The
design of the Olympus C-5000Z is clearly a departure from earlier
C-series cameras. The body is rounded, a mix of curves and angles, made
of smooth silvered plastic, with metallic parts in front and on top.
Aside from some of the controls, few elements from previous C-series cameras
are retained with the C-5000, and in most cases, the positions for the
controls on this new shape are more practical.
The
top right of the C-5000 supports the Shutter Release with the usual
Zoom Control around it, and near it the Mode Dial which
has a new design On/Off switch beneath.
As is common to many Olympus cameras, the zoom control doubles as a way
to magnify images in Playback when pulled towards the telephoto side,
and a means to show thumbnails of the images captured when pushed to the
wide angle side.
The Quick View mode, also common on Olympus cameras, is placed
on a flat section at a 45° angle behind the Mode Dial.
The
Mode Dial of the C-5000 has 12 positions:
Program
Mode: The camera automatically sets the most suitable combination
of aperture value and shutter speed according to the brightness
of the subject. Other functions, such as flash modes and drive modes,
can be adjusted manually.
A/S/M
Modes are pre-selected in the camera menu (see the Characteristics
section of the review)
Aperture Priority: lets the user set the aperture while
the camera handles the shutter speed.
Shutter Priority: lets the user set the shutter speed while
the camera selects the aperture.
Manual Mode: provides complete control over both shutter
speed and aperture. Over or underexposure is indicated on the LCD
monitor.
My
Mode: allows saving customized settings for 25 specific options,
and recalling them by setting the mode dial to this position.
Auto
Mode: lets the camera handle everything. User can only set the
image size and quality (JPEG only).
Portrait
Shooting: uses a wide aperture to achieve a sharp subject and
a blurred background.
Sports
Shooting: automatically selects a high shutter speed to capture
fast moving action.
Landscape
+ Portrait Shooting: similar to the Landscape mode, both foreground
and background are maintained in focus through the use of a smaller
aperture, but without the extra emphasis of blues and greens.
Landscape
Shooting: is to record both foreground and a distant background
in focus. Blues and greens are slightly emphasized.
Night
Scene Shooting: allows fuss-free night shots. The C-5000 selects
an appropriate shutter speed for the scene, noise reduction, and
sets the white balance appropriately.
Self-Portrait
Shooting: allows taking a self portrait while holding the camera
at arm's length. The zoom is fixed at the wide angle position.
Movie
Mode: serves to record video clips without sound. Focusing and
the optical zoom position are locked at the first frame, but if
enabled, the digital zoom can be used. Two frame sizes are offered,
HQ (320 x 240 pixels) which captures a 32 second clip, and SQ (160
x 120 pixels) which can record 140 seconds.
Playback
Mode: plays photos and videos recorded and provides editing
controls. (See the Characteristics section of the review for
additional information on the options of the Playback mode).
All the other external
controls of the C-5000 are clustered around its 1.8 inch LCD monitor,
and to the left of the optical viewfinder.
First, at the top near the viewfinder is a button to select the flash
modes:
Auto
Flash, Red-eye Reduction, Fill-in, Slow Synch (1st or 2nd curtain,
selected in the menu), Forced Off.
In
Playback the button serves to delete one image at a time.
The
next button down has a triple function:
cycles
through the Macro mode (wide angle at 20cm to 50cm [7.9"
to19.7"], telephoto 30cm to 50cm [11.8" to 19.7"]);
then the alternative Spot metering mode, or a combination or spot
metering and macro mode. By default, the C-5000 uses a Digital ESP
metering that is equivalent to a segmented pattern.
In
Playback the button serves to Lock frames, and prevent them
from being accidentally deleted.
To
the right of the Macro/Metering button is the Auto Exposure Lock button,
placed so it can be reached easily with the thumb:
the
button can either lock the exposure temporarily, or if held in for
more than 1 second, the exposure is memorized until the button is
pressed again. If desired, the AEL button can be reassigned to another
function in the menu (see the Characteristics section of the
review).
In
Playback the same button serves to rotate images, first by
90°, then 180°.
Next is the
Monitor button which is placed adjacent to the LCD monitor:
the
monitor button toggles between turning Off the LCD monitor, and
turning it On. In addition, when the shutter release is held halfway
down and the camera has focused, pressing the Monitor button displays
a small magnified area on the screen where the focus is.
Last comes the Arrow Pad, with its centre button. While the arrow controls
serve for navigation and to select apertures and shutter speeds in the
A/S/M modes, the centre button serves to:
calls
up the C-5000's menu, and, if held in for more than one second,
activate the Manual Focus mode which displays a distance scale on
the LCD monitor.
The
C-5000 is equipped with a flash shoe. The flash shoe is compatible with
Olympus flash units FL-20,
FL-40, and other third-party flash units when the camera is used in Manual
mode.
If an Olympus external flash is used, the flash mode and exposure compensation
are detected automatically by the camera , just as if it was the built-in
flash. By selecting the appropriate option in the C-5000's menu, both
the built-in and the external flash can be used simultaneously, or the
camera can be set to use only the external flash.
The
C-5000 offers a new shape — the grip area — with both front
and back providing a surprisingly good grip on the camera — and
a generous array of features.
While the new design makes some controls easier to use, the arrow pad's
left arrow is too close to the LCD monitor's raised trim, and when the
camera is used in Manual mode, pressing the left arrow to change the aperture
is difficult without either accidentally calling up the menu, or turning
on the Manual focus mode.
