Olympus C-4000 Zoom Review

The 3X zoom (32-96mm equivalent) is an 8-element in 6-groups, F/2.8 all-glass aspherical lens with continuous 3.3X digital telephoto. It's not as fast as the F/1.8 lens on some of the other Olympus models but it's still performs well in low light. Aperture settings of F2.8 - F11 are selectable in 13 steps.

The focusing range in standard AF mode is 31 inches to infinity. The dedicated Macro mode is not a fixed focus distance as some previous models have been. Macro is 8.0" inches to 31 inches in AF and Super Macro Mode is 0.8" to 8 " but will still focus (manual or AF) up to infinity without changing out of Super Macro.

The TTL autofocus system can be multi-spot or the user can select a center SPOT focus point. The lens can be manually focused. The user can select single or continuous AF operation.

The lens base is threaded and accepts the optional Olympus CLA-1 lens adapter to attach filters or add-on lenses. These adapters are also available from Tiffen, Kenko and several other manufacturers.

This is the best lens cap and it isn't made by Olympus!  It has a tough rubber sleeve that fits like a glove and won't slip off by accident. It completely surrounds the lens housing with a protective covering that seals out dust and moisture while providing protection from impact. The cap flips open and snaps shut with just the touch of your finger. It has a spring-loaded hinge that keeps the cap open and out of the way when using the camera.

It's available from Dancraft for $9.50 and works with all C-2xxx, C-3xxx and C-4xxx series Olympus cameras. (I just got word that Dan now has a cap for the model C-4040, C-700 series, and the new C-5050 too.)

The eyelevel optical real-image zoom viewfinder has a field of view of approx. 80% of the captured image. The "Slow No Wake" photo on the Sample Photos page is shot using the optical viewfinder and framing the sign in the upper left corner of the viewfinder. It shows the additional image the lens actually captured that was never seen through the viewfinder. It has diopter adjustment for those of us with less than perfect eyesight. Two LEDs are used to indicate focus and flash status, they also indicate Movie recording is active or the camera is writing to the memory card.

The built-in flash has modes for Auto flash, Auto flash with red-eye Reduction, Fill- flash, Fill-flash with red-eye Reduction, Flash Cancel and slow shutter synchronization flash (1st curtain effect). The impressive working range of the flash is 30 inches to 11.8 feet in wide angle and 8 inches to 11.8 feet in telephoto. With a fully charged set of batteries the flash recycle time is less than 6 seconds only if maximum flash output is needed. We noted that as little as a 2-3 second recycle time was common when shooting relatively close pictures.

The shutter release button located above the Mode Dial has very good tactile control. Surrounding it is the Zoom control switch which doubles as the display's "Zoom-In / Index" control during playback mode.

The Mode Dial has positions for Play, Off, "A / S / M / My" Record Modes: "P"rogram , "A"perture priority / "S"hutter priority / "M"anual / "MY" customizable mode followed by the "S-Prg"/Movie: Scene PRoGram (any one of six preset scene modes- see image below) or movie record mode.

The 4-way selector lets you navigate through and making choices in the menus . The 4-way selector is also used for changing shutter speeds, aperture values, exposure compensation and in playback zoom mode it allows you to move around in a zoomed-in image to check focus etc. To the left of the navigation buttons is the Macro / Spot toggling button. In playback this button is used to mark images for DPOF printing. The upper button control is for the Flash modes : Auto flash, Auto flash with red- eye Reduction, Fill- flash, Fill- flash with red-eye Reduction, Flash Cancel or slow shutter synchronization flash (1st curtain effect). It doubles in the Playback mode as the image Delete button.

On the back is a 1.8" color TFT LCD monitor which can be used as a live viewfinder, for image review or accessing the menu system. The OK button is used to enable the menu system and accept selections. The Monitor ON / OFF button also now allows "Quick View" in record, By tapping the monitor button twice while in Record the last image captured is displayed without changing modes. To return to Record, simply tap the shutter release or the monitor button once. The Custom Button can be set up for several functions: to bring up the Virtual Mode Dial, AE lock, Self Timer or drive control. The Red light to the right is the Card Busy indicator which warns not to open the card door as the SM card is being written to or read from.

The I/O ports are found behind a door on the left side of the camera. On the top is a 6.5v DC INput jack for an optional AC power supply or an external battery pack. The Video Out port is in the middle and allows the camera to be connected to a television set. On the bottom is a USB 1.1 port for transferring images to the computer. Video and USB cords are included.

To the lower left is the 5-pin external TTL flash socket where the FL-40 flash can plug into. Olympus also makes a cord (C-2500L PC Sync Adapter) that adapts this port to a standard PC (Photo Cord) sync port allowing operation of standard studio or PC compatible flash units.

The Olympus FL-BK01 Flash Bracket with the FL-40 flash plugged into the C-4000 with a FL- CB01 TTL-TTL Cable. By using a flash bracket, the external flash is moved "up and away" from the lens for move even lighting and reduced red-eye.

The FL-40 allows focusing in the dark up to 30 feet away by using its powerful focus assist illuminator. The FL-40 has a very high guide number of 130 in ISO/Feet that will allow it to be auto controlled up to 30 feet.

The C-4000 is equipped with a SmartMedia card slot and is supplied with a 16MB Olympus SM card. It's compatible with any 3.3v SM card from 4MB to 128MB. Olympus brand SM cards -must- be used to enable the camera's built-in Panorama function.

Power is supplied by the included two LB-01   CR- V3 Lithium batteries or four AA type batteries, high-capacity NiMh batteries are strongly recommended.

Olympus gives no exact specs on the number of images that can be captured with a set of batteries, but state that it has "battery saving technology" built in. Our in-house use was done with 1800mAh NiMh batteries and we were pleased with the battery life.