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Olympus C-7000 Zoom Review
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Review
Date: Jan 24, 2005 |
Category: Serious
Amateur
HANDLING & FEEL
Vaughan
Mills
7.9mm (38mm), Auto, Multi-Pattern, 1/30 sec.,
F2.8 and ISO 122
The Olympus Camedia C-7000 Zoom looks
more like a traditional 35mm camera, a retro type
of look that seems to be gaining in favour. It
is quite compact at 102W x 59H x 42.5D mm (4W
x 2.3H x 1.7D in.), very light at 220 g (7.07
oz.), and packed full of professional features.
The very first thing you notice as you turn
the camera on and take a couple of test shots
is that this camera is f-a-s-t, in both
startup and operation. There is no practical shutter
lag. The Olympus C-7000, like a number of
newer digital cameras, are making shutter lag
a non-issue, which is a most welcomed development.
The Olympus C-7000 is also compact enough to
slide into a large trousers pocket or coat pocket.
It feels very light and has a nice rubber handgrip,
making for comfortable handling. The controls
button are precise and easy to use, though you
do have to crack open the online Advanced Manual
(in pdf format) to find out all their functionalities.
It is not too obvious where certain functions
are "hidden."
For example, Manual Focus is available but you
wouldn't know it by going through the Menu; to
go into Manual Focus, you need to press and hold
the OK button down for more than 1 second. Similarly,
to select a metering mode or AF mode, I searched
in vain in the Menu. Finally, I had to boot up
my PC and search the Advanced Manual to find that
these functions are set from the AE/AF button.
Olympus should think hard about either providing
this Advanced Manual in hardcopy format or else
provide a handy hardcopy quick reference manual.
The onboard flash is positioned at the top left
edge of the camera (viewed from the back), exactly
where your left index finger normally rests, and
it becomes difficult to hold the camera steady.
Olympus is aware of this "feature" since
its Advanced Manual diagrammatically shows you
how to hold the camera when the flash is popped
up (Advanced Manual, page 22). The flash is manually
popped up (which is something I prefer), and this
is a good thing for you do not run the risk that
your finger is inadvertently blocking it if it
were the automatic pop up type.
The Arrow Keys are defaulted in P Mode to exposure
compensation. This is good and I know I should
be happy that I don't need to go into the Menu
to set exposure compensation, but somehow I find
I inadvertently applied an exposure compensation
to many of my pictures. This is probably because
the Arrow Keys are quite soft to the touch.
The semi-transmissive TFT LCD monitor on the
Olympus C-7000 is a sweet 2 in. with a high resolution
of approx. 206K pixels and a refresh rate so fast
that it's a pleasure to use it. All digital cameras
should incorporate such a LCD monitor. The only
regrets is that it does not gain up in low-light;
fortunately, there is an optical viewfinder to
allow you to compose in low-light situations.
The battery and xD-Picture Card are housed in
the same compartment accessed from the bottom
of the camera. The compartment door on most digital
cameras are spring-loaded (especially when they
use AA batteries), which sometimes makes it difficult
to close the compartment door; on the Olympus
C-7000, the compartment door has no springs, and
opens and closes effortlessly. I kind of like
that.
The Olympus Camedia C-7000 Zoom packs a lot of
features in a compact and light design, making
it a good carry anywhere digital camera for the
advanced amateur photographer.
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