Charge! and charge again! Olympus C-7000 Zoom Digital Camera
Written: Jul 10 '05 (Updated Jul 10 '05)
Product Rating:
Ease of Use:
Durability:
Battery Life:
Photo Quality:
Shutter Lag
Pros: Olympus C-7000 is a fun camera. Takes great images with lots of detail.
Cons: Battery needs charging often. The lens is extended while reviewing photos taken.
The Bottom Line: I love this camera at this price. Full price would be a harder sell, due to the battery issues. Photo quality and camera features are first class!
nwinston's Full Review: Olympus C-7000 Zoom Digital Camera
My secret
I'm choosing today to come out of the closet. Carrying a lot of baggage. Actually, a heavy box, around 36" wide, 24" deep and 18" high. The height is a relative measurement since the lid won't actually close. The lid won't close because the box is overstuffed with my guilty secret, (drumroll please)unsorted photos. I kept up with photos of the kids for 10 years. Really, I did. I count sorting photos at 3am before the Grandparents arrive keeping up, even if it involves watching infomercials.
Sometimes, the photos would tease me for weeks, even months. They'd lay quietly in their developing envelopes. But as soon as I dared to sleep, they'd move from kitchen counter to counter, to table, back to counter again. I fooled myself into believing that if I took photos, they'd sort themselves into a reasonable history of our family. But I have to face facts. About 1 1/2 yrs ago, I lost the war. And due to a remodeling project forcing me to clean out my closet, my biceps are benefiting more than my conscience.
Management problem
I reasoned that my mounting stacks of unorganized photos was a simple management problem, easily solved by buying technology. Digital images must be easier to manage than film based photos, right? I had a digital camera but it had very little storage space. So I decided to buy a new one. The fact that the old one's shutter button was stuck down with strawberry syrup wasn't the decisive factor in my decision to change cameras. As all techies know, no factors are actually needed to justify purchases of shiny new electronics. Unless our spouse asks questions, which is where the strawberry syrup comes in handy.
Research = Justification
In digital photography, images are recorded onto media, usually media cards. The data is represented as digital pixels. There are so many digital cameras available. How would I make my decision and more importantly, figure out what info I would need to justify my purchase when the credit card bill arrived? I decided to check out what differentiates one digital camera from another. I learned there are several features to consider, including:
=~ Pixels The megapixel (MP) number of a digital camera model specifies how much information is recorded about each picture. 2 MP is 2 million pixels. 8 MP is 8 million pixels. The more pixels, the larger the image that can be printed and the more detail it has. The Olympus C-7000 Zoom has 7.1 MP. Digital cameras commonly sold to non-professional photographers range from 1 to 8 MP. Think more pixels when shopping. You don't want to be the only person at the edge of the Grand Canyon with a mere 1 million pixels!
=~ Zoom Optical zoom is superior to digital zoom because digital zoom magnifies the center of the frame without adding more details. 5-10x zoom is good for most hobby photographers, allowing you to get facial shots without getting in your subject's face. The C-7000 has a 5x optical zoom, 6x digital for a total of 30x zoom. If you want to prove which sibling has more wrinkles at your next holiday dinner, zoom will be important to you.
=~ Battery How frustrating is it to get out a camera to capture that cute moment of your child throwing spaghetti on some innocent diner, only to discover that the battery is dead? Some digital cameras take 2 AA batteries which are conveniently available everywhere. Most digitals require specialty lithium ion batteries. The C-7000 demands it's energy from an LI battery and comes with recharger. I seem to get between 100-200 shots before needing to recharge. The problem is that it's hard to recharge while out soaking up nature's beauty or pretending not to know your children in a fine dining establishment. I think the same rule applies to this camera as to my video camera - carry a spare charged battery and the charger with you.
=~ Size & Weight The smallest light weight cameras tend to have fewer manual control features and less zoom capability but the rule doesn't always hold. If you believe that size matters, check the weight and dimensions of cameras you are thinking about purchasing. The C-7000 is in the mid range at 7.07 oz. and 4"x2.3"x1.7".
=~ Manual Controls Some point and shoot cameras allow no manual manipulation of the controls. The C-7000 has full manual control. You can change shutter speeds, aperture priority, shooting modes and turn off the autofocus.
=~ Memory The memory card shipped with the C-7000 Zoom is a 32MB xD card. It doesn't hold enough photos to get through your child's 4 hour band concert. I picked up a 256 MB xD card at Costco for around $50 which holds around 300 images. xD cards are standard so you don't have to get one from Olympus. I'm saving the included 32MB as a backup because it isn't useful for most trips and outings.
=~ Photo modes This camera has 12 photo modes, easily accessed via a dial on the back of the camera. It would be frustrating if you had to go through menus to access them. They include portrait, landscape, panorama, sport and macro.
=~ Resolution/size Resolutions possible are 3072 x 2304 (RAW, TIFF, SHQ & HQ),3072 x 2048 (3.2 SHQ, HQ High or Normal),2592 x 1944 (SQ1 High or Normal),2288 x 1712 (SQ1 High or Normal),2048 x 1536 (SQ1 High or Normal),1600 x 1200 (SQ1 High or Normal),1280 x 960 (SQ2 High or Normal),1024 x 768 (SQ2 High or Normal) and 640 x 480 (SQ2 High or Normal). The photos I took in the standard format of 3072 x 2304 range from 1.1 to 1.7 KB. I have printed as small as 4x6 and as large as 8x10 with no fuzziness.
Other Olympus C-7000 features
This digital toy has a movie mode which works but uses a lot of memory. I have a video camera so didn't buy this for it's movie capability. The camera comes with software for managing images. It is Pictbridge compatible for use with certain photo printers. A USB cable is included for connecting to your PC.
Photo fun short lived
I took the brand new camera on our recent vacation. We had an unpleasant experience at an amusement park (http://www.epinions.com/content_188169948804). When my husband handed me the camera to hold while he picked up our son, I noticed the battery cover was open and that the battery was missing. Somehow, we had caused the battery cover to open and the battery to fall out. There is a battery lock that is released by an eject button but it didn't protect our battery. Be careful with the battery cover slide since it is possible to accidentally lose a battery. We never did find ours and ended up replacing the Li10B battery that day at a camera shop for $50. We do have a shot of our son dangling upside down, expertly taken by my husband who didn't realize the amusement park ride wasn't supposed to stop!
Cons?
You may get the idea that I'm going for 5 stars with this camera. I do like it a lot but there are a couple of annoyances. I already mentioned the battery problems. There is another thing that bothers me about this camera. You must power on the camera to sift through the images. When the camera is on, the lens is extended, making it more likely that the lens will get damaged. The extended lens doesn't allow the camera to lie flat on it's face to look at the viewing screen on the back.
Retailer
Costco.com has great camera deals on Olympus C-7000 Zoom and others - sign up for their email lists. Full price on the C-7000 is $599 according to the Olympus website. It was $350 at Costco.
Fun Panorama
www.olympusdigitalschool.com has an interesting lesson on how to stitch together a coastal panorama using Photoshop.
Recommendation
I recommend the Olympus C-7000 Zoom Digital camera to all hobby photographers, from those who point & shoot to those who are more serious about adjusting the controls manually. I'm having a lot of fun with this camera. It hasn't solved my photo management problem entirely but it does allow me to delete images that don't suit me, making room for better ones on the memory card. And the images I transfer to my computer don't weigh as much as the box from my closet!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 350 This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Flexible Enough for Enthusiasts
7.1-megapixel resolution for photo-quality poster-plus sized enlargements 5x optical zoom lens combines with 6x digital zoom for 30x total seamless zo...More at Amazon Marketplace
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