I didn't notice an AC adaptor as an included accessory for the Olympus D-400Z. When would that be used... -- for any indoor shooting, possibly? -- during connection to a video or tv monitor?

Do you know if it is available as an Olympus product, or would a genereic adaptor work?

And, finally, is it possible to upload photos to the Olympus D-400Z?

Thanks, Deena Gentle

-- Deena Gentle (gentle@gentleridge.com), January 02, 1999

Answers

Most Olympus cameras do not include an AC adapter - my biggest complaint. The Olympus adapter specifically for the DL series is 40- 50 dollars. I just bought one at Ultimate Electronics. The camera D340L was a gift so it wasn't quite as bad having to spring for the adapter.

-- Bernie Jones (berniej@ix.netcom.com), January 11, 1999.

An AC adaptor is used when transferring files (photos) between the camera and the computer, and when connected to a TV. Otherwise, there is a large drain on the batteries.

Don't know about uploading files to the camera (can't see why you would want to do this).

-- Denys Garden (d.garden@pi.csiro), January 14, 1999.

An AC adaptor is NOT necessary. I now have an Olympus D400Z and my old camera was a Kodak DC40, and I've NEVER used an AD adaptor.

Downloading pictures to the PC takes up some battery life, for sure, but I've never found it all that bad.

Be VERY careful with a generic AC adaptor:

1. the store salesman told me some people destroyed their camera with non-Olympus AC Adaptors (probably hype, but.....) 2. if the camera input voltage is xx.x Volts DC, you could get a generic AC adaptor (Make SURE the polarity is correct!!!) with no problem. 3. if the camera input voltage is xx.x Volts AC, then forget it.

I could not find the camera input voltage on the Olympus D400Z documentation, so be careful - it'd be a real shame to destroy such a nice camera.

-- Dana Basel (DanaBasel@IEEE.org), January 15, 1999.

The AC adaptor is usefull when shooting from a tripod, portriate and still (object) photography. It comes in quite handy for transfering files through the serial cabel as well since they can take a long time, especially with the larger smart media cards. I suggest removing the batteries from the camera first. You can get an Olympus adaptor. I reccomend it as it will have the correct polarity.

As far as uploading pictures, you can with a flashpath adaptor (or a USB or PCMCIA adaptor too). There should be no reason to. If you want to give someone a copy of a picture just put it on a floppy. I have heard of some people storing images on their smart cards. BAD idea. What if someone formats it? If you want to archive them, use cd's (I got a re-writable drive for $90 on an auction, and while it isn't the fastest drive out there, I can use re-writeable discs until I have enough to perminantly burn).

-- Dale R Dankulich (dalerd01@earthlink.net), October 11, 1999.