Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(66)
4 star:		(23)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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.

After having done an exhausting research which included reviews of many different cameras from about 10 digicam review websites both here and in Europe, and having had years experience with other digital cameras, I have chosed to purchase this camera based both on the ratings and the features it had.

The C-700 is truly an engineering marvel with absolutely astounding picture quality which exceeds other more expensive cameras and even cameras with a higher pixel count (!!!). The camera has good optics and is still the world's smallest 10x optical zoom digital camera. With the optional Olympus lens "tube" (screws in over the camera lens) you can use the Olympus wide-angle lens as I do, with the final 35mm camera equivalent being 30.4mm (38mm without the wide-angle lens).

Some of the minuses are: unlike the 2100 model it does not have the physical image stabilization so if you go at the maximum zoom you have to be careful to hold the camera extremely steady. Majority of other cameras also lack this feature, however, so it's not really that big of a minus. The camera does not have a way of turning off the internal LCD, even if only the large LCD on the back is being used, the lifespan of my 1600mAh NiMH batteries inside the new C-700 still far exceeds all of the other digital cameras I have used before, especially compared to the power-hungry Nikon digicams, so this is more of a gripe in principle than anything else. The C-700 CCD chip, LIKE ALL OTHER CURRENT digicams, creates a blue-ish halo around high-contrast edges (example: a tree or a roofline against a bright sky).

The pluses are plentiful. In the manual mode, you have almost complete control over the camera, plus (and this is very important) the camera has a MANUAL WHITE BALLANCE setting, as well as the standard auto and misc. presets. This is extremely helpful if you take photos in tricky lighting (studio lighting, etc.) I also really like the fact that you can record a 5 second audio clip with each photo, even after the fact after you review the images, just to keep yourself from forgetting what the photo object is (part number, name of the person, street address, etc.) The camera is very well balanced and feels comfortable when shooting.

I would recommend you getting an Olympus brand SmartMedia card if you plan to do any panorama shots, which greatly increases the efficiency of making them due to Olympus card's built-in ROM program. The software that comes with the camera is unusually well done, unlike most of the other packages I have seen with other makes and models. Panoramas get directly exported to Quicktime 360" web-ready panoramas, it's a joy to do this task. No need to get your hands dirty with funky 3rd party software and extra steps. Simply shoot with an Olympus card, 'stitch' the photos (automatically) using the Olympus software that comes with the camera and SAVE-AS 360 file. Then you upload it to the web, link to it and you have a rotating 360 shot! The software even knows what type of zoom you used for each photo, as that is embedded within each JPG file, along with complete exposure information, while still remaining fully compatible with PhotoShop, etc.

This is also the first camera I have ever seen that follows the standard external storage protocol which allows you to unload the camera to any computer (Win ME, Win 2000, Mac, etc.) WITHOUT installing any software or any drivers. The camera simply shows up as yet another drive when plugged in to a USB port, without rebooting.

Olympus really did a great job on this camera and priced it extremely aggressively considering the features, in order to further increase their digital camera lead in the marketplace. This camera produces up to 8x10 photo quality inkjet prints and about 4x6" (excellent quality) in 300 dpi for magazines, etc. (a lot of my photos get published in misc. travel magazines). If you need to do magazine work with photos bigger that the 4x6", check out the 4+ megapixel Olympus E-10 (price), though I cannot comment on it as I have not yet used it first hand.

This camera is the one to get and is worth paying extra over the C2040 and is worth getting over the C3040. Here is why. The 10X zoom is magnificent (It is equivalent to a 38mm to 380mm on a 35 mm camera and it only weighs 11 oz. Incredible.). You cannot imagine the difference between your standard 3x zoom until you see how close a 10X zoom gets. Digital zooms are completely worthless (you can do the same thing as a digital zoom on your computer). Also, this camera has a LCD viewfinder that looks straight through the lens (very similar to a camcorder). This is amazing as what you see is what you get (WYSIWYG). There is no parallax and it saves batteries by not having to use the back LCD to frame your photo. Once you try it you won't want to go back to anything else.

Even what some people consider negatives are actually positives. First, it is only 2.1 mega pixel. This is actually a good thing unless you are a professional photographer taking 11x17 or getting your photos published in a magazine. Not only is a 2.1 mega pixel cheaper but it saves space on your memory card so you can take more pictures. With the current memory, bandwidth, and storage limitations, 2.1 is about all you will need. I bet most of the people with the higher resolutions end up shrinking their photos once they get them on the computer. Two, no image stabilization. It is true at 10X zoom it is fairly easy to get some blurring (especially in low light). Get a tri-pod. It is lighter, cheaper and far less complex than image stabilization (Also, it will be handy for those night shoots when you don't use a flash). It is tricky to use the manual focusing. You use the menu arrow buttons instead of rotating the lens. However, judging how the lens works it would have added significant bulk to the C700. This is the smallest 10X zoom. If you have seen any of the others, (such as Sony) you can really appreciate how small and light this camera is.

When I was shopping for a camera it came down to the C2040 and the C700 UZ. The C2040 has a lower F-stop (1.8 instead of 2.8. This is a good thing as it lets in more light for the same shutter speed. So for low light situations you can have a higher shutter speed which lessons the likelihood of blurring). I wasn't sure how big of a difference this made. And in most conditions I don't think it makes that big of a difference. The C2040 only has a 3X zoom and optical viewfinder. Both of which I think were significant shortcomings. Also, you can record sound onto your photos in the C700 something you can't do in the C2040.

In the end, I paid the extra (cost) and bought the C700. I totally made the right choice. The pictures are great. Also, as you get better you won't outgrow this camera. It has all sorts of manual features that will have you fiddling for hours if you so desire but it is also completely point-and-shoot automatic if that is what you want. But in the end it all comes down to the zoom and LCD. I can't say enough good things about the 10X zoom and LCD viewfinder. Buy this camera and you will see the difference!

I'm the unofficial photographer for my kid's high school tennis team. I go to all the matches I can and take a zillion photos that I then upload to the net for use by the school and the kids on the team and their parents. I need a versatile unit that works well in all lighting conditions, which is good for action photography and has very good dtorage capacity.

This camera more than fits the bill.

Picture resolution is exceptional even on zoom action shots on the court. It works well with a variety of lighting conditions, a feature I especially like as a lot of my work is in the very late afternoon/early evening time when the court lights come on but some sunlight is still available but changing minute by minute. Changing settings is quick and easy. The only major flaw I can detect for the whole unit is the fluorescent lighting setting is lousy-stay with the standard incandescent setting for better results.

The camera has good storage capacity. It quickly shifts between photos in "view" mode, a feature I like as it allows me to ditch less desirable shots on the fly so as to maximize card storage capacity.

The unit also does excellent close up work. On a recent vacation to Nova Scotia I took a lot of wildflower pictures and they turned out fantastic.

The USB connection is easy to set up and use. There is a Camedia CD for working with your pictures on a pc but it is very basic and offers somewhat limited utility-I use a different photo-shop type program.

A lot of people gripe about the lens cap on the Olympus products. While it's true they were a disaster in previous times, it has improved greatly. Just weave the strap onto one of the side strap bars and all will be well.

I personally find the viewfinder a bit awkward to use and usually just use the LCD on the back to view and set up the pics. On the other hand, my wife loves the viewfinder and that's all she ever uses. I think this is a matter of taste rather than any particular engineering issue.

On the whole, an excellent value for the price on a slew of fronts. I don't see how you could be disappointed with this camera.

The Olympus C-700 is an absolutely amazing camera. First off, it has a 10x zoom lens that's equal to 38-380 mm (in 35mm) -- or an even more phenomenal 38-1,026 mm(!) if one counts the 2.7x digital zoom. So if you're looking for "telephoto," this camera has it in spades!

The camera is even fantastic indoors and in low light (inside or at night). The camera adjusts the exposure to the equivalent of 800-speed film, but I'd swear the sensitivity is even higher. I've gone to indoor theatrical events and shot - with no flash, hand-held and with telephoto -- and the photos have come out great!

Nighttime images are also a piece-of-cake. Long exposures are rendered perfectly (and not washed out)! And even when the scene is too dark to see on the display before the shot is taken, the actual photo is viewable immediately afterwards in all of its splendor. The camera's "exposure lock" is also handy for locking-in the proper exposure indoors (which is useful when the lighting changes dramatically during a stage show, or when the performers are only in the spotlights). Simply press the exposure lock, verify the exposure in the viewfinder's LCD display -- and repeat the procedure until you achieve the level of brightness desired. (Using the exposure lock -- and adjusting the brightness using the digital viewfinder -- takes the guesswork out of overcoming previously difficult indoor lighting situations).

My favorite use for the C-700, though, is taking photos of my kids playing basketball indoors. The camera's dimunitive size (being much smaller than a normal SLR) makes the unit easy to hand-hold and maneuver under all photographic situations. And although the camera's normal focus is slow (like most digital cameras), the shutter will fire almost instantaneously -- if you pre-focus ahead of time (so catching the action is not a problem). (The C-700 will also take a few seconds, in addition, to recover for the next shot; so its important to plan accordingly.) Digital photos of my kids playing basketball are now scattered liberally throughout their rooms. My kids love 'em!

The camera has two LCD displays; one on the camera's back -- and one in the viewfinder; the latter providing an SLR-like view of the actual photo -- both before and after its taken. The LCD viewfinder is ideal for accurate composition, especially when the zoom range is so broad. But both displays will tend to wash-out when shooting in bright sun; so I'll normally end up cupping my hand over the eyepiece when I shoot outdoors. (If most of your photography will be outside -- and if you don't need the ultra long zoom lens offered by the C-700 -- then I would urge you to consider purchasing, as an alternative, a digital camera with a traditional glass viewfinder. Viewing the image in the see-through viewfinder will be much easier -- and much more satisfying.)

Even though printing photos from my PC isn't a problem, my favorite way of outputting shots from my Olympus C-700 is actually -- to bypass the computer entirely -- and use HP's new PhotoSmart PS 100 printer, which reads from the camera's Smart Media card directly. Since both the Olympus and HP save and read, respectively, in what's called DPOF (digital print order format) -- I can crop (and select) the photos I want to print on the camera's rear LCD screen -- pop the Smart Media card into the printer -- and then print borderless 4" x 6" photos by hitting just the "Print" button (since the PS 100 will always call-up the DPOF pictures first). What could be easier?

With its 2.1 megapixel capability, the camera also makes great 8 x 10's, which I output in the more traditional manner from my computer to my HP Photosmart 1315 or HP 990 Cse printers.

All in all, the Olympus C-700 is a great digital camera -- which I use to supplment (but not replace) my 35 mm Nikon SLR, Canon underwater, and Olympus point-and-shoot cameras.

If you're looking for a telephoto digital camera, you won't find a longer, more usable range -- in such a small size -- anywhere else! And if you want to shoot indoors or in low light -- you'll be truly amazed by the (previously unobtainable) shots you'll now be able to take. This digital camera has easily expanded my photographic horizons -- in ways I never anticipated. For the above situations (and a whole bunch more) -- the Olympus C-700 is now my camera of choice!

A dedicated Canon SLR man for 15yrs I looked high and low for a digital camera that I felt could complement my needs. I was struck by the features of the C 700 UZ and have had the camera 1 week now. This is a fun camera.

The zoom is obviously great, 38 x 10 optical with 2.7 digital on top! (You will need a tripod for the top end). No camera-shake correction on this model unlike its higher end brother, worth the extra (money) for it? Nah. I did find the digital zone "seamless" as it said. Higher resolution gave very pleasing results for the zoom.

Once familiar with the thumb wheel and navigation buttons, (very simple and nicely set out) moving around the camera functions is a breeze and you will soon be impressing friends with the depth of menu availability on the camera. A few features I did like were the ability to rotate pictures on the camera instead of using software, the ability to assign a "quick function" to several buttons which can be a function of your choosing, i.e. ISO selection or resolution change. You can also add features to photos straight from the camera, like, sepia or black and white and the digital viewfinder. The preview screen on the back of the camera is very impressive. Very clear and crisp.

One nice little feature is that you are able to record up to 4 seconds of sound with each photograph. This can be very amusing on playback via the TV connection cable. Simply connect the camera to your Aux input on the TV and set the camera to playback and presto, all the functions of the camera available on a nice large screen, as well as sitting back and watching a slide show of your pictures or a video you just shot. Fun feature.

The video side of the camera was one of the stronger points I liked. There are 2 choices of resolutionon the camera and you can record up to 60 seconds in one go and up to 30 min total, on a 128MB card! The films are recorded in QuickTime format. The camera gives the user the chance to edit the film on the camera too. This is useful to save space on the smaller memory cards.

USB connection makes picture and film copying to PC a breeze. I run Windows ME and had no problems at all. Included in the package is the infamous Camedia software. Good for beginners, but worth investing in a higher end title to get the true benefits of digital photography if you are a photo nut like me.
On the down side? Well, auto color balance was poor in low, artificial light conditions. Needed to manually set white balance and there was some minor color flare in bright sky photos with detailed foreground, like trees or railings. You have to zoom in a lot to see this though.

A few essentials, as I think others mention, camera comes with an 8MB card, 64MB is nice, 128MB recommended, (a 64MB card is free from Olympus, at the time of writing, with mail-in and purchase of this camera), prices have plummeted, search online for some amazing prices for both camera and memory, rechargeable batteries or mains adaptor, a filter to protect that lovely lens from nasty scratches and a carry case make this a very enviable package.

Photo capacity is an amazing 1330 photos on standard res, 257 on HQ, 114 on SHQ with 128MB card.

Worth every penny. I really enjoy this camera.

First of all, I must say that I'm new to digital cameras. And we've only had this camera for 2 weeks (during which we finished wedding plans and survived our daughter's wedding), so we haven't fully explored what this little marvel of engineering can do.

We chose the Olympus C-700 because of the excellent reviews here on Amazon and on other websites. We spent many hours researching digital cameras, which confirmed our immediate reaction looking at this camera at the store. It feels GREAT in your hand, and once you look through that LCD viewfinder, you just won't be happy with any other viewfinder!

My advice is the buy the 128MB card right away. We haven't filled it up yet, and I was shooting pictures like crazy! When you look in the viewfinder, it tells you how many pictures are left on the card at High Quality.

After reading about how digital cameras drain the batteries so quickly, we were prepared with alkaline batteries as well as an extra set of lithium rechargables, but we were pleasantly surprised with how long the batteries last.

This is really the only camera you'll find with a 10x zoom, except for the older Olympus C-2100UZ, which is not only harder to find, but about twice as heavy! The only advantage to this other camera, from our research, is that it has image stabilization. But part of the joy of a digital camera is taking it along to capture those special moments, and it would be a real pain to have it twice as heavy!

Even though I'm not an experienced photographer even with a normal camera, I was able to take excellent pictures with this camera! It's just wonderful being able to see your pictures right away on the screen. How many times have you taken 10 pictures of a certain subject, only to find later, when it was too late, that the lighting wasn't right for the situation?

We enjoyed being able to hook up the camera to the TV and show them to a whole room of people. Hooking up the camera to the computer via the USB is easy too, and the software is straightforward.

One of the things we were carefully looking at was the fact that this camera is "only 2.1 megapixels". We compared reviews of the C-700 to Olympus cameras with over 3 megapixels. It seems that the image quality is just as good (some reviews say better!), especially if you're not needing to print out pictures larger than 8x10's. According to all the reviews, the lens makes a huge difference and this camera has a great one.

I tried out the 10x zoom by taking pictures of my daughter's wedding bouquet the day after the wedding. The pictures are just gorgeous! Oh, and I've only used the AUTO setting so far. I'm looking forward to learning more about the camera, especially the "burst mode" where you can take a whole bunch of pictures right in a row.

The only downside we've seen to this camera so far is the lens cover. It does come with a small cord which attaches to it, but we never figured out how you're supposed to connect this little cord to the camera. We tried to thread it through the same opening that the camera strap goes through, but that didn't work. The result is that the lens cover was accidentally dropped after we owned it just a few days. A little black piece of plastic came out of the lens cover and when we tried to put it back together, it wouldn't squeeze together to grip the lens. Apparently there was a small spring which was lost, but my husband improvised a temporary fix with a small piece of foam which he put where the spring was. Then we took a piece of 6-ply black cross-stitch thread and threaded that through the cord on the lens cover and then attached that to strap. It's not a perfect solution, but at least the lens cover stays with the camera! The directions/design for this lens cover attachment could be better for sure!

This is an amazing little camera - great for people like me who need just point-and-shoot, and also for those people who enjoy changing the settings themselves....

Several cameras later, the 700 remains the one I grab when going on a trip or when I want a good, multipurpose camera in the car. It has only taken a back seat to the Olympus 2100 for sporting events, and in this case only because the built-in lens stabilization feature of the 2100 makes a lot of difference when the 10x optical zoom is fully extended. I've appended my original review of the 700 below. ****************************************************************
This is the camera that will put most others out of work. It is beautifully made and ergonomically engineered. The lens system is excellent and the resulting 2.1 megapixel images are crystal clear at 5" x 7", and nearly so at 8" x 10". . The zoom is of course the trump card on the 700, and the smoothness (just the right damping) with which it reaches its 10x limit is awesome. Another nice feature is its ability to take QuickTime movies, which really adds to its versatility. The camera as shipped does require some upgrading, but these things can be added later. I would suggest the first purchase be a much larger memory card than the 8 megs included (I like the 128); if possible, buy Olympus, as these proprietary cards allow for a few more digital formatting tricks than do the others. A case and a battery recharger system should complete the package and make for a really great digital powerhouse.

I looked at a lot of digital cameras before I finally bought this one. It seems a little pricey, but this little gem is an engineering marvel, and very well thought out to maximize the ease of use for all that power. It can be used as a PhD Camera (Push here Dummy), or full on, do all your own settings or anywhere in between. Customizable button. Fantastic zoom capability - so much you have to be careful of camera shake a full zoom. I find the zoom really allows flexibility of shots, I always find I want to zoom in on a face, on wildlife or a special scene, and this camera can do it like no other - 38 to over 1000 zoom equivalent 35 mm. Add black and white, sepia, or whiteboard capability. Add 100 to 800 ASO settings, manual or automatic. I found almost instantaneous download through my USB port. I bought the card reader, but don't really need it. I bought the 128 meg card, and its well worth buying more card space, 8 meg is not enough. All digitals tend to eat batteries, but Olympus cameras are among the most miserly of the current digitals. This camera uses batteries, but at an acceptable rate. It can use 2 lithium packs or 4 AA's - recharagble or alkaline - so you can always find power in a pinch. Automatic white adjust for true colors whether you are outdoors, indoors with tungsten or flourescent lighting. Professional quality 4 x 6 prints, very acceptable 8 x 10. How big do you need? All for 10 trim ounces of weight! Take it anywhere. What are you waiting for? If you have the $ you will have a blast with this camera. The only drawbacks I found are the blue halo on bright white edges - but I think all current digitals have that - and this darn camera is smarter than I am.

First of all, let me say that this camera is very well designed with only a couple of exceptions, and the construction is flawless. I would definitely look to Olympus first on my next camera purchase.

On the plus side, the zoom is awesome. Even with the digital zoom, pictures turn out just as you would expect. The 2.1 megapixel processor delivers pictures of greater quality than most other 2.1 MP cameras, thanks mostly to the quality of the lens. Controls are easy to get to and operate flawlessly. There are a wealth of camera settings that even most professionals would find appeasing. The Smart Memory Card system is awesome (go ahead and spend the extra [money] to get a USB Card Reader so you can take your memory card straight from your camera to your computer).

Now for the bad. First, as you'll see in other reviews, one of the design flaws is the lens cap cover...it isn't attached to anything, so it's up to you to devise a way to keep up with it. The second (and more important to me) flaw is the viewfinder. It is digital, not optical. It tends to lag behind your range of motion, making it very difficult to tell what you're actually taking a picture of. The faster you move, obviously, the greater the lag. To me this is very annoying. Like other reviewers, I use the LCD screen more than the viewfinder for this reason.

Another annoying thing is that the camera does NOT ship with it's own AC Adapter, which to me is unbelievable. Save yourself some time and money immediately...buy a compatible AC Adapter AND get yourself some good rechargeable batteries.

The 8Mb Memory Card that ships with the camera is useless; it's too small to hold more than 8 pictures on the highest quality setting. I bought 2 Viking 64Mb Cards, and it's turned out to be about right for the volume of pictures I take (most of them on high resolution).

But...finally, for me it's the resolution. I like to take close up pictures, or pictures in less than optimal lighting. The 2.1 MP processor just doesn't deliver enough crispness for my taste. Please understand that it's NOT the camera (other than the digital viewfinder); it does exactly what it was designed to do better than other cameras in the 2.1 MP class. But if I were buying another camera, I'd forego some of the options on this camera (ie the 10x Zoom), pay a little extra money, and get a 4MP Camera with an optical viewfinder. Olympus just happens to make one for about $900. Pricey, but you get what you pay for, especially when it comes to technology.