Olympus C-3040 Zoom

Click to take a QTVR tour of the C-3040

The Olympus C-3040 Zoom is a 3.34 megapixel digital camera with 15 different still image capture modes in five different image sizes (2048 x 1536, 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960, 1024 x 768 and 640 x 480.)   It also offers QuickTime Movie capture at 15fps with sound. Sound can be recorded during video filming or a 4 second sound byte can be recorded and attached to a still image. The C-3040 is built around the popular C-3030 Zoom and retains all of its features plus a newly designed Super Bright F1.8 - F2.6 3x optical zoom lens.

A 32MB SDRAM buffer allows for rapid shooting at 3.5 frames per second. The builtin 6-mode flash has a new slow syncro mode plus red-eye reduction plus a connector that provides true TTL control of the Olympus FL-40 external speedlight. Shutter speeds from 1/30 to 1/10,000 second plus longer shutter speeds of up to 16 seconds in Manual mode. The Manual exposure mode allows both the shutter speed and apertures to be selected independently.

Major C-3040 Zoom features:

• New Super Bright F1.8 - F2.6 3x (35-105mm 35mm equivalent) optical zoom lens which boosts the camera's low light capability and extends the range of the flash coverage.
• 15 different image capture modes including QuickTime video at 15fps with sound.
• 32MB RAM buffer allows for 3.5 frames per second burst rate (excluding TIFF) and QuickTime movies up to 5 minutes in length with sound (160x120 w/32MB card.)
• Spot AF for highly accurate focusing as well as iESP AF and manual focus modes.
• Multi-Spot metering takes the precise exposure readings of up to eight individual areas to calculate the final exposure value. It also has the iESP multi-pattern and spot metering modes found on the C-3030.
• Program AE, Shutter- or Aperture-priority or full Manual exposure control.
• Sharpness (Hard, Normal, Soft) and Contrast (High, Normal, Low) settings allow for a wide range of control over how the images come out of the camera.
• ISO sensitivity can be fixed at 100, 200, 400 or automatic.
• White balance options now include a custom one-touch function for quick and easy calibration to the existing lighting temperature.
• Storage Class USB connectivity insures quick and simple image downloads to Windows 2000 or Me or Mac OS 8.6+ computers. You just plug it in, no drivers required. Drivers are included for Windows 98 SE users. The camera appears as a removeable drive resource and data can be transfered with no special software being installed or used.

On the back is a 1.8-inch WideView TFT color LCD. It can serve as the viewfinder, picture review, menu and data display.  The backlight is adjustable via the setup menu. The control layout is identical to the C-3030Z.

If the C-3040 Zoom is not fast enough for your requirements then be sure to check out the E-100 RS with its 15 frames per second high speed capture rate and the awesome 10x (38-380mm) stabilized zoom lens.

Olympus C-3040 Zoom Specifications