Customer Reviews

Olympus Camedia C-730 3MP Digital Camera w/ 10x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this camera two months ago (October '02) from Amazon, and I could not be happier with it. I guess I am an experienced camera user, this being my third digital camera, and I have had a succession of 35mm SLR's too. The first two digitals were a Sony Mavica and a Fujifilm 2400. The Olympus 730 leaves them for dead for experienced users.

There are far too many features to review in detail, but the stand outs for me are the 10x zoom, the manual overide on everything, and the superb lens quality. This camera is essentially a digital equivalent of an SLR, but without the $3,000 price tag. Be warned, however, that it will be too complicated for most first timers to use. If you want a digital that allows all of the creative expression of an SLR then go for it, but if you want a point and shoot camera just for taking happy snaps then I suggest something like the Fujifilm 2600.

I use a 64mb memory card, which stores 80 pics at 2048 x 1536 resolution, enough for pin sharp blow ups to 8"x10" or 11"x14".In summary, if you would know what to do with three light metering modes, 5 film speeds, manual overide for depth of field manipulation, etc, then you will love the endless possibilities that this camera can give you. If not, get a point and shoot for less than half the price.

I recently purchased this camera and took it to Hawaii. I used it in place of my 35 mm Ricoh XRP. It basically did everything my 35mm could do but was alot lighter. Basically I carried it on my hip camera bag which was alot easier than toting around the 35 mm with all my lenses including my 400mm lens which the 730 easily replaced. I would highly recommend this camera. I plan on getting the lens extention tube so I can use all my speciality 35mm lenses.

This camera's quality of picture is terrific. The zoom is unbelievable. This is the first digital camera that we have owned, but not the first we have used. It's true you need to buy rechargable batteries, and I recommend the 128 Media card. With the 128Mb card, at high quality, you can take 161 pictures, and at standard quality over 900! The quality of picture is fantastic, did I mention that? This camera is well worth the price. One more thing, the camera bag for the Olympus C-series that pops up with this camera is too small for this model.

Because I have some expensive autofocus lenses, I have been waiting for the price of a digital camera body to get down low enough to justify buying. I finally decided that this is not going to happen so I made the plunge and got this camera. This is my first experience with digital cameras so I am not qualified do a rating. However, I do have experience with cameras and digital images scanned from prints.

I am not easily impressed but I am very impressed with this camera. Within a few hours, I was taking pictures, displaying them on my TV, loading them onto my computer, editing and printing them. The instructions are a bit weak in the menu system but overall very good.

A novice could use this camera but they would be paying for a ton of features not used. This thing will do everything but slice bread. If you like tuning knobs, you have plenty.
The built in flash is amazing.

Make sure you copy the manual from the CD. It has a lot of stuff not in the hard copy booklet.

Because of the small size, weight and what you can do, I may not be using my SLR much anymore.

I love everything about this camera except for one problem that I have encountered. I am now on my second one of these and both cameras I have had, after a good deal of use but within the first year of that use, a problem with the AC adaptor port. This first time I thought that the AC cord that I was using somehow got fried and hence actually totally disabled the camera. My second camera's AC port was working fine for a while (yes I also purchased the Olympus AC cord that is made for use with this camera) and something has now changed and it only works on the batteries. It does not appear to be the cord, but rather the AC port seems to not be functional. I would definitely recommend the rechargeable batteries for this camera as it burns through a lot, as all digital cameras with this many features currently will. That is why the AC port was so great. Not sure if it is a bug in the camera or just a cooincidence...

I must say, I was a bit disappointed when I first got this camera, I am used to the Olympus C range, having used a C 3020 extensively for work, so I thought this would be a breeze. Well, it takes some getting used to that killer zoom, and a lot of the first few pictures I took suffered from the shake associated with a longer lens, also on automatic settings, it tends to go for slower shutter speeds rather than pop up the flash (more hand shake issues). But, once you get used to it, and start to manually adjust settings (made really easy to save with the my mode settings), it takes great shots, and the zoom really is AMAZING.
Only thing I really hate is that horrid digital viewfinder thing, its grainy, and you have NO idea whats in focus or not, it's not too big an issue, because I almost always use the LCD when I'm taking my shots, but I have no idea why anyone whould do that to such a great camera (must waste a lot of battery too).
Some minor dislikes: it does't feel as solid as the C 3020, the dials seem less durable, a strap that only attaches to one side, so that the camera hangs like most point and shoots, and not like an SLR.
Bottom line, great camera, amazing zoom, sucky viewfinder, a bit of a learning curve. If your interested in the zoom, go for it, otherwise you might be better off with the C 4000 or something such.

I absolutely love this camera. It's the first digital camera I own and I was initially worried that the picture quality would be less than that of a normal camera with film. However, having printed more than 500 pictures, I can honestly say, the quality is fantastic. Besides this, it produces great photos for computer screens. It is also small and lightweight and not a "burden" to carry around for the casual photographer.

Most impressive is the zoom. The 10x optical zoom alone, already lets you reach those elusive targets - in my case, a lot of shy and faraway African wildlife. The 3x digital zoom lets you come even closer, and as long as you are able to hold the camera steady, you'll get a good shot.

It didn't take me long to figure out how to work the camera with the host of different settings; and for me, the automatic functions were easy to use and produced great pictures. On top of that, I also got some great movie shots of animals running - absolute top notch quality (although my own camera work is in need of some serious help!)

Two minor negative points are the digital zoom and the speed of the camera. The digital zoom quality is not as nice as the optical zoom, and you can see the difference upon print. I also found that the reaction time of the camera can be slow - I tried to take a bunch of shots of cheetahs running, often missing them completely since they'd run out of shot before my camera "hit" them. With a film camera, it would have gone when you pressed "go". I learned to move my camera with my object on the sports setting, which worked really well.

I sent lots of pictures via email, using the user-friendly Camedia software that came with the camera. I reduced picture sizes to post photos on the web with ease.

As far as the memory cards go - it was no problem buying additional memory even in Africa. And digital photos can be printed everywhere these days. The quality was as good in Africa as it was in Europe ...

Needless to say, this camera has been fantastic and has put the joy back into picture taking for me. I carry it with me everywhere!

In a word, yes. However, I would say after all this time that some other makes are somewhat better at rendering truly faithful colors and that the Olympus autofocus mechanism is slower than newer digicams and therefore will more often yield a slightly blurred image.
That notwithstanding, the 700 was my favorite digital camera for a long time, that is, until the 720 came along. Then along came the 730, which maintained the 3+ megapixel resolution of the 720, while reinserting the 10X (true optical) zoom (the 720 has an 8X).
In point of fact, zooming at 8X or at 10X without a tripod or image stabilization (not present on either the 700 or the 720) is extremely challenging. Anyway, this camera is beautifully made and ergonomically engineered. The aspherical all glass lens system is excellent and the resulting 3 megapixel images are crystal clear at 8" x 10" and quite acceptable at 11" x 14". The zoom of course remains the trump card on the 730, 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 news with the 730 is that it is the first Olympus to utilize the new xD memory card format, the "xD-Picture Card". This is a new type of ultra-compact memory media developed jointly by Fuji and Olympus. The main features of the xD-Picture Card are its ultra-compact size (20.0 x 25.0 x 1.7mm), its lower power consumption (the xD Picture-Card users will benefit from the convenience and savings of longer battery life on a single charge) and its faster read/write speeds. Of course, a new card means a new card-reader will be needed, but these are inexpensive and aren't immediately needed, as the camera can be linked by the included USB cable to your PC without too much fuss. Overall, I think the 730 is a winner, especially as prices have fallen steadily over the past year.

I've had this camera for about four weeks and love it! I can't believe the sharpness of the images througout the entire zoom range (38-380). Macro pictures also come out razor sharp. Its everything I wanted in a digital camera in one small and lightweight package. No need to lug around and change lenses. I had some problems trying to navigate through the menu system at first but got used to it. My wife couldn't believe the pictures I took came from this digital camera. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a long zoom range camera with advanced features.

I purchased the Olympus 730 Ultra Zoom and am very impressed. I had a difficult time finding the camera that I wanted. I wanted a burst mode so that I could take action shots as well as close ups. I just had the chance with our last snow to get pictures of some deer running across my pasture using the telefoto lense that came out as good as those in National Geographic. The pictures were clear as a bell and not even a hint of a blur. The low light shots that I have taken have also be of excellent quality. The pictures are clear and bright on the camera screen and down load easily to my computer. I am very, very pleased. Thanks Olympus; Murphy Brown