With the C-750UZ a 1/2.5 inch, 4.22 million pixel CCD is used (4 million
pixels effective). The ISO equivalent of this CCD begins at 50 ISO,
and can be increased to 100, 200 or 400 ISO.
If the CCD of the C-750UZ is different than that of the C-740UZ, and offers
a lower sensitivity, the lens on the other hand is the same. A 10X zoom
lens with a focal length of 6.3 to 63mm (equivalent
to a 38mm to 380mm) it is composed of 11 elements in 7 groups and
includes ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass. ED Glass is designed
to minimize chromatic aberrations and improve the colour and sharpness
of photos.
The
lens offers a starting aperture of f2.8
at the wide angle setting, and f3.7 at the maximum telephoto position,
while the smallest aperture available is f8. This aperture range works
in conjunction with a shutter speed range that covers the gamut from from
a long exposure time of 16 seconds to a fast 1/1000 sec.
A 4Xdigital
zoom is also available on the C-750UZ, once it has been turned On
in the camera's menu, allowing an effect somewhat similar to a 40X zoom,
approximately equivalent to the field of view a 1,520mm lens would capture.
However, the picture quality is considerably lowered as the image is not
only cropped, but interpolated to the pre-selected image size.
The
C-750UZ's lens can be focused in 3 ways. First is the default iESP
autofocus. This system automatically finds the focus point from anywhere
in the frame. Second is Spot focus, which can either be at the
centre of the frame, or moved to any eight other points
in the frame besides the centre, if the AF Area option is
activated in the menu.
In addition, the Auto Focus can be set to be Single, activated
when the shutter release is pressed halfway, or Full Time, which
while it drains the batteries more than the Single focus mode, allows
the camera to be ready to shoot faster.
The
C-750UZ can also be focused manually. The manual focus mode is turned
on by pressing, and holding, the OK button at the centre of the
Arrow Pad.
The manual focus mode displays a distance scale on the left side of the
screen, and the up/down arrows are used to select the distance to the
subject.
Manual focusing is ideal for night photography.
The 4-megapixel CCD of the C-750Z can capture a variety of image sizes.
As with a number of other Olympus cameras, the C-750UZ can record both
JPEG images
or an uncompressed TIFF
image. Moreover, an interpolated
image measuring 3200 x 2400 pixels is available in JPEG format.
Interestingly, this "enlarged" image size is the same as is
offered with the C-740UZ, but as the C-750UZ provides a larger image to
start with, there is less interpolation and the image quality is slightly
better.
The user is offered a wide choice of image sizes and formats, including
one, 2288 x 1520, that is proportional to printing papers such as 4x6:
Format
Resolutions
Compression
TIFF
2288
x 1712
2288 x 1520
2048 x 1536
1600 x 1200
1280 x 960
1024 x 768
640 x 480
None
SHQ
2288
x 1712
2288 x 1520
3200 x 2400 [interpolated]
Low
HQ
2288
x 1712
2288 x 1520
3200 x 2400 [interpolated]
Normal
SQ1
2048
x 1536
1600 x 1200
1280 x 960
Low
or Normal
SQ2
1024
x 768
640 x 480
Low
or Normal
Exposures can be metered
in three distinct ways:
The
first is the default Digital ESP metering, a type of averaging,
that gathers reading from a number of points in the frame and combines
them to produce the exposure parameters.
Next
is Spot
metering, selected with the middle button above the LCD screen. The spot
meter calculates the exposure based on a small area, and can be used along
with the Spot focus. When Spot focus is active, the metering takes place
at the selected focus point.
Last is Multi-metering which can only be selected in the camera's
menu if the Spot meter is active. It allows metering (using the spot meter)
up to 8 different points in the frame, and which the camera combines to
establish exposure parameters specifically suited to the current scene.
Multi-metering can produce excellent results, but is more time consuming
and therefore is not suited for use with action shots.
Beyond the shooting modes available on the Mode Dial, the C-750UZ is also
able to record bursts of photos:
Sequential
Shooting: 8 sequential frames at a maximum speed of approximately
1.3 frames/second in HQ mode. Focus, exposure and white balance
are set and locked with the first frame.
High
Speed Sequential Shooting: approximately 2 frames at a maximum
speed of approximately 1.8 frames per second. The speed varies according
to the resolution and compression setting.
AF
Sequential Shooting: focus is locked for each frame. 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.
As explained in the Ergonomics section of this review, the
C-750UZ can record video with or without sound at either of two frame
sizes. In addition, it can also record sound with images, either
immediately after an image is captured, or when it is displayed in Playback.
When recording sound along with images, sound recording starts about 0.5
seconds after the shutter is released and lasts for about 4 seconds. In
Playback, the option to attach a sound to the image must be selected in
the menu, and has the same duration.
The sound recording option, along with a number of other settings, are
selected in the Mode Menu of the C-750UZ. When the menu of the
camera is called up, it starts by presenting a Shortcut
screen.
The Shortcut screen is a direct access to those parts of the menu that
are most commonly required, and a feature common to most Olympus cameras.
Three of the shortcuts — except for the Mode Menu access
— can be configured to suit individual needs.
The default settings for the shortcut screen provides access to the Drive
Mode using the up arrow; Resolution and Compression settings
with the left arrow; the White Balance with the down arrow. The
Mode Menu, the access to the entire menu, cannot be changed.
In
the P, A/S/M and Scene modes, the Mode Menu
is divided into 4 parts: Camera, Picture, Card, and
Setup. In most modes a wide variety of options are presented; however,
some options may appear greyed-out if they are not applicable to the mode
currently selected by the Mode Dial.
In the first section, Camera, the options presented are for:
Drive:
is used to select any of the sequential shooting modes (see above).
ISO:
selects the sensitivity setting of the C-750UZ. The options are 50,
100, 200, 400 or Auto ISO which adjusts the sensitivity of the C-750UZ
over a range of 50 to 320 ISO.
A/S/M:
used to select Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority or Manual Mode.
With this option, the selected mode becomes the one available when
the dial is set to the A/S/M position.
My
Mode: to select and set any of 4 sets of shooting preferences.
(This option is only displayed in the Mode Menu if the Mode Dial is
set to My 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. When set to On, after a long exposure the
C-750UZ captures a second exposure of the same length without opening
the shutter. The noise captured during the second exposure is then
used to identify the noise contained in the first exposure, and eliminate
it.
Multi
Metering: On or Off. Used to meter up to 8 separate points of
a scene to be photographed. (See above for an explanation of the
Multi-metering mode.)
Digital
Zoom:
turns On or Off the 4X digital zoom. Note that this option is presented
at the top of the Shortcut screen when the camera is recording movies.
Full
Time AF: On or Off. When On, the camera continuously focuses as
the subject moves, or the scene changes.
AF
Mode: iESP is the default and is a wide area focus system. Spot
is the other setting. (See above for the C-750UZ focus modes).
Super
Macro Mode: allows the camera to come as close as 3 cm (1.36 inches)
to the subject. The mode sets the lens to a specific position, and
prevents zooming.
Panorama
Mode: this options is only displayed if the memory card in use
is an Olympus Brand xD card. When active, the LCD monitor,
or the EVF of the C-750UZ, displays guidelines to help overlap each
succeeding image. The guidelines are designed to ensure that each
succeeding image capture overlaps the previous one sufficiently to
create a seamless panoramic photo when the series is assembled later
on a computer. The software to create panoramic images is included
with the camera.
2
in 1: Combines two pictures taken in succession and stores them
as a single picture, as a side-by-side (horizontal) montage.
Function:
provides options for recording images in Black and White, Sepia, or
as White Board (black letters on a white background) or Black Board
(white letters on black background).
AF
Area: allows changing the location of the Spot AF area. (See
above.)
Info:
adds additional overlaid information in the viewfinder, or on the
LCD screen.
Histogram:
displays a histogram, also overlaid on the screen or viewfinder, showing
the distribution of brightness and contrast.
The second part
of the Mode menu, Picture, offers settings for:
Resolution:
to select the image size and quality. (See the table above for
a complete list of the available options.)
White
Balance: starts with a 3 option screen: Auto, Presets,
and One-Touch. Presets opens a secondary screen which has settings
for Sun, Cloud, Incandescent, Fluorescent 1 (daylight), Fluorescent
2 (warm), Fluorescent 3 (cool white). One-Touch, the third option
of the starting screen, is used to set the white balance according
to the ambient light.
White
Balance adjustment: is to adjust the white balance over a range
of ±7 increments, shifting the colour tone towards red, or
blue.
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 the memory card. In the
recording mode only 1 option is available:
Card
Setup: Format.
In
the Playback mode the Card section provides an additional
option:
Card
Setup: All Erase, or Format.
Please note that the options offered in the fourth part of the
menu, "Set" (Setup), can be found in the Interface
and Software section of this review.
In the Auto Mode, the Shortcut screen is different, and does not
provide an access to the Mode Menu. Instead, 4 options are shown:
Drive, Resolution, Time/Date settings, and Card
Setup.
The
Playback mode also provides a Shortcut screen, but in this case, the shortcuts
shown cannot be reconfigured. When a still image is being displayed on
the screen (or on the EVF), the top option is to start a slide show. However,
when a movie is displayed on the screen when the Menu button is pressed,
the top option becomes "Play movie".
The other 3 shortcuts are the same for both movies and still images.
Pressing
the left arrow while the Shortcut screen is displayed adds additional
information about the image, overlaid on top of the photo. The information
remains visible for about 3 seconds then disappears.
Pressing the down arrow presents the image as a thumbnail, with the shooting
data on the right side of the screen, and adds a histogram showing the
distribution of brightness in the frame directly below.
Pressing the right arrow displays the Mode Menu for the Playback mode.
Like
the Recording modes, the Mode Menu shown in the Playback mode has 4 parts
when the camera is playing back a still image; but only 2 parts when a
movie is on the screen. With still images, the menu presents, Play,
Edit, Card and Set, the access to the Playback mode's
Setup Menu (See the Interface and Software section for the options
offered by the Playback mode's Setup menu). The first section, Play,
consists of a single option:
Sound
Recording:
allows recording a sound bite that will be attached to the image shown
on the screen.
The
next section, Edit, provides for:
Resize:
which makes it possible to resize an image and thereby reduce the
space it occupies in the memory card by overwriting the existing image,
or resize it and save it as a new image file.
Crop:
allows zooming part of an image, and saving it as a new photo.
The
next part of the Playback menu is Card, which is to format the
memory card, or erase all images.
The
C-750UZ is an xD memory card compatible camera. Currently, xD Picture
Cards offer capacities that range from 16MB to 256 MB; and a 16MB card
is included with the C-750UZ as sold in North America.
The card fits in a slot on the right side of the camera, protected by
a hard plastic door that curves towards the back. Ejecting the card is
done by pressing on its edge.
With a 16MB xD Picture card, the C-750UZ can store:
TIFF
JPEG
Image
SHQ
HQ
SQ1
(High)
SQ1
(Normal)
SQ2
(High)
SQ2
(Normal)
3200
x 2400
-
2
8
-
-
-
-
2288
x 1712
1
5
16
-
-
-
-
2288
x 1520
1
6
18
-
-
-
-
2048
x 1536
1
-
-
8
20
-
-
1600
x 1200
2
-
-
11
32
-
-
1280
x 960
4
-
-
17
49
-
-
1024
x 768
6
-
-
-
-
26
76
640
x 480
16
-
-
-
-
66
165
Videos
(with sound)
Resolution
16
MB
HQ
320
x 240 (15 i/s)
46
seconds
SQ
160
x 120 (15 i/s)
186
seconds
Three external
connections — not including the hot shoe— are located on the
left side of the C-750UZ.
Uppermost
is the A/V (Audio Video) out, a jack that allows connecting the camera
to a television. The signal the C-750UZ outputs can be set to either NTSC
or PAL, in the Setup menu.
Below 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. Simply plugging in the camera lets it be recognized
as a Mass Storage device.
Last, is the DC-IN
jack to connect the C-750UZ to an accessory power adapter (an Olympus
CAMEDIA-brand AC adapter can be purchased separately).
The C-750UZ is powered by either 4 Ni-MH batteries, 2 CR-V3 Lithium battery
packs, 4 AA (R6) NiCd batteries, 4 alkaline batteries, or 4 lithium (non-rechargeable)
batteries.
In North America, Olympus provides 4 Olympus brand Ni-MH batteries and
a charger.
The supplied charger takes approximately 9 hours to charge fully depleted
batteries. This particular charger (Olympus BU-300U) plugs directly into
a wall outlet. It is rated at AC100V-240V, 50-60HZ.
In Europe, 4 Ni-MH batteries are also part of the kit, and so is the charger
(BU-300E), but this model does not plug into a wall socket directly and
has a cord.
The C-750UZ is powered by either 4 Ni-MH batteries, 2 CR-V3 Lithium battery
packs, 4 AA (R6) NiCd batteries, 4 alkaline batteries, or 4 lithium (non-rechargeable)
batteries.
