Olympus CAMEDIA C170

OLYMPUS - 'CAMEDIA' C-170 digital camera .

~ Why this one ? ~

Having previously had experience of an Olympus digital camera ( Camedia C100 ) which was stolen , I had tried a few others some with success , some without , but once again I was now on the lookout for a reasonably priced entry level digital camera that the whole family could use .

Whilst looking , what did catch my eye was the C-170 from Olympus ...
...on batteries . If only Olympus could include an adaptor and rechargable batterioes in the initial package .
The basics manual supplied is well thought out and simple to follow , allowing you to quickly be able to use this camera . The advanced manual is easy to read via the CD and is quite informative .
As with any item of this type , practice makes perfect . I'm no profesional , but got to grips with the essentials very quickly , ... more

OLYMPUS - 'CAMEDIA' C-170 digital camera .

~ Why this one ? ~

Having previously had experience of an Olympus digital camera ( Camedia C100 ) which was stolen , I had tried a few others some with success , some without , but once again I was now on the lookout for a reasonably priced entry level digital camera that the whole family could use .

Whilst looking , what did catch my eye was the C-170 from Olympus , which was of similar proportions and weight to a standard 35mm point and click camera . The price for this was a mere £79.95 , from Jessops ( usually retails at £99.95 ) and with a resolution of 4.0 megapixels is slightly above par compared with the rest of todays entry level digital cameras .

~ A little about its appearance..... ~

As I said previously , styled on a 35mm camera , this is a sleek looking silver piece of gear . On the front lower centre you have the on/off slider which operates the camera lens cover . To the right is the lens ( 6.1mm lens ; f2.8 aperture ) . Above central you have the built-in flash a small red LED which is put to use when using the flash feature.

On the top of the camera you have just the shutter release button .

At the back you find the view finder , 2.5cm * 2.cm monitor screen ; three 'direct use' buttons ; digital zoon control toggle ; jog wheel ; arrow pad/ok button .
: Direct buttons - used for switching between viewing / shooting modes , accessing the menu functions and deleting unwanted items .
: Zoom toggle - used inconjunction with 4* digital zoom feature of this camera .
: Jog wheel - aka Mode dial , this allows you select the optimal setting for the various conditions when using the camera : these are : Auto ; programmable auto ; movie mode ; beach and snow ; self portrait ; sporting event ; illuminated night scene ; landscape ; landscape with front main subject ; portrait .
: 2 * LED's - these are used to inform of battery life , camera busy etc.

When looking from the rear , the left hand side of the camera has a rubber cover that protects a USB port and DC adaptor socket . The right hand side has a slide cover that hides the battery and memory card slots , and a hook for a strap .

The underside provides a standard tripod screw fixing .

As for size , it fits into the palm of my hand ( not much use to you though ! ) and measures 100mm long * 35mm deep * 52mm tall . Without batteries , the camera weighs in at just 120 g ( 0.26lb ).

~ What you get - basics...... ~

Ok , so I've bought the camera and unpacked it and what do I get . . . the camera , 1 * USB cable , 2 * alcaline batteries , 1 * strap , 1 * guarantee , 1 * multi-language basics instruction manual , 1 * CD based advance user guide Adobe file with Adode reader software supplied ) and finally 1 * software disk ( drivers for windows 98 ; viewing software for windows / mac os systems ) .

Now the software is suitable only for Win 98 upwards and Mac OS x.2.+ , however the camera is plug and play compatible . Since most windows applications are plug and play compatible , then use of the software is limited and can be omitted . I myself do not use the software supplied , Win. XP easily recognises the camera and is easy to access your photo's .

Additionally the camera comes complete with 14 meg of built in memory , which can be bypassed with the use of XD type memory cards ( 16 meg-256 meg ).

~ In use..... ~

This camera is able to take pictures in four qualities , namely SHQ , HQ , SQ1 , SQ2 . At SQ2 the quality is easily acceptable for mass photography for reproduction in home made news letters etc. SHQ is publicity quality . Quality is selected from the the menu , and is simplicity in itself once you learn the basics of digital photography.

To give you a clue as to photo quality , with the built in memory , you can store :

4 * SHQ photographs ( 2288 * 1712 pixels)
14 * HQ photographs ( 2288 * 1200 pixels )
27 * SQ1 photographs ( 1600 * 1200 pixels )
144 * SQ2 photographs ( 640 * 480 pixels )

Obviously mixing qualities of stored images will adjust the amount of storage available.

This camera has date and time facility , which saved with each picture ( not imprinted though ) and used in the file name of each .
A customisable sleep function is also available to aid battery life when the camera uis switched on but not in use . The default setting is 30 seconds bu this can be increased to 1 ,3 & 10 minutes.
The camera also has a built-in but manually run pixel mapping function accessed via the menu function , which should be run once a year . This allows the camera to correct and adjust CCD and image functions.
The camera is also Pictbridge compatible for those with suitable printers - Pictbridge allows for direct printing .
As well as standard photographs , the camera can also take sequential photographs using the in-built timer function , and also moving images . the latter will however require the optional smartmedia cards as these are ram hungry .Moving pictures are capured using the standard Motion-Jpeg format , without sound . Two record modes are supported namely ;
HQ ( 320 * 240 pixels - 30 frames per second ) - 20 secs = 14 meg of internal memory .
SQ ( 320 * 240 pixels - 15 frames per second ) - 41 secs = 14 meg of internal memory .
As you can see memory is used quite quickly , so you will require additional storage via a XD card .

Taking photographs / moving images can be made via the view finder or with the use of the LED screen , which is activated by the press of a button - a handy af camera mark allows for easy centering . NOTE however that the use of the LED does wear out batteries very quickly ( in two weeks I have gone through 4 set of duracell batteries ) .

The flash is fully automatic , but can be programmed via the menu for special conditions .

Zoom is digital zoom only , available at 1.6 * , 2 * , 3.2 * and 4 * current settings , again easily accessable when taking your photographs .

For those of a professional standard , you also have exposure compensation, white balance and a spot metering mode.

~ Viewing your masterpieces.... ~

To view your masterpieces and to access the majority of menu driven settings , you need your shutter closed . This done , a press of a single button , and on comes you LED , complete with last image taken ( or beginning of movie if motion capture used ) . Using the buttons , you can now view your stored images . Pressing certain buttons will then allow access to the main menu , form which you can afjust these images or for matter delete them . It really is very easy.

~ Transferring to PC... ~

Dead simple , just connect the USB lead from camera to PC . Your PC will recognise the camera as a removable hard disk and allocate a drive letter to it , which can be accessed as any normal drive . It is then simply a matter of copying all or selected files to you PC hard drive , from which you can use your chosen software to adjust / print or whatever . Nothing could be simpler . As for the software supplied , can't say as Win XP was sufficient to access my photographs .

ANOTHER NOTE - when finished copying , remove the USB lead , or your batteries will drain , alternatively use the optional PSU adaptor .
I would recommend the use of re-chargable NI-MH batteries if this camera is to be used on a regulat basis . A further alternative is a lithium battery ( CR-V3) , which last a lot lnger than any conventional type battery , but are not rechargable.

~ Overview..... ~

A great camera , let down only by the excessive demand on batteries . If only Olympus could include an adaptor and rechargable batterioes in the initial package .
The basics manual supplied is well thought out and simple to follow , allowing you to quickly be able to use this camera . The advanced manual is easy to read via the CD and is quite informative .
As with any item of this type , practice makes perfect . I'm no profesional , but got to grips with the essentials very quickly , as have my wife and children .
Getting started in digital photography then the CAMEDIA C-170 from Olympus is the one for you . Those who still believe digital photography is complicated and expensive should take a good at this , entry level point and shoot digital camera .Well worth a close inspection  

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