Review of the Olympus C7000: At first glance you might not even notice this little camera among the others, but don’t let its looks fool you…the Olympus Camedia C7000 is a powerful digital camera in a small package. Boasting a 7.1 megapixel range, very user-friendly controls, and excellent quality output, this camera is hard to beat.
With its innovative and useful new features and you have a rival to challenge most others for the best digital cameras available. Let’s take a closer look at the Olympus C7000…
The Olympus C7000 is the smallest camera in its division weighing in at only 7.7 ounces. You will find yourself trying to figure out how they packed as many features as they did into such an impressive little camera.
Upon closer examination you discover that the Olympus C7000 possesses a stylish metal body, finished in a sleek titanium color. Well laid out controls are found on the back of the camera, along with a 2-inch LCD screen that proves easy to see even in bright sunlight due to semi-transmissive TFT technology.
The CCD sensor located deep inside the C7000 has the ability to capture 7.1 megapixels of photographic information and when combined with a 5X optical zoom lens capable of 35-mm focal lengths varying from 38mm to 190mm, this camera more than lives up to its ability to capture top quality photographs.
Having a TruePic TURBO™ image processor enables users to take clean and sharp photos with fantastic color representation and little distortion or noise. As well as a real-time histogram, users can be alerted to over and underexposed areas in photos while in any shooting mode through color-coded highlighting. With the ability to record VGA video at 30 frames per second, the C7000 has both a microphone and speaker built in for recording and playback.
When you press the power button on the top of the C7000 you will be pleased with the time it takes to fire up coming in at under a single second. The feeling doesn’t stop with just speed. You will find the controls to be where you want them to be located and the user friendly external controls will never leave you second guessing how a function is performed.
Making your way through the menu controls using the LCD is also kept uncomplicated, and advanced users will be happy to have many interesting features such as Autofocus Target Selection and Red-Eye Fix so readily obtainable.
Photos are stored using xD-Picture Cards, and Olympus have included a 32MB card in the box so you can get started taking photos right away. A USB 2.0 connection is used to transfer photos to your computer, and the cable for this is also included.
You will also find in the box a lithium ion rechargeable battery which powers the Olympus C7000, along with a compatible charger. Depending on the camera settings you should be able to get about 200 shots from this camera between battery charges.
The shortcomings in this camera are hard to find. In fact the only one we could come up with is in regards to the Autofocus. You may find that it sometimes has problems when used in low-lit conditions but it still works well in bright light, even if not as fast as comparable cameras available for the same price.
One feature not yet cited in this review is the time-lapse setting that can set the camera to take photos automatically at 1 to 60-minute intervals. It is features like this along with the many others that make the Olympus C7000 a highly recommended option.
In conclusion, the Olympus C7000 is nothing less than an excellent camera for the asking price of just under $600. While not the least expensive to be found, the stylish and forceful design, outstanding image quality, and many useful features make this the C7000 impossible to resist.