I have an Olympus Z-3040 and I love it. You will hear a lot of people tout the Nikon 990 as the best camera out there, but the Olympus consistently slightly edges out the Nikon in tests that I have found. This is not to say that the Nikon is not an excellent camera, because it is and you should check it out. However, don't disregard the Olympus.
The Nikon seems to have better macro capabilities than the Olympus, which can be advantageous for taking pictures of your corals. However, there is an undocumented 'trick' that will get some decent macro pics with the Olympus. Here is an example of what I have been able to do with the Olympus:
There are more pics at
http://home.triad.rr.com/mathes/Reef.htm if you are interested.
The Nikon 990 has a problem with red eye on normal pictures. This is because the lens is too close to the flash. From the reviews I have read, even on red-eye reduction, you will have red eye problems. Personally, I didn't want to have to fix every picture I took. However, I understand that they just released a new version, the Nikon 995, which resolves this problem. They have moved the flash so it is not so close to the lens.
The Olympus has a faster lens, which allows you to take pictures in lower light conditions, or allows you to stop action better. The lens opens to f1.8 (keep in mind your depth of field will be small at this aperature, but it may be usefull for you.)
Probably the best feature of the Nikon over the Olympus is that the Nikon uses Compact Flash memory and the Olympus uses Smart Media. This is advantageous because the compact flash memory seems to be becoming more universal than smart media. For example, some PDAs are starting to allow you to plug compact flash into them.
If you are going to use your camera to take some short movies, the Olympus captures sound with the movies. The Nikon does not.
There are a few other things, but these are the main differences that I have found. The only other thing that I wanted to mention is that I like the 'feel' of the Olympus better. I like to have a camera that feels like a typical point & shoot. IMHO, I found the Nikon to feel awkward.
Check out the following review. Specifically scroll down to see the red eye comparison (although the guys eyes are a little creepy
):
http://www.dcresource.com/specials/C3030Z_vs_CP990/index3.html
Check out this link for the cheapest places on the net.
http://shopper.cnet.com/shopping/resellers/0-11326-311-5089705.html?tag=st.sh.sr. mp.pr5089705
Be very carefull. I ran into problems with buying from a company that had a horrible reputation and eventually went under. It was a nightmare, but I got my money back. Check out this link before buying anything, especially from a NY/NJ based company.
http://www.resellerratings.com
I'll reiterate what some previous posts say.
Dbuys.com is a great place to buy a camera from. They have great prices and helpfull/low to no pressure sales. That reminds me, don't buy accessories from these places with low camera prices. They are usually overpriced. They reel you in on cheap camera prices & get you with the accessories. You will need rechargeable nickel metal hydride batteries. You can get them and a charger cheaper locally at a Wal-Mart, etc.,etc. Just make sure you buy 1600mAh batteries. They will last longer.
Visit
http://www.dpreview.com for additional research. It is a great resource. Check out their forums for brand specific discussions. BTW, if you post a question in the printer forum, everyone will tell you to buy an Epson. If you are looking at printers, consider HP, also. The board is heavily slanted toward Epson, but that's another topic....
Also, check out
http://www.steves-digicams.com
Finally, Olympus has recently come out with a 4 megapixel camera. It is the Z-4040. I do not know much about it, but reckon 4mp is overkill???
Anyway, sorry for rambling.
Feel free to email me with any ???? at
[email protected]. Of course, take out the DONTSPAM.
HTH...Regards,
Chris
[ August 04, 2001: Message edited by: ReefQuest ]
