A Great Starter Camera (Olympus Camedia C-220 Zoom)

Member Name: Secret Squirrel

Product:	Olympus Camedia C-220 Zoom
Date:	29/11/05 (153 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to use and intitive controls

Disadvantages: Now a little dated and restricted in resolution

I bought my C220 with one single purpose in mind - ebay photos. During my first summer on eBay I had been managing quite well with a £10 ebay cheapie - a sub 1mp camera with no flash. But as nights drew in and available light became scarce, I had to upgrade.

I chose the C220 on price - at the time the package was a good buy at £250. I see now the auctions on ebay linked by dooyoo are sub £10 with no bids so for a general purpose digital snap camera with useful half-decent zoom the secondhand buyer could grab a useful bit of everyday kit for peanuts.

So how did it perform?

As a compact digital, the C220 suffered from the faults that all compacts suffer from - direct over-the-lens flash. The camera however did cope decently with close up shots using the macro function - although to get best results when flash was to be used a little care in choosing and setting up a backdrop was needed - and some after-shot work on levels was required in photoshop.

For holiday snaps the camera was absolutely faultless. Daytime outdoor photos in half-decent light came out fine, untampered with in any photo editor. Outdoor night shots? Best forget it.

The optical zoom is fine - again for snaps. Olympus also provide a digital zoom which seemed a plus point over similar models at the time. My advice would be to ignore the function altogether. There are freeware photo editing applications which will do the job of zooming in a picture afterwards to better effect - but if you prefer not to use them and only want snapshot photos, then I suppose the feature is there if you need it. So a half-plus point for the optical zoom then.

I'm still using the camera today - it's not the smallest of things but it fits into a pocket without too much aggro (rounded edges would have been nicer though for those "jump in the car with the camera still in your pocket" moments - ouch!) Although I'm lucky to have access to a far superior digital SLR through my employer so a little spoilt now - I still carry my C220 with me and I will until it finally gives up on me.

Hopefully this review will not be the kiss of death for the camera but I see no reason why it shouldn't last a good few years longer. The build quality is very good - the construction sturdy enough to take a few knocks. A minor niggle is the way the flash automatically pops up out of the side of the housing upon opening the lens cover - but has to be pushed back manually. Niggly I know, but if any accidental damage is ever going to befall one of these cameras, then thios is where I see the damage occuring.

I don't even know if these cameras are still available new - but enough were sold to mean there are always a few on the secondhand market. For anyone wanting a first step into digital (or a cheap upgrade from the bundled freebie keyring cameras that tend to be foisted upon new PC buyers as some kind of worthwhile extra) or needs a basic digital which handles most snapshot condition lighting - or even a cheapie camera for pubs, clubs or parties where damage doesn't matter - for the price a second used C220 would be a far better buy than a brand new cheapie. If this is what you require - get yourself on ebay and bag a useful, if a little utilitarian, camera.

Summary: Useful if utilitarian, well performing, and a cheap second-user bargain

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