*** From the Archives ***
This article is from May 5, 2000, and is no longer current.
Olympus C-3030 Zoom Misses its Mark
I don’t know how you use your digital camera, but mine is always in my backpack. Well, sometimes it’s on the center console of my SUV as I’m cruising scenic highways or tackling the rocks and mud and snow of Oregon’s backroads. In fact, just last week the C-3030 Zoom, the new 3.3-megapixel camera from Olympus, was with me as I hiked six miles for help after getting stuck in the Mt. Hood National Forest. I was too preoccupied-and ashamed-to get a picture of my poor Subaru Forester mired in the snow, but I did get some great scenery shots along the way!
The lightweight 11-ounce C-3030 is the most compact of the megapixel cameras I’ve used recently, which makes it convenient for one-handed operation. It’s a good thing, as there is really no place to put your left hand without getting your fingers on the lens, the viewfinder, or the otherwise easy-to-see1.8-inch LCD screen.
It shoots, it scores
For a camera with such a small “handprint” the C-3030’s controls are well placed. The shutter button is comfortable and the Monitor and Menu buttons — the most frequently used — fall naturally under the thumb. The zoom toggle encompasses the shutter button — an arrangement I have long liked about my Epson PhotoPC 850Z (a 2.1-megapixel camera). Unfortunately, Epson’s new 3.3-megapixel camera, the PhotoPC 3000Z has followed the Nikon CoolPix 990’s lead and moved the zoom controls to two separate buttons on the back of the camera. I applaud Olympus for keeping it easy.
Do it yourself If you take the time to set the exposure manually you can achieve some beautiful results with the Olympus C-3030 Zoom
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Many statements of “fact” that are totaly untrue. Flowers (last photo) are not Columbines but Dwarf Larkspur.
I’m afraid it appears that the author of this review had a terribly bad day. At least he didn’t blame the camera for his getting stuck in the snow.
While the 3030Z does have a complex menu structure, I find that it is not nearly as bad as described here. To change from one image quality to another only takes 7 or so button pushes – more than I might like, but nowhere near the 20 claimed by the author.
In addition, I find the battery usage of this camera to be quite reasonable. Perhaps that’s because I, unlike the author, can remember to turn the camera off when I’m not using it. By the way, the camera does enter a power-saving ‘sleep’ mode when left on for ~3 minutes.
Also, I can’t understand why the author was complaining about having to crawl behind his PC to plug and unplug the USB cable – I guess he couldn’t figure out that it can be left plugged in, even when not in use. I also wonder where he shops, for he quoted a $100 price for a SmartMedia reader. A very cursory look at most any shopping site finds them being sold for well under $50. The prices he quotes for other accessories are quite odd, as well.
I will admit, however, that he does have a couple of valid points. I think that the lack of ‘in the box’ accessories is a disappointment. A lens cap tether, set of NiMH batteries, and a carrying case would be logical freebies to be thrown in with a $1000 camera. Overall, however, the camera is a joy – much more than I can say about this review.
Donald Laird
[email protected]
Bad days aside, let me address some issues raised here.
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D. Laird said: “To change from one image quality to another only takes 7 or so button pushes – more than I might like, but nowhere near the 20 claimed by the author.”
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Depending on the resolution and size desired, selection can require *up to* 20 button pushes, as I stated in the review.
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D. Laird said: “In addition, I find the battery usage of this camera to be quite reasonable. Perhaps that’s because I, unlike the author, can remember to turn the camera off when I’m not using it.”
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Remembering to turn off the camera is certainly a good idea with the C-3030, however I am not in this habit because all the other cameras I’ve used turn themselves off in minutes.
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D. Laird said: “Also, I can’t understand why the author was complaining about having to crawl behind his PC to plug and unplug the USB cable – I guess he couldn’t figure out that it can be left plugged in, even when not in use.”
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Because I often test mulitple cameras simultaneously, in addition to using other USB devices, I can’t leave them all plugged in at once. Not only is a shortage of USB ports an issue, but some cameras’ download software gets confused or crashes when multiple cameras are attached.
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D. Laird said: “I also wonder where he shops, for he quoted a $100 price for a SmartMedia reader. A very cursory look at most any shopping site finds them being sold for well under $50. The prices he quotes for other accessories are quite odd, as well.”
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Where possible I have taken prices from respective vendors’ websites. Prices will always vary among retail vendors.
-Marty Beaudet, author
You don’t have to click thru the menu each time you want to access digital zoom. When once activated, a slide scale appears on the LCD screen. As to automatic shutdown, my 3030 does so in exactly three minutes, not four hours. Colors of the flowers had a blueish cast on an overcast day? Of course they would. Why didn’t you switch to “cloudy” white balance? And your USB complaint about “crawling” behind the computer to change it because of multiple uses for your USB port. Wouldn’t the same be true if you connected a Nikon or Epson reader to your USB port?
Think about this, have you ever used a REALLY GOOD 35MM camera?? At least with my Nikon FG and my 2 Pintex K1000’s all the lens that they have use lens caps that do not have a teather. This camera is made up put Digital, and 35MM together with the manual features that it has. So why wouldn’t it have a non teathered cap. With my old Sony cam I had it had a teathered cap and it kept either getting in the picture or in front of the LCD, that did me more harm then good. On the subject of the carrying case. I would rather use my handy backpack that I store all my camera supplies in then have to have a seperate one for my DC. In conclusion, the author of this article had some good drugs that day because I love my 3030, it is starting to replace my 35mm cams, how you could not like this DC I don’t know.
Chris Hileman.
http://www.chrishileman.com – Where everything is FREE!