Olympus C-7070 Wide Zoom Review

The C-7070 features an Olympus glass lens comprised of aspherical ED (extra-dispersion) elements and was designed specifically for digital capture. The f2.8 to f11.0 wide-angle zoom lens has a 27mm-110mm (35mm equivalent) focal length.

Three conversion lenses have been specially created for this camera, a wide angle and two telephoto adapters. They feature a bayonet mount and can be quickly attached or removed via the CLA-7 conversion lens adapter.

The WCON-17C is a wide-angle converter lens that reduces the focal length by a factor of 0.7x (35mm conversion of 19mm) when fitted to the C-7070 Wide Zoom, providing greater wide-angle coverage without altering the aperture setting. (Shown here is the C-8080 camera.)

To get even closer to the action, the TCON-17C, a 1.7x teleconverter lens, increases the focal length by a factor of 1.4x, 35mm conversion of 187mm. Or the TCON-30C teleconverter lens which increases the focal length by a factor of 3.0x, 35mm conversion of 330mm. (Shown here is the C-8080 camera.)

When manually focusing you get an onscreen distance gauge (in feet or meters) and a magnified center view which makes it easier to actually "see" the proper focus. Equipped with both a passive focus sensor and a low-light AF-assist lamp, it also uses the more powerful AF-assist lamps of external Olympus flash units when they're attached. Normal AF range is 31" to infinity, Macro mode is 8" to 31" and the Super Macro mode covers a distance of 1" to 8".

The C-7070 Wide Zoom features a number of professional SLR-type features to satisfy the artistic needs of advanced users, including two autofocus systems. A Predictive AF mode enables users to shoot subjects moving towards them via an external AF sensor that detects the distance the subject has moved and predicts its location at the moment of shutter release. And an AF Target Selection function enables users to choose from 143 AF target zones to focus on virtually any area of their composition without reframing the shot.

The C-7070 employs an eyelevel real image zoomed optical viewfinder. There are two LEDs to indicate flash and auto focus status.

The viewfinder's diopter is adjusted via a knob on the right side.

An animated view of the multi-angle color monitor as we flip it through some of the various angles. It can be tilted downward to use over your head or tilted upwards like a waist-level viewfinder or it can be flipped up 180° and turned forwards for self-portraits. The display will automatically invert the image when raised above the 90° point.

The C-7070 has a multi-mode intelligent speedlight; Auto (automatic flash activation in low light and backlight), red-eye reduction, fill-in (forced activation), slow shutter sync (1st curtain), slow shutter sync (2nd curtain) w/red-eye reduction, forced off (no flash).

Working flash range (at ISO 100): Wide: 31" - 12.1' (0.8m - 3.7m), Tele: 31" - 7.2' (0.8m - 2.2m). The flash squelches down nicely for macro exposures.

The TTL hot shoe allows the easy attachment of external and more powerful speedlights. The very precise flash output of the FL-50, FL-36 and FL-20 (in 1/8EV increments) make them ideally suited for use with digital camera CCDs to provide even illumination across the entire imaging sensor.

When using the FL-50 or FL-36 the C-7070 controls the flash's motorized zoom head and makes use of its long range focus assist illuminator.

Studio strobes can be connected using the optional Olympus hot shoe to PC adapter.