Olympus CAMEDIA D 595 Zoom 5.0 Megapixel

Well!I bought the Olympus CAMEDIA 5.0 mp camera because my Olympus CAMEDIA 2.0 had been dropped on the floor too many times and the batteries were taped in. Meanwhile, it still takes awesome pictures, but having the batteries pop out all the time was a pain since we use it in our rather busy ebay business.

I purchased the CAMEDIA 5.0MP figuring that I didn't need any more than 5.0 MP since I didn't plan to print anything larger than 11 x 14". This camera was so easy to use, I was amazed. It was even easier than the CAMEDIA 2.0.

You can select Nightshots, Portraits, Landscapes, macro, Backlit, etc etc. and they all work fabulously well. I took the camera on a recent vacation to Greece and I was really nervous about the shots since we only go every 10 years to Greece and wanted to photograph some aging relatives.

I tested out all of the various modes and found that my night shots on Mykonos were just awesome. Every one of my photos looks like a postcard and the subjects are even portrayed in a flattering way. No fancy settings...no hassle! I used to teach photography using a 35MM camera and always felt that you sacrificed some quality when you switched to a digital camera, but no more.

Downloading was easy and fast. I took my laptop to Greece and downloaded my pictures everyday. I then sent them online to protect them from airport xrays and from me losing the camera and the computer with all of my fab pictures. I loved reviewing the shots daily on my laptop.

Back in the ebay workshop, my assistants were able to transfer to this camera easily with no instruction from me (and they are not the most savvy people in the group!). Details come up great on our listings with no effort.

The camera is light weight which helps, but it isn't so small that I can't hold it (I have large hands for a woman...sometimes if a camera is too small, I can't operate it properly..and it doesn't balance very well...) Great balance, ease of operation...very few goofs.

I will be selling all my fancy camera equipment on ebay to those people who insist that their lenses are superior to the digital technology available today. NFMM!! (Not For My Money!) I'm on my way to purchase a couple more of these little gems so that we can have one at home for days when I don't feel like going to my ebay store and one for the family.

If you want to read technical reviews, I'm sure that someone has written them. This review is totally from a practical, empirical point of view and I hope it helps.