The C2500 is good if you plan to move from the snap-and-shot world towards some SLR features, the very basic ones. The camera as tradition from Olympus, produces outstanding pictures bearing in mind its sensor has got only 2.5 Megapixels. Do not expect miracles from that point of view, your prints will be of reasonable quality up to 6x4 inches, which might be fine for the average customer.
However, the main flaws become more evident when taking pictures in dim light conditions: Certainly you'll need the help of a tripod and it is a good point that the camera comes with a IR shutter releaser. But the autofocus in these conditions behaves very erratically and 9 out of 10 shots will end up in the bin anyway.
Also, do not expect a great speed response either: The camera is VERY slow for shooting and writing, although it has a decent buffer which works better with jpeg format since the files are smaller than in tiff (the only uncompressed file option this camera has). In fact, the speed can be even slower than nowadays snap and shot cameras available.
The good points are that the camera has a good white balance, which it is recommended to get used to because in some conditions you'll need to change the default settings to get better results. The fact that the camera operates with 4 AA size batteries is something to be considered as an advantage as well, since these batteries are relatively cheap and you'll need no more than 2 sets of 4 batteries to be covered in most conditions for a 2-day continuous use.
The viewfinder is optical, Through the lenses. It gives you more "sense of control" of the composition and focus, the camera hasn't got an electronic viewfinder (which it is not a good habit nonetheless). It has, rather, an electronic monitor where you can see your results but you can get fooled most of the times because you might think you've taken a good shot whereas the shot might be completely out of focus.
The above limitations leave you with a good camera for landscape, architecture and portrait photography in good light conditions. If you are an enthusiast of photography and you get a good deal, though, it is better if you consider all the possible options in the market for the same price, offering a more complete range of features.

I just opened the camera package last night, and within acouple of hours I was experimenting with most of the features of thecamera. When people talk of digital cameras they love to talk numbers, but who cares? It's what you can do with it that matters. I took a picture of a dark hallway with the flourecent bathroom lights on, and it looked like something out of The Shining. It was dark and foggy outside, but with the aperture full open, ISO 400, and the shutter open for 8 seconds I was able to take pictures of the buildings and night lights. The camera is so light I didn't have to use a stand (at 8 seconds you have to be as steady as a sharpshooter, though... be sure to hold our breath). Using the flash, with the spot metering and the aperture closed I was able to take a crisp, detailed picture of our dog in the midst of the night, doing dog things. With the multiple picture thing I took 5 pictures of my friend in a row waving his arms, and the sequence of where his arm is going is clear when viewing the 9 pictures at one time from the LCD. I'm also going to throw out my slow ... scanner, which I was using for sending faxes. I took a picture of a page from Webster's collegiate dictionary, and it was readable from the LCD!

Make no mistake, this is not a replacement for an analog camera. The casing and the interface feel like a cheap digital camera. I think, however, that in many ways this is better than an analog camera. You can do the things that are possible with an analog camera (except maybe for star trails), but with greater simplicity. And you get instant feedback.

If you are a journalist, claims investigator, or web publisher, and you have some basic knowledge of analog photography (...), this is definitely the camera for you. I recommend you get the ATA adapter so you won't have to mess with stupid cables or limited software.

Gotta go take some more pictures....

I love this this camera. The pictures quality is excellent. The ease of use is 5 star. It comes with 32Meg flash, it's good for 50 pictures. Has easy dial for auto, semi-auto and manual modes. I took 50 pictures first day I got it. All 50 were excellent quality, compare to my "old" sony PC1 digital video recorder. Down load to my portable is easy with compact flash, if you don't forget to put 2 batteries included with compact flash. Camera also comes with batteries, and recharger.

Overall excellent, 5Star I am very happy with it.

If your into computers and you'd like to integrate your photography into your computer world this is definitely the camera for you. If you already know how to use a 35mm SLR you'll find learning how to use most of this camera fairly easy. It has an auto mode that makes it possible for anybody to use and it has some manual modes that I've not yet totally conquered. It has enough pixels to blow your mind most of the time. You can't buy a monitor big enough to view the shots in SHQ mode all at one time with your browser.

You can change pixel density on the fly. You change the effective film speed in steps of 100, 200 and 400 ASA. You can vary your exposure plus or minus 2 fstops in 1/3 fstop increments. You can focus down to 0.8 inches and set it at infinity. You can get 150 or 200 shots out of a set of batteries. You can put on a slide show into a standard TV set right from your camera. You can take great remote control shots without even touching the camera or a cable. You can view your pictures on sight and zoom in to see quite good detail right on the camera. The controls are easy to use and and very ergonomically designed. You can delete pictures. You can transfer pictures from a smart media card to a compact flash card for extra storage. You can run off of AC power (I never do). The built flash works okay but the red eye feature sucks. You can use averaging or spot meter mode for exposure calculation.

It's really nice to have a laptop computer with a PCMCIA card in it. When you fill up a smart media card you can stick it into the PCMCIA card and the computer see's it as an extra drive on your machine with all of your JPEG files readily accessible. I normally put my laptop on my network and drag and drop all of the files on to a CD Burner in Adaptec mode. I've used the serial port adaptor but it's very slow and anybody who spent this much money for the camera probably wont tolerate such bad performance for long.

Don't spend all of your money buying this camera. Buy 3 sets of batteries. (3 hour charge time) and the PCMCIA card adapter (much faster and hot plugable). Get a CD Burner for your computer. I have a friend that has an HP for his laptop...He doesn't like. I have an HP and a Sony for two of my desktops and I like them both. I've had the camera for about 3 months now and I've taken about 2000 shots with it. I'm on my second CD. One day at work I spent the whole day taking pictures of old photographs on the wall to send to a guy at a trade show.

The CAMEDIA software is simple but very useful. It's good at renaming your shots in batch mode and it has a good browser mode for previewing new shots. The Adobe Photo deluxe is tolerable but slow. I've purchased Print Shot Pro and I like it a lot more. It's also good to have Image Robot and Smart Media Center as well (all from Jasc software). Smart Media Center has a feature that creates a HTML environment that allows you to create photo albums viewable totally by your browser. It's great for sending photo CD's to your friends and family. If you want to see some photos I've made go to http://www.studioavenue.com and search on for the album named "Singing Youth of Denver at Dahlia Street".

A lot of people have asked me the price of the camera and I've told them. However, the real price involves a lot more. You need to have some computer power available to you. You need to not be afraid of the technology. Installing a PCMCIA card is easy for me but my father would not have done it. This camera will force most people who purchase it to learn some new things and if they do so willingly then they will enjoy the experience. If you must see your pictures on paper (I don't) then be prepared for some additional cost. Your average printer will not do that great of a job.

I've been waiting for a digital camera of this performance for a couple of years and it's been worth the wait. I suspect that in five years everyone will have a camera like this. This is the perfect camera for a CEO. You can take useable pictures of anything and view them anyware with your laptop.

I purchased my C-2500 before Christmas and haven't any regrets . Using it is much more of a breeze then I have read in the reviews. Now I send family or customers photos that are so nicely done that they always think they are 35mm. I print them out on my HP-1100 printer. What a great pair. I purchased readers, But really never use or hassle with them . I think both the camera & printer, together are what really increases the enjoyment. I also have both lenses and the flash attachment. Lenses are worth it, but haven't mastered the flash settings yet.The investment was hard but has paid me back already.