I joined the digital parade after an agonizing 6 months of comparison and indecision.  I liked the Sony Mavica features, especially the floppy disk method of storing images.  I've used my work's Mavica 91 and loved its  simplicity and great ability to take indoor pictures without a flash.  I  also loved the rechargeable 'smart' battery which Sony sells with its  product; it actually tells you how much time you have remaining before a  battery change is required.  It could also do short MPEG motion pictures -  with sound. The big negative:  it's huge and weighed a ton.  It's  resolution wasn't sufficient either.
I finally ended up with the Olympus  450z because of its high resolution, its available floppy adapter, its many  features for the price, and its compact size -- its virtually identical to  my old 35MM model.  It takes great pictures, but isn't as capable in low  light conditions as the Mavica 91.
The Panaroma picture capability was a  feature which I never thought of using -- until I saw the software demo  which was included with the camera.  It's like magic -- it puts together a  panarama of pictures into a single composite image.  Truly amazing.
In  summary, the 450 is a great camera, albeit only slightly better than the  400 - and doesn't include the floppy adapter as the 400 did.  Great - yes,  but the price really hasn't dropped as I had hoped.  Finally, if you're  thinking ahead, you'll order 8 or 12 NiMH batteries and a recharger, a 16  or 32 meg SMART Card, and the Floppy adapter.  You've suddenly got yourself  a $700-$800 camera outfit.  Shop around - there are cheaper places to buy  your camera.
I joined the digital parade after an agonizing 6 months of comparison and indecision. I liked the Sony Mavica features, especially the floppy disk method of storing images. I've used my work's Mavica 91 and loved its  simplicity and great ability to take indoor pictures without a flash. I  also loved the rechargeable 'smart' battery which Sony sells with its  product; it actually tells you how much time you have remaining before a  battery change is required. It could also do short MPEG motion pictures -  with sound. The big negative:  it's huge and weighed a ton. It's  resolution wasn't sufficient either. I finally ended up with the Olympus  450z because of its high resolution, its available floppy adapter, its many  features for the price, and its compact size -- its virtually identical to  my old 35MM model. It takes great pictures, but isn't as capable in low  light conditions as the Mavica 91. The Panaroma picture capability was a  feature which I never thought of using -- until I saw the software demo  which was included with the camera. It's like magic -- it puts together a  panarama of pictures into a single composite image. Truly amazing. In  summary, the 450 is a great camera, albeit only slightly better than the  400 - and doesn't include the floppy adapter as the 400 did. Great - yes,  but the price really hasn't dropped as I had hoped. Finally, if you're  thinking ahead, you'll order 8 or 12 NiMH batteries and a recharger, a 16  or 32 meg SMART Card, and the Floppy adapter. You've suddenly got yourself  a $700-$800 camera outfit. Shop around - there are cheaper places to buy  your camera.