Olympus C-7070 Wide ZoomThe Olympus C-7070 offers a nice range of "enthusiast" features in a capable and affordable 7-megapixel camera.<<Viewfinder :(Previous) | (Next): Exposure & Flash>> Page 4:OpticsReview First Posted: 03/01/2005, Updated: 04/27/2005 |
Optics
| Free Photo Lessons | |
|
The Olympus C7070 Wide Zoom has an all-glass, aspheric lens design with one ED (extra-low dispersion) element aimed at reducing chromatic aberrations in images caused by light being refracted differently depending on its wavelength. The 4x, 5.7 - 22.9mm lens provides a focal range equivalent to that of a 27-110mm zoom on a 35mm film camera. This is one of the wider-angle zoom lenses available in the prosumer market, great for capturing interior shots, landscapes, and other wide-angle subjects. Maximum aperture ranges from f/2.8 to f/4.8, depending on the zoom setting.
Focusing distances range from 2.6 feet (0.8 meters) to infinity in Normal mode, and 8.4 inches to 2.6 feet (0.2 to 0.8 meters) in Macro mode. A Super Macro mode lets you get even closer to your subject, as close as 1.2 inches (3.0 centimeters), an impressive performance.
The autofocus system works either through the lens, using a conventional contrast detection scheme, or in conjunction with an external sensor, using a combination of contrast detection and phase detection. Phase detection is a more coarse AF, but it can improve autofocus speed by quickly getting the focus within easy range for the contrast detection AF to refine the focus. Because the phase-detection autofocus system uses an external sensor, use of external lenses may block or reduce its effectiveness. (Note too, that the phase-detection AF only works for subjects more than 80cm (2.6 feet) from the lens.)
The LCD shows a solid green dot as soon as the subject is in focus (flashing means there's a problem focusing and you may need to switch to Manual Focus or Macro mode). Although the C7070 Wide Zoom doesn't feature an independent focus lock button, you can manually lock focus by centering the target portion of the subject in the frame, pressing the Shutter button halfway, and then switching to Manual Focus mode. (Note that there is a separate Auto Exposure Lock button though, which does separate the focus and exposure-lock functions.) An AF assist lamp helps the camera focus in dark shooting conditions, a very welcome if recent addition to the Olympus camera lineup.
The AF / Macro / MF button on the top panel of the camera accesses the normal AF mode, as well a range of macro, manual, and auto focus modes. A "virtual dial" appears on screen when you press the button, with the options arranged diagonally across the LCD. Pressing the button and turning the Command dial cycles a selection cursor through the options available, which include normal AF, Macro, Super Macro, Manual, and Super Macro Manual modes.
Additionally, if you press the Focus button and then hit the OK/Menu button, a secondary focus mode menu appears. The same focus mode options above appear as a menu tab, but you also have the ability to enable Fulltime AF or select the AF Area mode. As I mentioned, Fulltime AF keeps the autofocus constantly engaged as you move the camera from subject to subject, instead of waiting for the Shutter button to be depressed halfway. This might be useful for photography involving moving subjects, but it is an additional drain on the battery because the focusing mechanism is constantly at work.
The AF Area option lets you designate whether the camera determines focus from a small, local area of the image (Spot) or the entire image area (iESP). Once in Spot AF mode, you can move the AF target by holding down the Focus button and using the arrow keys to move the target around on the LCD monitor. (To reset the AF mark to center, press the Menu / OK and Focus buttons simultaneously.)
In manual focus mode, a distance scale appears on the LCD monitor, showing distances in meters or feet. Pressing the up and down arrow buttons adjusts focus when manual focus is enabled. As you focus, the image is automatically enlarged in the LCD monitor to better see small details (although, as we noted earlier, this isn't very effective). The manual focus option includes two modes, a normal one, with the focus range extending from infinity down to 8.4 inches, and a super-macro manual focus mode, which extends the focusing range down to 1.2 inches, while still permitting focusing all the way out to infinity. Once the focus is set manually, you can save the focus setting by pressing the Menu / OK button.
The inside lip of the C7070 Wide Zoom's lens barrel has a set of fairly large accessory threads that couple to Olympus's lens adapter accessory, the CLA-7. The optional CLA-7 adapter hosts a range Olympus brand auxiliary lenses, which extend the camera's wide angle and telephoto coverage.
The C7070 Wide Zoom also provides as much as 5x digital zoom, which can be enabled via the Shooting menu. Once activated, the Zoom scale on the right side of the monitor changes to accommodate the expanded range for the digital zoom. The bottom half of the scale (colored white) indicates the optical zoom range, while the top half (colored red) specifies the digital zoom. The digital zoom is not accessible when the camera is set to save files in RAW mode.
Reader Comments! --> Visit our discussion forum for the Olympus C-7070 Wide Zoom!
Follow Imaging Resource: