe how easy it is to get breath-taking digital photos. Get one!

I am one who always jumps into new tech stuff during the first or second wave. I have been holding off on a digital camera purchase for more of a value reason than anything else. When I saw this camera loaded with features combined with my experience with Olympus, I knew I was time to buy. I was still slightly fearful that the process from taking shot to downloading it to my harddrive would be cumbersome; however, this was not true.

The software that comes with this camera is powerful yet straight foward and easy to use. The images are great and a lot of fun to have instantly. IT WORKS JUST LIKE A GOOD AUTO FOCUS 35MM.

Cons: Uses batteries quick if you use the LCD and during the download to PC process. It takes a long time to download a 8mb smartmedia card (30-40 pics @ medium quality). It does not come with a case. The LCD is just below the optical eye opening so your fat nose smudges the LCD screen everytime you take a picture.

FINAL WORD: BUY IT --IT'S GREAT along with: 1. Case 2. Rechargable Batteries 3. Get a 3.5" Floppy Smartmedia Reader and skip the download process all together.

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I bought this camera because my wife was tired of scanning pictures for online auctions. When I saw how good the pictures were, and how well they printed on an HP PhotoSmart printer (even the 640x480 as an 8x10 was beautiful!) I realized I had a great match! Get NiMH batteries, for sure, but you can use it without the screen and save power. Also, Olympus sells (and you can get it here at Amazon) a PCMCIA adapter for the SmartMedia cards, which pretends to be a spare hard drive. Cool! Get the 16 or 32 MB Card if you take lots of pics, but at lowest res I get 240+ pics on a 16MB chip.

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I joined the digital parade after an agonizing 6 months of comparison and indecision. I liked the Sony Mavica features, especially the floppy disk method of storing images. I've used my work's Mavica 91 and loved its simplicity and great ability to take indoor pictures without a flash. I also loved the rechargeable 'smart' battery which Sony sells with its product; it actually tells you how much time you have remaining before a battery change is required. It could also do short MPEG motion pictures with sound. The big negative: it's huge and weighed a ton. It's resolution wasn't sufficient either.

I finally ended up with the Olympus 450z because of its high resolution, its available floppy adapter, its many features for the price, and its compact size -its virtually identical to my old 35MM model. It takes great pictures, but isn't as capable in low light conditions as the Mavica 91.

The Panaroma picture capability was a feature which I never thought of using -until I saw the software demo which was included with the camera. It's like magic -it puts together a panarama of pictures into a single composite image. Truly amazing.

In summary, the 450 is a great camera, albeit only slightly better than the 400 and doesn't include the floppy adapter as the 400 did. Great yes, but the price really hasn't dropped as I had hoped. Finally, if you're thinking ahead, you'll order 8 or 12 NiMH batteries and a recharger, a 16 or 32 meg SMART Card, and the Floppy adapter. You've suddenly got yourself a $700-$800 camera outfit. Shop around there are cheaper places to buy your camera.

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As so many others have noted, this is a GREAT camera for the money. It's loaded with features seen only on more expensive digital cameras (changeable ISO values, great low light capability, a true optical zoom lens with the ability to add 2X digital zoom on top...I could go on and on about the *pros*.....there are so many!

Here are the *cons* I've picked up so far:

1. Camera does eats its four AA alkaline batteries quickly, especially if you use the LCD a lot. THE FIX: I purchased rechargeable 1400 mv NiMH Nexcells and a Maha C204F charger for under $40 online and neatly solved this problem.

2. Not the most intuitive menu and button system. THE FIX: reading the manual before trying to use does help. A *quick guide* sheet comes with the camera...keep it handy to figure out those features you don't use often. Now I know how to use the features that are important to me and don't have to refer to the manual any longer.

2. Manual is confusing with three languages/page. THE FIX: English is primarily on the left-hand pages so look there first. Dog-ear the content index page so it's easier to find what you are looking for later, and keep the one-page "quick guide" that comes with the camera handy.

4. If you are going to take panoramic photos, ONLY THE ***OLYMPUS*** SmartMedia CARDS WILL SUPPORT THIS FEATURE! If you purchase less-expensive brands like SanDisk, you won't be able to take panoramas. THE FIX: Purchase Olympus SmartMedia cards on auction sites or at bidding sites online...I bought my Olympus 32 mb card for $45 under the Olympus website price.

5. Slow photo download rate. First of all, I didn't find the serial port download overly slow, especially compared to other digital cameras. However, since camera has to be on during the download, I recommend purchasing an AC Adapter (doesn't have to be Olympus brand) to save on batteries. But if you're a speed freak, then THE FIX: Purchase either the USB or FlashPath Floppy Disk Adapter....either will speed up download time considerably.

Bottom line for me....best camera for the money, hands down! Buy one for yourself and see!