Full Featured with 27X Digital Zoom, USB AutoConnect Ease-of-Use, and QuickTime Movie & Audio -- All Packed into Compact, Stylish Body

Melville, New York, March 19, 2001 — Olympus America Inc., the world leader in film and filmless photography, today introduced the CAMEDIA C-700 UltraZoom, the world’s smallest 10X optical zoom digital camera. Packed with advanced capabilities and offering outstanding image quality and control, the C-700 UltraZoom raises digital photography to new heights while establishing a new industry benchmark for compactness, style, versatility and ease of use.

The C-700 UltraZoom features a 10X optical zoom lens that delivers the equivalent of a 38mm – 380mm lens on a 35mm camera. This optical zoom capability is complemented by a 27X seamless digital zoom, which extends the camera’s maximum zoom range to 1,026mm—another industry first for a camera of this size. ‘Seamless’ means the C-700 UltraZoom will automatically switch to digital zoom when the camera reaches the limit of its optical range, enhancing ease of use and allowing users to capture intricate details from great distances.

Fully programmable, the C-700 UltraZoom is versatile enough to match any user’s comfort level and application. In Programmed Auto mode, the camera offers point-and-shoot simplicity for flawless picture taking in average situations. For unique or difficult to shoot conditions, the C-700 UltraZoom offers greater control with aperture priority (Wide: f2.8 – f8.0, Tele: f3.5 – f8.0), shutter priority (1/2 – 1/1,000 sec.), full manual operation and a host of special programs including Night Scene, Sports Action, Portrait and Landscape modes. Multiple ISO settings from 100 to 800 allow users to capture sharp images even in low light conditions.

The C-700 UltraZoom uses industry standard SmartMedia™ cards to capture images in JPEG and TIFF formats. The camera ships with an 8MB card standard, providing ample capacity to store up to 82 pictures in SQ-Normal mode. Additional SmartMedia cards are available in 16, 32, 64 and 128MB increments, and deliver virtually unlimited, reusable image storage capacity without the time or expense associated with film developing. But the C-700 UltraZoom is more than a still image digital camera. A QuickTime™ Movie mode enables users to capture up to 62 seconds of full motion video with sound at 15 frames per second on an 8MB SmartMedia card, making it the perfect choice for users producing webcasts and e-mailing short videos. The C-700 UltraZoom also records up to four seconds of audio captioning for each still image.

“The C-700 UltraZoom is targeted at a photographically-savvy audience; the experienced digital photographer who’s ready to step up to a more capable device, but at the same time wants a small, ease to use camera,” states John Knaur, Digital Product Manager, Olympus Consumer Products Group. “The C-700 UltraZoom delivers the full featured functionality and greater image control demanded by accomplished amateurs, but without the price tag associated with professional cameras. In fact, with its extensive capabilities and simple operation at this price point, the C-700 UltraZoom is one of the best values in its class.”

Whether capturing still pictures or full motion video, every image is processed through the C-700 UltraZoom’s 2.11-megapixel CCD, and displayed on a 1.5-inch, 113,000-pixel color TFT LCD monitor. As a result, the C-700 UltraZoom delivers photo-quality images up to 8” x 10” when image data is downloaded to a computer and output on a photo-quality printer. SmartMedia cards may also be inserted directly into one of Olympus’ P Series dye sublimation printers for computer-free printing.

For fast and simple downloading, the C-700 UltraZoom features USB AutoConnect technology. The Olympus USB AutoConnect feature allows users to plug the camera directly into any USB-configured computer. No drivers or additional software are required for PCs running the latest operating systems including Windows® 2000, Windows Me and Mac OS™ 8.6 and higher—these computers will mount and recognize the C-700 UltraZoom automatically. This eliminates the need to restart the system, so image viewing, downloading and printing can be performed immediately upon connection. (Card readers are also available for non-USB equipped PCs.) The C-700 UltraZoom supports the Digital Print Order Format (DPOF) standard for adding data to images and tagging specific photographs to print to DPOF-compatible printers.

“This camera can be as simple or sophisticated to operate as any user needs it to be. It functions great as a point-and-shoot digital camera for family vacation and holiday use, and is also well suited for the more creative photographer who desires pinpoint image control,” says Knaur. “Its AutoConnect capability makes it easy to download, print and share both still images and short video clips. We expect the C-700 UltraZoom to be very well received by the experienced digital consumer, and to maintain Olympus’ position as the leader in filmless digital photography.”

The Camedia C-700 will be available in May. It ships with an 8MB SmartMedia, 2 CR-V3 AA Lithium Battery Pack, CAMEDIA Master Software, Win/Mac USB Cable, video cable, manual, carrying strap, lens cap and retainer cord.


CAMEDIA C-700 UltraZoom Street Price: $699.00
CAMEDIA C-700 UltraZoom Suggested Retail Price: $799.00

For more information including photos of the C-700 UltraZoom, please contact the Olympus America Consumer Products Group http://www.olympus.com, or Thomas Public Relations at (631) 549-7575.

Specifications subject to change without notice.
About Olympus America, Inc.
Olympus America distributes a wide range of products to the consumer, scientific, healthcare, commercial and industrial markets. These include film and filmless cameras, Microcassette™ and digital voice recorders, binoculars, film scanners, personal photo printers, medical and industrial endoscopes, biological and metallurgical microscopes and measuring instruments, clinical analyzers, and other high technology products. Olympus America is responsible for sales in Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.

Olympus is a registered trademark, and CAMEDIA is a trademark of Olympus Optical Co. Ltd. Macintosh and QuickTime are trademarks of Apple Computer. Microsoft is a registered trademark and Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corp. SmartMedia is a trademark of Toshiba America, Inc.

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