| Product: |
Olympus Camedia C-315 Zoom |
| Date: |
20/12/07 (137 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Cost effective good quality digital camera
Disadvantages: Slightly larger than some of it's competitors
The manufacturer says the Olympus C-315ZOOM is a stylish and attractively-priced camera. In June 2004, its predecessor, the C-310ZOOM was the winner of a highly coveted TIPA (Technical Image Press Association) Award. This bestseller from Olympus was pronounced the 'Best Digital Budget Compact Camera' by the organisation, which honours the highest quality products in the field of photography. The new Olympus C-315ZOOM boasts the same special blend of design, performance, handling and affordability, while resolution has been significantly increased to 5.1 million pixels to provide exceptional picture quality. What hasn't changed is the camera's wonderful value for money.
The C-315ZOOM is designed to make digital photography accessible and attractive for ambitious beginners. Its predecessor's winning combination of ease-of-use and high-quality has now been crowned with the additional advantage of 5.1 million pixel resolution, facilitating large print-outs and image cropping. The higher resolution complements features such as a bright 2.8x optical zoom lens for brilliant close-ups and five scene programmes providing added convenience and flexibility.
In addition, the C-315ZOOM also offers a Super Macro mode, enabling successful shooting from as close as 2cm from your subject. A movie recording function has also been added, whereby movies can be recorded and conveniently reviewed on the camera's integrated 4.6cm LCD.
The camera boasts user-friendliness and simplicity, and you don't need a PC to print from the camera as a compatible printer can be used to produce glossy photos. Images are saved to xD-Picture Cards (16MB card supplied). These small, fast and durable cards are available in capacities of up to 1GB. For users without printer access, xD-Picture Cards can also be taken to a photo dealer for photo prints to be obtained.
The Olympus C-315ZOOM comes in a standard box as follows:
-Digital Camera
-Strap
-16MB xD-Picture card
-Alkaline batteries (2 pcs.)
-USB cable
-Instruction manuals
-Warranty card
-Software CD-ROM (utility software)
I have found this digital camera is easy to use, but it is slightly larger than many other cameras in it's price range. Its dimensions are 102 mm wide x 55.5 mm high x 36.5 mm deep (excluding protrusions) and it weighs 150 grams (without batteries or card). The rear of the camera has an arrow pad, a viewfinder and a separate monitor for viewing photos before and after shooting. By pressing one of the four arrows on the pad the menu is navigated and camera indications adjusted. An ok button in the middle of the arrow pad allows indications that are picked to be set.
Unfortunately, I found the Alkaline batteries provided with this camera to be insufficient for the camera's demands. They lasted about a day of photo shooting so I had to invest in some lithium batteries to ensure battery changing was not a frequent occurrence. This need was quite disappointing because it tends to negate some of the competitiveness of the camera's price.
In terms of functionality and ease of use this camera is very good, if you take some initial time to browse the manual. I have also found the software easy to install and use, and have downloaded photo images to computer and a photo storage web site prior to printing them out. The USB cable plugs into the camera behind a rubber stopper and when in use the camera display is easy to follow and combine with the software on a computer. I am really pleased with the quality of photographs that I've produced from this camera.
So, taking everything into account, I can say this camera is easy to operate and simple to use, and overall I'd recommend it for anyone wanting to make a start in digital photography.
Summary: Reliable good quality digital camera
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