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 I moved on to an Olympus Camedia C-40 Zoom (called a D-40 in the States), which has 4 million pixels but is even smaller than the Fuji. It produces really good quality pictures, and has a much more comprehensive range of controls - but at the cost of being quite complicated to learn, and the 2.8x zoom is only the equivalent of a 35-98mm 35mm lens. However, because of all the pixels, it's usually possible to enlarge a relatively small part of the image, so I'm really pleased with it. They should have included a battery charger, though, as battery life is extremely limited. This is the camera I use now. The weakest part of the design is the lens cover that you have to press against the lens to shut the camera down. In its 9th month, the lens jammed open and had to be returned for repair under guarantee. It was a month before I got it back. Digital cameras, it must be admitted, seem very prone to faults like this. (PG)
Another view of the Olympus Camedia C-40 (D-40) Zoom: My brief comments on this camera. I selected it out of a comparative recent review of 19 digital semi-pro cameras in PC Plus. Many were too simplistic, other too expensive: this one seemed ideal and the price here high but reasonable. Having been a professional 35mm photographer long time ago, and accustomed to deal and manage digital photos in my PC, I can say with confidence that this, in spite of its apparent fragility (especially the lens) is a very good camera. The instant USB connection/disconnection to PC is fast and flawless. The picture taking is quite fast. The pictures are very good, though the auto color temperature and exposure is sometimes weak, but anyway can almost always be corrected with adequate editing(e.g. Photoshop).
Having read lenghty reviews, your short statement really pinpoints its main strengths - lots - and weaknesses:
1. very short battery life
2. VERY complicated to learn. I am a scientist by training, a computer programmer and also PC technician, a Flight Simulator buff, accustomed to very complicated stuff, still I had to rewrite a better manual for myself, and I carry on a sheet stating WHAT controls are available for each mode!
Further weaknesses I find:
3. no filters available: there is no filter mounting, but a filter with some
felt inside the ring could be fitted: I am thinking of a strong UV for mountain and, mainly, a Polarizer filter (indispensable in many landscapes). I will chase for an old small filter and fit in myself perhaps.
4. no other optical accessories available nor can they be mounted: e.g. a teleextender.
5. no way to fit any protection over the tiny color display, easy to soil and even damage with fingers/nails
6. the limit of 128Mb memory card is a bit low nowadays. Soon there will be larger unexpensive cards, and this machine will not be able to use them. (Claudio Di Veroli, Bray, Co.Wicklow (just south of Dublin) Ireland)
Yes, the Smart Media card is to be replaced by the smaller but potentially more powerful XD Card. The two formats are (you've guessed it!) incompatible but both systems will co-exist for some time. (PG)
Good news. You CAN fit filters into the C-40ZOOM, e.g. the most useful Polarizing filter (needed not just to eliminate reflections from flat surfaces, but also to clean-up the misty appearance in mountain landscapes). You only need some ability with hand tools. Here is how.
1. Through Ebay or other similar places, purchase a second-hand 30.5 mm screw-in filter. (Brand new ones may not be more expensive, but are quite difficult to find). I paid some $10 for my Bower Polarizing filter.
2. Take a typical black soft-plastic cylindrical box of a 35mm negative film.
3. Mark it all around at about 1/2 in. from the bottom.
4. Mark it also at about 7/8 in. from the bottom.
5. With a cutter, cut around both marks as carefully as you can. You will get a wide plastic ring, very slightly conical, about 3/8 in. wide.
6. With dusting paper, finish the cut borders so that they are parallel, i.e. the ring has even width.
7. With the cutter, eliminate all residuals from the dusting.
8. Now try and screw the filter on the narrow opening. It will NOT fit by simply screwing it: you will need to apply quite a lot of pressure upon a table.
9. The filter will remain very solidly attached to the plastic ring, which is OK because you will never remove it. Due to the pressure, the ring will reverse its
conical shape: now the free opening has the same diameter or is even slightly smaller!
10. Have some autoadhesive thin felt lining material. Cut it to shape and line the internal of the plastic ring.
11. Now take the C-40Zoom camera and slide open the lens barrier.
12. The ring should fit snugly but firmly around the lens.
13. If the filter was a polarizing one, the outer part of the filter will be free to rotate in order to change the polarizing angle. The effect is seen very clearly in the LCD monitor (though obviously not in the viewfinder). In none of the zoom settings have I noticed any "vignetting" due to the filter's border.
14. Film 35mm reflex cameras need exposure correction when using a polarizing filter. Not the Olympus C-40Zoom. I tried it with and without the filter in all exposure modes: except in Manual exposure obviously - the exposure is flawlessly compensated. (Claudio Di Veroli from Bray, Rep.Ireland)
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 The Minolta Dynax 300si is an inexpensive fully automatic SLR with minimal manual overrides, suitable for someone who appreciates the hassle-free operation of a modern compact 35mm camera but would like the freedom to fit the wide range of lenses and flash units made by Minolta, as well as other companies such as Sigma, etc. It is out of production, but examples can easily be bought second-hand in good condition.
Anyone who has worked a modern compact would feel at home with the 300si. In addition to fully automatic operation, the usual portrait, landscape, macro, sports and night "creative modes" are available wherein the camera selects appropriate shutter speed and aperture settings for the subject matter at hand. You have the option to focus manually, but you won't find the shutter speed or aperture manual overrides featured on more complex SLRs. Some people may find this frustrating, but it suits me since it means that there are fewer things for me to get wrong! :-)
Other features familiar to compact users are also present, such as redeye reduction, a 10 second self-timer, continuous shooting, flash override and an optional date and time stamping facility. Ergonomically it is great, with its chunky grip making it easy to get a steady shot while discouraging fingers from straying where they shouldn't. The viewfinder is nice and bright, and the shutter button has a nice smooth feel to it. The 300si is also remarkably light for an SLR, and isn't excessively bulky.
I find myself well satisfied with my choice of equipment. Seriously arty photographers would no doubt prefer a model with manual shutter speed and aperture adjustment, but I like the fact that it allows me to concentrate on composition, leaving everything else to the electronics. As a means of recording scenes from my life and travels with minimum fuss and maximum lens choice, I find it ideal and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone with similar needs to my own. (Keith Harper)
It was Keith Harper who used my guest book to suggest this page. Many thanks!
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 My digital camera is a Canon PowerShot A20, 2.1 megapixels. It only came out a year or two ago but has already been superseded! However, there are plenty still to be found on the market, and so these notes (which also apply to many current “entry-level” digicams) may have some interest. I have found it great fun. On “automatic”, and in most situations, I get good pictures which can be printed and enlarged to a reasonable size before the “pixels” begin to show. It’s a money-saver because I can see what I’ve taken and can simply erase and try another shot until I'm satisfied – or give up!
And what makes me give up? Well… For people who have been used to playing with aperture and shutter speeds, the degree of control is fairly minimal. The A20’s film speed equivalent is only ISO 100 (the publicity forgets to tell you this) and the camera deals with most low-light conditions by firing a rather modest flash, which doesn’t always help a lot. An alternative is to switch the flash off, and you will then get a slow or very slow exposure time – o.k. if you can use a tripod, but otherwise… (On the A20 “exposure compensation” gives you another two stops and the camera then chooses a faster exposure - but you will have some work to do on picture enhancement to recover lost quality!)
The chief lesson I have learnt with my A20 is that it pays to be selective in choosing a subject and I have to be willing to forgo certain shots which are within the range of even a simple conventional point-and-shoot camera.
A few warnings… I hoped for needle-sharp pictures from my A20, but a little thought should have told me that for these I would need not 2 but 4, 5 or 6 megapixels and a deep purse. Of course you will already know that digicams eat batteries. But maybe you do not know that many digicams including the A20 produce some “barrel” or “pincushion” distortion. To correct these and give me faithful verticals and horizontals, I use the Panorama Tools freeware plugin for Photoshop. For a simple explanation of how to use this, it is worth consulting the relevant Digital Photo Review page. Fortunately, I can usually see such distortions in the LCD, so am forewarned.
And it pays to make oneself very familiar indeed with the handbook! Familiarity will come too late when you have used that marvellous erase function to get rid of an unsatisfactory shot only to find ( as I did, once) that you have also wiped everything else on the compact flash card! (“Protecting” a picture from erasure, like many of the other post-shooting options on the A20, is not straightforward!) But it’s a lovely camera to handle and I quickly became attached to it, for all its drawbacks! (Val Secretan)
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My first digital camera: a Fujifilm MX-1700. This particular model is no longer available, but it was meant to be one of the better budget-range cameras with 1.5 million pixels, and the equivalent of a 35mm 38-114mm optical zoom (digital zooms aren't much use!). I could (just) slip it into my pocket, and was very pleased with the results it produced. However, on several important occasions the lens cover jammed open, shut, or halfway between the two. Twice it had to go back to Fuji, so I was very glad I had an extended guarantee! (PG)
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