Digital Camera Review

Digital Camera Review

The Olympus D-425 is on the low end of an already affordable D-line of digital cameras. The 4-megapixel camera has a cheap plastic body and no optical zoom. It could be useful for taking pictures that don't need to be high-resolution, such as items to sell on EBay. The camera has a 4x digital zoom lens and will be available in February or March 2005. The D-425 retails for $149, which means it will probably end up under a hundred bucks on the street.
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Front
The front of the Olympus D-425 has a simple design. There is a finger grip on the left side. However, it is slippery and made to feel polished - not a good material for gripping. The lens is on the top right. Around the circular lens are the words, “Olympus Lens 6.1mm 1:2.8.” Above the lens is the brand name: “Olympus.” The flash is located to the left of the lens near the center of the camera. To the left of the rectangular flash is a circular flash indicator light. Beneath the flash are the words, “Camedia Digital Camera D-425.” The front has a simple elegance to it, with its few features and textured silver colored casing.

Back
The Olympus D-425 is much more cluttered on the back than the front. The left side has a small LCD with the name, “Olympus” beneath it. To the right of the LCD are four buttons, laid out vertically. The top button has an icon of a camera next to it, obviously the shooting mode. The middle button has a green Playback symbol; the bottom button must be the Delete button because it has an icon of a trashcan next to it. The shooting and playback modes have orange and green indicator lights next to them. At the very bottom is a smaller Menu button, which is clearly labeled. To the right of these buttons and more towards the bottom of the camera is a larger four-way navigational dial with an OK button in the center. The dial is used to scroll through the menus, as well as initiate other functions. The left side of the dial doubles as a self-timer. The top of the dial is used to set flash modes. The right side of the dial can be pressed to select the macro or other focus mode. The bottom can be used as a Reset button to return all the camera's settings to the default. Above the four-way dial and to the right of the camera is the mode dial, within easy reach of the right-hand thumb. The following options are available on the mode dial: Auto, Program, Movie, Snow & Surf, Portrait, Sport, Night Landscape, Indoor, and Self-Portrait. The zoom lever is above the mode dial in the very top right corner. The left side has a “W” on it for the wide angle setting; the left side has a “T” on it for the telephoto setting.

Left Side
The left side is fairly boring. There is a rubber port door that doesn't fit well into the hole. It is attached, but it's very loose. Beneath the cover is a jack for USB on top and a DC IN cable on the bottom.

Right Side
A cheap plastic door graces the side of the Olympus D-425. The door has the word “Open” on it and a plastic finger grip for easy access. Beneath the door is a space for two AA batteries and a slot for the xD-Picture card. Above the door is a loop for the wrist strap. The loop is recessed deep into the camera and the space is not sufficient, so a needle or something very small is required to string the strap through the loop.

Top
The top of the Olympus D-425 is not very exciting. On the left are the words, “4x Digital Zoom.” On the right is a polished silver shutter release button.

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