I am looking to buy a digital camera and the Olympus D-600L looks very good. I have heard of focusing problems indoors.. What exactly is the problem?

Also, I heard mention of new camera's from Olympus this fall that will use compact flash instead of smart media. What does anyone know of this?

Thanks!

-- Michael Codanti (Michael@civis.com), June 09, 1998

Answers

I say go for the D600L. It's price has been reduced to $875 (http://bhphotovideo.com), and you can have it *now*.

I moved up from a Kodak DC210, and I must say that the image quality is second to none. Even the new DC260 sample pics that i've seen still don't rival that of the olympus'.

The problems with indoor focusing is a shutter/exposure priority issue. Taking pictures with available light indoors changes the shutter priority by making the shutter speed longer. This means that you have to have a VERY steady hand when taking the picture. Additionally, you can use the flash, which will clear up most of your problems.

The shutter/exposure priority issue is a known one for the D600L, but there are many ways of getting around it. After you get used to the autofocus system, and learn its limitations, operating the camera becomes second nature. While it *is* an SLR camera, it does *not* give you all of the manual functions you would expect from one. Since it's one of the few Megapixel SLR cameras out there (and the ONLY one that I know of that's under $1,000), you should expect a few limitations.

And to be honest, I like SmartMedia better that compact flash. I had a 20MB compact flashcard in my Kodak. I wouldn't attempt to fit a few of those in my wallet. The smartmedia cards fit quite nicely in with my credit cards, though. The flashpath floppy adapter makes it very easy to transfer images as well.

-Karl

-- Karl Weckstrom (kweckstrom@hotmail.com), June 15, 1998.