Just like the other Olympus UZ cameras that have come before
it, the C-770UZ's main attraction is its 10X zoom lens. Covering
a focal length equivalent to a 38 to 380mm, the lens of the
C-770UZ is the same as has been used with the C-750UZ, a zoom
that is built using Extra Low Dispersion glass. The LD glass
reduces the chromatic aberration that can interfere with the
image quality of cameras that have long zooms. Therefore, it
is not particularly surprising that the image quality of the
C-770UZ is very similar to that of the C-750UZ.
With its 4 megapixel resolution, the C-770UZ
captures sharp and detailed images with pleasant, but muted colours.
By default, saturation and contrast are a bit conservative, and with some
subjects a slight boost in saturation can be quite beneficial. For instance,
the photo at left and the one directly below are both captured with a saturation
setting of +2 and a contrast setting of +1 to enhance the pastel tones
of the subject.
The photo at right is captured
at dawn — around 4:30 am — with the camera on a tripod.
The shot above is at the wide angle setting, the one at left
zooms in at the full telephoto setting on the little specs on
the water visible in the lower right of the image, revealing
them to be group of ducks.
As always with a 10X zoom lens, the best results are obtained when there
is plenty of light or when the camera is stabilized on a tripod
to guarantee the image will not be affected by unintentional camera movements.
As always, the slower the shutter speed of
the camera, the more noise gets a chance to accumulate and noise
becomes more and more pronounced as the sensitivity is increased.
Still, at 64 ISO photos are noise-free, even in the darker areas
of photos captured under subdued light such as indoor incandescent
light and without flash. Under similar conditions, photos captured
at 100 ISO show a bit of noise in uniformly coloured areas and
in shadows. At 200 and 400 ISO noise readily visible, with the
400 ISO settings showing the most noise.
On the other hand, if there is enough ambient
light to allow for a relatively high shutter speed, photos captured
at 200 and even 400 ISO are quite good as the noise only adds
a light grain to image.
The LD glass used for the lens is effective at controlling chromatic aberration,
and it can only be perceived in the extreme corners of the frame when there
are very strong contrasts.
Aperture: f4.0, shutter speed 1/640 sec., 64 ISO.
Although it does not have an AF assist
light, the C-770UZ is usually able to focus under dim lighting
by increasing the gain on the CCD until it acquires focus.
Still, with some subjects, particularly
at dusk or dawn the camera needs to be switched to manual focus.
Aside from this the C-770UZ offers good value. Its powerful 10X zoom has
little distortion at either end of its range, provides excellent sharpness
while its 4 megapixel resolution allows for crisp and detailed images that
can be printed out to an 8 x 10 size.
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Image Quality
