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outdoors and the sun gets in the frame but this is something we see with most digicams.
Screen visibility is good in all but direct sunlight where you should be using the optical
viewfinder unless you need to access the menus. I found it quite easy to shield the
screen by cupping my hand around it when I had to change settings in the great
outdoors.

Speaking of optical vewfinders ... the C-3030 uses the same eyelevel, coupled optical
viewfinder as the C-2020. There is a diopter adjustment knob on the side and it is a
large and bright viewfinder so even those wearing glasses will have no problems using
it. It shows slightly less than 90% of the final image. The LCD if used as a viewfinder
shows about 98% of the capture area. I did notice that the optical viewfinder is offset
from the actual captured image.

I received an email from Alan Chaffee asking me if the C-3030 had the same optical
viewfinder problem as the C-2020. So I performed the following (non-scientific)
experiment. I shot a picture with the viewfinder crosshairs on an easily identifiable
portion of the picture (indicated by the red vertical and horizontal lines) and then
checked the captured image's center. I sent the picture to Alan who brought it into Corel
PhotoPaint, made this 

screen capture

 and determined that the camera shifted the photo

to the left (by 28 pixels) and up (by 22 pixels). This amounts to a 9% (8.75) shift to the
left and a 9% (9.17) shift upwards.

One of the first exterior improvements I noticed was the new battery door (thank you,
thank you, thank you!) With the C-2000 and the C-2020, the user had to be
ambidextrous to the max to say the least. The new battery door closes easily and
logically and then stays closed with a sliding security latch. Be forewarned -- there is no
electronic interlock so if you forget to flip the security latch the camera still works and all
it takes is a good bump and that door pops open.

Unfortunately Olympus decided not to package a set of NiMH batteries and charger this
time. They did include two of their new lithium 3v battery packs that take the place of the
four AA type batteries. They work fine but they are not rechargeable so you'll end up
buying a set or two of NiMH batteries and a charger to complete this otherwise excellent
camera system. My only other complaint is the lack of any kind of lens cap keeper.
Even Nikon finally gave us a lens cap string with the new Coolpix 990.

Bottom Line

 is that this is an excellent camera. As I said at the beginning, it will be one

of the cameras that I'll recommend without hesitation to those seeking the "best" of the
Y2K consumer digicams.

Summary of Contents for CAMEDIA C-3030 Zoom

Page 1: ...apture modes in five different image sizes 2048 x 1536 1600 x 1200 1280 x 960 1024 x 768 and 640 x 480 It also offers QuickTime Movie capture at 15fps with sound Sound can be recorded during video fil...

Page 2: ...s to be selected independently Jump to the C 3030 Zoom specifications On the back is a 1 8 inch Wide View active matrix color LCD first implemented on the C 2020 It is much easier to view in all but t...

Page 3: ...bottom of the C 3030 is nice and flat and lends itself well to being mounted on a tripod The 3X zoom 32 96mm equivalent is an 8 element all glass aspherical lens with continuous 2 5X digital telephot...

Page 4: ...u set it up in the menu And the QuickTime movie mode that also captures sound The shutter button has the zoom lens control built around it It also functions as the zoomed playback and thumbnail contro...

Page 5: ...easy to access door on the side On the top is the DC input jack for the optional AC power adapter Next is the combination Video Out and Audio Out port for playback on a TV set New on the C 3030 is a h...

Page 6: ...lt flash head and true TTL controlled flash illumination A newly designed door makes changing the batteries a snap now compared to the tug of war we had with the C 2020 and C 2000 models Flexible powe...

Page 7: ...cable for TV or VCR Adobe PhotoShop LE image manipulation and creation software Enroute Imaging QuickStitch panorama stitching software Olympus Camedia Master Utility Software and instruction manuals...

Page 8: ...Casio QV 3000 Nikon Coolpix 990 and the Olympus C 3030 Zoom Go to Page Two Click here to Olympus C 3030 Zoom...

Page 9: ...8 SQ2 high 640x480 SQ2 normal 640x480 Recording Media 3 3V SmartMedia SSFDC Card 2M 4M 8M 16M 32M and 64MB Recording system Still image JPEG TIFF non compressed DPOF support Quick Time Movie Motion JP...

Page 10: ...l focus range 8 infinity in 130 steps Working Range Standard mode 30 infinity Macro mode 8 30 Viewfinder Optical real image viewfinder Close up correction marks Autofocus mark Backlighting correction...

Page 11: ...ng when turned off I O connectors DC input terminal Data input output terminal RS232C USB interface Video Output terminal NTSC with Audio External terminal for FL 40 with TTL cable Operating environme...

Page 12: ...turn To Steve s Reviews Index Note All photographs and page content Copyright 2000 Steve s Digicam Online Inc Nothing on this page may be used distributed or copied without the author s prior permissi...

Page 13: ...modes The current aperture F2 8 and shutter speed 1 30 sec The upper right corner is the EV exposure compensation factor 0 0 Below that is the current drive mode Single ISO sensitivity 100 image qual...

Page 14: ...MF manual focus button on the back The slider scale can be set for feet or meters in the setup menu When you switch back to autofocus the scale disappears This is the recording screen when you are in...

Page 15: ...nabled and the default setting is for HQ quality The green 15 indicates that there is enough memory on the card to record 15 seconds of video Screen 1 of the options available during record mode This...

Page 16: ...e is set on first frame up to 3 3 frames per second TIFF mode not available Sequential mode with autofocus and exposure set inbetween every frame Selftimer Remote Control mode Bracketed auto exposure...

Page 17: ...ns menu Enable or disable the internal flash default is both internal and external enabled Enable or disable the digital zoom Enable or disable the 4 second sound recording after each picture is taken...

Page 18: ...rding functions Black White Sepia Whiteboard or Blackboard Page three of the recording options menu lets you format the memory card enter the Mode Setup see below submenu set the image quality TIFF SH...

Page 19: ...ode Setup submenu Reset All parameters to default Image sharpness see next frame image size for TIFF mode image size for SQ1 mode and image size for the SQ2 mode This is the image sharpness options Ha...

Page 20: ...screen before saving the picture The File Name option lets the camera sequentially number pictures no matter how many times the card is swapped or it can reset the numbering when a new card is inserte...

Page 21: ...feet or meters Go to Page Three Click here to Olympus C 3030 Zoom Return To Steve s Reviews Index Note All photographs and page content Copyright 2000 Steve s Digicam Online Inc...

Page 22: ...Nothing on this page may be used distributed or copied without the author s prior permission...

Page 23: ...Playback Features Menus Typical playback screen with the normal overlay data displayed Battery condition image quality SHQ date time and frame number...

Page 24: ...cture number is also displayed Typical of all digicams the C 3030 can display small thumbnails of the images stored on the SmartMedia card You can select to display 9 small thumbnails or 4 larger thum...

Page 25: ...By toggling the zoom lever you can enlarge the picture from 1x to 3x and then scroll around inside using the 4 way jog switch Pressing the menu button during playback mode brings up the following two...

Page 26: ...the extended exposure data The microphone icon enables the playback of the 4 second sound clips Card setup is for deleting images or formatting the memory card Choosing the Mode setup option brings up...

Page 27: ...0 s larger finger grip gives it a more secure and stable feel in your hand The major controls like the mode power dial zoom lever and shutter button are ergonomically placed and easy to operate Partic...

Page 28: ...or for full TTL control of the optional Olympus FL 40 speedlight Using this external speedlight gives you much greater working range as well as off camera bounce for more natural looking flash picture...

Page 29: ...who brought it into Corel PhotoPaint made this screen capture and determined that the camera shifted the photo to the left by 28 pixels and up by 22 pixels This amounts to a 9 8 75 shift to the left a...

Page 30: ...re to Olympus C 3030 Zoom Return To Steve s Reviews Index Note All photographs and page content Copyright 2000 Steve s Digicam Online Inc Nothing on this page may be used distributed or copied without...

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