Olympus D-500L

Opinion: Bought mine new in the UK back in 1998 for £ 599.00. It was my first digital camera. I just loved it because of its SLR style and practicality. I still have it, keeping it just as a memorabilia.

Opinion: This was an excellent camera in its day. Less than one megapixel, but the color was
so great that you didn't notice. My first digital camera, I recall it cost around $900
when purchased new! It went around the world with me, got dropped to the
pavement, and never broke. Never hiccuped. Still works after all these years!

Opinion: This was my first digital camera I have owned OM2 and OM2s film models in my photo business for years so know the Olympus brand and quality. I got thiis camera in 1999 and it still works and I use it on occasion. it's only 850,000 pixels but its good for web shots and snapshots my sons use it from time to time. I have had no problems with it.

Opinion: Very hard to give an objective view of this by today's standards (this camera is the US version of my old C-1000L). For example the ease of use, well when you have a serial port link to the PC that works when it can be bothered it's not really that easy to use. It's also not too easy when the thing won't focus lock on anything in less than bright sunlight.

Construction, plastic all over, enough said. Image quality, again looking back at the pictures and by todays standard, they're pixelated and beaten by pretty much any new camera at any price.

To top it all it also eats batteries like a cow eats grass, and there are four of them. The motors sound rougher than a dilapidated Yugo engine, and it's big/heavy.

In fact it's only saving grace is the true SLR like way you look through the actual lens, not a tiny viewfinder or electronic viewfinder like pretty much every new digital camera. It also has quite a number of features if I recall.

On the whole you're better off buying a tiny £100 1.2 mega pixel camera, better in every respect except lack of zoom. All in my humble opinion.

Opinion: I've owned this for a year. By today's standards, this camera is obsolete (sells today for about $100) but certainly not without it's usefulness! This "see through the lens" camera is great for what I use it for.. a web page camera. It is also good for a trainer if you want to get experience with your 1st digital. My wife and children use it. I can't say enought praise for the camera. It has been durable and the 3X optical zoom is handy. I rated "features" as a 3 because todays cameras are more sophisticated not because I felt the original design was deficient. This camera has a good sensor speed (ISO 180) and a good zoom range. The 5X7 prints are acceptable but I wouldn't choose an 8X10 print size. NiMH battery life is good. Alkaline batteries are inadequate for this camera. Finally, the camera configuration methods take some getting used to. There is a learning curve to it. I'd buy it again if I were just getting into web work again. I still use the camera even though I have purchased a more sophisticated digicam. I needed more pixels and more zoom.

Opinion: This thing is like a tank. Had mine for about 4 years now (bought it as a refurb), and NO problems with it at all. Image quality is average by todays standards, but will be ok for snapshots for web and small prints, email, etc.

Opinion: Had mine for about 5 years and not a bit of trouble. Bought it
new and have used it for thousands of photos, mostly for the
Web. I'd use it forever it it had athe ability to either manually
focus, or if it had a light assisted focus (like the new Canon
G2s), Wish it permitted higher resolution images and the use
of the larger 128 mb Smartcards, But have been very happy
with it. Am looking at an upgrade and Olympus is on the top of
the list because i also use a C2000 at work and am also very
pleased with it.

Opinion: I've had my D-500 for about a year and love it. I did some research before buying it as it was my first step into digital photography. Yes, compared to some of todays digital heavyweights it is a non-contender. But comparing the D-500 to other digital cameras of the same era and you'll see how advanced this camera actually is. I have a point and shoot 35mm and for Christmas purchased a new HP camera for my wife. I may purchase another digital in the future, but this has been my first choice each time I just grab a camera. I love it's bulk, it "feels" more like a "real" camera when you pick it up.

Opinion: I used one of these cameras for a couple of years. It cost me £300. It consistently produced excellent results. The lens seems to be top quality and I liked the optical viewfinder. Exposure compensation was a useful feature. Whewn teamed with the little dye sub printer it produced super 6x4 instant prints. The only downside is there are no manual controls. Great camera for web use or smallish prints although I have been satisfied with 8x6 prints from this camera.