Olympus Camedia C700 2MP Digital Camera w/ 10x Optical Zoom Review

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(More customer reviews)This is my second digital camera.My first was the Olympus 340R which is still near perfect after 3 years of use.I do a lot of outdoor photography and needed something with zoom capability.
The pixels wasn't that big of a concern because the 1.3 mp of the 340R was suiting me just fine.I run my 19" montitor's resloution at 1600x1200 and the picture fills up the screen with awesome quality.
The zoom on this camera is amazing.It can take a picture of 8 pt text on paper from across the room (11 feet) and you can read it clearly.It's also pretty amazing how lighting is composed.Without the flash on, it still compensates for a lot of light.I was able to zoom across the neighborhood for about 1500 feet at night and still get a good picture of cars coming down a hill.
With my old camera I found that digital zoom is pretty much worthless unless you print straight from the card. If you need the extra zoom, you can do it on your computer.I tested this out:I took a 27X zoomed picture and a 10X optical zoom of the exact same object.On my computer I enlarged the optical zoom photo 300%. The detail was exactly the same in both photos.When you only use optical zoom, you also get more overall picture.What I mean my this is that you get more frame area to crop out if you need to, abling you to center the object easier.
One feature that no one has mentioned yet is the ability to record 4 seconds of audio with each photo.I find this really cool to mark my GPS location points.I mark the position on my GPS, take the picture, and then record what GPS waypoint the picture is of.The 4 second audio is only 32K on the card, so you won't even notice loss of space.You can even go back and re-record or add audio to pictures already taken.
When you play back the photos while connected to a TV, the audio plays with each photo.
The stability is somewhat of an issue when zommed in, but I also found the "action" mode to elimate any bluring.
A lot have mentioned the "lens cap of doom".It doesn't pop off the lense, it's held by a thumb spring. (mabe the older ones did just snap onto the lense, but my new one doesn't) It also comes with a retaining cord so it's no going anywhere.The camera didn't have a specific place to attach the lens cap cord, so I wove it into the neck strap.It's long enough that it doesn't stop the lens from pertruding out when turned on and you forget to take the lens cap off.
Viewing taken photos on the LCD is very quick.My 340R would take about 3 seconds to load each photo in to the LCD.The C-700 is almost immediate, and you can zoom in 3X and pan freely around the photo. After taking a picture, you can also view the last shot immediately and delete it if you want.To do this, press the LCD button [] twice quickly.I use feature this a lot because I like to show people the photo/video right away.
The last feature I absolutely love is the USB connection.I have a FlashPath (floppy disk reader) for my old camera, which won't be getting much use anymore.The USB is pretty much as fast a reading from a hard drive.A 4 meg video clip starts playing immediately straight from the camera.

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Product Description:
The 2.1-megapixel Olympus C-700 Ultra Zoom digital camera boasts anoutstanding 10x optical zoom lens (plus 2.7x digital zoom-equivalent to38-1,026mm) and an ultracompact size (4.2 by 3 by 3 inches). Theimpressive aspherical glass lens gives you excellent detail and sharp,clear pictures, plus the size of the camera makes it easy to bring alongwherever you go. The C-700 also offers rapid succession firing--just over half a second per shot, and QuickTime movie mode for short video clips.Additional features include multipattern TTL autofocus, built-in flash,diopter adjustment, 1.5-inch color LCD monitor, self-timer with 12-seconddelay, auto exposure bracketing (three or five images), auto white balance, andspecial image effects such as sepia mode and black and white.
The C-700 stores images on removable SmartMedia cards. The camera can beoperated in several modes: in programmed auto mode, the camera doeseverything for you. In aperture- and shutter-priority modes, you get to setthe aperture or priority, and the camera does the rest. In manual mode, youhave control over all camera functions, with shutter speeds as long as 16seconds. Images can be downloaded to either a Mac or PC via USB storageclass connectivity, which means it can be connected to any USB-basedWindows Me/2000 and Mac OS 8.6 or later computer without installing anysoftware. The C-700 also ships with two CR-3V long-life disposable lithiumbatteries (four AA batteries can also be used), an 8 MB SmartMedia card,lens cap, strap, retainer cord, and software.

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