Olympus C-4040 ZoomOlympus introduces a top-of-the-line 4-megapixel model with noise reduction technology, optimum image enlargement, and newly designed interface<<Video, Power, Software :(Previous) | (Next): Reference: Datasheet>> Page 12:Test Results & ConclusionReview First Posted: 07/23/2001 |
Test Results
In keeping with our standard test policy, the comments given here summarize only our key findings. For a full commentary on each of the test images, see the C-4040 Zoom's "pictures" page.
As with all Imaging Resource product tests, we encourage you to let your own eyes be the judge of how well the camera performed. Explore the images on the pictures page, to see how C-4040 images compare to other cameras you may be considering.
The C-4040Zoom produced very good color and image quality in the majority of our tests. The camera's White Balance system handled most of our test lighting reasonably well, though we often encountered slight color casts in the settings tested. (Such color casts could very well be the result of minor preproduction glitches.) That said, the camera's Manual White Balance did a great job with the very tough incandescent lighting of our no-flash Indoor Portrait test. Color balance looked pretty good on our Davebox target, with the C-4040 distinguishing tough tonal variations and reproducing the large color blocks with good saturation. The C-4040 produced only faint purple tints in the blue flowers in our Outdoor and Indoor test shots, a common problem among digicams, as these blues are hard to accurately reproduce. Overall, very good image quality.
The C-4040 does a good job on our "laboratory" resolution test chart, only beginning to show artifacts in the test patterns at 900 lines per picture height, in both horizontal and vertical directions. We found "strong detail" out to at least 1,200 lines. "Extinction" of the target patterns didn't occur until about 1,500 lines.
Optical distortion on the C-4040 is a little high at the wide angle end, as we measured an approximate 1.0 percent barrel distortion. The telephoto end fared much better, as we found only one pixel of pincushion distortion. (An unusually low amount of pincushion.) Chromatic aberration is moderate, showing about three to four pixels of coloration on both sides of the target lines. - If we had one criticism of the 4040, it would be that there's more chromatic aberration than we're accustomed to, perhaps a tradeoff resulting from its very fast f/1.8 lens.
With its full manual exposure control and newly-added noise reduction technology, the C-4040 does an excellent (!) job in the low-light category, producing bright usable images at light levels as low as 1/16 foot-candle (at all three ISO settings). The "raw" CCD noise was quite high at the 1/16 foot-candle setting, but the camera's Noise Reduction feature does an exceptional job of eliminating it, producing surprisingly clean images even with nearly 30 second exposure times.
The C-4040's optical viewfinder is a little tight, showing approximately 85 percent frame accuracy at wide angle, and about 86 percent at telephoto. The LCD monitor fares much better, showing essentially 100% of the final image area. (At least, as close to 100% as we could practically measure). Since we generally like to see LCD monitors as close to 100 percent accuracy as possible, the C-4040 does an excellent job in this respect.
The C-4040 also handles the macro category quite well, capturing a minimum area of just 3.22 x 2.41 inches (82 x 61 millimeters). Resolution looked great, with nice detail in the coins and brooch, and color is reasonably accurate (though with a slight greenish cast). The flash has just a little trouble throttling down for the macro area, overexposing the image a fair amount and producing a blue color cast.
Despite a few color casts, we were very pleased with the C-4040's performance. Low-light shooting is exceptional, and the camera's flexible features handle just about every challenge.
Olympus has built upon the strengths of the C-4040 Zoom's predecessors, the C-3030 and C-3040 Zoom, combining great creative and exposure control with the new, faster lens first seen in the 3040. We were very pleased with the C-4040 Zoom's performance throughout our testing.
Conclusion
With the C-4040 Zoom, Olympus continues to advance the Camedia digital camera line with increased image quality and expanded creative controls. We found the C-4040 a real pleasure to use, as we have with all of the Camedia models we've tested, but we were particularly impressed with the exceptional quality of low-light and nighttime shots (capturing some spectacular fireworks displays on July 4th!). At an introductory price of just over $1,000, this is not a casual consumer camera, but to the prosumer or serious amateur photographer, it will be worth every penny. At 4.1 megapixels, you don't have to compromise a thing by switching from film to CCD. It's time to stop waiting for digital to catch up, because with the C-4040, it's here!
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