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I purchased this camera about 3 weeks ago before a 10 day trip to Germany. I was looking for something with a lot of optical zoom, and 10x was plenty. Shooting a lot of sites like castles and such, the zoom really came through. However, a 10x zoom is pretty powerful and no matter the camera you will need a lot of light and a very steady hand to take advantage of the full zoom. I usually shot around 5x - 8x to avoid blurry, shakey pictures. The zoom was awesome on a couple of occasions when a smaller zoom would have made worthless pictures.

On one day I was trying to shoot the Neuschwanstein Castle (Disney's model castle in Bavaria) and it was very foggy. My 2x Canon just could not get close enough to get any detail through the fog. The Olympus took some spectacular pictures. Some were very cool with the fog, and I was excited at how well they turned out when I got them up on my computer monitor.

This camera is easy to use with the "Auto" mode, but you can also customize a lot of stuff if you are a really photo pro. 3.2 megapixels is plenty enough for me. In fact, I would rather have this camera with the huge zoom than another camera with more pixels.

I've not taken a bad picture with this camera yet that wasn't a user error. I love the crisp, clear pictures I get with both macro settings and in shooting long distances. I've uploaded a couple of macro shots to show what an amateur can do with this camera. For the price, you can't go wrong. (I actually traded *down* from a 6 MP Sony to this and like this one MUCH better.)

I have had my camera for almost two years and I absolutly love it. The zoom feature is absolutly amazing. I have used it for photographing animals, scenery and even Seattle Mariners games and the shots are very impressive. Especially when they are loaded into my computer and I can bring them up full screen. I have only ordered 4x6 prints, but I'm sure larger prints would be beautiful as well. This camera has a lot of features including a timer, which is nice. The only real drawback is how digital cameras eat batteries. I would highly recommend buying rechargable batteries for your camera as it gets expensive buying 4 AA batteries all the time. It does take a steady hand to take pictures on some of the settings, but you can preview your pictures to make sure your good!

I bought this camera some time ago and paid considerably more than for what it is now offered, yet I have absolutely no regrets. Within minutes, I was taking quality shots of landscapes, close-ups of flowers, pets, etc. and reviewing/deleting with ease. The 30x zoom is a bargain in this price range, the lens is glass, and the operation (particularly the built-in flash and its monitor) is child's play. The accompanying software is O.K., although not necessary for my purposes (moving picture files is a bit of a chore).

If 'point and shoot' is your goal, the 740 certainly suffices but the added functionality (such as movie mode) may be more complicated than necessary. However, this would make an excellent first camera for those yet to graduate to digital from standard 35mm SLRs.

Highly recommended.

Camera works great! Had mine 6 months & highly recommend it. You need to be very still when using the 10X to it's limit, but that is expected.

On the Olympus site this model lists a retal price of $349 so the savings are $50

Once upon a time, I worked as a photographer and shot with everything from Hasselblads to view cameras (the cameras where you see someone hiding underneath a black cloth). I've used various cheap digital cameras for point and shoot purposes, but I never really made the plunge into buying a "real" digital camera. The gripes I had, had to do with the total automation of the cameras available. You basically couldn't change any of the settings to be creative. I wanted to buy a camera that would allow me freedom to choose between manual and automatic settings, give clear/sharp pictures, offer lots of features, and wouldn't send me to the poor house. I shopped around for a few weeks and finally came upon the Olympus C740 digital camera. Here are my impressions.

First of all, I was surprised at how small digital cameras have become. The C740 is a nice compact size with all the buttons and controls logically placed on the top and back of the body. As is usual with me, I tried operating the camera without going to deeply into the manual to assess how user friendly the camera was. After a scant five minutes in reading the quick startup guide, I was off and running and taking my very first quality digital pictures. The menu/feature system of this camera are well laid out and very comprehensive. You can go on automatic and choose preselected parameters for shooting, or you can change the settings to suit your needs. For instance, compensation for exposure is as easy as pressing the cursor buttons on the back. You can adjust the function of the flash at the touch of a button. A great feature is the 'fill in flash'. The flash will go off whenever you press the shoot button. This is very useful when taking pictures of people outdoors as the flash fills in the harsh shadows with soft light. Great.

One reason I choose the Olympus C470 is because of the 10x zoom lens. The range is approximately 38mm to 380mm. Quite a range and very useful. The images came out nice and sharp at all zoom settings. Of couse, when using the long setting, you will experience some camera shake. This was not a big problem since you can manually up the shutter speed and ISO to freeze the jitters. You can always resort to using a tripod or just leaning against a solid object for stabibility. The view finder is crammed full of information that can be changed at will. A very nice feature of this camera is the ability to see your shots immediately after you take them. If you don't like your exposure, composition, etc, you can delete them right away. I tried shooting in macro mode, telephoto and wide angle, and all the images were sharp and saturated. The camera gives you the option to choose what resolution (sharpness) the camera shoots in. The camera can shoot in quick sequences, bracketed exposure settings, and panarama mode (only if you use genuine Olympus xd cards.)

The C740 is not a current model and has been replaced by newer versions. However, the technology found in this camera can still hold its own. Its versatility in doubling as a good 'point and shoot' and being totally configurable gets high marks. The camera is 3.2 megapixles and is more than sufficient for prints to 8x10 or 11x14. Since this is an older model, this camera can usually be found at a good discount. The editing software that comes with this camera is good, albeit, spartan, but it edits and performs well. My only complaint is not with the camera but with the documentation. While succent and to the point, it is almost on the verge of being uninformative. This camera is packed full of features but the documentation barely scratches the surface of what it can do. I actually had to go online and read reviews of the camera to find out how to operate it!

Great pictures, super auto mode, sharp lens, user friendly, complete manual over-ride, light, compact, and fun to use. This puts the C470 in some very good, if not more expensive company. This is my first digital camera and I am very pleased with it..

I bought the c-740 and decided to add the wide angle lens WCON-07. So after it arrives, I learn I cannot use it because it also requires an adapter ring. Great!

So the adapter ring arrives and I connect the two to the camera. Well, the lens is so big it blocks the flash. I got the wide angle in the first place for indoor/portrait type photos, which often require a flash. It is just absolutely unbelievable that a major camera manufacturer is putting out garbage like this.

I was laughing at the review where the guy couldn't get his wide angle lens to work and then blames the manufacturer. Its sort of like the lady who sued McDonalds because she spilled hot coffee on herself. Basically, you have to do the research first, duh. THEN you put down your hard earned cash and buy the camera.

But anyway, I bought one of the C-740's and am pleased as punch with it. It has a ton load of manual features and really opens up lots of ways to shoot nice pictures. That zoom lens is great for getting closeups. Oh, and by the way, you don't need a wide angle lens to shoot portraits. A wide angle lens will distort the person's face. Better to use a longer focal length between 85mm and 105mm.

The only things I didn't like were the small capacity memory card that was included with the camera and focusing in low light. The focusing system had some problems with that. But everything else is very good. The camera is easy to use and gives you a chance to expand your skills with all the bells and whistles it has.

Its obvious that some people need to take some photo lessons before they start blaming the equipment. ;)

I've had this camera since they release it a couple of years ago. I will say the zoom is great in bright sun. Otherwise most of the pictures don't come out unless you have a trypod. I'm also dissapointed with the shuttle lag time. 2 to 5 sec. depending on light. Try getting a kid to hold a pose and smile for 5 sec. I also feel the manual setting at too hard to get to and understand. This camera almost ended up in the lake last summer when I was trying to take a picture of a full moon rise over the lake at dusk. If you are looking for a point and shoot camera to take landscaping pictures can do the job. I have taken a lot of good pictures with this one. I would not recommend taking it to sporting advance or using it on kids. I'm going to up grade to a better camera with less lag time and larger mp. You can't crop and enlarge a 3 mp and have it not look grainny.

The bad news first. It is discontinued. The good news It is discontinued and you can pick this marvel up at a more than reasonable price. I bought mine for under 200.00 brand new and with waranty.
I won't bore you with photophile lingo and tech stuff there are others far more capable of such information who have already given their astute observations. I will tell you the the clarity of this lens beats the Panasonic Lumix by a mile and I know that because I have one.
I just got back from a week of shooting at Cape Cod through all kinds of weather conditions from bright sun reflected off of calm waters to dim foggy lit terrain and I am ecstatic with my portfolio.
I have had the c-765 and it was just too small and then the 725 and it was too big with only an 8x zoom. This camera size weight and layout were perfect.
I am so pleased with the distance shots and the clarity of all the shots as well as the capability to capture visual nuance and light I am selling my lumix and buying another one of these while I can.
Yes I know it only has 3 something image mp but 3. 2 or 9 with a razor sharp lense is worth all the other mega pixel cameras in the world. NO there is no photo stabilization but I know how to use a tripod and to steady a camera so I don't see it as a loss. Stabilization is for the film maker in my mind and I am tired of people whining about not having it in every still camera.
To me photograhy is about the light and the lens and now that I have hundreds of beautiful poetic or razor sharp images I know the brand and kind of digital camera I want ot use.
I strongly suggest this camera and some basic photography lessons for those who can't get the shot right because then you will see what a gem this little beauty really is.
From animal to seascape to haunted fields with fantastic depth of field or moody expressionism this camera gave me its all.
Great lens, easy layout, uses rechargable aa batteries, full function for manual and cheap. My God what a bargain.

While a three megapixel camera may seem anemic in todays standards, the quality of pics are overlooked. I can take a quality photo at max resolution (which I beleive is plenty for any consumer or hobbiest) that looks far better than any 6 megapixel pocket camera of similar price. And try finding one with a 10x zoom! The camera can be set to fully automatic, or you can play around. There are lots of settings that can be adjusted and tweaked. Thats what makes this a great learning camera. And with the beauty of digital, when you screw up you just delete it.

I printed my first set of pictures from a recent vacation, and WOW, these are some of the sharpest pictures I have EVER seen, easily better than anything my manual, 35mm Minolta and Pentax SLRs ever produced. I was a little concerned about the bulkiness and was considering upgrading to something smaller, but after talking to one of the camera experts at Penn Camera, I'm convinced this is probably the best choice out there for a smallish 10x. In simple terms, he explained that the smaller cameras have less glass and therefore are just incapable of the sharpness this little baby can produce. He lost a sale, but gained a customer. Megapixels are irrelevant if the image coming through is not sharp, so the 3MP this camera has is fine for prints up to 11x14. This thing has a myriad of features, alot more than anyone would ever need. The software is not bad either. I wish it was a bit smaller, which tempts me to drop the rating to 4, but I just can't get over how sharp these images are, so a 5 it gets!

I just upgraded to a digital SLR, but I had this camera for 3 years and it never let me down. It has travelled all around the world. The batteries lasted a long time, the photos were excellent (even at 3.2 MegaP) and it was a great camera for me while I was deciding whether to jump up to the SLR level or not.

Pros:
Some manual options, lets you get a feel for photography vs snapshots
Good zoom
Good battery life
Sturdy
Great photos

Cons:
Larger digital camera, so not easy to just carry around everywhere. Will not fit in a pocket.

Again. I think this camera is ideal for someone who might buy a digital SLR in a few years but is afraid to spend that much money.

I've never been happier with a camera in my life. I've had this camera for 4 (or so) years and am looking to replace it with a smaller one. (That's the only complaint I have about this camera is its size.) Every camera I've looked at can't even begin to compare to this one. The Olympus takes such great quality pictures and you can't beat the 10x zoom. I highly recommend this camera!