Olympus C-8080 Wide ZoomOlympus enters the 8 megapixel arena with a feature-packed body and fast f/2.4-3.5 5x zoom lens.<<Viewfinder :(Previous) | (Next): Exposure & Flash>> Page 5:OpticsReview First Posted: 02/12/2004, Updated: 05/07/04 |
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While much of the competition is moving toward longer-ratio zoom lenses,
Olympus chose to stick with a 5x ratio on the 8080. That may sound like a shortcoming,
but it may instead be a very wise design choice. Rather than go for the maximum
zoom ratio, Olympus opted instead to invest their R&D and manufacturing
dollars in making a very sharp, low-distortion 5x zoom, with a very "fast"
maximum aperture range. Based on my testing, I think the investment and tradeoff
for a shorter focal length range was well worth it, as the C-8080 appears to
have the best lens of any 8-megapixel camera I've tested thus far. (As of this
writing, this includes the Canon Pro1, Konica Minolta A2, Nikon 8700, and Sony
DSC-F828.)
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The Olympus C-8080 Wide Zoom has an all-glass, aspheric lens design with three ED (extra-low dispersion) elements aimed at reducing chromatic aberrations in images caused by light being refracted differently depending on its wavelength. Based on my testing of the C-8080, the ED glass seems to be doing its job, as the 8080's images were very sharp from corner to corner, and there was less chromatic aberration and "purple fringe" than I saw in most of its competition. The 5x, 7.1 - 35.6mm lens provides a focal range equivalent to that of a 28-140mm 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/2.4 to f/3.5, depending on the zoom setting. This is also better than most of the competition too, a feature that will help give higher shutter speeds for action shots, and improved low light performance as well.
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 (5.0 centimeters), an impressive performance. Based on actual measurements, I found that the C-8080's minimum capture area was only 2.57 x 1.92 inches (65 x 49 millimeters) in normal macro mode, and an exceptional 1.47 x 1.11 inches (37 x 28 millimeters) in Super Macro mode. While the 8080's Super Macro shots showed some of the corner softness that I've come to expect from digicam lenses in closeup images, its standard macro images were unusually crisp and sharp from corner to corner. - Very impressive!
The autofocus system works 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 advanced autofocus method than contrast detection, as the camera can tell not only whether the subject is in or out of focus, but in which direction the focus needs to be adjusted, and by approximately how much. This can potentially result in improved autofocus speed, as compared to a camera that uses only contrast detection. While I've seen phase-detect autofocus produce very slow AF times on other some cameras, it appears to do quite well on the C-8080, as the overall shutter lag in full-autofocus mode is very short indeed. Given that autofocus is based on image data extracted from the main sensor, the contrast-detect autofocus system will work properly with auxiliary lenses, such as the excellent wide- and telephoto adapters offered by Olympus themselves. On the other hand, the phase-detection autofocus system uses an external sensor, so the 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 and Electronic Viewfinder show 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 C-8080 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 Focus button on the left panel of the camera accesses the normal AF mode, as well as both macro modes and the manual focus settings. As with the rest of the 8080's user interface, the focus mode setting uses a "virtual dial", with the options arranged diagonally across the LCD screen. Pressing the button and turning the Command dial cycles a selection cursor through the options available. The screen shot above right shows the individual settings available for the focus control.
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. 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.
A Full-Time AF mode, selected through the Shooting menu, 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. Like the continuous-AF modes on essentially every other prosumer digicam I've tested, this mode on the 8080 seems to offer no advantage in terms of reduced shutter lag when shooting stationary subjects. Also, practically speaking, the C-8080's AF speed doesn't seem sufficient to track any rapidly-moving object, leading me to question the actual utility of the Full-Time AF option in the first place.
Besides the manual focus and full-time AF modes, the C-8080 also lets you designate whether the camera determines focus from a small, local area of the image (Spot) or the entire image area (iESP), by choosing the appropriate AF Mode option in the Shooting menu. 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.)
The C-8080 Wide Zoom's exterior lens collar has a set of fairly large accessory threads that couple to Olympus' lens adapter tube, the CLA-8. The optional CLA-8 adapter provides a bayonet mount that projects out from the camera body far enough for any auxiliary optics to clear the telescoping lens assembly. Unlike past Olympus lens adapters though, it bears noting that the CLA-8 offers only a proprietary Olympus bayonet mount, not conventional filter threads. This means that you'll be forced to rely upon Olympus-branded auxiliary lenses, at least until some third-party manufacturer comes out with an adapter barrel to mate with the C-8080. (Suppliers like CKC Power should be good bets for an adapter in fairly short order though, I'd think.) Two auxiliary lenses are being planned for the 8080, the 1.4x teleconverter TCON-14D ($199.99 list price), which extends the maximum telephoto focal length to the equivalent of a 196mm lens on a 35mm camera, and a 0.8x wide converter TCON-08D (also $199.99 list), which extends the maximum wide-angle coverage to the equivalent of a 22.4 mm lens on a 35mm camera.
The C-8080 Wide Zoom also provides as much as 3x 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.
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