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Photograph: Rick Rizner
Olympus C-770 Ultra Zoom Digital Camera
| Overall rating | 81 |
| Image quality: To gauge picture quality, we take a series of shots, with and without flash, at 640 by 480 resolution and at the camera's highest resolution. We photograph a complex still life and a mannequin to see how well each camera captures details and subtle colorings such as skin tones. A panel of judges reviews the on-screen and printed photos and assigns image-quality scores; we then average those scores. | Very good |
| Ease of use | Good |
| Features | Very Good |
| Maximum effective pixels/resolution | 4 megapixels at 2288 by 1712 |
| Bundled media | 16MB XD-Picture Card |
| Optical zoom/Focal range (35mm equivalent) | 10X/38mm to 380mm |
| Aperture range | Wide angle: f2.8 to f8; Telephoto: f3.7 to f8 |
| Shutter speed range (seconds) | 15 seconds to 1/1000 second |
| Viewfinders | Electronic viewfinder, 1.8-inch LCD display |
| Video and audio recording | 640 by 480 video with audio, clip length limited by size of media |
| Semiautomatic/manual modes | Six scene modes; aperture-priority, shutter-priority, manual modes; manual focus |
| Continuous-shooting speed | Up to 1.5 frames per second for a maximum of eight frames |
| Optional lenses | Wide angle and telephoto |
| Software | Olympus Camedia Master |
| Battery score | Fair |
| Battery life: Battery life testing is cut off at 500 shots. | 200 shots |
| Battery number and type | One rechargeable lithium ion |
| Dimensions (w/d/h) and weight | 4.1 by 2.7 by 2.6 inches; 11.9 ounces |
| Support policy score | Good |
| Support policies | One-year parts and labor warranty; 13-hour weekday toll-free support |
Olympus C-770 Ultra Zoom
C-770 Ultra Zoom Digital Camera Review, by Tracey Capen July 30, 2004
The Olympus C-770 Ultra Zoom has the oblong, fairly compact body of a point-and-shoot--in fact, it's the smallest Ultra Zoom model yet--together with the advanced controls, hot shoe (for external flash), and large lens barrel of an advanced model. With its brushed-metal case and good-size buttons and dials, this model has a smooth, solid feel. A resolution of 4 megapixels, though modest for an advanced camera, helps offset the extra cost of including a 10X optical zoom lens.
That lens makes the C-770 suitable for amateur sports photography. We took it with us to the nose-bleed seats at a San Francisco Giants night game, and took some pretty nice shots of batters at home plate. The camera's shutter lag is about 1 second--not especially quick--if you click a shot by fully depressing the shutter button in one go. When we set the auto exposure lock with a half-press of the trigger, however, there was virtually no shutter lag.
According to Olympus, this is the first of its Ultra Zoom line to use MPEG-4 for video clips. Oddly, in movie mode you can record sound with your movies or you can change the zoom, but you can't do both. If you switch on audio recording, the camera disables the zoom while you're filming--it's pretty annoying.
The C-770 did well in our image quality tests, earning an overall score of Very good. Image sharpness scores were low compared with the other advanced models we tested, but that's to be expected when you match a 4-megapixel camera against 5-, 6-, and 8-megapixel models. On the other hand, it earned high scores for exposure and color accuracy. All three of our test shots--outdoor, still life, and flash--had spot-on exposure. The only knock on the C-770's photos was noticeable noise (speckling) in areas of solid color.
The C-770's zoom button is large and easy to locate, even when you're looking through the viewfinder; and changing the zoom is relatively smooth--though pretty noisy. The electronic viewfinder is bright and quick, with no smearing as you pan. On the other hand, most of the camera's settings--including the control for switching between shutter-priority, aperture-priority, and full-manual exposures modes--are located in the menus. Fortunately, the auto exposure lock button on the back of the camera can be dedicated to another function; and by using the camera's My Mode, you can save up to four custom combinations of settings (though you must dig through the menus to choose among the combinations).
Optional accessories for the C-770 include a 0.7X wide-angle lens converter and a 1.7X telephoto lens converter. Adding the latter extends your telephoto range beyond 600mm (35mm equivalent). The wide-angle lens could be the more useful one, however, because the C-770 standard lens starts at a relatively high 38mm.
Upshot: The C-770 is a good choice if you want maximum zoom power in a small package.
Tracey Capen
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User Reviews
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User Reviews From Around the Web
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Reviewed by: defaultuser
Strengths: Fast, smooth, quiet. Really well built
Weaknesses: My wife likes it to much
Overall: This is my second Ultra Zoom. Man, they have really come a long way. I really like the burst mode. The Zoom is smooth and fast, the scene modes work well. I am really happy!!! Great color.
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Reviewed by: joni9
Strengths: Solid feel and handling,good photos, excellent zoom. Mpeg4 movie mode is also excellent, just make sure to enable sound before recording.
Weaknesses: Sound recording should be automatic on movie mode. Flash unit could be better at max. distance.
Overall: Great photos, Very good ease of menus, excellent zoom.Excellent Mpeg4 movie mode.The LCD display is good, but I prefer using the viewfinder in most instances.Do get a bigger memory card if you use the movie mode.Excellent software with camera as the printouts were pretty good and also the panoramic shots.
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Reviewed by: ken60
Strengths: Has a great 10x zoom, takes nice outside pictures
Weaknesses: Very short battery life, Flash is terrible for indoor pictures, Pictures could be sharper, Have to download manual, No case.
Overall: I like the fact that it has such a great zoom. It takes nice pictures outside on sunny days, but indoor pictures are not up to par. I even used SHQ to help, but it did not make much of a difference. The flash is very weak for taking inside pictures, plus the pictures are not very sharp at all when it comes to indoor pictures. I am planning on buying an extra flash, hoping that it will help with indoor pictures? The battery life is pathetic. I have to carry numerous spares if I want to be sure I have power. It is also difficult to get the battery out, which is bad if there are some pictures you want to take right away. I missed numerous shots because of this. The adjustment time and delay time is terrible. Again miss a lot of shots because of that, especially if someone is moving. The fact that you have to download and print the full manual stinks, especially since it is over 200 pages!!! It would have also been nice if for that price they would have included a carrying case. I have owned numerous Olympus 35mm cameras and have always been happy with them, but I am not happy at all with this digital. I would definitely try a different brand next time. Plus when I have contacted the web site about different questions I have not been happy with their responses. It seems the people do not know what they are talking about. they either do not answer the question that I am asking directly or are so vague you don't know what they mean because they truly don't answer. So you basically just have to guess and keep trying on your own and that does not always work.
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Reviewed by: Zill
Strengths: Excellent. Two thumbs up. My dream camera.
Weaknesses: Battery discharges quickly. More pixels could be there.
Overall: I am a serious photographer. And after owning this camera after a series of Canons and Ricohs and Kodaks, I can finally say: I hit on my dream cam. It is simply wonderful -- awesome. It's AF lock is wonderful, it could have more pixels but still the picture quality is very fine.
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Reviewed by: fistpittingnork
Strengths: Macro mode is fantastic, zoom is great, panoramic function is a blast to play with, movie mode makes clear videos, with sound.
Weaknesses: It's a crowd pleaser, my friends, family, and company get to play with it more than I do.
Overall: I've only owned the camera for about 2 weeks, yet I haven't been able to put it down since. The shots are great, the available functions are ones that the average person can, and will, actually use. I've taken macro shots, full 10x optical zoom shots (I don't participate in that digital zoom jazz), low light shots, portraits, panoramic shots, etc.. All turned out great.. I would highly recommend this camera. If I'm able to, I'll post a great macro mode shot.
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