The
C-4000Z is equipped with a 1/1.8 in., 4.1 megapixel CCD of which 4 million
pixels are effective. The CCD sensitivity starts at 100 ISO, but can also
be set to 200, or 400 ISO. In addition, an Auto ISO setting can be selected
to let the C-4000Z adjust the sensitivity, as required, over the entire
range.
The Olympus 3X zoom lens is a 6.5 to 19.5 mm, equivalent
to a 32 mm to 96 mm lens on a 35 mm camera, and has a starting
aperture
of f2.8
closing down to f11. Constructed of 8 elements in 6 groups, it uses aspherical
glass.
In still image recording modes, the C-4000Z uses a mechanical shutter
and provides a range of 4 second to 1/1000 sec. in all modes. It allows
exposures of up to 16 seconds in Manual mode.
As with many other
Olympus cameras, the C-4000Z has a generous number of image sizes and
2 image file formats: TIFF
(for uncompressed, non-lossy
images) and JPEG.
Three levels of compression are available in JPEG:
SHQ,
the highest image quality with the least amount of compression;
HQ,
which compresses the image a bit more to allow more photos to be recorded
on a card;
SQ1
and SQ2 offer both a High and Normal compression setting. SQ2
is reserved for smaller images sizes (1024 x 768 and 640 x 480)
The C-4000Z also
provides an interpolated
image mode which increases the image size to 3200 x 2400 pixels
— only available in the JPEG format — intended for making
large prints. Other image sizes comprise:
2288
x 1712 pixels (TIFF/SHQ/HQ)
2288 x 1520 pixels
(TIFF/SHQ/HQ)
2048 x 1536 pixels (TIFF/SQ1)
1600 x 1200 pixels (TIFF/SQ1)
1280 x 960 pixels (TIFF/SQ1)
1024 x 768 pixels (TIFF/SQ2)
640
x 480 pixels (TIFF/SQ2)
Worth noting,
the 2288 x 1520 pixel image size is a 3:2 format that is better suited
to making prints as its proportions match those of photo paper.
Furthermore, the C-4000Z includes 2 other functions of the C-4040Z:
Noise Reduction, to reduce noise in exposures over ½ second;
and Pixel Mapping which automatically identifies any defective pixel
and checks the image processing circuitry.
Aside from exposure
compensation (+/–2.0 in 1/3 steps) which can be controlled
by simply pressing the left and right arrows of the 4-direction control,
most other settings are controlled in the menu of the C-4000Z.
Although the menu of the C-4000Z is quite long, the system provides
a shortcut screen to access the most used functions. Olympus presents
a simple 4-option screen, of which 2 can be configured at will to point
to just about any part of the menus.
The menu system of the C-4000Z is designed in 4 sections: Camera,
Picture, Card and Setup. The Camera and
Picture sections provide many additional functions:
Self
timer: provides a 12 second delay before the shutter is released.
Drive:
single frame shooting and 3 sequential shooting modes: sequential
shooting (1.5 frames in HQ mode, focus and white balance are locked
at the first frame), AF sequential shooting (slower than the previous
as focusing is made for each frame), and auto bracketing (±
1EV in 1/3 EV steps or 3 or 5 frames).
ISO:
100, 200, 400 ISO or Auto.
Flash
Intensity: allows adjusting the power of the flash over ±2EV
in 1/3 EV increments.
External
Flash: allows use of the Olympus FL-40 flash unit only
(the C-4000Z has an external connection), or both the built-in flash
and the external flash. To use the FL-40, or another 3rd party external
flash an optional bracket (FL-BK01) and bracket cable (FL-CB01) must
be used. With 3rd party flash units, the C-4000Z needs to be used
in Manual mode and the shutter speed must be set between 1/200 and
1/300 second.
Slow
Synch: provides for 1st curtain synch (Slow 1), 1st curtain synch
with red-eye reduction, and 2nd curtain.
Noise
Reduction: On or Off.
Multi
Metering: On or Off. Allows metering up to 8 points in the frame,
one after the other, when the spot meter is active.
Digital
Zoom: On or Off. Uses the central part of the frame to interpolate
a larger image.
Full
Time AF: allows the camera to focus continuously shortening the
AF delay but drains the batteries faster.
AF
Mode: iESP which selects the focus point in the frame automatically,
or Spot which can either be set at the centre of the frame or in any
of 9 other points when the AF Area function (see further) is
used.
Super
Macro: locks the lens at a focal length that lets the camera focus
as close as 2 cm (1 inch) from the subject.
Panorama:
displays screen guides to make sure each image overlaps part of the
previous one when recording a panorama. This mode only works if Olympus
SmartMedia cards are used.
2
in 1: Allows combining two pictures taken in succession and store
them as a single picture. The frame is horizontal but divided down
the middle, vertically. One picture is recorded on the left, then
the next, on the right.
Function:
provides for Black and White, Sepia, White Board (black letters on
a white background to make them easier to read) and Black Board which
reverses white and black.
AF
Area: permits any one of 9 points to be selected as the focus
point. 4 positions vertically and 4 horizontally can be used in addition
to the centre point (only available with Spot focus).
Info:
On or Off. When ON adds the shooting data as an overlay, in playback.
Histogram:
On or Off. When ON, the system provides a real time histogram indicating
the distribution of brightness within the frame; and displays the
histogram for each image in Playback.
The
"Picture" section is supposed to be more concerned
with settings directly affecting a specific image to be recorded than
the Camera section, but the distinction is not that clear:
Resolution:
sets the image resolution as outlined earlier. In addition, the SHQ
option accesses a sub-menu that provides options for selecting the
normal full-size image size (2288 x 1712), the 3:2 image format (2288
x 1520) or the interpolated image size (3200 x 2400).
White
balance: Auto, Daylight, Overcast, Tungsten, or Fluorescent (3
types), User select one-touch.
White
Balance ±: increase red or blue.
Sharpness:
± 5 increments.
Contrast:
± 5 increments.
Saturation:
± 5 increments.
The
third section of the menu, entitled "Card", deals with
a single option:
Card
Format.
An
overview of the last section, Setup is presented in the Interface/software
section of this review.
Besides the Program, Aperture, Shutter Priority
and the Manual modes, the C-4000Z is equipped with 4 "My
Mode" settings able to store preferred settings. 32 different
parameters can be set and memorized under any of the four "My Mode"
sections. Although remarkably flexible, what is saved under any of these
may be a bit difficult to remember for most people...
the C-4000Z also provides 6 pre-set Scene programs, themselves
selected in a similar manner to the other shooting modes, using a "virtual
dial":
Self
Portrait
Night
Scene
Landscape
Landscape
+ Portrait
Sports
Portrait
Grouped
with the scene modes is the ubiquitous Movie mode, commonly found on most
compact digital cameras, including the C-4000Z.
Movie
mode records clips at either one of two images sizes, 320 x 240
(HQ), or 160 x 120 (SQ). The length of movie clips depend on the
size used - about 33 seconds with HQ, and 148 seconds for the smaller
SQ format. The camera's buffer memory is used to store the clip
during recording. The C-4000Z has no microphone therefore the clips
are silent. However, since there is no microphone to record the
motor noise of the zoom, the zoom remains functional.
As with the recording
menu, a shortcut is used to simplify the access to the Playback menu,
but these shortcuts are not user-modifiable. Four
options are presented:
overlays
the shooting data on the image currently displayed.
shows
the aperture, shutter speed, exposure compensation, white balance
and ISO, on the right of the screen, and a histogram on the left.
accesses
the playback menu and the "Card" and "Setup"
that are in common with the Recording menu.
starts
a slide show of each image in turn.
The
Playback section of the Mode Menu is limited to 2 options:
Resize
allows saving a copy of any image at either 640 x 480 pixel, or
320 x 240 pixel.
Trimming
makes it possible to crop and save a part of an image.
All other common Playback functions such as deleting, marking for printing
and protecting are available at the push of one of the buttons on the
camera and do not require the use of the menu.
The Olympus C-4000Z uses SmartMedia
memory cards, and this one included a 16MB card. SmartMedia cards with
capacities up to 128 MB can be used with the C-4000Z.
With the included 16MB card, the camera was able to record:
(SQ1 and SQ2 values at using the High
image quality; dashes indicate the image size/format combination is not
available.)
TIFF
SHQ
HQ
SQ1
SQ2
2288
x 1712
1
5
16
—
—
2288
x 1520
1
6
18
—
—
2048
x 1536
1
—
—
6
—
1600
x 1200
2
—
—
11
—
1280
x 960
4
—
—
17
—
1024
x 768
6
—
—
—
26
640
x 480
16
—
—
—
66
3200
x 2400
—
2
8
—
—
Three
connections are located behind a door on the left side of the camera.
The top one is a DC input for an optional power adapter. Below is Video
Out for connecting to a television. Further down is the USB connection.
The video signal can be set for NTSC or PAL in the Setup menu of the C-4000Z,
a change from many other Olympus cameras which are country specific for
the video signal.
The USB is Auto-Connect for Windows Me, 2000, and XP, requiring no driver
installation.
For Windows 98SE, a
driver is provide on the CD-ROM along with the camera software. For Macintosh,
at least OS 9 is needed to connect the C-4000Z.
The C-4000Z
is sold with 2 non-rechargeable CR-V3 Lithium battery packs which fit
in the grip. The camera can also use rechargeable Nickel Metal Hydride
(Ni-MH) batteries.
