I didn’t know that, but I guess it wouldn’t have changed my decision. I don’t think there are any competitors with an equivalent wide angle at the $100 price point.
Nope, probably not. I wouldn’t base a decision solely on memory card formats, there are far more important things with cameras.
I got an Olympus brand card for it when ordering (none is included). I don’t recall seeing any aftermarket brands available, but I didn’t look very hard. I noticed they had 1 and 2 Gb cards; I’m not sure if Olympus goes bigger than that or not. That transfer rate could be a relevant consideration if you’re looking to plug the card into a photo frame etc.
I can’t find it now but after I ordered, I found one reviewer how gave it 2/5 stars. He said to buy a Panasonic with a similar wide angle, but that was twice the price. Panasonic products haven’t wowed me but the Leica lens might. Anyway, for any lurkers out there who want a good wide-angle P/S, that seems the way to go.
Most cameras work like that as well. When I plug my Canon P/S into the computer it shows up as a drive that I can manipulate in the normal ways. I just had to set how the PC treats the camera, but that’s the same as with any USB drive, i.e., open with a program, play the files, do nothing, open the folder, etc. I generally don’t take the card out of the camera because it’s behind the same door as the batteries and the batteries fall out.
The Panasonics are IMO significantly better cameras, but they won’t be in the $100 price range. The FX500 or FX37 are quite nice and have better image quality. They also take SD cards which are 1/3 the price for the same storage. I’d also recommend the Canon SD880. But any of those cameras would cost you $200+.
2G is the limit for xD cards. They won’t be getting any bigger or faster. Olympus and Fuji make them, as does Sandisk but few others bother making them. Olympus has the nasty habit of only enabling some features on the camera if you are using an Olympus brand memory card, but since you are I wouldn’t worry about it. On my old Oly it was the panoramic mode.