Digital Camera Home > Digital Camera Reviews > Olympus Digital Cameras > Olympus C-2100 Zoom

Olympus C-2100 Zoom Wow! A superb 10X, optically stabilized zoom lens on a high-quality 2 megapixel camera! Select a topic Reference: Datasheet C-2100 Zoom Test Images --------------------------------- 1. Intro and Highlights 2. Executive Overview 3. Design 4. Viewfinder 5. Optics 6. Exposure & Flash 7. Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests 8. Operation & User Interface 9. Camera Modes & Menus 10. Image Storage & Interface 11. Video, Power, Software 12. Test Results & Conclusion --------------------------------- Print-Friendly Review Version Additional Resources and Other Links Reader Comments on C-2100 Zoom Review --------------------------------- Digital Camera Comparometer (TM) --------------------------------- <-- Digital Cameras (Home) <-- Digital Camera Reviews Index <<Viewfinder :(Previous) | (Next): Exposure & Flash>> Page 5:Optics Review First Posted: 10/18/2000

Optics
Among the most exciting aspects of the Camedia Ultra Zoom is the 10X optical zoom lens. The aspherical glass lens features a focal length range from 7-70mm (equivalent to 38-380mm on a 35mm camera). The C-2100 also features a very effective "Image Stabilization" anti-vibration system, which allows you to handhold the camera at the maximum telephoto setting, even when using fairly long exposure times. Using some basic camera support practices (such as resting your arm on a table or bracing it against your chest) the Image Stabilizer does an excellent job of steadying the image in the viewfinder without a tripod (though we certainly recommend using a tripod when shooting at slow shutter speeds). Even low-light movies seemed to show a minimum of camera movement.

The C-2100's maximum lens aperture is f/2.8, which is great for sports and fast action shots (the larger aperture lets in more light and therefore allows shorter shutter speeds). This "fast" maximum aperture also helps with portrait shots by isolating the subject within a more shallow depth of field. Depending on the zoom setting, the camera's aperture can be manually or automatically controlled from f/2.8 to f/8.0, in 10 steps. The Aperture Priority mode allows you to control the lens aperture setting while the camera controls the shutter speed, and the Manual exposure mode lets you control both settings.

The 2.7X digital telephoto is activated through the Record menu and digitally increases the zoom range to 27X. Quality is always an issue with digital enlargement, as the camera is simply enlarging the center portion of the CCD image. This decreases image quality by producing higher noise levels and softer resolution. However, in our testing, we noticed that the C-2100's digital telephoto did a great job of enlarging the image without too much degradation. Focus ranges from 23.6 inches (0.59 meters) to infinity in normal mode, and from 3.9 to 23.6 inches (9.96 to 59.94 cm) in macro mode (which is controlled by the Macro button on top of the camera). The C-2100 performs very well in macro mode, capturing a minimum area of just 2.44 x 1.83 inches (61.93 x 46.45mm) with great detail and resolution. A set of 49mm filter threads on the inside lip of the lens barrel accommodates a variety of Olympus lens conversion kits, which would also extend the camera's macro capabilities.

Several focusing options are available on the C-2100 through the camera's Record menu. Autofocus range can be set to iESP or Spot, depending on what part of the image you want to use to judge the focus. The default iESP setting bases the focus on a multi-pattern reading taken from several points throughout the image. The Spot option bases the focus on the very center of the image, defined by the autofocus target marks (or brackets) on the LCD screen. Both of these modes set the focus when the shutter button is depressed halfway.

When the Full Time AF option in the Record menu is on, the camera will maintain continuous focus, without having to keep the shutter button depressed halfway. This is great for capturing fast motion, but also decreases battery life. A 240-step manual focus option is activated by pressing the OK (MF) button on the back panel. Use the right arrow key to switch to manual focus and a distance meter appears on the right side of the LCD monitor. You can then adjust the focus by pressing the up and down arrow buttons. This feature is great for difficult focusing situations such as low-light environments. You can choose to have measurements displayed in either meters or feet by accessing the Mode Setup option in the Record menu. (Scroll down to Mode Setup, press OK, scroll to m/ft, and use the arrow buttons to select meters or feet. Press OK twice to get completely out of the option menus.)

The manual focus options on many digicams are of limited usefulness because there generally isn't enough resolution in the LCD screen to see whether the subject is sharply focused or not. We were thus very pleased to see that the C-2100 Ultra Zoom kicks in an automatic 2x zoom on the viewfinder display (the display only, not in the final picture) whenever you adjust the focus manually. This actually makes it fairly feasible to focus the camera manually, without having to refer to the distance scale and knowledge of your subject's exact position. Another nice touch is that the manual focus system lets you know what the usable focus range of the lens is at all focal lengths: Like most zoom lenses, the C-2100's can focus more closely when set to shorter focal lengths than at maximum zoom. The camera lets you know this by refusing to move the focus-distance indicator bar to shorter readings than the minimum focusing distance for any given zoom setting.

As noted elsewhere, the C-2100 Ultra Zoom has exceptional low-light shooting capabilities. What's even more remarkable in a digicam is that it can also focus at those light levels, and in fact focuses just fine even in complete darkness. This "see in the dark" capability is due to a bright autofocus-assist illuminator LED that projects a beam of light onto your subject when the light level is too low for the camera to focus on its own. AF-assist illuminators are becoming more common on digicams, but the C-2100's has two unique features: First, it really does work quite well even in complete darkness, something that we've found to be surprisingly rare. The best feature in our mind though, is that it can also be turned off when you don't want it to tip your hand in candid shooting situations. Most digicams with AF assist lights don't let you turn them off, meaning that you'll call possibly unwelcome attention to yourself whenever you touch the shutter button in dim surroundings. With the C-2100, you can disable the AF assist light via a menu setting, and then use manual focus, either by eyeballing it on the LCD screen, or using the distance readout and guesstimating the distance to your subject. With either approach, your subjects need never know you've tripped the shutter, a very nice feature.

Testing indicated a 0.5 percent barrel distortion at the extreme wide angle end of the zoom lens. The telephoto end fared much better, showing only about one pixel (less than 0.1%) of pincushion distortion. Chromatic aberration is relatively low, showing only about one or two pixels of coloration on each side of the black target lines. (This distortion is visible as a very slight color fringe around the objects at the edges of the field of view on the resolution target.) All of these distortion numbers are better than average among digicams we've tested, and really unheard of in a lens with such a long zoom ratio. Kudos to the Olympus optical engineers for this one!