Olympus C-3000 ZoomOlympus develops a slightly slower, but lot cheaper version of the C-3030 Zoom. (Looks like a great bargain!)<<Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests :(Previous) | (Next): Camera Modes & Menus>> Page 9:Operation & User InterfaceReview First Posted: 5/30/2000 |
Operation and User Interface
The user interface on the C-3000 Zoom relies heavily on the LCD monitor for menu selections and feedback on current settings during use. The resulting interface will be pretty clear to most users, but we do wish there were an "advanced" mode that would make greater use of the top-panel LCD data readout. The camera's non-LCD power consumption is so low that it's a shame to spoil it by requiring the LCD to be used for all but the simplest option selections. The top-panel data readout does display status information for a wide range of camera functions (see the scan below, taken from the manual), but changing most of them requires returning to the rear-panel LCD display. Here's an illustration showing the various elements of the top-panel LCD readout, courtesy of Olympus:
As with the C-2000 and C-2020, we liked the user interface of the C-3000 a great deal. We generally prefer mode dial interfaces like the C-3000's, as they greatly simplify the menu structure and allow faster operation. One of our favorite user interface features is that the camera tells you what aperture and shutter speed it's selected whenever the shutter button is half pressed. For photographers accustomed to knowing what their camera is doing, this sort of feedback is invaluable, and present on very few digicams we've tested. We also especially like the distance display employed in the manual focus option: Too many digicams with manual focus options give you no feedback as to the actual distance the focus is set to. In situations where there's too little light to see the subject well (or when the subject perhaps isn't in position yet), an actual distance readout is invaluable. We also liked the way the manual focus indicator has two ranges, one running from 2.6 feet to infinity, the other from 8 to 31 inches. This makes it much easier to set the focal distance accurately.
As mentioned earlier, we really like the tiny infrared remote control provided with the C-3000 Zoom, as it greatly reduces any disturbance of the camera when taking long exposures on a tripod. (This IR remote has been a feature in the Olympus line since the original C-2000 Zoom, and we've used it heavily in our own studio work, taking product shots for use on our web site.) The remote also allows you to change the exposure compensation setting or zoom the lens in and out. In Playback mode, you can scroll between pictures and move in or out of thumbnail and zoom playback modes (also helpful when viewing images on a television screen). Olympus states the range of the remote as five meters (16.4 feet) when aimed at the camera from straight ahead, and three meters (9.8 feet) when aimed from an angle of 15 degrees to either side of center. These range numbers may be correct in outdoor conditions, with lots of stray IR from the sun bouncing around: In practice, under studio conditions, we've had great luck at what seem to be greater distances, even bouncing the IR signal from the remote off the subject. A very, very handy gadget in the studio, perhaps even more so for those photographers working with children or other subjects requiring a lot of hands-on interaction. (You could connect the camera to a video monitor as a "remote viewfinder", and control most of the picture-taking from the remote.)
Control Enumeration
Power / Mode Dial
Located on the top of the camera, this dial selects the various camera operating modes (Playback, Off, Program, Aperture/Shutter Speed/Manual and Movie). As on the C-2020 Zoom, this dial also controls power, eliminating the frequent confusion between the power button and shutter release that plagued owners of the original C-2000 Zoom camera.
Shutter Button
Located in the center of the optical zoom control lever, the shutter button sets focus and exposure settings when halfway pressed and triggers the shutter button when fully pressed. In Playback mode, the shutter button works in conjunction with the printing function to select the number of prints to make.
Zoom Lever
Located on top of the camera, surrounding the shutter button (see photo above), the zoom lever controls the optical zoom in all exposure modes. In Playback mode, the lever switches back and forth between index view, normal image display and playback zoom.
Flash / Erase Button
Located at the top of the back panel, this button controls the flash mode in all exposure modes. Pressed sequentially, it cycles through Auto, Red-Eye Reduction, Fill-In and Off modes. In Playback mode, this button pulls up the Erase menu which allows you to erase the current image displayed or all images.
Macro / Spot Metering / Print Button
Directly beneath the Flash / Erase button on the back panel is the Macro / Spot Metering / Print button. In all exposure modes, this button cycles between Macro, Spot and Digital ESP metering modes. In Playback mode, it accesses the Print screen, which allows you to set up the individual images for printing. (While we haven't reported on it, the print-setup function on the C-3000 Zoom ismuchmore powerful than we've seen in other cameras to date (May, 2000), even allowing you to specify cropping for each picture!)
Four Way Jog Dial
Not really a "dial", but rather a set of four pushbuttons, arranged in a circular layout. Olympus moved to the four buttons on the C-2020 Zoom, from the rocker-button design of the C-2000 Zoom. The four buttons aremuchmore sure-footed to navigate than the earlier toggle design, in that you never have problems of inadvertently actuating more than one direction control at a time. Also located on the top of the back panel, a lot of the camera's operation revolves around this control. In all capture modes except Manual, a left/right actuation increases or decreases the exposure compensation setting (provided the LCD view screen is active). In Aperture or Shutter priority exposure modes, up/down actuation of the jog dial adjusts the setting of the lens aperture or shutter speed, depending on the mode you're in. In Manual mode, the up and down arrows control shutter speed while the left and right control aperture. In Playback mode, left/right actuation moves forward or back among the pictures in memory, or scrolls around the expanded image in zoomed playback mode. In the LCD menu system, the jog control steps between menus and selects settings.
OK / MF Button
Located on the back panel, on the right side of the LCD monitor, this button confirms selected menu settings when in the LCD menu screen. If pressed when not in the menu, it activates the manual focus option, which pulls up a distance scale on the LCD to assist in focusing. In Playback mode, this button write protects individual images from being accidentally erased. (Note though, that "protected" images aren't preserved if the memory card is formatted!)
Display Button
Located beneath the OK button, this turns the LCD monitor on or off.
Menu Button
Located directly beneath the Display button, this activates the menu system on the rear panel LCD monitor (it also activates the LCD monitor if it was disabled).
Dioptric Adjustment Dial: Located on the left side of the optical viewfinder, this dial alters the optical viewfinder to accommodate eyeglass wearers.
Camera Modes and Menus
Movie Mode
Accessed by turning the mode dial to the movie camera symbol, this mode allows you to capture up to 60 second SQ movies and up to 15 second HQ movies with sound. Shutter speed is automatically set anywhere from 1/30 to 1/10,000 seconds.
Aperture Priority: Accessed by turning the mode dial to the A/S/M symbol, and then selecting the "A" option from the A/S/M Mode setup submenu, this mode allows the user to select the desired lens aperture as the camera adjusts the shutter speed to achieve the correct exposure. If the required shutter speed is beyond the camera's capabilities, the aperture status number in the LCD will flash and an arrow will indicate if under or over exposed.
Shutter Priority: Accessed by turning the mode dial to the A/S/M symbol, and then selecting the "S" option from the A/S/M Mode setup submenu, this mode allows the user to select the desired shutter speed while the camera adjusts the aperture to achieve the correct exposure. If the required aperture is beyond the camera's capabilities, the shutter speed status number in the LCD will flash and an arrow will indicate whether it's over or under exposed.
Manual Mode: Also accessed via the A/S/M setting on the mode dial, and then selecting the "M" option from the A/S/M Mode setup submenu, Manual mode allows the user to select both the desired aperture (F/2.8 to F/11) and shutter speed (16 to 1/800 seconds, depending on the ISO setting). As noted earlier, the camera tells you what it thinks of the exposure setting you've chosen, showing not only whether it thinks you're high or low, but by how much. It does this by displaying what it believes the over- or under-exposure to be using the digits on the LCD screen that normally indicate exposure compensation in automatic exposure modes. If you're more than plus or minus 3 EV units away from the correct exposure, the digits light up red, showing just +/- 3EV.
Programmed Exposure: Accessed by turning the mode dial to the P, this mode lets the camera select both shutter speed and lens aperture, but does so in a fairly intelligent manner, opting for faster shutter speeds when the lens is in the telephoto position than when it's working in wide angle mode.
Playback Mode: Accessed by turning the mode dial to the playback symbol, this mode allows the user to view previously captured images. Here, the jog dial advances between successive frames stored in memory. The zoom toggle switches the display to an index mode when moved in the wide angle direction and zooms in on the currently displayed image by 3x when moved in the telephoto direction. When zoomed in on an image, the jog control can be used to move the enlarged view around the full image area, letting you inspect all parts of it.
Capture Mode Menu
Drive: selects between One-Shot, Sequence, AF Sequence (exposure metered with each frame), Self-Timer/Remote and Auto Bracketing.
- White Balance: selects between Auto, Clear, Cloudy, Tungsten and Fluorescent white balance options.
- ISO: sets the ISO at Auto, 100, 200 or 400.
- Flash +/-: adjusts the flash intensity from -2 to +2 in 1/3 EV increments.
Slow: accesses the camera's slow-sync mode with options for front-curtain sync (Slow 1) or rear curtain sync (Slow 2)
- External Flash: sets the camera either to use both the internal and external flashes or just the external.
- Digital Zoom: turns the 2.5x digital telephoto feature on or off.
- Function (Picture Effect): allows the user to shoot in Black & White, Sepia, White Board or Black Board modes.
- Sound: activates the sound recording function.
- Panorama: activates the panorama mode (only enabled with Olympus SmartMedia cards).
Card Setup: formats the SmartMedia card.
- Mode Setup: pulls up the mode submenu (shown below)
- Quality: sets image quality at TIFF, SHQ, HQ, SQ1 or SQ2.
- A/S/M: sets the exposure mode at Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority or Manual.
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