Average Rating: 
Rating:  - My first digital camera
This is my first digital camera. I took 75 pictures per day over three days while on a recent road trip.Things I do not like: Batteries were replaced about every 100 pictures. The flash is on by default and it takes a bit of clicking to turn it off so sometimes I don't bother (the flash sometimes flashes during daytime which is a bit puzzling to me). I rarely used the LCD display to preview or review my pictures. Perhaps I would be able to take more pictures if I turned the flash off. You can only take a picture every 10-15 seconds when the flash is on .... The flash popping up, camera lens moving out and the big plastic slider on the front seem like a lot of moving parts for a camera. I hope none of them break. (The zoom mechanism is particularly noisy and "flimsy".) Things I like: Looks, price, ease of getting images onto my Windows 2000 computer. I did not install their software -- the camera shows up as a hard drive when I plug in the USB cable. I can take over 250 1600x1200 pictures with a $50 128MB memory card. The entire camera including the menu/option system is very easy to use. I still have never opened the instructions.
Rating:  - A Great Package!
I bought the D-520Z as my third digital camera. I have many years of photography experience, and have owned more than two dozen 35mm film cameras.This is a great camera for the person who is somewhat fussy, but still wants an easy-to-use optical zoom platform. For the benefit of people who don't read instructions, one may view a just-snapped picture by pressing the display button twice or (better yet) setting the camera up to display the picture for about 2 seconds after snapping it. Also, all settings can be memorized so the camera is ready to go as soon as you fire it up. For instance, I use fill flash on nearly every outdoor shot that involves people, and I have a preference for spot-metering. Both of these items are selectable and memorizable. Although the flash recycle time is a little slow, I consider it a very fair trade-off for being able to use AA batteries and only two of them at that. Performance with NiMH batteries is outstanding; on a recent vacation I took over 100 pictures, most with flash, with extensive use of the LCD, and never changed batteries. Low-light performance is acceptable to me, and I take a lot of pics indoors. The camera is quite compact (fits easily in a shirt pocket with room to spare), and most important, the body is relatively thin. Before you buy ANY camera, consider whether you really want to lug that clunky (and expensive) digital camera around for the sake of a possible tiny increase in picture quality. The true measure of any camera is picture quality, and I find this one to be very good. I'm finicky, and I'm pleased. This camera is not as sexy-looking as some of the competition (read ELPF), but the price is right and I feel beginners and amateurs will be able to take a very high percentage of good pics with this one. Highly recommended...hats off to Olympus.
Rating: - The best digital camera on the market for under $300
1. First put in stores in April 2002. Great phot quality for a 2.0 Megapixel. I use it for sending photos on the web. It's great for that.2. After lots of research, this is the best I could find for under [money]. Super buy. 3. You need a USB port on your computer. 4. Easy easy easy to use. If you have Windows XP on your computer, you plug the USB adaptor into the camera. XP recognizes the camera as a drive. (No software to install). You simply drag and drop the jpegs to your hard drive same as you would any files from any disk or drive. When you unplug the USB, the camera turns off. This probably works on Win98 as well, but you might want to check that out ahead of time. 5. Battery life is unmatched. I have used it all day (in the viewfinder mode) without seeing the battery power indicator move at all. 6. Sixe 4 1/2 X 2 1/2 inches. 7. Even close, the viewfinder does an excellent job of properly centering the photo. This saves battery life. You don't have to turn the screen on unless you want it. 8. Downfalls: You close the sliding lens cap to turn the camera off. If you push it too hard, the lens caps hits the lens and causes the pull-in-the-lens mechanism to jam. Can't review your photos on the rear screen unless you first turn the camera off. Pretty annoying if you want to show your shot to someone immediately. 9. Other things you will need. Get a cheap (non Olympus) NiCd batter charger. I found an Eveready set for [money]. It's much cheaper than the Olympus and works as well. Get a SmartMedia 128MB card to replace the one in the camera. You will have trouble filling it up before you download. ... You may want a vinyl case. It's not included. 10. Lots of other features I have never found the need to use, but they give a lot of added capability and depth to the camera. 11. Finally, the pop up flash does a great job with fill in ... like when you are taking a photo of people with a window behind them. The center weighted metering is not very good, so you will have to select flash instead of automatic.
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