Excellent camera for a wide range of uses

Author's Rating:

Pros: Zoom, high resolution, automatic mode for point and shoot simplicity, IR remote

Cons: Bulky and heavy, no integral lens cap, pop up flash, xD Picture Card media

The Bottom Line: 
I'm very satisfied with this camera and its flexibility. The few flaws do not outweigh its great pictures that have thrilled me and impressed others.

Author's Review
I got an Olympus D-320L as my first digital camera in 1997, and have enjoyed taking digital snapshots since. I'm not a photographer by any stretch, but I take enough pictures (several hundred per year) that I do a little more than dabble. Still, I'm more of a point and shoot kind of person.

The Olympus C-750 Ultra Zoom addresses all of the concerns I had with my D-320L, and I'm very happy I have this new camera. I spent a lot of time looking at cameras before I selected this one.

My old camera had no zoom at all, so the C-750 almost overcompensates for this lack by having a 10x optical zoom. I have greatly enjoyed this feature, and it was a primary reason I chose this model.

The high-resolution 4 megapixel pictures are fantastic. They give me enough pixels -- especially when the zoom is taken into account -- to get the detail I need on any target. I've also taken some macro shots and have been reasonably happy with them, although I wouldn't say the camera is optimized for it or anything.

Even with the automatic mode, I get better pictures than I expect. I have dabbled with the other scene modes, which you'd be familiar with on any point and shoot camera that has this sort of thing. Never having had a camera with scene modes before, I can't say these work any better or worse than others. I can say that the automatic mode has worked very well for me. I get bright, vibrant colors and great focus on my subject.

Shutter lag is far worse than I expect. I dislike how the viewfinder (either the small one or the main LCD on the back of the camera) goes blank before the shot. This is one case when the camera disappointed me compared to my older Olympus.

The other disappointment is the physical size, but given the capabilities I'm getting from the camera, I really don't mind it. Sure, I'd like to have all the same features in a camera the size of a credit card, but oh well. The size of the camera is only slightly larger than my older one -- the main difference being the extending zoom lens. I can almost fit this camera in the same bags as the old camera, but not quite -- at least not with the smaller bags.

My older Olympus was very durable, even after several drops and a lot of abuse. The new camera is handled much more carefully, partially because I don't want to break the zoom -- I've seen people who've damaged other cameras that have extending lenses, even ones that don't zoom as far as the C-750's. Even with that handling, I've put a few minor dings on the camera -- but it works and looks as good as it did when I got it. I count it as quite durable, and have been impressed with Olympus' track record in this regard.

The IR remote that is bundled with the camera is useful in certain circumstances. I picked up a tiny folding tripod to take with the camera in a new, larger bag, so that I can always have the capability of setting up for a posed shot. That way, with the tripod and remote, I'm more able to get in the same pictures. I would recommend getting some sort of tripod to carry with you.

I came from a point and shoot camera, so I'm not used to keeping track of a separate lens cap. You must protect the lens on this camera, as it is huge and probably the least durable part of the unit. (Still, I've had the camera hit the ground with the lens extended -- just once, and I almost vomited as I saw it fall -- and everything still works, thank goodness.) I end up powering the camera down a lot just to retract the lens, and then put the lens cap on. I found the small cord loop that Olympus provided inadequate, so I spent about $2 on a better lens cap retainer at a local store. This was money well spent and I'm much happier with this solution.

I dislike the pop-up flash because I keep forgetting to use it. The camera performs well enough in low light conditions, for me, that I don't feel like I need it as much as on the older D-320L. The flash recharge time is about 2-3 seconds when I do use it, and it does help fill out a scene. The camera also has a shoe for an external flash, but I doubt I'll get one, at least not for a while. I have no need.

I've used the low light mode for night shots and star pictures, but based on that experience with the long exposure times, you're absolutely going to need a tripod to take effective pictures. Duh.

I find the xD Picture Card media to be something of a drawback. Only Olympus and Fuji use it on the cameras, and it's not compatible with other devices like Palm handhelds. (I don't have a Palm that reads any cards yet anyway so I'm not too worried.) It's remarkably small and feels very fast -- in comparison to SmartMedia on my old camera -- when saving pictures. The cards are about the size of my thumbnail so I'm scared of losing them. Since I got a 128 MB card at the same time as the camera, I think I've already lost the bundled 16 MB one. Oops!

Transferring pictures to the computer is easy with Image Capture and/or iPhoto 4 on my Macs. I have not tried it with Windows. The transfers are not as quick as they are with my card reader, but the card reader is a newer model that supports USB 2 -- so it's much faster than USB 1.1, at least with compatible USB ports on the computer's side. The computer recognizes the camera as an Image Capture device. With Mac OS X Panther, you can do a lot more with Image Capture; I have not tried sharing it across my network but it should be possible!

Overall, I really love this camera. It takes great pictures and gives me a lot of flexibility. I don't think I'll feel the need to replace it for a long time. In contrast, I started feeling the limitations of the D-320L a few days after purchase, but it was one of the best cameras on the market in 1997.

The camera came with a good bundle and I also got other things as gifts along with it. I like the NiMH batteries, charger, IR remote, and AV cables. I'd recommend getting:

* a second set of rechargeable batteries

* a second charger (I have a folding travel charger from Radio Shack that I'm quite fond of), if you don't like the one that came with the camera, although it's not bad

* a different lens cap retainer -- I got one with a plastic snap loop on one end to attach to the metal ring where the camera's neckstrap connects, and an adhesive dot to stick to the lens cap itself

* a small tripod to carry with you when you think you might use the IR remote (I try to carry the IR remote with me all the time, in my camera bag)

* a camera bag -- one that's not so big you'd carry a full SLR kit in it, but big enough to carry the camera and the accessories you're likely to need (I have a bag from Tenba that is a little smaller than a lunch bag).

You may optionally want to add a card reader, which commonly hook up to USB ports on your computer. I got a SanDisk 8-in-1 card reader that was the first one I found that would support my old SmartMedia cards and the new xD Picture Cards. It's completely optional and I keep it at home -- I use the camera's bundled USB cable to transfer to my Apple PowerBook or iBook on the road.