I bought my Olympus D-340R in late 1998 (I think) when it first came out, for around $300. The same money buys a lot more these days but this one has honestly been worth every penny.

It has been used (and seriously abused) pretty much daily for 5 years and is still going strong. I have NEVER had a single problem with it.

I've purchased 4 other digital cameras since this one, only to return them (a Canon, HP 320, HP 635, and Olympus D-390). Nothing beats the quality of the pics on my Olympus D-340R. I've never experienced photos with red-eyes like I did constantly with the others (I don't use the red-eye reduction - typically just point and shoot), and the color/sharpness are far superior to the others.

The drawbacks are that there is no optical zoom, and I do go through a lot of batteries (but we use the LCD alot). The megapixels could be higher, but it works ok for me. Although I use it primarily for web use, I've found the SHQ shots print out superbly (with my photo printer).

I recommend upgrading to a 128 MB memory card - I did this past year, and wowsa! I can take nearly 600 HQ pics or nearly 300 SHQ pics. I also recommend getting a memory card reader for super-fast downloading, because the serial cable is painfully slow. With a card reader you can also bypass the Camedia software, which leaves something to be desired.

I am amazed that this camera has served me so well for so long! And until I can afford a $500+ model....I'll happily keep on using it!

La Olympus D-340R ha sido mi ?nica c?mara digital, la he tenido por m?s de 3 a?os y no tengo queja alguna excepto por dos cosas:

1. Si se utiliza la pantalla LCD para tomar fotograf?as panor?micas o con el zoom incorporado, las bater?as no van a durar casi nada.

2. El transferir las im?genes a la PC puede tardar una eternidad ?nicamente para ver el contenido de la tarjeta de memoria, luego viene el proceso de bajarlas al disco duro. Consejo: hay que comprar el adaptador AC de lo contrario las bater?as se consumir?n velozmente!

Respecto a la calidad de las fotos, no me puedo quejar de nada. Excelente calidad y si quieren tener m?s espacio para almacenar... compren la tarjeta SmartMedia de 16MB mientras duren existencias!

...P>Ok, bad points first:

No optical zoom, just digital zoom. Digital zoom is pointless though, just makes the pixels bigger. I really wish all digital camera manufacturers would stop with the digital zoom boasts. what's the point?

Batteries. Yup, eats batteries fairly quickly. 4 of them.

Serial port download is slow.

Bulky. Heavy and quite a size compared to some of the dinky dig-cams about now.

Good:

Contrary to noevilpeople, I've found this camera to be extremely durable. It has lasted 4 years with me. Including a drop onto a marble floor, numerous plane trips, a house fire and a touch of condensation. good going. Name a PC or printer that still goes as well after 4 years!

Seems to take quite a few pictures for its memory. 36 HQ on a 8MB card is good going. newer cameras seem to squeeze in less, even at the same res, and with no discernible increase in quality. It can take 16MB cards easily enough (I got one), but any bigger (32MB) and I recall you have to send it back to Olympus to get it retro-fitted or something!

Price. it's cheap now!

Small display on top of the camera gives you enough info without having to use the power-hungry lcd a lot. LCD only needs to be used for macro shots (<10 cm away) and panorama shots. Otherwise, just use the normal viewfinder.

All in all, this camera has done me well. the only real lack is the optical zoom, which is why after 4 years I'm after a new camera, but for the beginner this is a superb camera.

The D-340R is a great camera for the time it was created and marketed. Granted, it uses a serial port, but that was the standard a few years ago. I bought a multi-card reader, no problem with downloads now!

It does use batteries, but only if you are foolish enough to try to run the LCD display window a lot.

I bought a quick charger and a couple of sets of rechargeables at Radio Shack, and have had no problem.

The controls are useable, although I've never been able to make the "Delete All" function work, it involves pressing two buttons at once.

To noevilpeople: it DOES have a telephoto function, if you want a zoom, spend the money.

It's rugged enough - I dropped it from a picnic table to the ground once with no ill effect.

Again, this is an older camera, newer digitals offer more features. I bought mine in 1999, that was dog's years ago in the electronic world!

I've used an Olympus camera for film, now this D-340R, when I upgrade to a newer digital, I'll get another Olympus digital camera.

After a family member purchased this Olympus D-340R 1.3 MP camera, i will never again buy any product from olympus. The first problem about this camera is that it has no zoom. i cant stand a camera without zoom. that might be enough to throw it in the trash right off the bat.

But theres more! This camera eats batteries like crazy. That is to say you put batteries in, take pictures for 2 minutes, and then it says the batteries are dead and wont let you take any more pictures. If you take the batteries out, you can use them in another device for hours, but the camera says they are dead. This seems to happen with only non-rechargeable batteries though, but still, thats another 10, 20$ you have to spend on rechargeable batteries and a charger, plus it takes 4 AA's when it should only take 2.

The camera is also very cheap. The whole thing is made out of the lowest grade plastics i have ever seen. If i ever dropped it i am sure it would break. When you turn the camera on, the display on the back doesnt go on like it should. The shutter button is often reluctant to snap a photo. These features make it very hard for me to teach my not-too-savvy family how to use this camera. The flash also makes pictures come out terrible for some reason, and i always find myself shutting it off to save the photo. Not that the photos look anything better than terrible without it. This is a 1.3 MP camera, and a terrible one at that after all.

Now we come to the worst feature, the software. This is the most poorly designed software anybody could make. Only a monkey could design software that was any less quality. First off, IT USES A SERIAL PORT! That might have been the height of technology in 1985, but anything less than USB is INEXCUSIBLE! This software is very picky and choosy about when it wants to see that your camera is connected to the computer. And it takes about 30 seconds to detect if it is. Then it takes forever to download just a thumbnail of all the images on the camera. And if you try to transfer more than oh, say, 5 pictures at a time, you risk having the software close on you. Now this might happen before you wait the 10 hrs it takes to transfer the pictures over the rediculously slow serial port, or after. I have it happen to me often after the pictures have supposedly transfered, but then the pictures are nowhere to be found on the hard drive, and i have to spend the 30 min re-transferring them.

The people at olympus are obviously not your friends, because i wouldnt wish this digital camera on my enemies. NEVER BUY THIS CAMERA. But if you do, spend the extra 20$ to get a smartmedia USB card reader. It will save you the agony of using the Serial port and the Camedia software, which are both horrible. Also buy rechargeable batteries, as from what ive seen, all olympuses like to eat batteries like theres no tommorow.

I would just like to emphasize again, STAY AWAY FROM THIS CAMERA. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES BUY IT, ACCEPT IT AS A GIFT, ANYTHING. If this camera was free i wouldnt take it. Well i might just to stomp on it 30 times and break it just to save anyone the agony of having to use it.

This may have only 1.2 mp but it is the best camera ever made in the digital arena! Really. (as evidenced by the unusually hi cost in the used camera market for these 1.2-1.3mp cameras) I own 4 of them and use them for my business. People are always commenting on what great quality photos I produce. The adjustment allows you to take photos in low pixels so the saved photos won't eat up all the space on your computer or camera card.
**A note of caution, the smart cards with 4-8 mpixels that fit this camera are very difficult to find now days and expensive to boot.
I think it won't take over a 16mp card.

La Olympus D-340R ha sido mi única cámara digital, la he tenido por más de 3 años y no tengo queja alguna excepto por dos cosas:

1. Si se utiliza la pantalla LCD para tomar fotografías panorámicas o con el zoom incorporado, las baterías no van a durar casi nada.

2. El transferir las imágenes a la PC puede tardar una eternidad únicamente para ver el contenido de la tarjeta de memoria, luego viene el proceso de bajarlas al disco duro. Consejo: hay que comprar el adaptador AC de lo contrario las baterías se consumirán velozmente!

Respecto a la calidad de las fotos, no me puedo quejar de nada. Excelente calidad y si quieren tener más espacio para almacenar... compren la tarjeta SmartMedia de 16MB mientras duren existencias!