The
Olympus Camedia D-390, Don't Go There
January 26TH, 2008
I was able to
purchase an Olympus Camedia D-390 off ebay for a pretty decent
price since it was used, and had a little trouble getting the XD
Card out (the release spring did not operate). I got it as a Buy-It-Now
auction for $15 with $8 in shipping costs. So $23 didn't seem like
too much to pay to get my hands on an Olympus camera to try and
convert to infrared. In my experimental phase, I was happy to get
my hands on any different models, at a decent price, and open them
up to see what the different manufacturers did in their design,
and see how they do at conversion.
As a whole I
am not too fond of the olympus cameras because of their proprietary
XD card format, and in general I have found their menu system and
controls hard to use. The D-390 did not disappoint, as I could
hardly get anything configured and found it a struggle just to
take pictures. There seems to be a long delay between when you
press the button and when it actually takes the shot.
When I opened
the camera up to try and do an IR Mod on it, I was surprised at
how complex the camera is. Cords and Cables all over the place.
They packed a lot of stuff into this small camera. More than I
saw on any of the Canon, Kodak, or Fuji Models I looked at. It
was quickly obvious that this would be a very difficult modification,
if not impossible. I took some sample shots, so if anyone wonders
what their D-390 looks on the inside, I'll post them here. Then
I put it all back together and sold it on ebay. I got $7.50 for
the camera, half what I paid for it, but just getting anything
back for a camera that old was good enough for me. Original retail
price for the D-390: $149 in 2003.
Here's a few
shots of the outside of the camera, they are images I used when
selling the camera back on ebay.
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Camera Front |
Camera Back |
Camera Back |
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| Camera Side |
Camera Top |
Camera Bottom |
Inside the Olympus
Camedia D-390:
This camera has
a lot of different sized screws holding it together. The first
picture tries to show you some of the different sized screws after
I removed the front and back of the camera. Next you can see some
of the photos from the back of the camera. It looks a little difficult
to get under the LCD and Menu Button Plate. Next you can see a
little about how sliding the lens open turns on the camera. I think
this
is
a terrible design, and it is proven (in the msg boards)
that after extended use the contacts wear out and sometimes the
camera
won't
turn on.
Next you can
see some pictures from the front and top of the camera that show
some of the cables wrapped around it. I am not sure if I could
pull this camera apart to get to the CCD. It just looked too hard.
Not worth the effort, and I wasn't too fond of how it operated
anyway. Proprietary memory card too, no thanks.
On to the images:
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Camera
Case and Screws
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Camera Back
Exposed |
Camera Front
Exposed |
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| Camera Front,
No Case |
Camera Top,
No Case |
Camera Front,
Macro Zoom |
Sample Photos:
I did take some
sample photos, and they don't look too bad. But I did have trouble
with what I felt was a significant delay from when I pushed the
shutter button and when it took the shot. The close up of the newspaper
isn't too great either.
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