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Olympus Brio D-100 Olympus uses tricky optics to build a sleekly compact 1.3 megapixel digicam with excellent image quality! Select a topic Reference: Datasheet Brio D-100 Sample Images --------------------------------- 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 Brio D-100 Review --------------------------------- Digital Camera Comparometer (TM) --------------------------------- <-- Digital Cameras (Home) <-- Digital Camera Reviews Index <<Viewfinder :(Previous) | (Next): Exposure & Flash>> Page 5:Optics Review First Posted: 5/6/2001

Optics
The D-100's fixed-focal-length 4.5mm lens is equivalent to a 36mm lens on a 35mm camera. The lens itself is protected by the sliding plastic clamshell cover, which also serves as the camera's power switch. The lens features two aperture settings (f/2.8 and f/8), and is made up of six elements in five groups. Focal range is from 1.6 feet (0.5 meters) to infinity in normal mode, and from 0.4 to 19.2 inches (10 to 50 cm) in Macro mode. The D-100 employs a contrast-detection autofocus mechanism, determining focus from the subject in the center of the frame. Although there is no automatic focus lock, you can manually lock focus by pressing the shutter button halfway with your subject in the center of the frame, and then recompose the image while continuing to hold down the shutter button). A green LED lamp on the optical viewfinder eyepiece glows steadily when the camera has set focus and exposure, and is ready to take the shot. If the LED lamp blinks, the camera is having trouble setting focus, and you need to adjust the framing, lighting, or switch to Macro mode.

The D-100 offers a 2x digital telephoto option, controlled by the up and down arrow buttons on the Arrow rocker pad. (Users should be aware that digital zoom is not the same as optical zoom, since the digital zoom is merely cropping and enlarging the center portion of the CCD. As a result, digitally enlarged images often result in higher image noise and/or softer resolution.) In our own testing, we found that the D-100's digital zoom created a large number of image artifacts, as well as decreased resolution and softened details.