It does use batteries, but only if you are foolish enough to try to run the LCD display window a lot.
I bought a quick charger and a couple of sets of rechargeables at Radio Shack, and have had no problem.
The controls are useable, although I've never been able to make the "Delete All" function work, it involves pressing two buttons at once.
To noevilpeople: it DOES have a telephoto function, if you want a zoom, spend the money.
It's rugged enough - I dropped it from a picnic table to the ground once with no ill effect.
Again, this is an older camera, newer digitals offer more features. I bought mine in 1999, that was dog's years ago in the electronic world!
I've used an Olympus camera for film, now this D-340R, when I upgrade to a newer digital, I'll get another Olympus digital camera.
No optical zoom, just digital zoom. Digital zoom is pointless though, just makes the pixels bigger. I really wish all digital camera manufacturers would stop with the digital zoom boasts. what's the point?
Batteries. Yup, eats batteries fairly quickly. 4 of them.
Serial port download is slow.
Bulky. Heavy and quite a size compared to some of the dinky dig-cams about now.
Good:
Contrary to noevilpeople, I've found this camera to be extremely durable. It has lasted 4 years with me. Including a drop onto a marble floor, numerous plane trips, a house fire and a touch of condensation. good going. Name a PC or printer that still goes as well after 4 years!
Seems to take quite a few pictures for its memory. 36 HQ on a 8MB card is good going. newer cameras seem to squeeze in less, even at the same res, and with no discernible increase in quality. It can take 16MB cards easily enough (I got one), but any bigger (32MB) and I recall you have to send it back to Olympus to get it retro-fitted or something!
Price. it's cheap now!
Small display on top of the camera gives you enough info without having to use the power-hungry lcd a lot. LCD only needs to be used for macro shots (
It has been used (and seriously abused) pretty much daily for 5 years and is still going strong. I have NEVER had a single problem with it.
I've purchased 4 other digital cameras since this one, only to return them (a Canon, HP 320, HP 635, and Olympus D-390). Nothing beats the quality of the pics on my Olympus D-340R. I've never experienced photos with red-eyes like I did constantly with the others (I don't use the red-eye reduction - typically just point and shoot), and the color/sharpness are far superior to the others.
The drawbacks are that there is no optical zoom, and I do go through a lot of batteries (but we use the LCD alot). The megapixels could be higher, but it works ok for me. Although I use it primarily for web use, I've found the SHQ shots print out superbly (with my photo printer).
I recommend upgrading to a 128 MB memory card - I did this past year, and wowsa! I can take nearly 600 HQ pics or nearly 300 SHQ pics. I also recommend getting a memory card reader for super-fast downloading, because the serial cable is painfully slow. With a card reader you can also bypass the Camedia software, which leaves something to be desired.
I am amazed that this camera has served me so well for so long! And until I can afford a $500+ model....I'll happily keep on using it!
1. Si se utiliza la pantalla LCD para tomar fotografías panorámicas o con el zoom incorporado, las baterías no van a durar casi nada.
2. El transferir las imágenes a la PC puede tardar una eternidad únicamente para ver el contenido de la tarjeta de memoria, luego viene el proceso de bajarlas al disco duro. Consejo: hay que comprar el adaptador AC de lo contrario las baterías se consumirán velozmente!
Respecto a la calidad de las fotos, no me puedo quejar de nada. Excelente calidad y si quieren tener más espacio para almacenar... compren la tarjeta SmartMedia de 16MB mientras duren existencias!
