Olympus Camedia C-770 Zoom4.0 megapixels, a sharp 10x zoom lens, a unique flash head, and loads more features!<<Executive Overview :(Previous) | (Next): Viewfinder>> Page 3:DesignReview First Posted: 07/06/2004 |
Design
The
C-770 Ultra Zoom features the same general body shape and size as the rest of
the C-series,though it has shrunk a little around the grip area, largely due to
the use of a Li-ion battery pack instead of its predecessors' 4-AA scheme. The
control layout is nearly the same, with a large Mode dial on top of the camera
and a sprinkling of multi-functional controls on the back panel. The silver body
is boxy yet compact, and fits well into the hand. The C-770 Ultra Zoom features
a 4.0-megapixel CCD, which delivers a maximum image size of 3,200 x 2,400 pixels
with interpolation, or 2,288 x 1,712 pixels uninterpolated. This is enough resolution
for sharp 8x10 inch prints, even with moderate cropping. Its 10x zoom lens offers
incredible zoom power, and the range of manual and automatic exposure options
is as complete as I've seen on a consumer-level digicam.
The C-770 Ultra Zoom measures 4.1 x 2.4 x 2.7 inches (104.5 x 60 x 68.5 millimeters), a little smaller than the C-750. The mixture of plastic and thin metal body panels keeps the C-770 Zoom relatively light at 11.9 ounces (337 grams) without batteries, though the larger lens assembly gives it a solid heft when you pick it up. While stashing the camera in a shirt pocket is out of the question, the C-770 does at least have a chance at larger coat pockets and purses. The accompanying neckstrap is useful and secure, but I strongly recommend picking up a soft camera case to protect the C-770 when traveling.
The front of the C-770 features the lens, self-timer LED / IR remote sensor, microphone, and the front lip of the pop-up flash compartment. When fully retracted, the lens barrel projects a bit less than an inch beyond the depth of the hand grip, and it extends about another three-quarters of an inch when powered up in any capture mode. When not in use, the lens is protected by a removable plastic lens cap that attaches to the camera with the supplied tether strap. A nice touch is that the lens cap rides along with the telescoping lens body, so you don't have to worry about straining the lens motor if you accidentally turn the camera on with the lens cap in place. The combination of the subtle finger grip on the front of the camera body and the gently sculpted thumb rest on the back make the C-770 easy to hold securely, but I'd still recommend using a wrist or neck strap as a backup.
With the built-in flash popped up, this shot also shows the unique dual-tube flash head of the C-770. On top, a tube in a shallow reflector casts light across a wide enough angle to cover the field of view of the lens at its wide angle setting. A lower tube in a deeper reflector projects a narrower beam that concentrates the light from the flash tube onto more distant subjects. The camera automatically switches between the two flash tubes as the lens crosses the approximate midpoint of its focal length range. The net effect is a flash with good coverage at wide angle focal lengths, but with enough power to illuminate even rather distant subjects surprisingly well.
The right side of the camera no longer has the memory compartment door seen on previous models; this is now accessed from the bottom. All that is here is one of the eyelets for attaching the neckstrap.
On the opposite side of the camera is the connector compartment, housing the DC-In, A/V Out, and USB connector ports. A hinged plastic door protects the jacks when not in use, and snaps firmly shut. The speaker is also located on this side, behind a protective grille. The second eyelet for attaching the neck strap is also on this side of the camera.
The C-770's top panel has just a few controls on it, including the Shutter button (surrounded by the Zoom lever), a Mode dial, and the pop-up flash compartment. Also visible is the camera's hot shoe, with its protective plastic cover in place.
With a control layout similar to previous C-series models, the C-770's back panel layout is clean and logical. All of the control buttons fit conveniently above or to the right of the 1.8-inch LCD monitor. The four-way Arrow Pad serves multiple functions depending on the camera's operating mode, and is adjacent to the right of the display. The use of separate buttons for the arrow keys, rather than the rocker-type controls used on some cameras makes for more sure-footed operation, with little likelihood of accidentally pressing keys other than the one you're aiming for. Arrayed across the top of the back panel are the AE Lock / Rotate button, Self-Timer, Remote / Erase, Flash / Protect, and Flash Release buttons. Below these is the red Power button. Just to the right of the LCD's top right corner is the Quick View button, which switches between whatever record mode you happen to be in and Playback mode without having to select Playback mode from the Mode dial. A Display button sits just below and to the left of the four-way Arrow Pad and controls whether the rear-panel LCD or electronic viewfinder (EVF) display is illuminated. The electronic viewfinder in the upper left corner of the camera shows a miniaturized version of the larger LCD display, and features a diopter adjustment dial for eyeglass wearers.
The bottom of the camera holds the battery compartment cover and a plastic screw-mount tripod socket. The tripod socket is just a little too close to the battery compartment to make battery changes easy when mounted on a tripod. (This is a pet peeve of mine, but I recognize that most people don't spend as much time with their digicams locked down to a tripod as I do.) Inside the battery compartment, the new Li-ion battery is retained by a spring loaded clip, and the xD card releases with a downward push. I found it's important to put the battery in the right way, because it's easy to put it in almost all the way in backwards, but not easy to get it back out.
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