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Olympus C-7000 Wide Zoom Seven megapixels, 5x zoom, great pictures, a ton of features, and great build quality - A real winner! Select a topic Reference: Datasheet C-7000 Sample Images C-7000 Imatest Results --------------------------------- 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-7000 Review --------------------------------- Digital Camera Comparometer (TM) --------------------------------- <-- Digital Cameras (Home) <-- Digital Camera Reviews Index <<Design :(Previous) | (Next): Optics>> Page 4:Viewfinder Review First Posted: 11/26/04

Viewfinder

The C-7000 Zoom offers both a real-image optical viewfinder and a rear panel, 2.0-inch, 206,000-pixel, TFT color LCD screen. The optical viewfinder does not feature a diopter correction adjustment, but does have a fairly high eyepoint, leaving a reasonable amount of room between your eye and the finder for an eyeglass lens to fit. Although the optical viewfinder zooms along with the lens, it does not show the operation of the digital zoom, which can only be used when the LCD monitor is on. A black set of brackets in the center of the field of view marks the autofocus area, and helps you center your subjects. Two LED indicators (one orange and one green) are adjacent to the viewfinder window, indicating camera status with either glowing or blinking lights. If the green LED blinks, the camera is either having trouble focusing, or there's a problem with the memory card. A solid green LED indicates that focus is set and the camera is ready to snap the picture. A flashing orange LED means that the flash is still charging or there is a potential of camera shake, while a solid orange LED shows that the flash is fully charged and ready to fire.

The C-7000 Zoom's LCD monitor provides detailed information about exposure settings, including the currently selected f/stop, shutter speed, and exposure compensation adjustments across the top of the screen. Information on ISO speed, flash mode, drive mode, and the state of several other camera settings may optionally appear on the LCD screen, if the Shooting Menu (Camera sub-menu) "INFO" setting is turned on. There is no option to completely disable the information overlay, without turning the LCD screen off altogether. (I'd really like to be able to turn off the info overlay sometimes, to avoid obscuring critical subject details.)

In Aperture and Shutter Priority modes, the chosen aperture or shutter speed appears as a manually-set constant, while the second, automatically determined exposure value updates continuously in response to scene lighting and the exposure compensation setting. In Manual mode, the camera displays both the selected f/stop and shutter speed values (adjustable with the left / right and up / down Arrow buttons, respectively), while the exposure compensation readout serves as an exposure display, showing the amount the camera thinks your settings will over- or underexpose the subject. (The exposure display turns red if your chosen exposure is more than three EV units away from what the camera calculates to be correct.

Through the Camera menu, you can enable a histogram display, which displays a small histogram over the lower portion of the frame, mapping out the tonal distribution. A "Direct" option eliminates the histogram, but emphasizes any portion of the frame that will be under or over exposed. Red dots indicate white areas, while blue dots indicate any black areas. Thus, you get a larger (and more easily-read) indication of which parts of the image will be under or overexposed. The Camera menu also offers a Framing Guideline option, which divides the image area into thirds, horizontally and vertically, to help you line up more difficult shots.

When using the LCD monitor to review captured images, you can zoom in on displayed images as much as 5x, and then scroll around the enlarged image using the arrow buttons. This is very handy for checking focus, small details, or precise framing. There's also an Index display option, which shows nine thumbnail images at a time, as determined by a setup menu option. Pressing the Zoom lever toward the wide-angle position while in Index Display mode, pulls up the Calendar Display, which displays the images on the card by date. A graphical calendar display shows a tiny thumbnail of the first image captured on each date. A very handy "Quick View" function lets you switch quickly from Shooting to Playback mode by pressing the Quick View button on the rear panel. In Quick View mode, the camera will display the most recently captured image on the LCD screen, but you have essentially all of the Playback-mode options available to you, and can scroll back and forth to other images, zoom in and out on them, and call up the information display. You can revert to shooting mode either by pressing the Quick View button again, or simply by half-pressing the Shutter button.

A Record View function, enabled through the Shooting menu (Setup sub-menu), briefly displays the most recently captured image on the LCD screen while the image is being recorded to the memory card. This feature gives you the option of deleting an image instantly by pressing the AE / AF / Erase button while the review image is still onscreen. It's a great way to check your images without spending time switching back and forth between Playback and Shooting modes.

In my tests, the C-7000's optical viewfinder was quite tight, showing only 77-81% of the final frame area. Fortunately, its LCD viewfinder was almost 100% accurate. (The overly tight optical viewfinder was one of the few weak points I found on an otherwise excellent digicam.)