Olympus C-7000 Wide ZoomSeven megapixels, 5x zoom, great pictures, a ton of features, and great build quality - A real winner!<<Optics :(Previous) | (Next): Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests>> Page 6:Exposure & FlashReview First Posted: 11/26/04 |
Exposure
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In Program mode, the camera selects both the aperture and shutter speed (to a maximum of one second), while you control the remaining exposure options such as ISO, Exposure Compensation, White Balance, and metering mode. Aperture Priority lets you set the aperture from f/2.8 to f/8.0, while the camera chooses the best corresponding shutter speed. In Shutter Priority, you can select shutter speeds from 1/2,000 to four seconds, and the camera selects the best corresponding aperture setting. (Although the maximum aperture is limited to f/4.0 at the 1/2,000 second shutter speed.) In Manual mode, you control both aperture and shutter speed simultaneously. Shutter speed in Manual mode can range from 15 seconds to 1/2,000 second, but the 1/2,000 second speed is only available when the aperture is set to f/4 or higher; at f/2.8, f/3.2, and f/3.5 the maximum shutter speed is 1/1,600. (The same restriction on shutter speed applies in Aperture Priority mode as well.) In Manual mode, the exposure compensation display at the top of the LCD screen changes into an exposure meter, a helpful feature. As you scroll through various shutter speed/aperture combinations, the camera indicates whether or not it thinks the current setting will give you a correct exposure. It does this by showing the f/stop and shutter speed in green, and the difference between your settings and the "correct" exposure in white numerals, across a range of +/- 3 EV. If the differential exceeds three EV, the numbers turn red and stay fixed at a +/- 3 EV reading.
In addition to the four basic exposure modes, a "My Mode" option lets you save a set of exposure settings that can be accessed via the Mode dial. Thus, if you shoot under the same conditions frequently, you can save the settings and instantly recall them when needed. This can be very handy when you shoot frequently under the same conditions, such as in an office environment or any place where the lighting is controlled and constant.
A
Scene setting on the Mode dial offers five preset modes for specific shooting
situations. Included are Portrait, Sports, Landscape Portrait, Landscape Scene,
and Night Scene modes. (The actual Scene setting is selected through the Scene
option of the Camera menu.) In Portrait mode, the camera captures individual
portraits with wider aperture settings, leaving the subject crisply focused
in front of a slightly blurred background, while Sports mode biases the exposure
system toward faster shutter speeds to freeze the action. The two Landscape
modes are set up for capturing broad vistas of scenery with or without people
in the foreground. Night Scene mode optimizes the camera for darker shooting
situations, keeping the exposure under automatic control but adjusting the ISO
and shutter speed for the best exposure.
Two metering systems are available on the C-7000 Zoom: Spot and ESP multi-segment metering. Spot and ESP are accessed by pressing the AE / AF / Erase button on the camera's back panel. Under the default ESP multi-segment setting, the camera takes readings from a number of areas across the field of view, and evaluates both brightness and contrast between the areas to determine the best exposure. Spot metering reads the exposure from the very center of the image, so you can pinpoint the specific area of the subject you want properly exposed and lock in on that exposure (as well as the lens focus setting) by depressing the Shutter button halfway and holding it down while you recompose the scene. The AE Lock button also lets you lock exposure independently of focus, simply by pressing the button a single time. The exposure is then locked until the button is pressed again or the Shutter button is pressed. A Multi-Metering function is also available, and lets you take up to eight individual spot-meter readings from the center of the LCD monitor (inside the exposure brackets) by repeatedly pressing the AE Lock (AEL) button. Each reading is marked on a relative exposure scale across the bottom of the LCD panel, and then averaged to produce the overall reading. You lock the Multi-Spot reading by holding the AE Lock button down for one second (the word "Memo" appears in the LCD display), and can cancel it by pressing and holding the AEL button one last time. This is a very useful exposure option for advanced photographers.
In the main exposure modes (Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, and Manual modes), the C-7000 Zoom provides a range of ISO (light sensitivity) settings, including Auto, 80, 100, 200, and 400 ISO equivalents. Higher ISO settings naturally bring along with them higher levels of image noise, but I found the pattern of the C-7000 Zoom's noise to be unusually tight and fine-grained, making it less objectionable than that of many competing models.
Camera light meters assume that the world averages out to a mediumgray, and make their exposure decisions accordingly. This works wellmost of the time, but subjects that are very bright or dark overall cantrick the metering system. Light subjects will tend to be underexposed,while dark ones can be overexposed. In these situations, you need to beable to adjust the camera's default exposure to compensate for thesubject's overall tone. This is the function of the "exposurecompensation" adjustment. To adjust the exposure compensation on theC-7000 Zoom, simply press either the right or left Arrow buttons (inany exposure mode except Manual) to increase or decrease the exposurevalues (EV) in one-third-step increments, up to +/- 2 EV. The currentcompensation setting is displayed in the upper right corner of the LCD.(The LCD viewfinder must be enabled to adjust this setting, but once itis set, you can turn the LCD off to conserve power, and the settingwill remain in effect.)
Sometimes you aren't sure how best to adjust the exposure for agiven subject, and don't want to take the time to adjust the exposurecompensation manually. (The subject might move or go away while you'refiddling with the camera's controls.) The answer to this dilemma isfound in the C-7000's Auto Bracketing (BKT) function. Selected throughthe Shooting Mode Menu, this feature makes the camera automatically"bracket" the exposure for each shot by as much as +/- 2 EV in eitherthree- or five-step increments (0.3, 0.6, or 1.0 EV units each). Forexample, with a setting of five 0.3 EV steps, the camera willautomatically snap five shots, at exposure adjustments of -0.7, -0.3,0, +0.3, and +0.7 EV, insuring that at least one shot would be exposedjust right. The bracketing function centers its efforts around whateverexposure you've previously selected as the starting point, includingany exposure compensation adjustments you've made.
White Balance is also set in the Mode Menu, with Auto, One Touch (Manual), or one of six Preset options: Daylight, Overcast, Tungsten, Daylight Fluorescent, Neutral Fluorescent, or Cool Fluorescent, to accommodate a variety of lighting situations. In One Touch 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 Picture submenu. An adjustment bar appears on the LCD screen, with options to increase or decrease the red or blue tones. (I 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 can be very helpful to have this sort of "tweaking" adjustment available to modify the color shift.)
The C-7000 Zoom has a 12-second Self-Timer for self-portraits or those occasions when you don't want to risk camera shake by pressing the Shutter button to make the exposure. A Remote Control mode works with the optional IR remote unit, letting you trip the shutter from a greater distance away. When the remote control is used to trip the shutter, there's always a two-second delay between pressing the remote's button and when the shutter actually fires. The Function menu option lets you capture images in Black & White or Sepia modes. The camera also offers contrast, sharpness, and saturation adjustments, all in +/- five-step increments.
Flash
The C-7000 Zoom has a fairly
standard built-in, pop-up flash, with five basic operating modes: Auto, Red-Eye
Reduction, Fill Flash, Flash Off, and Slow Synchro modes. Flash range extends
to approximately 12.5 feet (3.8 meters) in wide angle mode. (In my own tests,
with the lens at its telephoto setting, range was closer to 8 feet.) The Slow
Synchro mode combines a slow shutter speed with the flash to let more ambient
light into the image. This results in more natural lighting behind flash-illuminated
subjects. When photographing moving subjects, Slow Synchro will record some
motion blur because of the longer exposure time, with the initial or final image
frozen by the flash exposure. The Slow 1 menu option fires the flash at the
beginning of the exposure (producing a blur in front of the subject),
while Slow 2 fires the flash at the end of the exposure (producing a blur behind
the subject, where you'd generally expect to see it). There's also a Slow Red-Eye
Reduction mode, for portraits. Another nice feature of the C-7000 Zoom's internal
flash system is its Flash Brightness adjustment, which allows you to change
the flash brightness from +2 to -2 EV in one-third-step increments. The flash
is in Off mode until it is popped up manually; it cannot be popped up automatically
regardless of mode even if the camera thinks it is necessary.
Special Exposure Modes
Movie Mode
The C-7000's Movie mode is accessed via the Mode dial on the camera's rear panel. Movies can be recorded with sound at either 640 x 480- or 320 x 240-pixel resolutions, at either 30 or 15 frames per second. At the SHQ quality setting (640 x 480 pixels, 30 frames per second), recording is limited to 20 seconds per clip. At the other resolutions and frame rates, however, recording is only limited by the space available on the memory card. Optical zoom is unavailable while recording movies, due to the noise of the lens moving in and out. However, you can use digital zoom, if enabled through the settings menu.
A very nice feature of the C-7000's movie mode is its "Index" capability, a great way of quickly seeing what's "inside" a movie file. In Movie Playback mode, selecting Index calls up a display of nine individual frames, equally spaced throughout the movie. You can scroll through all nine images at once using the left and right arrow keys, with each sampled frame remaining equidistant from the others. Pressing the OK button three times then saves the image as an individual still file.
Panorama Mode
The C-7000 Zoom offers a Panorama exposure mode when using an Olympus brand panorama-enabled xD-Picture Card. In this mode, the exposure and white balance for a series of shots are determined by the first exposure in the series, making them easier to stitch together in the computer later. The Panorama function is accessed in the Shooting menu through the Camera submenu. 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 do its job. Up to 10 shots can be taken in a panoramic series. Note that this function is only enabled by xD-Picture Cards with built-in panorama-related firmware found on Olympus brand memory cards. Images are saved individually and then assembled on a computer after they've been downloaded. (Note: If you don't want to use Olympus-branded xD-Picture Cards, you can accomplish the same end by shooting in Manual exposure mode to fix the exposure parameters, and daylight or Manual white balance mode, to fix the white balance.)
Sequence Modes
The C-7000 Zoom offers two Sequence modes that mimic the motor drive on a film camera. Normal Sequence mode continually records images as long as the Shutter button is held down, or until the buffer memory is full (this varies with the image quality and subject, as well as available memory card space). At the HQ quality setting, Olympus estimates that Sequence mode will capture 10 frames at 1.1 frames per second. (I clocked it at about 1.2 frames/second in this mode.) A Hi Sequence setting records a maximum of two frames at a rate of approximately 2.2 frames per second. (My sample of the camera actually shot at 3.3 frames/second in Hi Sequence mode.) See my test results below for more timing information.
Time-lapse Mode
Also accessed through the camera's shooting menu, Time-lapse mode captures a series of images at preset intervals, letting you record slow-moving events such as a flower opening. You can set the camera to capture as many as 99 consecutive images, with time intervals ranging from one to 59 minutes in one-minute increments. The camera will automatically shut itself off after the last image is captured.
Noise Reduction/Low Light
This isn't really a separate shooting mode, but deserves separate mention because of the impact it has on low light performance. All digital cameras are plagued by image noise on long exposures, particularly the "hot pixel" kind caused by leakage currents on the CCD array. This noise appears as isolated bright pixels of varying colors. Like many current higher-end cameras, the C-7000 Zoom employs a "dark frame subtraction" technique to remove the hot pixels. This means that when the noise reduction option is turned on, it takes the camera twice as long to complete an exposure, since it's actually taking two shots, one of the subject, and the other with the shutter closed. The second of these will contain only the CCD noise, which the camera then subtracts from the image of the subject. Having just said how significant noise reduction is though, in the case of the C-7000 Zoom, the basic images have so few hot pixels in them that the effect of the noise reduction processing is sometimes hard to see. I still recommend it for long time exposures, but the C-7000's images are remarkably "clean" to start with.
RAW-mode Image Editing
This
is another feature that isn't at all an exposure mode, but there isn't really
any better place to discuss it. The C-7000 can shoot and store files in a "RAW"
file mode, which preserves the image data exactly as it came from the camera's
sensor. This allows later processing on the computer to adjust tone, color,
etc, with no incremental loss of image information. The C-7000 is fairly unique
though, in that it allows you to reprocess previously-captured RAW-mode images
into JPEGs right in the camera, making a wide range of adjustments to them in
the process. Adjustment options include image size/quality, white balance setting,
exposure compensation, Sharpness, Contrast, and Saturation. When editing a RAW-mode
image in the camera, the original image is left undisturbed, the modified image
being saved in a new file.
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