Olympus D-490 2.1MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

Turning the camera on is a snap--literally. Just slide the protective lens cover until it clicks to a stop, and the 3x zoom lens pops out, letting you start shooting. The controls are so intuitive and similar to those of a film camera that most users won't even need to look at the owner's manual.

Olympus cameras consistently produce some of the highest-quality images when compared to other cameras with the same resolution. This is partially the result of high-quality optics, but also because Olympus cameras use less JPEG compression than most cameras. These less-compressed images result in larger file sizes, but Olympus feels that the higher quality results justify the reduced number of images that will fit on a memory card.

The camera includes numerous, nice little touches, including viewfinder diopter adjustment (for eyeglass wearers), a continuous shooting rate of 1.3 frames per second, exposure compensation, a self-timer, and more.

Of course, no camera is perfect. The 490Z's biggest shortcoming is its lack of USB connectivity, a nearly unforgivable omission these days. Though its serial port is compatible with virtually every PC and beige Mac ever made, it's painfully slow and incompatible with the iMac and newer Macintosh systems. Even if your computer has a serial port, we strongly recommend purchasing a separate memory-card reader, an inexpensive accessory that will transform your image transfers from a slow and painful experience to a quick and simple one. In addition, the camera is designed to operate on either 4 AA batteries or a pair of Olympus long-life disposable lithium batteries. It ships with the lithium batteries, which do have an impressive lifespan but can't be recharged and are more expensive than alkalines to replace. For long-term use, we recommend investing in a set of rechargeable batteries.

Other minor gripes: though the camera can record QuickTime movies, it has no microphone, so your film clips will be silent. Finally, the flash can be a bit frustrating. It needs to be popped up by hand before it's activated. This is probably something that becomes intuitive after you've owned the camera for a while, but we were repeatedly frustrated by having to retake low-light shots after forgetting to pop up the "automatic" flash.

Overall, the Olympus is a great camera if you're switching over from a point-and-shoot. It produces great-looking prints at sizes up to 8 by 10 inches and features an easy-to-use, compact design. The lack of a USB connection is the biggest shortcoming in this otherwise excellent camera.

Pros:

• Easy transition from a point-and-shoot film camera
• Great optics for clear prints at sizes up to 8 by 10 inches
• Excellent all-around performer

Cons:

• No USB image transfer
• No sound in movie mode
• Flash needs to be popped up manually to be activated
• Plastic case feels less durable than some cameras'

The D490 addresses each of these problems beautifully. Boot up time is about 20% faster. Timing both of my cameras side-by-side, the D490 is faster (1.1 seconds versus 1.3 seconds, in five trials using the same 32Mb media cards). More important than boot up time is burst shooting. The D490 has a RAM buffer that allows you to take about 1 shot per second in the "HQ" mode (2.1 megapixels with JPEG compression). The D460 requires about 2.5 seconds between shoots in the same "HQ" mode (but the resolution is 1.3 megapixels). Also nifty if you are using the TFT screen to take shots, there is a "gas gauge" showing you how full the memory buffer is as you are shooting.

I simply can't express how happy these faster response time made me, especially at this price. I was so unhappy with the D460's sluggishness that I was about to buy the $900 Olympus C3030. Similar to the C3030, the D490 also can take QuickTime movies (though much shorter ones). Another nice D490 feature is that you can erase all photos off a card while the card is still in the camera, instead of having to do the erasing on your computer (I often forget to erase after downloading to the computer, put the media card back in and find it still full when I want to take more pictures).

While the D490 lacks the C3030's B&W options it does have the two more important features - the QuickTime movies and the burst shooting (both admittedly not as good as the C3030, but likely good enough for most of us). Beyond the $400 saving, the D490 still retains a much smaller footprint; it can easily slip into a pants or shirt pocket.

As for the enhancement from 1.3 to 2.1 megapixels (D460 vs D490), I can't really tell much difference. I took two identical shots both "HQ" mode, printed them 4x6 on my HP970Cxi; they look the same. Currently the D490 is about $100 more than the D460. I would say the "burst" shooting alone is easily worth the extra money. Go and get one! Shoot happy!


Great Camera.   September 10, 2000
Martin Schultz (Media, PA USA)
234 out of 238 found this review helpful

I almost took a point off because this camera doesn't have a USB port, but I found a SanDisk USB card reader locally for $40. Amazon didn't sell this reader at the time I write this. The card reader is a necessity, a full 16MB card will take about 20 seconds to transfer with the reader, using the serial port you can go have lunch or something while it downloads. NiMH batteries are also a necessity, for the price of a few lithium batteries you can get 8 NiMH batteries and a charger, that way you can always have a set charged up.

Image quality is excellent. I was looking at the C3030 and couldn't see spending that much for a few extra features and another million pixels. Unless you plan on printing out 8x10 prints the extra resolution isn't needed, use the extra money on accessories. Printing the D490 HQ images at 3x5 inches they look as good as 35mm prints. I have run several tests shooting the same image using all the modes of the camera and found the best mode to use is normal HQ, under certain conditions SHQ will give you better color reproduction and slightly sharper edges. The SHQ-TIFF mode images are huge and I have yet to see any difference between it and SHQ mode, even in macro mode with a complex object the images look the same. As for the soft setting and the digital zoom, you are better off taking a normal HQ image and using software on the computer to soften or resize.

The QuickTime movie feature is fun to play with, kinda like having an old 8mm movie camera. I like the fact that you have to raise the flash manually, if you don't want to use the flash you know it's off when it's down. That's better than having to find a button and look at a display to tell if you've turned it off.

The size, price, and image quality make this a great camera to have.


D-490 camedia   August 23, 2000
116 out of 119 found this review helpful

After purchasing the D490, I found this camera extremely easy to operate and to be the best digital camera for this price, that not only takes still shots, but also MPEG movies. Depending on the quality of picture you require, you can store hundreds of picture on the 32mb smartcard, which I purchased in addition to the 8mb card included in the package. 60 second MPEG movies can be recorded and played back with ease. There is an abundance of flash, editing and viewing features on the camera. The D490 is lightweight (in fact, most of the weight is the batteries) and easy to use, although on the downside, I find that the manually operated shutter closing mechanism to be slightly awkward as the lens has to retract fully before the shutter can close completely. Also, the flash has to be opened manually, and I found it to be a bit fragile, and was always worried that I might just pull it off accidentally.


Fantastic! Best Price/Performance Tradeoff Out There!   August 22, 2000
wcc2 (Washington DC)
67 out of 69 found this review helpful

I upgraded from the Olympus D460Zoom to the D490Zoom. The D460 is a fine camera - I was generally very pleased with it. But having owned the D460Zoom for six months, I found two major faults. First, the "boot-up time" (how quickly after you turn the camera on that it is ready to shoot) and the lack of "burst" shooting (the ability to take one shot quickly after another). These two faults lead to frustration when trying to take any type of action photos with the D460. You see the action emerging, but the camera is still booting up; you take a shot, but the action gets better and you want to take another but the D460 says "not yet" because it is still writing the first photo to the media. Infuriating.

The D490 addresses each of these problems beautifully. Boot up time is about 20% faster. Timing both of my cameras side-by-side, the D490 is faster (1.1 seconds versus 1.3 seconds, in five trials using the same 32Mb media cards). More important than boot up time is burst shooting. The D490 has a RAM buffer that allows you to take about 1 shot per second in the "HQ" mode (2.1 megapixels with JPEG compression). The D460 requires about 2.5 seconds between shoots in the same "HQ" mode (but the resolution is 1.3 megapixels). Also nifty if you are using the TFT screen to take shots, there is a "gas gauge" showing you how full the memory buffer is as you are shooting.

I simply can't express how happy these faster response time made me, especially at this price. I was so unhappy with the D460's sluggishness that I was about to buy the $900 Olympus C3030. Similar to the C3030, the D490 also can take QuickTime movies (though much shorter ones). Another nice D490 feature is that you can erase all photos off a card while the card is still in the camera, instead of having to do the erasing on your computer (I often forget to erase after downloading to the computer, put the media card back in and find it still full when I want to take more pictures).

While the D490 lacks the C3030's B&W options it does have the two more important features - the QuickTime movies and the burst shooting (both admittedly not as good as the C3030, but likely good enough for most of us). Beyond the $400 saving, the D490 still retains a much smaller footprint; it can easily slip into a pants or shirt pocket.

As for the enhancement from 1.3 to 2.1 megapixels (D460 vs D490), I can't really tell much difference. I took two identical shots both "HQ" mode, printed them 4x6 on my HP970Cxi; they look the same. Currently the D490 is about $100 more than the D460. I would say the "burst" shooting alone is easily worth the extra money. Go and get one! Shoot happy!


Unbelievable Clarity and ease of use!   January 9, 2001
M. Elaine (United States)
49 out of 49 found this review helpful

I received the Olympus D-490 Zoom camera three days ago. Out of the box I was taking still and movie pictures within about ten minutes. Not only is the camera extremely easy to use, but the manual does a great job of explaining the features and functions with minimal confusion. The only exception here is that I didn't find information in the manual on how to switch to the SQ-HIGH and SHQ-TIFF modes. I later found out that to switch to the latter, the user must hold the "up" arrow for two seconds. I still haven't figured out how to access the SQ-HIGH.

Quality wise, the D-490 Zoom takes crystal clear and colorful images, capturing details that my Olympus film camera couldn't possibly match. The zoom features allow the user to take close-up shots of subjects quite a distance away, while the macro feature allows true close-ups from as little as four or five inches away.

My comments about specific features are:

1. The built-in multi-mode flash does an excellent job of balancing degrees of light on and around the photo subject. 2. The red-eye and slow-synch features, combined with the 12-second timer resulted in a warm close-up self-portrait that makes it hard to believe no one was holding the camera! 3. The LCD screen is clear and true to actual color, giving the viewer a good idea of what the actual image will look like. 4. The clarity of the images that I downloaded were extremely clean, even at the mid-setting (HQ and SHQ).

The only real downside I found to the Olympus D-490 Zoom is that downloading images to the computer using the serial cable is VERY slow. I had read and heard this, but until I downloaded the images myself, I hadn't realized just how slow. Still, once the download was complete, the resulting images made up for the wait.

The Olympus D-490 Zoom is overall a wonderful camera, far exceeding my expectations, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a quality digital camera. I would suggest, however, purchasing at least a 32MB memory card, as well as the USB card reader. With the 32MB card, you shouldn't have to worry about running out of image space, and the USB card reader will allow you transfer/download images at about 1MB per second.