dkozin's Full Review: Olympus Camedia D-595 Digital Camera
Having had a generally positive experience with previous cameras of the Olympus D line, I decided to check out the Olympus Camedia D-595 Zoom. I bought it for $168, which is about the price it usually sells for.
The photos of the camera and sample pictures I took using my D-595 are available at the address below (you can copy and paste it into your browser's address area):
The Olympus Camedia D595 Zoom is an inexpensive 5-Megapixel digital camera with a 3x optical zoom, 15 scene modes, auto and manual modes, a 1.8-inch LCD screen, powered by two AA-type batteries (disposable or rechargeable).
The camera stores pictures on an xD-Picture memory card, has 14 MB of built-in memory and features USB 2.0 (full speed) connection to PC and Mac computers.
Two Reviews
I will provide two reviews below. The first one (short version) will be targeted to people who don't want to read through multiple pages of text to figure out if the camera has what they want and if it performs well. It is targeted to a casual user rather than somebody who cares about the small details.
The second version will contain the description of the more advanced aspects for those who are interested in them. By separating this information, I hope to avoid boring casual shooters to death with information about things they might not need.
Short Review
The 5-Megapixel D595 looks rather good and is sturdy. It has good fit and finish and controls with good tactile response. The camera has a built-in motorized lens cover. The lens cover opens and the lens extends when the camera is powered on. When the camera is powered off, the lens retracts and lens cover closes. The startup time is only about 2 seconds.
The camera has an on/off button on the top deck as well as a larger shutter release button. The bottom of the camera has a xD-Picture memory card compartment lid as well as a tripod mount. The side has a battery compartment lid (uses 2 AA batteries). I used a couple of Panasonic 1600 mAh NiMH rechargeable batteries for my testing.
The rear houses a 1.8-inch LCD monitor, optical viewfinder, rotating mode dial, control buttons and a zoom buttons. The side of the camera also has a rubber lid that covers a USB and A/V ports.
The camera is very easy to use. I have not read the manual (I have not even opened it), but was able to use the camera and all its features in no time. The camera can be used by any member of the family and by photographers of all levels of expertise from novices to advanced ones (in manual mode).
The D-595 comes pre-set to Auto mode (the round dial is in Auto position). Once first powered on, the camera offers you to set the time and date.
You do not have to do anything other than point and shoot - the camera takes care of the rest. You press the shutter release button halfway to make camera focus and then you take the picture by pressing the shutter release button all the way.
You zoom in and out by using zoom buttons in the upper part of the back panel. The camera has an optical zooming viewfinder and a 1.8-inch LCD screen that is accurate, fluid and can be turned off through the menu to save battery power. The screen has good visibility in sunlight and features bright menus and legible icons.
Unlike most cameras I have seen, the D-595 uses two buttons to switch between shooting and review modes. I like this arrangement a lot as there is no need to flip or rotate a mechanical switch to quickly switch from shooting to reviewing what you shot. And in the review mode, if you touch the shutter release button lightly, the camera quickly switches to the shooting mode.
The camera has easy-to-use menus and shows you descriptions for its modes for several seconds, once the mode is selected or the camera is powered on. The menu system gives you quick access to the resolution selection as well.
If you want more control than what the automatic mode provides, you can select one of the scene modes (Portrait, Landscape, Portrait+Lanscape, Beach, etc.). You can also select the Program mode, where you can use the exposure compensation to make your pictures brighter or darker. And for even more control, you can select Manual mode (marked M on the dial), in which you can select aperture and shutter speed.
The camera features auto and selectable ISO (50-400), auto or selectable white balance (tungsten, daylight, cloudy, and more with custom setting using a grey card), exposure compensation, metering mode selection (ESP, spot), color and picture effects, etc.
The first thing you might want to do is go to the menu and set the option called "Reset All" to OFF. Otherwise, every time the camera is turned off, it will reset all parameters that you changed. For example, if you enable noise reduction and turn the camera off, the NR will be disabled the next time, unless you set the Reset All option to off.
Resolution Modes: The camera offers you a choice of four shooting modes/resolutions. The highest quality is provided by the 2560x1920 SHQ (high quality) mode, in which the file size is about 2.5 Megabytes. The HQ mode has the same resolution, but higher compression, resulting in pretty small file size of about 800 K. The other modes are 1600x1200 SQ1 and 640x480 SQ2.
Speed of Operation: The camera is reasonably fast in operation. It takes about 2 seconds to power itself on. In single-frame mode, the camera could snap pictures at about one a second. Slower focusing in the dark made the speed a little slower. The focusing takes less than a second (provided the light is adequate) and the shutter lag, when prefocused, is very short, perhaps 0.1-0.2 sec. The zooming is pretty slow, but smooth and lets you fine-tune your composition, featuring 12 steps along its 2x zoom range.
The D595 can capture images at about 1 per second in burst mode. The SHQ mode is disabled if you select the burst mode in the menu. In HQ mode I was able to take 5 photos in about as many seconds and then it took camera about 6 seconds to write them to the memory (I used the built-in memory for testing). During that time, I was not able to do anything, even zoom. This is pretty normal.
In SQ1 burst mode, I was able to capture about 13 images in a row within about 7 seconds and in SQ2 mode I had to stop pressing the shutter release button, because camera seemed to be able to capture images with no limit.
The camera has no focus assist light for low light focusing, but still focus well in averagely-lit indoors, just slower.
The built-in 14 MB of memory can fit about 11-15 photos in the HQ mode, which is the mode I used the most.
Battery: The battery indicator shows you the battery status. The fully charged 1600 NiMH batteries let me take more than 50 photos while showing no signs of being even partially discharged. And you can turn the LCD backlight off to conserve the battery power.
Flash: The flash is medium for the camera of this size and has a range of about 12 feet. It has a recycle time of only about 4-5 seconds. Rather fast for the camera of this size.
The flash mode can be selected by pushing the dedicated button on the rear panel, the macro mode can be selected by using the other dedicated button. The flash has a selectable red-eye reduction mode.
In its red-eye reduction mode, the camera emits a series of bright annoying flashes before pause, a pre-flash and the actual flash. This delays the picture-taking after the shutter release button is pressed.
Picture Quality: The camera produces very good photos with well-exposed, sharp, contrasty and richly-colored images (see the samples at http://www.review-shop.com/Olympus_D595/Olympus_D595_Samples_1.html). In fact, the photos are very sharp, almost too sharp and there is no sharpness adjustment. The result of this is some roughness to the 5-megapixel images when viewed at full resolution on the computer screen (pixel per pixel), which can be perceived as over-sharpening combined with luminance channel noise and too much local contrast.
But guess what, it works extremely well when printed. The printed images look sharp, contrasty and have very pleasing colors. I especially like the cloud texture and the sky color. Olympus seems to have been using techniques that make photos very appealing. The skies look deep blue, the grass is green and the small detail is visible.
The optics is good too. The photos are sharp from corner to corner. Overall, the lens produces sharp results at all zoom levels and has an impressive 3x optical zoom range.
Computer Connectivity: The computer connectivity was a pleasant surprise. Not only the camera required no driver installation on my Windows 2000 SP4 computer, it powered itself on once the USB cable was connected (other cameras I dealt with require you to turn them on manually) and let me copy files at about 900 KB per second, which is pretty good speed. The camera uses USB 2.0 full speed, which means that it is compatible with both USB 2.0 and USB 1.1, but transfers data at about USB 1.1 speed.
Estimated Durability: The camera seems to be well built from durable materials and should be durable.
Recommendation: I highly recommend the Olympus D-595 if you want an inexpensive, yet capable 5-Megapixel digital camera that is a pleasure to use and produces excellent photos with print sizes of up 11x14 inches.
Alternatives: A good alternative is Canon PowerShot A520. At 4 Megapixls, it has slightly less resolution, but features 4x optical zoom, real selectable aperture, manual focusing, aperture and shutter priority modes and uses SD memory cards, that are quickly becoming a de-facto standard.
Full Review
Features and Specifications
- 5.0-megapixel CCD captures enough detail for photo-quality 13 x 17-inch prints
- 3x optical zoom; 1.8-inch color LCD monitor; 14MB internal memory
- Powered by 2 AA-size batteries (included); stores images on xD-Picture Cards
- 19 selectable shooting modes (includes QuickTime Movie Mode with audio and manual still-photo functions)
- In-camera Help Guide with shooting mode samples and descriptions
- CCD Imager: 5.0 megapixel effective, 5.0 megapixel gross, 1/2.5 inch CCD
- Lens: 6.3 to 18.9 millimeters (38 to 114 equivalent in 35mm photography), 6 lenses in 5 groups including 3 aspherical elements
- Seamless digital zoom: Seamless to 12x (3x optical and 4x digital combined)
- Aperture range: F2.8 to F4.9 (adjustable in 1/3 EV steps)
- Shutter speeds: 1/2000 to 15 seconds
- ISO: Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400 (equivalent)
- Recording modes: Still Image: DCF standard JPEG, PIM III. Movie mode: DCF standard QuickTime motion JPEG
- Adjustable resolutions (still): 2560 x 1920, SHQ high/HQ normal; 1600 x 1200, SQ1 normal; 640 x 480, SQ2 normal
- Image Adjustment Modes: Still image: frame integration. Movie: frame edit, frame index, frame capture
- Image effects: Black and white, sepia/two-in-one
- Panorama: Up to 10 frames automatically stitchable with Olympus master software when using Olympus brand xD-Picture card
- Sequence: 1.2 frames per second up to 5 frames
- LCD: 1.8 inch Color TFT, approxinately 85,000 pixels
- Focusing system: TTL contrast detection
- Focusing ranges: Normal Mode: 19.7 inches (0.5 meters) to infinity. Macro mode: 7.9 inches (0.2 meters) to infinity. Super macro mode: 0.8 inches (20 millimeters)
- Exposure control: Plus or minus 2 EV steps in 1/3 EV steps
- Metering system: Digital ESP, spot
- Flash modes: Auto (for low light and backlit conditions), red-eye reduction, fill-in, off
- Flash working range: Wide: 12.5 feet (3.8 meters); Tele 7.2 feet (2.2 meters)
- Removable media card: xD-Picture card (16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512MB and 1GB)
- Selftimer/remote: 12 seconds/auto
- Settings memorization: On/off (hold changes/reset to default settings)
- Outer connectors: USB connecter (auto-Connect), audio/video and DC input
- Auto-connect USB: 2.0 full speed
- Image Playback: Still image: index display, Up to 5x enlargement, slide show, scene rotation. Movie: normal, reverse, frame-by-frame
- Power supply: 2 AA batteries, lithium (CR-V3), AC adapter
- Date/time calendar: Simultaneous recording into image data, automatic up to 2099
- Size W x H x D (excluding protusions): 4.1 x 2.4 x 1.4 inches (104.5 x 60.5 x 36.2 millimeters)
- Weight: 5.3 ounces (150 grams) without battery and media card
Macro: The camera also has a 2 Macro modes: Macro and Super Macro. In super Macro, you cannot use flash, but it lets you take pictures very close (I took a couple of shots at about 2 inches from the subject). The Macro mode doesn't focus as close, but lets you use the flash and the flash creates no shadows in the picture, unlike some other small cameras I tried.
The camera has auto or selectable sensitivity (ISO 50-400). The image noise is slight at the ISO 50-100 in the shadows, gets more pronounced at ISO 200 and gets rather bothersome at ISO 400. Still, if you are printing 6x4 or 5x7 pictures, the noise should not be visible at all and will only be slightly visible at ISO 400 with larger prints. With 5-megapixel shots, you can print your photos at up to 11x14 inches with good detail (ISO 50-200).
The camera has no orientation sensor, which means you either have to rotate the vertical images in camera or they will appear sideways when viewed on the computer screen. Also, it uses a two-step aperture with only two values for any given focal length, which was no concern to me.
In manual mode, you can select shutter speeds from 1/2,000 to 15 seconds and the camera lets you set the noise reduction on/off setting in the menu so that it is applicable to all shutter speeds. The aperture is also selectable in this mode, but you only get to choose between two settings for any given focal length, e.g. f2.8 or f4 at wide angle.
The camera uses a two-step type aperture with no fine control over aperture. The camera lets you control the aperture and the shutter speed in the Manual mode, but you only get two aperture values per any focal length. This is typical for a compact camera, but some cameras of this size (e.g. Canon A520) offer real apertures, albeit at higher prices and/or having smaller resolution.
You can use the exposure compensation in the Program mode and it comes in handy in some situations. There are a bunch of scene modes as well, which help the camera tweak the focusing and exposure settings according to the type of scene.
Manual Focusing
The camera does not have manual focusing.
More on Image Quality
The camera produces contrasty photos that have a pleasing very colors with slight oversaturation (by default) and high sharpness. The dynamic range of the photos seems to be slightly limited, but I consider it very good. I found some chromatic aberration (purple fringing) in the areas of high contrast, but nothing too bad.
The HQ mode features rather high compression and that shows as small artifacts here and there when displayed on the computer screen at pixel-per-pixel resolution (100%). But they are invisible when printed at 6x4 size. Overall, I suggest that you avoid suing the HQ mode, unless you have to.
White Balance
The camera's automatic white balance worked pretty well. The white balance presets were good, including the incandescent/tungsten setting. The camera has custom white balance setting as well and it worked well.
Camera Sounds
The camera itself is rather quiet in operation. You can customize the sounds it makes through its speaker and their volume (two steps of volume).
Build Quality and Ergonomics
The camera has a solid feel and good build quality. It is not as tough as Canon Digital ELPH series, but is comparable to the Canon A520 or A510. The major controls are within easy reach and the tactile response is good. I found the menus easy to use and liked the button based shoot/review mode selection a lot.
Tripod Mount
The camera a tripod mount which comes in handy at long exposures. The camera lets you select exposures up to 15 seconds long.
Menu System
I have not read the manual, yet was able to use the camera in all modes. I find the menus easy to use and I like them better than Sony's and comparable to Canon menus.
LCD
The 1.8-inch non-articulated (fixed) LCD screen is bright and gains up in low light. The LCD coverage as about 100% - you can see exactly what will be recorded. The LCD is bright, fluid, has good visibility in sunlight or darkness and very good resolution.
Video Mode
The camera offers you a choice of 320x240 30 fps or 15fps. There is no VGA-resolution mode. I tried the 30 fps mode and found the images fluid, but I couldn't zoom during shooting and there was noise present in the darker indoor scenes. Overall, the video mode proved usable, but not very exciting.
Computer Connectivity
The camera uses USB 2.0 Full-Speed connection to transfer pictures to a computer. I used the camera with the USB cable supplied. I had no need to install the drivers and clocked about 0.8-0.9 MB per second. I did not use the software that was provided with the camera since I have Adobe Photoshop CS2.
Comparison to Canon A520
The A520 has slightly more features and modes. It uses real variable aperture, has manual focus and has 4x optical zoom vs. 3x of this D-595. It also uses more widespread SD memory cards. But it is more expensive and has 4-megapixel resolution. Both use 2 AA batteries.
Bottom Line
I highly recommend the Olympus D-595 if you want an inexpensive, yet capable 5-Megapixel digital camera that is a pleasure to use and produces excellent photos with print sizes of up 11x14 inches.
A good alternative is Canon PowerShot A520. At 4 Megapixls, it has slightly less resolution, but features 4x optical zoom, real selectable aperture, manual focusing, aperture and shutter priority modes and uses SD memory cards, that are quickly becoming a de-facto standard.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
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