Olympus C-7070

Reviewed March 2005

Characteristics

Equipped with a 1/1.8 inch, 7.41 megapixel CCD of which 7.1 million pixels are effective, the C-7070 is able to yield a maximum image size measuring 3072 x 2304 pixels.

CCD ISO settings begin at a sensitivity of 80 ISO, increasing to 100, 200 and 400 ISO; or can be set to Auto ISO, which lets the camera adjust the CCD sensitivity based on the available light.

The lens of the C-7070 has the same characteristics as the C-5960, a 4X zoom composed of 8 elements in 7 groups, and with a focal length of 5.7 to 22.9 mm, the equivalent of a 27 to 110mm.

The zoom has an aperture range that varies with the focal length, starting at f2.8 at the wide angle end, and f4.8 at the telephoto end, and in both cases extending through to f11. Moreover, apertures can be set to change in 1/3 or 1/2 EV steps, as selected in the Setup menu, a range — counting using the wide end — of 9 apertures for 1/2 EV steps, and 13 apertures when set to 1/3 EV steps.

The shutter speed range of the C-7070 covers from a fast 1/4000 second down to a maximum timed exposure of 15 seconds. Moreover, when the camera is set to the Manual mode, a Bulb setting is available, allowing for an exposure time up to 2 minutes long either by maintaining the shutter release pressed in or through the use of the optional wired remote control (RM-CB1) which connects to the optional Power Battery Holder (B-HLD20).

The C-7070 ia capable of capturing images at any one of 9 resolutions:

• 3072 x 2304
• 3072 x 2048 (3:2 format)
• 2592 x 1944
• 2288 x 1712
• 2048 x 1536
• 1600 x 1200
• 1280 x 960
• 1024 x 768
• 640 x 480

The C-7070 is capable of saving images in any of 3 different formats. First, the camera is equipped with a RAW format which captures the raw output from the CCD, avoiding any colour conversion, white balance, sharpness or contrast adjustment (Adobe Photoshop users should note that a plug-in to open RAW photos directly in Photoshop is available from Olympus free of charge). Moreover, if desired, a JPEG version of the RAW image can be saved concurrently. Second, an uncompressed TIFF format is available for use with any image size with the exception of the 3:2 image format. Third, photos can be stored using any of 3 JPEG compression levels.

The shortcut screen presents four options, one for each of the arrows of the Arrow Pad, and each is reached with a press of the appropriate arrow. By default the C-7070 is set to offer shortcuts to the White Balance settings, the Resolution and Image Sizes, the Drive modes, with the remaining option, Mode Menu being the access to the complete menu. Pressing the down arrow immediately reveals the possible White Balance settings:

• Auto.
• Preset 1: Shade, Cloudy, Sunny, Evening.
• Preset 2: Fluorescent 1 (daylight-6700K), Fluorescent 2 (neutral white-5000K), Fluorescent 3 (cool white-4,200K), Fluorescent 4 (white-3500K), and Incandescent.
• Custom: allows saving up to 4 custom white balance settings.

The left arrow selects the image quality and size:

• RAW, reserved for the maximum image size (3072 x 2304 pixels) and with a JPEG duplicate if desired at any of the image sizes available.
• TIFF, at any of the eight image sizes.
• SHQ, the highest JPEG image quality and available exclusively with the full image size and the 3:2 format.
• HQ, a more compressed image format also available at the full image size and with the 3:2 format.
• SQ1, with 2 compression levels, High or Normal and which covers images sizes from 2592 x 1944 to 1600 x 1200.
• SQ2, also with 2 compression levels, covering image sizes from 1280 x 960 to 640 x 480.

The up arrow provides a direct access to the C-7070's Drive mode, a function that is also selectable with the button on the body (see the Ergonomics section of the review for a list of the modes available)

The right arrow is the access to the entire menu, including the options discussed above. Worth noting, with the exception of the access to the complete menu, the three shortcuts that appear on this screen can be reconfigured in the Setup menu (for more detail on the contents of the Setup menu, see the Interface and Software section of the review).

The complete menu of the C-7070 is divided into 4 parts, the fourth being the Setup menu. The first section is entitled Camera:

• Drive: (as explained above and in the Ergonomics section).
• ISO: sets the CCD sensitivity (80, 100, 200, 400 ISO, or Auto).
• Flash Mode: also accessible with the button and detailed in the Ergonomics section.

• Focus:
  • Focus mode: Auto focus, Macro mode, Oracle AF, Manual Focus, Super Macro mode, Super Macro mode with Manual focus. (Note that this group of focus options is also accessible instantly with the button.)
  • AF Mode: iESP (selects the focus point from a wide area in the frame), Spot focus (focus at the centre of the frame).
  • Full Time AF: On or Off.

• Metering: ESP (an averaging metering pattern), Spot metering, Multi-Metering (allows taking up to 8 readings at various points in the frame and combining them),or Centre-Weighted metering. (This option is available with the button.)
• Self-timer/Remote Control: 12 second Self-Timer, or Remote Control. (This function is also selectable with the button).
• Digital Zoom: On or Off. Controls the 3X digital zoom. The digital zoom uses the central part of the frame and interpolates it to the selected image size.
• Noise Reduction: On or Off. Controls the dark frame noise reduction system.
• Function: Off, Panorama (only available when using an Olympus brand xD memory card), Black and White, or Sepia.
• Accessory: provides settings for conversion lens or underwater housing.
• Sound recording: On or Off. When set to On, the camera records approximately 4 seconds of sound half a second after an image has been captured.
• Frame Assist: displays screen guides to help in composition.
• Histogram: presents a real-time histogram during shooting. Four settings are available: Off, On during Exposure Compensation, On, and Direct.
  • On with Exposure Compensation displays a histogram, and a small green rectangle with an arrow on each side, indicating that it can be moved to any part of the screen so the histogram will show the brightness of that particular spot when the Exposure Compensation button is pressed.
  • On simply displays the histogram.
  • Direct makes the dark areas of the frame appear as blue and the bright areas as red during image preview, returning the image to normal colours when the shutter is pressed halfway
• Real Display: On or Off. By default the camera adjusts the brightness of the LCD in the Manual mode so the image is visible, regardless of the current camera settings. By turning this option to On, the camera's LCD monitor shows an accurate representation of the image brightness that would result from the current settings for aperture and shutter speed. (Only available in Manual mode and with a shutter speed other than Bulb.)
• My Mode: (accessible only when the Mode Dial is set to My Mode) serves to save a group of settings into any of 4 separate My Mode memories.
• Scene: (only accessible when the camera's Mode Dial is set to the Scene position) offers the Scene mode selection sub-menu detailed in the Ergonomics section.

The next section of the menu, Picture, contains fewer options that the Camera section:

• Resolution: Image quality and size selection, also accessed by default as one of the shortcuts of the Top Menu (see above).
• White Balance: Another of the options accessed by default from the Top Menu, serves to select a white balance setting (see above).

• Scene Modes: serves to select a Scene mode. This option is shown first, instead of the Top Menu, when the camera is set to the Scene position on the Mode dial and the Menu button is pressed.
• Sharpness: increases or decreases sharpness over ± 5 increments.
• Contrast: increases or decreases contrast over ±5 increments.
• Saturation: increases or decreases saturation over ±5 increments.

The third next section of the menu, Card, contains a single option:

• Card Setup: is to format a memory card, either xD, or CompactFlash Type 1, or a 1 GB Microdrive. We should note here that the camera manual indicates the C-7070 as being incompatible with 340MB Microdrives.

The final menu section is Setup. Its options are covered in the Interface and Software portion of this review.

Set to the Movie mode, the C-7070's Top Menu also presents four options, each immediately accessible by pressing the corresponding arrow on the Arrow Pad, but unlike the options presented in the Still image modes, these cannot be customized.

In Playback menu of the C-7070 also starts by presenting a shortcut screen, this one with 3 options and, like those of the Movie mode, they cannot be changed.

The up arrow starts a slide show of still images or, if a video clip is on the screen when the menu is called up, starts playing the movie.

The left arrow starts the sound recording mode, allowing a 4-second sound clip to be added to the image shown on the screen. If a movie is on the screen, that sound recording option is replaced by a copy option.

As with the other Top Menus, the right arrow accesses the full menu:

The Playback Mode Menu is composed of 3 sections. The first is called Edit, and its content varies according to what is on the screen, still image or movie, when the menu is called up, and even the type of image as is the case for the first option which is only accessible when a RAW format image is on-screen:

• RAW Data Edit: allows editing a RAW image for exposure compensation, white balance or white balance compensation; applying a Scene mode's settings; adjusting sharpness, contrast, saturation or hue; converting the image to black and white or sepia; or even cropping the image. The edited file can then be saved as a new file, using either JPEG or TIFF. Moreover, should there be 2 types of memory cards in the camera, the card on which the new image is stored can be selected.

• Image Resize: (TIFF or JPEG only) saves a copy of a photo as either 640 x 480, or 320 x 240 pixels.
• Trimming: (TIFF or JPEG only) can be used to crop a part of a picture and save it as a new image. Movies can also be edited, cut and saved either by overwriting, or as a new file on either card.
• Copy: is the last option of the Edit section of the playback menu. The contents of one card can be copied to another as long as 2 cards are present in the camera.
• Redeye-Fix: automatically removes redeye from an image.
• Index: creates a frame by frame index for a movie, and the interval between the frames that are automatically extracted varies depending on the length of the movie.
• Edit: allows editing a movie, and re-saving the edited movie as a new file.

The Card section is similar to the one found in the recording menu but offers an option in addition to formatting the memory card currently in use:

• All Erase: erases all the files.
• Format: formats the currently selected memory card.

As with the other menus, the last section of the playback menu is Setup and its options are covered in the Interface and Software section of the review.

Just like the C-5060 before it, the C-7070 is compatible with both CompactFlash (Type 1 and 2) and xD Picture Cards. The slots are located on the right side of the camera, with the CompactFlash slot nearest the back of the camera while the xD slot is closer to the front. The CompactFlash slot is compatible with Microdrives, but not with the older 340MB Microdrives.

In North America the C-7070 is includes a 32MB Olympus brand xD Picture card, allowing it to store:

(Note that SQ1 and SQ2 values are for the least compressed format [High].)

The upper cover fits over 2 connections. At the top is the A/V (audio/video) jack, and below is the USB 2.0 (Full Speed) port. The C-7070 is compatible with both NTSC and PAL televisions and the selection of either is determined in the Setup menu.

The lower cover is for power, making it possible to run the C-7070 from AC current when it is connected with an optional power adapter.