The C-730UZ has a 1/2.7 inch, 3.34 megapixel CCD, of which 3.2 megapixel
are effective to capture the image. The CCD's sensitivity starts at 100
ISO, but can
be increased to 200 or 400 ISO. An Auto setting is also available which
will let the camera adjust the sensitivity over the complete range, as
needed.
The 10X Olympus zoom lens provides a variable focal length of 5.9 to 59mm
and is made up of 10 elements in 7 groups. It is the equivalent
of a 38mm to 380mm in the 35mm film format.
A 3X digital
zoom can further increase the optical magnification of the lens for
a combined total of 30X, but the picture quality degrades quickly. By
default, Olympus wisely sets the digital zoom to the off position, and
it must be activated in the camera menu.
The
zoom lens provides apertures starting at f2.8
(f3.5 in telephoto) to f8. These are combined with a shutter speed range
of 1/1000 sec to 16 seconds in the Manual mode, and 1 second otherwise.
A clip-on lens cap is provided with the C-730UZ but unlike some others,
will not prevent the lens from opening.
The C-730UZ offers both JPEG
compressed formats, and an uncompressed TIFF
format. The TIFF mode is available at all resolutions; and 2 JPEG compression
levels are offered at the highest image size:
2048 x 1536 pixels (TIFF/SHQ/HQ)
2048 x 1360 pixels [a 3:2 format for printing] (TIFF/SHQ/HQ)
1600 x 1200 pixels (TIFF/SQ1)
1280 x 960 pixels (TIFF/SQ1)
1024 x 768 pixels (TIFF/SQ2)
640 x 480 pixels (TIFF/SQ2)
Moreover,
the C-730UZ adds an interpolated
image mode of 3200 x 2400 (available only in JPEG SHQ and HQ)
to allow even larger prints.
With the C-730UZ, 3 metering methods are available:
Spot
metering, which bases the exposure on a small centre point in the
frame,
Multi-metering
which allows metering (with the spot meter) up to 8 different points
in the frame, and combining them to establish the exposure.
Beyond the Single Frame shooting mode, the C730UX is equipped
with 4 sequential shooting modes:
Sequential
Shooting: 11 sequential frames at a maximum speed of approximately
1.4 frames/second. Focus, exposure and white balance are set and locked
with the first frame.
High
Speed Sequential Shooting: a maximum of 3 sequential frames at
a maximum speed of approximately 2.4 frames per second. Focus, exposure
and white balance are set and locked with the first frame.
AF
Sequential Shooting: focus is locked for each frame automatically.
The AF sequential shooting speed is slower than normal sequential
shooting.
Auto
Bracketing: exposure bracketing over 3 or 5 frames, depending
on the image size selected, and with a range of ±2EV in 0.3EV
increments. Focus and white balance are set and locked at the first
frame.
The
C-730UZ is also capable of recording video clips with, or without,
sound. The microphone is placed on top of the camera — thereby avoiding
the possibility of a stray finger covering it — and a speaker is
embedded on the left side of the camera. When sound is recorded along
with the movie, the optical zoom is turned off to avoid recording the
sound of the zoom motor, but the digital zoom (3X) is available. 2 frame
sizes are possible, 320 x 240 pixels and 160 x 120 pixels, and the recording
time depends on the capacity of the memory card in use.
A sound bite can also be added to a still image either during or after
capture. In the recording mode when the Sound Recording option is active
(accessed in the menu) the camera will start recording sound approximately
half a second after the image is captured and will record for about 4
seconds.
Access
to the more advanced functions of the C-730UZ is through its menu, and
one of the advantages of an electronic viewfinder is that the menu can
be displayed and used without having to switch to the LCD screen.
The menu starts with a shortcut screen which offers 4 quick options, each
selectable with one of the arrows of the 4-direction controller.
By default, the shortcuts are set to directly access certain parts of
the complete menu. The up arrow accesses the Drive Modes; the left
arrow, the Image and Compression settings; the down arrow, the
White Balance. However, one of the options in the Mode Menu —
the Mode menu is the complete menu — allows configuring 3 of
the Shortcut screen's options to whatever is regularly needed. Only the
Mode Menu option itself is fixed.
The
entire menu of the C-730UZ is composed of 4 sections: Camera, Picture,
Card, and Setup. Note that the list of options contained
in the Setup menu is covered in the Interface and Software section
of this review.
The first section, Camera, is by far the longest and provides for
specific camera related settings:
Drive:
is used to select any of the sequential shooting modes listed earlier.
ISO:
is to set the sensitivity of the camera. 100, 200, and 400 ISO are
provided along with the Auto setting.
My
Mode: to select any 1 of 4 sets of previously stored shooting
parameters (My Mode dial setting only).
A/S/M:
used to select Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority or Manual Mode.
Flash
Compensation: allows adjusting the flash output by ±2EV
in 0.3EV increments.
Slow
(flash synchronization): 3 settings are available: Slow 1 (front curtain),
Slow 2 (rear curtain), Slow 1 with Red-eye reduction.
Noise
Reduction: On or Off. To eliminate noise during long exposures
(up to 16 seconds in Manual mode).
Multi
Metering: On or Off. Used to meter up to 8 separate points of
a scene to be photographed.
Digital
Zoom:
On or Off. Controls the 3X digital zoom function. By default this
option is set to Off.
Full
Time AF: On or Off. When On, the camera continuously focuses as
the subject moves.
AF
Mode: iESP, a wide area focus system, or Spot which uses the centre
of the frame exclusively.
Sound
Recording: On or Off. When this function is On, the camera records
approximately 4 seconds of audio with each frame (JPEG only).
Super
Macro Mode: allows the camera to come as close as 4 cm (1.6 inches)
to the subject.
Panorama:
only accessible when Olympus Brand SmartMedia or xD cards are used.
2
in 1: Combines two pictures taken in succession and stores them
as a single picture.
Function:
used to record black and white or sepia toned photos.
AF
Area: allows changing the location of the Spot AF to the left
or right of centre.
Info:
adds additional overlaid information (shooting and playback modes)
in the viewfinder, or on the LCD screen.
Histogram:
displays a histogram, also overlaid on the screen, showing the distribution
of brightness and contrast. Applicable to both recording and playback
modes.
The
second section of the menu called Picture is much shorter and
addresses shot-specific settings:
Resolution:
to select the image size and quality. See above for a list of available
options.
White
Balance: Auto, Presets (Sun, Cloud, Incandescent and Fluorescent);
and One-Touch which is used to set the white balance according to
the ambient light.
White
Balance adjustment: allows fine tuning the white balance over
a range of ±7 increments.
Sharpness:
to adjust image sharpness over ±5 increments.
Contrast:
increase or decrease contrast over ±5 increments.
Saturation:
to increase or decrease saturation over ±5 increments.
The
third section is entitled Card and deals with memory card issues.
In the recording mode only 1 option is presented:
Card
Setup: Format.
In
the Playback mode the Card section provides an additional option:
Card
Setup: All erase or Format.
The Playback mode also provides a Shortcut screen, but this one cannot
be reconfigured. The shortcuts it provides are for:
Slide
show: starts a slide show of the images on the card.
Info:
turns On or Off the additional information overlay.
Histogram:
On or Off. Presents a thumbnail of the image along with its histogram
Mode
Menu: a shorter version of the full Mode Menu.
Here
again, the mode menu is composed of 4 sections:
The
first tab is Play and it serves to add, or re-record, a sound bite
attached to an image. The second tab, Edit, is used to resize an
image and save it as a new photo, or to crop an image and save the cropped
section at the same image size as the original. The third section, Card
Setup, is the one explained earlier; and the last section provides
an abbreviated version of the Setup menu and its options are covered
as part of the Setup options listed in the Interface and Software
section of the review.
The
C-730UZ is dual media compatible: 3V (3.3V) SmartMedia with capacities
ranging from 4MB to 128MB (except 2 MB), and xD-Picture Card with
capacities from 16MB to 128 MB.
Only 1 type of card can be used
at a time as they both use the same slot. A SmartMedia card occupies the
entire space while an xD card is pushed into the lower part of the slot.
Both card formats are ejected by pressure on their edge. The C-730UZ is
retailed with a 16MB xD card, allowing it to capture:
Format
TIFF
JPEG
Resolution
SHQ
HQ
SQ1
(High)
SQ1
(Normal)
SQ2
(High)
SQ2
(Normal)
3200
x 2400
....
2
8
....
....
....
....
2048
x 1536
1
8
20
....
....
....
....
2048
x 1360
1
8
22
....
....
....
....
1600
x 1200
2
....
....
11
32
....
....
1280
x 960
4
....
....
17
49
....
....
1024
x 768
6
....
....
....
....
26
76
640
x 480
16
....
....
....
....
66
165
The connections
for the C-730UZ are grouped on the left side of the camera, near the speaker
and are covered by a hard plastic door.
At
the top is a DC connection for an adapter that provides 6.5 Volts
with a positive centre pin. Olympus offers an AC adapter as an accessory.
Next is an A/V (Audio/Video) out jack for connecting the camera
to a television. The signal out — NTSC or PAL — is selected
in the Setup menu.
Last is the USB (1.1) port. With Windows Me, Windows 2000, Windows
XP, or Mac OS 9.0, Mac OS 9.1 and Mac OS X, the installation of a USB
driver isn't required.
The
C-730UZ is powered by 4 AA-size batteries. The standard kit from Olympus
includes 2 of their long-lasting Camedia CR-V3 Lithium batteries, each
the equivalent of 2 AA type batteries. The C-730UZ can also be powered
by rechargeable Ni-MH batteries, but these must be purchased separately.
used
at a time as they both use the same slot. A SmartMedia card occupies the
entire space while an xD card is pushed into the lower part of the slot.
Both card formats are ejected by pressure on their edge. The C-730UZ is
retailed with a 16MB xD card, allowing it to capture: 
