Are you able to turn the image stabilization off? If there is a setting for that, give it a try.

I don't believe it's rated for that. And PCs have a feature in Windows which turns off power to a USB port to conserve energy. But it does come with a dedicated battery charger.

It really shouldn't make that sort of noise. So I'm thinking you have a fault there. And while it's still under warranty, you should send it in for repair. The clock is ticking.

Any memory card can fail or become corrupted. And when you're on vacation the last thing you want is to lose the opportunity to take pictures until you can recover that media card with a software utility. If your card goes bad, swapping another one for it at that moment is of advantage so you can keep taking pics. Then, later when you're in front of your PC, you can use a utility like "F-Recovery" ( filerecoverytools.com/produ...  ) to get back your pictures and recover your card.

Sounds like you may have dropped it, thereby knocking the lens out of alignment. Try to turn it on/off several times to see if the lens will work it's way back into alignment.



If that doesn't work and your camera is still under warranty, the best thing you can do is have Olympus fix it.



If your camera is out of warranty, send it in for a repair estimate anyway. It could be a simple fix. But if it isn't, understand that without warranty coverage the average cost of a camera repair is around $180. As such, it may cost more to repair than it is really worth. The rule of thumb is that if the estimate for repair is north of 50% what you paid for it, you're better off taking that money and buying a newer and upgraded model.

If Olympus costs too much, try these guys - darntoothysam.com/servlet/S...  can go to a mom and pop camera place, but odds are, they're just going to send it to Olympus anyway.

Have you tried a USB card reader? A card reader is about $15-20 and will cause your memory card to be read as a drive on the PC. Then it's a simple drag and drop.



IF you're talking about pictures on the camera's internal memory, then you'll need to install the drivers to your PC and then connect the camera to it. THen, use something like Google's Picasa photo management software to transfer them over. (it's free)

Yeah, I think so. It's a simple, easy to use camera that's affordable and well-liked.

Hi Jim,



According to Microsoft ( microsoft.com/windows/compa...  ), the Stylus 840 is entirely compatible with Vista and no further action is needed on your part. It should be a simple plug & play operation.



Hope this helps!

Didn't know for sure until I purchased the camera. I had read the same info that Ben mentioned, but I'm one that not always believes what is written. Now I know for sure...absolutely easy to do with the software and USB cable provided. Instant download. Thanks

You're right, they are pretty similar. And both are great cameras, actually; I think you will probably be equally satisfied with either. I would buy Canon just because my personal bias is that nobody beats Canon when it comes to shooting low light, indoors, without flash; I think they have nice low grain and great results in that situation, and I shoot that way a lot. On the other hand, I've used this Olympus as well and didn't have any complaints. This is one of the closer toss-ups I've seen. :)

Thanks Brenda & lucky! I think I'll most likely go for the Canon! I prefer the look of it as well, but was abit concerned abt some reviews which mentioned that the battery/sd card doors of their Canon SD850 are quite loose and will slide open themselves! Will go to a store tomorrow to feel it for myself : )

Wow...don't you love my typing skills.

Thanks...what ended up really fixing it was really rather simple...my daughter clicked the "image capture" button and , voila! I really appreciate your advise and help. (Looks like we have the same trouble with "the-teh" when we type fast. I've been doing it for years.)

God bless!

Most are designed that way. There is a faster xD card which can work aroudn this, however. Also, check for firmware updates. But you get the higher end card and you can break that 10- second barrier.

Well, you want to get the fastest card out there you can afford. I like Sandisk's Ultra III. Very quick.

Vincent,



There are some noticable differences between the Nikon S550 ( digitalcamera-hq.com/digita...  ) and the Nikon S600 ( digitalcamera-hq.com/digita...  ). While both are 10MP cameras, I will list the differences in with the Nikon S550 ( digitalcamera-hq.com/digita...  ) listed first:



- Optical zoom: 5x vs. 4x: While the difference may seem small, the effective lengths of these cameras is 26-180mm vs. 28-112mm. Having the ability to go to 180mm is a big difference in my opinion.



- Image stabilization: Electronic vs. Optical: Optical image stabilization is much more effective in that it adjusts the position of the lens and/or sensor vs electrical, which only adjusts the ISO setting and shutter speeds of the camera.



- ISO Range: 64-2000 vs. 100-3200;: The higher the ISO the more light you can bring in to the photo and use the camera in lower lit situations. Note that with a higher ISO, the grainier your photos will appear. This can be adjusted with software though.



- LCD Size: 2.5" vs. 2.7": This is only a marginal difference that will hardly be noticed.



My overall chioce would vary based on what you want to use the camera for. If you want to get good indoor photos, go with the Nikon S600 ( digitalcamera-hq.com/digita...  ). If you're looking to take pictures in better light and want some zoom, the Nikon S550 ( digitalcamera-hq.com/digita...  ) would be a better choice.



Personally, if I was picking an ultra-compact camera for around $200, I would go with the Olympus 840 ( digitalcamera-hq.com/digita...  ). It has an 8MP resolution, which is still very good for prints up to 20x30", it has 5x optical zoom (36-180mm) and dual image stabilization that combines optical and digital settings. It will only run you about $183 too. Good luck and happy shooting.



Andrew

which software to get better image quality in case of high iso

first off, more megapixels isn't necessarily better megapixels. I came across an interesting article today about how more mega pixels is not necessarily a good thing. According to Image Engineering ( 6mpixel.org/en/?  ) – a company that does testing of digital cameras for photo magazines in Germany – the quality of digital pictures has steadily decreased since the state of the art was six megapixels back in 2004. And because they don’t have a “dog in this hunt,” they put forth a compelling argument for buying new digital cameras with less mega pixels and not more.



The argument is essentially this: CCD chips on point and shoot cameras a smaller and as such, fitting in more pixels causes them to lose light sensivity. Sure, there’s more data on the chip, but the chip can’t absorb the light data and what it ends up with is a picture that has more noise than image quality. In addition, the more megapixels a camera has, the larger the lens it needs to provide the clarity it deserves and prevent diffraction due to a loss of detail with smaller apertures. But since we’re talking portable point and shoots here, those large lenses simply aren’t being made.



Finally, with larger mega pixels comes longer saving time due to their requires huge storage capacity, or more compression if not storing images in RAW format. The result is a noisier image and a dissatisfied camera user who thirsts for high quality and speed but fell into the trap of "more must mean better."



In the end, relying on a smaller MP that can balance all these needs may indeed be a better answer.



Next, you're not goin to get SLR quality sports shots with anything but an SLR camera. Especially when you're looking to eliminate blur that is associated with sports shots. You can use a flash to freeze the action, but these days most don't allow it due to the interference in the game itself. Then there's the shutter lag that comes with point and shoot cameras. When you're trying to grab an action shot, if you don't anticipate the action, the shutter lag can kill you and blow the shot. You can mitigate this by prefocusing and panning with the action. That will reduce shutter lag by as much as 80%.



But for what you're looking for, I'd be going with a Canon Digital Rebel XTi or Nikon D40 with a good long range zoom. No lag, better signal to noise ratio, faster lenses.

Well, it depends on who you talk to and what you use the camera for. If you're going to be enlarging shots above 11x14, then having alot more MP is worth it ... but only for pictures taken below ISO 800.



But when 99% of all point and shoot pictures being snapshotss (and with only 20% of digital pictures being printed) then it's more overkill than anything.



Glad to hear you got the D40. Do yourself a favor and take a photography class at a local community college. Even if you're only going to be shooting as a hobby, it'll teach you a ton about photo composition, light, and you'll see a dramatic difference in your picture taking.



And BTW If you're happy with the answer you received, you can simply click on "Mark for best answer" bubble and it will place the question in the "Answered" category for all to see. Or, you can leave the question open for a little while longer and see what else gets posted.



Thanks for posting it and Good luck!

i want to take pictures indoor and with a camera that takes quick pictures for sports event that is easy to use.