Olympus 740

Leo

Folks,

New to the board, and WOW, what pics you all can take!

Am looking to obtain a digital camera for a non shutterbug kinda guy. I like having lots of zoom capability, and my wife wants macro capability so she can post pics of things to sell on Ebay. (Selling is better than buying, I think)

The Olympus 700 series seemed to fit the bill.

What are thoughts from the experts re this series? Are there things you all do not like about Olympus? Are there others you might suggest?

I tend to go a month or so between taking pics, then I go off on a trip and take a bunch. So I'm no afficionado, like some of you.

Thanks!

wxwax

Welcome aboard! Another one to check out is the Canon S1. And Panasonic makes a camera with image stabilization (very, very important if you have a long zoom) and a long zoom.

Check out the reviews at www.dpreview.com - and also at www.stevesdigicams.com.

jwear

Leo wrote:

Folks,

New to the board, and WOW, what pics you all can take!

Am looking to obtain a digital camera for a non shutterbug kinda guy. I like having lots of zoom capability, and my wife wants macro capability so she can post pics of things to sell on Ebay. (Selling is better than buying, I think)

The Olympus 700 series seemed to fit the bill.

What are thoughts from the experts re this series? Are there things you all do not like about Olympus? Are there others you might suggest?

I tend to go a month or so between taking pics, then I go off on a trip and take a bunch. So I'm no afficionado, like some of you.

Thanks!

[/QUOTE] I AM ALSO NEW BUT HAVE HAD MY OLYMPUS 700 FOR ABOUT 2 YEARS AND I WAS A HAPPY MAN CLOSE AND FAR .WATER SKIING PICS FROM THE BOAT WERE REALLLY GOOD ALSO CLOSE UPS VERY GOOD CAMERA MY NEW D70 IS KICKING MY BUT ON THE LEARNIG CURVE

Seamaiden

I happen to own the C-740, and I generally like it. The problems I experience have MUCH more to do with my skill level than what the camera can or cannot do.

However, it does have its issues. Manual focus is SLOW, and it seems to be self-limiting - for instance, it may show that I can get under 1', but I'll hit a wall the focus won't move past. I have no idea why that is. The auto-focus in low light situations may not work at all (thus the need for manual) or may focus on what you DON'T want it to.

Also, NO HOTSHOE. I have lamented this, and still do. It uses the xD card, a media I personally like for its small size, but if I recollect, it may not be quite as fast processing an image as a compact flash card. I don't know that I'd necessarily be getting significantly better piccie quality with the C750's full 4mp.

I love the compact size, I LOVE the 10x optical zoom, I find the menu fairly easy to use, and the buttons and controls are well-placed for me. You can shoot in TIFF mode, as well as lower quality (but still quite respectable) jpegs. Let me tell you, this camera has been able to take life with me very well. This means being dropped on a fairly regular basis, bumped into things, that sort of stuff.

My fiance and I have recently purchased the Oly C-8080. At almost double the price it's a bit spendy, and I don't know that I could spend the day with it strapped to my neck, but I must say that, so far, I LOVE this camera - even better than his Canon 300D (yes, despite no 'true' manual focus)! It takes BOTH CF and xD cards (though, running Linux, I have to reload the USB module to get both storage systems read), is SOLID (I mean rock solid), incredibly comfortable in my hands, and comfortable to USE. This is among the most important details because we intend to use this camera for scuba diving, and I don't think it's a good idea to have a camera that requires a lot of futzing when you're using up air at depth. One thing I don't like about this Oly is the on-camera flash - I get a HUGE shadow from the lens.

I'd say that I'm about as involved in photography as you are, though at the moment I am using the bejesus outta the Oly 8080. I still enjoy my "little" Oly, the C740, but I think you might be a little happier with the C-750 when it comes to certain family occasions. Shooting indoors during Christmas/holidays meant that a remote flash would have been possible for me, and I think I would have been happier with a lot of the shots.

I believe the admins of this site have some stickies with some links for excellent review sites, dpreview, steve's reviews, imaging resource (IIRC), and others. Make use of these sites (I found them to be even more helpful than sites like epinions.com), as they make it VERY easy to do side-by-sides of cameras you're considering.