A great camera (Olympus Camedia C-700 Ultra Zoom)

Name: romybuzzer

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Product:	Olympus Camedia C-700 Ultra Zoom
Date:	17/06/02 (313 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Performance

Disadvantages: Price

I like to think of myself as a keen amateur photographer. Im not the sort to spend thousands of pounds on lenses, SLR's or filters but I do enjoy capturing a beautiful photograph with an ideal camera to suit my needs and my pocket.
After studying phontography during my 'A' Levels 7 years ago, I was able to collect an active knowledge of the art and skill behind the lense and an ability to appreciate what is hot and what is not when it comes to cameras.

Therefore during my pursuit to find that ideal camera all avenues were pursued. The debate over digital and Film based cameras will continue for many years and I dont want to bore you with it now. I chose a digital camera in the end and an Olympus one at that.
My reasoning and a description of the camera are to follow.

Firstly let me tell you about my camera and the company that make it..

I own the Olympus C-700 Ultra Zoom Camera. It boasts many unique features that many digital cameras do not posess yet as well as some state of the art features found on all digital cameras. The difference with Olympus is that you are buying from a proven and trusted source with many years in the photographic industry.

*- History -*
Dating back to 1919, Olympus were originally formed in Japan to produce Microscopes and not cameras. In fact, their first venture into the world of cameras was for their high quality lenses. Thanks to the knowledge in lense construction and design, the were soon producing some of the best equipment in the world for camera manufacturers so the production of thie rown brand camera to accompany the lenses was a logical step.
Olympus are also famous for one of the most popular 35mm cameras of all time. The Olympus Trip. These were standard issue to students during A levels due to their versatility and durability. This is something synonymous throughout the Olympus range today.

Going back to my camera, let me tell you about some of the fe
atures contained within its tiny casing.

Design/layout.
One of the finest pieces of compact camera equipment that I have ever used, the C-700 has everything and more buit into it. Housed within its sleek aluminium looking shell is a range of electronic technology that even most computers would be jealous.
The Front of the camear is dominated by the large zoom lense that is fully retractable within the camera. This prevents any damage to the actual zoom when not in use. A handy way to protect its main moving part.
The Button used for all shot snapping is large and round and situated right on the top under your Right hand thumb. This means people with even the largest fingers are not hampered when using this small camera.
This large thumb wheel makes menu navigation simple and easy when selecting features on the camera or for general usage.
The back of the camera posesses one of the sharpest and most easy to read LCD screens I have seen on a camera. Usually these are too small or hard to see in certain lights but this is a very bright screen that shows tremendous detail.
The compact size and specificaations of the camera means that it weighs only 11 ounces. This is one of the lightest digital cameras available and unmatched with its portability and space requirements.

Features.
The features seem to be endless with this camera as it is suitable for nearly any photographer in any condition. Whether it be macro work on close up images or long range zoom work, this camera can handle it all.
The 10X Optical zoom allows for a physical zoom with the lense up to 10 times the normal. Add to this the 2.7 times digital zoom that enhances the image and you have a total of 27 times original zoom. This is ideal for any photography. It is unlikely you will need more that this even in profesisonal situations. For a keen amateur or a holiday snapper, this is more than adequate.
The ability to store movies and sound as well as image
s seems to be ever more popular today and this camera supports this too. Storage of JPEG AND TIFF images as well as WAV sound files and Quick time Movies means that any home PC can be linked up to the camera through the handy USB cable supplied and the images can be quickly downloaded and viewed.
This USB connection also allows your computer to use the C-700 as an additional hard drive so you can use it in a drag-and-drop format for placing images and files in the correct places rather than forcing the user to download them to one predetermined directory as most software supplied with cameras now does.

The storage of images.movies and sound files can be made to the 16 Mb flash card that comes with the camera as standard. As an aftermarket product, additional flash cards can be bought up to 64Mb in size. These can store up to 56 images at the highest resolution or 300+ at a lower resolution.
These can be quite expensive to buy and the 16Mb card is ample for most uses.

Results.
It could not be easier to use. No more ruined shots for you. With digital cameras it is just a matter of erasing pictures you dont want. Results are improved further thanks to the addition of digital ESP multi-pattern and Multi spot metering. This is a technical way to eliminate such problem faults in picture taking such as blurring, red-eye and out of focus pictures.
The addition of Auto White Balance and Aute Exposure bracketing also prevents shots being too dark or light from over or underexposure.

Actual images.
These are clean and crisp. They make anyone look like a professional photographer as they eliminate any chances of bad photography. However, should you wish to have more control, many of these features can be turned off in the menu.
Once downloaded to the PC and printed out, they could be straight out of David Bailey's portfolio.

Movies.
This tend to be short due to the huge amounts of storage space required. I fin
d that they are ok for short snaps but it would be better to use a digital camcorder instead if you indend on making longer films.

Oveall.
With its tremendous performance and rage of features, the C-700 would be an automatic choice for me everytime. It reduces the chances of ruined films and bad photography to such an extent that you will wish you had bought one years ago. Its compact size and weight means you will not even know you are carrying it around with you on holiday.

Pricing.
As with all decent cameras, there is a small hitch. Price. At £350 it has a high price tag but this is easily redeemed in the results if you take your photographt seriously enough. I love mine and would never part with it.

Summary: