Olympus C-770 UltraZoom Review

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Olympus C-770 UltraZoom Review

By: Steve's Digicams

Record Screens & Menus

(Note:All menu screens can be displayed on either the EVF or the LCD.)

The AUTO screen display. This is the "point-n-shoot" mode where the camera is fully automatic. The overlay information shows SHQ quality, 2288x1712 size, flash off, Drive mode is single, and there is enough space on the xD card for 87 more pictures.

Pressing the OK/MENU button in AUTO mode brings up this shortcut menu screen. DRIVE options (Single, Continuous, Hi-speed Continuous, AF Continuous), RESOLUTION (SHQ, HQ, SG1, SQ2), CARD SETUP (Format), CLOCK SET (set time/date).

Record screen in Program AE mode with the histogram feature enabled. The aperture is F2.8, shutter speed is 1/6 of a second and the "0.0" indicates that there is no exposure compensation. The "[ ]" in the center shows the autofocus area. ISO is locked at 64. The Flash is disabled. Image quality is set at SHQ and the memory card has sufficient space for another 87 pictures.

The screen display in Aperture priority mode. You can select the desired aperture and the camera automatically adjusts for the correct shutter speed. A small aperture increases the depth of field (range of focus), where a large aperture decreases depth of field.

In shutter speed priority you select the shutter speed and the camera selects the correct aperture. Select a fast shutter speed to freeze fast-moving subjects or use a slower shutter speed to capture flowing water or low-light subjects.

In full Manual you select both shutter speed and aperture values, the exposure value is displayed constantly (the "-3.0" in the upper right) so you can adjust the values to achieve the proper exposure.

The Movie record mode screen. Recording size choices are SHQ (640x480), HQ (320x240) or SQ (160x120). The total amount of recording time available is shown by the green "11:46" in the lower right hand corner. We have enough space on the 256MB xD card we used for our tests to record for 11 min. and 46 seconds. The length of recording is limited only by the amount of space available on the xD card.

When using the Self-timer or Flash mode shortcut buttons located on the back, their function is displayed for a few seconds on the color LCD (or EVF). Pressing the Self-timer button enables or disables the 10-second shutter delay. Pressing the FLASH button cycles through: Auto, Fill flash, Red-Eye reduction, or Slow sync flash modes.

Pressing the MENU button while in any still recording mode (except AUTO) brings up this menu screen. Using the Up, Down or Left buttons accesses the Shortcut menus for Metering, Macro, or Resolution. You can use these menus to quickly change settings. You can set the desired value for these three shortcuts with the Shortcut option under the Setup menu. Pressing the Right button takes you to the full Mode Menu (see illustration below).

The Mode Menu consists of four menu sections (CAMERA, PICture, CARD, SETUP)

Camera menu:

- Selects the metering method (ESP, Spot, Multi)

- Selects Off, Marco, or Super Macro

DRIVE - Single frame, sequential, high-speed sequential, AF sequential or AE Bracketing

ISO - Auto, 64, 100, 200, 400

A/S/M - Set the function of the A/S/M position on the Mode Dial for "A"perture priority, "S"hutter speed priority or "M"anual.

Flash Intensity - Adjust the flash output -2.0 to +2.0

Slow Sync - Slow shutter speed flash sync for front or rear curtain or red-eye reduction

Noise Reduction - Enables/disable noise reduction on long shutter speeds

Digital Zoom - Enable or disable digital zoom option

Fulltime AF - Enable or disable continuous auto focus

AF Mode - Select iESP or Spot focus

Panorama - In-camera panorama mode, only available when using Olympus brand xD-Picture cards.

2 in 1 - Combines two pictures taken in succession into one "side by side" image

Function - Off, B&W, Sepia, White Board or Black Board color effects

AF Area - Change position of the AF target mark using 4-way selector

Info - Changes amount of shooting information displayed on LCD monitor

- Enable or disable the live histogram displayed on LCD

- Enable or disable sound recording with still images

Super Zoom - Extends the optical zoom to 14x (fixed image size of 1600x1200)

PICture menu:

- Image size and quality; TIFF, SHQ, HQ, SQ1, SQ2

WB - White balance options; Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent or Manual Set

WB Adjust - Fine tune the white balance manually

Sharpness - Image sharpness; Hard, Normal or Soft

Contrast - Image contrast; High, Normal or Low

Saturation - Adjust the level of the color depth

The CARD menu is used to format the xD-Picture Card.

SETUP menu:

All Reset

- Select the language for on-screen display

PW On/Off Setup - Sets the picture/sound displayed at startup/power down

Rec View - If ON then show last image captured on LCD for several seconds

Sleep - Sets the sleep timer (30s, 1, 3, 5, 10m)

MyMode - Set the parameters used in MyMode

File Name - Continuous file numbering or reset

Pixel Mapping - Checks the CCD imager for errors

- Adjust brightness of LCD monitor

- Set the time and date

m/ft - Set the distance scale at meters or feet

Video Output - Select NTSC or PAL video format

Short Cut - Change the assignment of the shortcut menus

Custom Button - Assign frequently used functions (AE Lock, Drive, ISO, A/S/M, Slow Sync, Noise Reduction, Digital Zoom, Fulltime AF, AF Mode, Sound, Info, Histogram, Resolution or White Balance)

- Selects shutter sound and volume, or off

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