The Design: Olympus D-540
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Click to enlarge.
The front of the Olympus D-540 features a 3x optical zoom lens. Directly above the lens is the viewfinder window. To the left of this are the built-in flash and the self-timer lamp. The flash has a working range of 0.7 - 11 feet in wide angle and 0.7 - 7 feet at telephoto.
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The back of the D-540 features a 1.8" LCD monitor with 85K pixels. Right above the LCD monitor is the viewfinder, which protrudes a bit from the body. To the right of this is the main power switch. The positions are Off, Play, and Record. To the right of the LCD monitor is the "Quick View" button. This button can be used to view previously taken pictures without sliding the power switch to Play mode. Below the Quick View button are 4 directional buttons and a separate OK/Menu button in the middle. The directional buttons serve to navigate menus as well as perform one additional purpose. For example, the up button toggles the macro mode, the right button toggles the flash mode, and the down button toggles the self-timer. The left button opens the main shooting menu where you select the desired shooting mode.
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The top of the camera is fairly simple. On the right side are the shutter button and the zoom controller. The zoom controller has an odd, round shape.
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The bottom of the D-540 simply features a plastic tripod mount.
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 Click to enlarge. |
On the right side is a spring-action hinged door that reveals the battery compartment. The D-540 takes 2 AA alkaline/Ni-MH batteries or a CR-V3. Although the kit comes packaged with alkalines, we highly recommend picking up some Ni-MH rechargeables for longer battery life. Just to the left of the battery compartment is the compartment that stores the xD-Picture Card. The slot is protected by a swinging door that snaps shut. Above the flash card slot is a rubber tab that fits in place to cover the USB port. Just to the right of this is a post for the included wrist strap.
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 Click to enlarge. |
The only thing on the left side is a rubber tab that covers the 3.4V DC port for the optional AC adapter.
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akaristos2 - Tuesday, February 8, 2005 - link
Any sources in Europe where it could be had for 129 euros? Much appreciated a reply. Thanksakaristos2 - Tuesday, February 8, 2005 - link
Where can I gt a Ricoh Caplio RX and at what price point. Thanks for a reply.cryptonomicon - Wednesday, January 5, 2005 - link
the a340 will probably enter the price point soon too, i got it for $161 at ritz's / wolf's.tmim16 - Monday, January 3, 2005 - link
I got the Fuji A330 for my wife back in May for her birthday not knowing that much about it, but man were we impressed! I got it as a mother's day newegg special for $180 including a 128MB xd card.Even though I'm not in the market for another camera, I would have liked to see a couple more compared.
orenb - Monday, January 3, 2005 - link
Zepper, the Ricoh Caplio RX can be had for €129 in Europe, which is not that far off $150.As for not having it in the US, well, that's a bummer. Having to settle for plastic toys that take almost a whole second to actually shoot sucks, especially when one has to pay roughly the same price as the RX.
Both Ricoh and American residents are losing big time from this, the former loses a huge market, the latter loses some really cool and innovative cameras, but since Ricoh can't handle the demand in Europe (at least in the UK and Germany they can't), I bet they have a good reason to wait with a US launch.
unclebud - Monday, January 3, 2005 - link
"Nice article... would have been nice to see it BEFORE the holidays though ;) "what i was thinking (although i have 6 or 7 digicams and ain't gone buy another one for more than a hundred)
Zepper - Monday, January 3, 2005 - link
Almost no Ricoh product is available in the USA as Ricoh has chosen not to compete here in the consumer market (perhaps you weren't aware that AT was an American web site). I guess it's not too hard to get their copiers here though.. Not to mention that the price of the few Caplio RXs I've found such as on eBay is about twice that of the units under test - apples and oranges...
.bh.
spug1 - Sunday, January 2, 2005 - link
...geez everyone!! Get off their back. It would be an impossible job to do all of the cameras at this price point! Kodak, fuji and olympus are big names, which people will often go to straight away....so its allowing the customer to make an educated choice on popular brands. I sell a large range of cameras at my shop, and I most always recomend the a330. Its a beautiful little camera, and IMO the best bang 4 buck at this price!!Souka - Sunday, January 2, 2005 - link
Title should be "Three $150 digi-cams compared"Z80 - Saturday, January 1, 2005 - link
I'm on my third Fuji digital camera and they have all been great performers! They all still work too! The latest model I purchased last year just before Christmas was the FinePix S5000 with 10x optical zoom. I've found that the xD-Picture Card memory helps lengthen battery life to where I can shoot well over 100 photos without recharging the batteries. Also, the Fuji cameras all appear to have better jpeg compression that other cameras because my photo files at 3.1 or 4.2 Megapixel take less space than other cameras. When my family got together and compared photos after our Christmas party last weekend, my Fuji consistently took better photos than the other cameras. Even the Canon Digital Rebel that my nephew didn't really know how to use.