Olympus C-3040 ZoomOlympus updates its top-of-the-line 3-megapixel model with a "faster" lens and increased movie capabilities.<<Optics :(Previous) | (Next): Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests>> Page 6:Exposure & FlashReview First Posted: 4/14/2001 |
Exposure
The C-3040 Zoom offers a good deal of exposure control, including, Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, and Manual exposure modes; four ISO settings (Auto, 100, 200 and 400); exposure compensation, and two metering modes: Spot and Digital ESP.
In Program mode, the camera selects both the aperture and shutter speed, while you control the remaining exposure options such as ISO, metering, exposure compensation, and white balance. Aperture Priority lets you set the aperture from f/1.8 to f/10.0 and the camera chooses the best corresponding shutter speed. In Shutter Priority, you can select shutter speeds from 1/800 to four seconds, and the camera selects the best corresponding aperture setting.
You control both aperture and shutter speed in Manual control, with the addition of much longer shutter speed times (as long as 16 seconds). A helpful feature of the Manual mode is that, as you scroll through the various selections, the camera indicates whether or not the setting will give you a correct exposure. It does this by showing the f/stop and shutter speed in green, and the exposure differential (the difference between your settings and what the camera meters as correct) in white when everything is OK. If it disagrees with your choice, the exposure differential shows the amount of under- or overexposure in red. The exposure differential is given in exposure equivalent (EV) values, within a range of +3 to -3 EV.
The more sensitive ISO settings (those with the higher numbers) are often useful for working in limited light conditions, but they can result in noisier images. In extremely low light, you can mix faster shutter speeds or larger lens openings with the higher ISOs to let in more light, or you can create slow shutter effects (like a motion blur) by using a lower ISO setting. (Note: When ISO is set to Auto in Program exposure mode, it automatically resets to 100 when you switch to Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, or Manual exposure modes.)
Two metering systems are available on the C-3040 Zoom: Spot and Digital ESP. Both are accessed through the Spot / Macro / Print button on the camera's back panel. Under the default Digital ESP setting, the camera takes an exposure reading from the center of the image as well as the surrounding area, and chooses the best averaged reading for the entire scene. Spot metering reads the exposure from the very center of the image, so you can pinpoint the specific area of the photograph you want properly exposed and lock in on that exposure by depressing the shutter button halfway and holding it down until you recompose the scene and fully depress the shutter button.
The Auto Exposure Lock (AEL) is activated through the Record menu. You can set it to lock a "Single" Digital ESP reading or "Multi" Spot meter readings. With the Multi setting, you select eight spot readings by centering the areas you want metered inside the viewfinder's center marks and pressing the AEL button for each reading. An exposure differential bar appears on the LCD panel, continually updating the average with each new reading. After the final reading, the camera determines the overall exposure value by averaging the readings, and locks it into place until you record the image. You can also set the camera to retain the Multi-Spot reading after the shot is taken, by pressing the left arrow button before taking the exposure (the word "Memo" appears in the LCD display). Note: Unless one of these two options is selected in Record menu, under the AE Lock submenu, the AEL button will not lock any exposure.
A Record View function can be enabled through the Record menu, under the Mode Setup submenu. Record View displays the most recently captured image on the LCD screen while the image is being recorded to the memory card. You can set the Record View to display the image only (On), or to display the image with a confirmation screen (Check), allowing you to delete the image instantly. This is a nice way to check your image and not waste time switching back and forth between Playback and Record modes. A separate Quick View function allows you to check the previously captured image by pressing the Monitor button twice. The image is displayed, with an option to delete it.
In situations where exposure compensation is necessary, simply press either the right or left Arrow buttons (in all exposure modes except Manual) and the EV value displayed on the LCD will increase or decrease in one-third-step increments, up to a total of +/- 2 EV. (The LCD viewfinder must be enabled to adjust this setting, but once it is set, you can turn the LCD off to conserve power, and the setting will remain in effect.) We applaud the accessibility of this important exposure adjustment in Olympus' user interface design. Some manufacturers bury this control in a menu interface, making it much less convenient. If exposure compensation is currently activated, a small +/- icon appears in the top status display panel, to let you know there's an adjustment in force.
You can use the Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) function in the Record menu (Drive submenu) to automatically bracket an exposure as much as +/- 2 EV in either three- or five-step increments of 0.3, 0.6, or 1.0 EV units each. The auto bracketing will center its efforts around whatever exposure you've chosen as the starting point, including any exposure compensation adjustments you've made.
Through the Record menu, you can set White Balance to Auto, Quick Reference (Manual), or one of four Preset options: Daylight, Overcast, Tungsten, or Fluorescent, to accommodate a variety of lighting situations. In Quick Reference mode, white balance is calculated by placing a white card in front of the lens and pressing the OK button. You can also fine tune the white balance setting with the "WB+/-" setting under the Mode Setup menu. An adjustment bar appears on the LCD screen, with options to increase or decrease the red or blue tones. (We really like this idea of fine-tuning the white balance. Most digicams tend to have slight biases in their white balance systems under various lighting conditions. Once you get used to how a particular camera shoots, it would be very helpful to have this sort of "tweaking" adjustment available to modify the white balance.)
The C-3040 Zoom also offers a 12-second Self-Timer (which can be used with the infrared remote) for self-portraits or those occasions when you don't want to risk camera shake by pressing the shutter button to make the exposure. You can also use the IR remote control to trigger the shutter without the Self-Timer, which gives you a three-second delay after pressing the remote's Shutter button, before the shutter is fired. The remote control works as far as 16.4 feet directly in front of the camera, or as far as 9.8 feet when at a 15-degree angle from the sensor window.
The Function menu option enables you to capture images in Black & White or Sepia modes, or to use the White and Black Board settings for capturing text on white or black backgrounds respectively. (These modes appear to adjust image contrast and default exposure levels to maximize contrast and force the background toward the appropriate tonal value.) The C-3040 Zoom also features sharpness and contrast adjustments.
FlashThe C-3040 Zoom has a fairly standard built-in flash unit, with four basic operating modes: Auto, Red-Eye Reduction, Forced Flash, and Flash Off modes. Flash power extends to approximately 18.4 feet (5.6 meters) in wide angle mode and to about 12.5 feet (3.8 meters) at the telephoto setting. Any of the flash modes may be combined with the Slow Sync mode to increase the ambient light exposure. The Slow Sync setting allows more ambient light into the background, producing more natural lighting behind a flash-illuminated subject. You can also produce shots which combine motion blur in the subject (from prolonged ambient light exposure) with the initial or final image frozen by the flash exposure. We say "initial or final," because the C-3040 supports both front curtain (Slow 1) and rear curtain (Slow 2) triggering in Slow Sync mode, firing the flash at either the beginning of the exposure or at the end. The rear curtain sync produces motion blur on moving objects that trail the sharp, flash-exposed image, rather than precede it.
A nice feature of the C-3040 Zoom's internal flash system is its +/- 2 EV exposure compensation adjustment. This gives great flexibility in using flash to illuminate your pictures, because you can use the built-in flash with an external unit, and adjust the balance of light between the two with the EV adjustment control.
A five-pin flash sync socket allows you to connect an external flash to the camera for more powerful flash needs. Olympus offers the FL-40 external flash as an accessory, which can be controlled through the camera in tandem with the internal flash. Both the internal and external flash units can be used together or separately. We have only one small, ergonomic gripe about the external flash (that we also had with the C-2040 Zoom). That is, the sync socket is protected by a tiny plastic cover that is very easy to lose. There's nothing attaching it permanently to the camera and it is very small and difficult to grasp.
Special Exposure Modes
Movie Mode
The C-3040 Movie mode is accessible via the Mode dial on top of the camera (marked with a small movie camera symbol). Movies may be recorded in either HQ (320 x 240-pixel) or SQ (160 x 120-pixel) resolution modes. Both record at approximately 15 frames per second. Sound recording can be turned On or Off via the Record menu. Thanks to the C-3040 Zoom's huge buffer memory, the maximum recording time is limited only by memory card capacity, apparently up to a 32MB limit. (The user's manual lists the maximum seconds of continuous recording time -- per movie -- as a function of card size, but just lists "Over 32MB" as the highest category, implying that larger cards convey no additional recording time. This makes sense, given that 32MB is the size of the RAM buffer memory the C-3040 Zoom carries onboard.) Here's a copy of the recording time table from the manual:
(15 frames/sec)
(15 frames/sec)
The available seconds of recording time appear in the status display panel (and in the LCD monitor if activated), based on the quality mode selected and space remaining on the card. You can use the zoom control while recording movies, but the motion of the zoom is somewhat slower than in still recording, and the zoom is apparently only a digital zoom. (Not an issue though, given the large difference between the CCD resolution and movie recording resolutions. This means that digital zoom in Movie mode has the same effect as optical zoom in normal still photography, in that no image degradation should be visible as a result of using the zoom.) Manual focus, Exposure Compensation, Focus Lock, Self-Timer, ISO setting, White Balance, and Picture Effects are also available while in Movie mode.
First seen in the Camedia C-3030 (February 2000), the C-3040 Zoom again offers in-camera "editing" of movies in Playback mode. This capability is accessed via the Playback menu, Function submenu, and Movie Edit option. In this mode (see screen shot above), you can scroll forward and backward in the movie, and set cut points at the beginning and end of the sequence. Movie content between the two cut points will be preserved, the rest discarded. In a nice touch though, Olympus allows you to choose whether to modify the original movie file, or just save a new copy of it, reflecting the effect of the edit you've made -- a feature that makes the Movie mode much more useful.
As of the writing of this review, we've only just begun performing controlled tests of individual cameras' movie modes, so the C-3040 is one of the first we've tested in this manner. While we don't have an extensive archive of test data to compare, we felt that the C-3040's movie audio was a bit muffled and indistinct compared to other cameras we tested. Image quality, however, appears good.
The only quibble we have with Olympus' implementation of the Movie mode on the C-3040 Zoom (and it's a significant one that we also had with the C-3030) is that you don't get to hear the movies you've recorded when playing them back on the camera. Adding sound recording is a big feature improvement over the C-2040 Zoom, but it would be nice to at least hear what you've recorded during playback. (The camera can output both video and sound to a TV or VCR via the included A/V cable, making that an effective playback mode if you have a TV handy. Still, it would be preferable to review the movie's soundtrack without resorting to external equipment.)
Audio Record Mode
The C-3040 Zoom's Audio Record mode records up to four seconds of sound to accompany an image. Activated through the Record menu, Audio Record mode works in conjunction with image capture. Once the image has been captured, sound recording begins approximately 0.5 seconds later. The green LED and sound icon blink, and a status bar appears on the LCD monitor. You can also record sound clips after an exposure, in Playback mode, by turning on the Audio Record mode.
Panorama Mode
The C-3040 Zoom offers a Panorama exposure mode when using an Olympus brand panorama-enabled SmartMedia memory card. In this mode, the exposure and white balance for a series of shots are determined by the first exposure. The Panorama function is accessed in the Record menu through the "card icon" located below the Sound function (not to be confused with the Card Reset function). When activated, it provides light blue guide lines at the edges of the pictures to help you align successive shots, leaving enough overlap between them for the stitching software to be able to do its job. Up to 10 shots can be taken in a panoramic series. Note that this function is only enabled by SmartMedia cards with built-in panorama-related firmware found on Olympus brand memory cards. Images are saved individually and then compiled on a computer after they've been downloaded.
Sequence Mode
Taking advantage of its large 32MB memory buffer, the C-3040 Zoom offers a Sequence mode that mimics the motor drive on a film camera, continually recording images for as long as the shutter button is held down. or until the memory runs out (this varies with the image quality and subject, as well as available SmartMedia space). The instruction manual states that the slowest available shutter speed is 1/30 second in Sequence mode, to prevent blurring from camera movement. It also notes that the mode is available with all compression settings except uncompressed TIFF. One notable limitation of the Sequence mode is that the camera's internal flash cannot be used. However, if you have an external flash capable of recycling at 3.3 frames per second, and you shoot in Aperture Priority mode, the external flash may work just fine. You can also set the camera to base all exposure and focus settings on the first shot taken, or to adjust the exposure and focus with each image (which decreases capture speed).
Olympus claims a burst speed of 3.3 frames per second for the C-3040's sequence mode, but we actually found it a little faster in our own testing, where we measured frame rates of 3.36 and 3.61 frames/second in highest and lowest resolution modes respectively. The 32MB buffer provides a five-frame burst length before the camera must pause for the next shot.
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