Olympus µ[MJU:] 410 Digital

...looking to replace my aging Olympus C- 960Z camera, which, although having an excellent lens system and producing more than acceptable results, boasted only a 1.3 million-pixel resolution. I had spent several happy hours researching digital cameras on the Net and had pretty well decided on a high zoom model, either another Olympus or a Panasonic, which sports a Leica lens.

Then I nipped into the Freeman ex-catalogue shop in Lincoln ...
...going to buy, probably the Olympus C-765, has a 10X zoom, which means it would be like taking a picture through a telescope – ideal to bring distant objects close up. The trouble is that it’s almost impossible to keep your hand completely steady, an effect magnified by the zoom process, and without a tripod you can end up with a blurred image. There are some cameras available – Panasonic make one – that incorporate a clever piece of wizardry called ... more

--------------------------------------- Seduced -----------------------------------------

It was love at first or, at most, second sight. I’d been looking to replace my aging Olympus C- 960Z camera, which, although having an excellent lens system and producing more than acceptable results, boasted only a 1.3 million-pixel resolution. I had spent several happy hours researching digital cameras on the Net and had pretty well decided on a high zoom model, either another Olympus or a Panasonic, which sports a Leica lens.

Then I nipped into the Freeman ex-catalogue shop in Lincoln for a nose around, just to see what new bargains they had in stock, not actually intending to spend money.

Then there it was, sitting on a shelf in a display cabinet. I asked to see it, the cabinet was unlocked and it was placed in my hands. And I was hooked. It was a sexy, little thing…

The classy looks and reassuring weight, the compact size and 4.0 million-pixel specification attracted me at once. The fact that it boasted fast start-up and response times added to the attraction. And the range of shooting modes, the weatherproof construction and the ability to shoot video clips with sound were the icing on the cake. I wanted it, even though its optical zoom capability was only 3X.

It was priced at £149.99 – a whopping £130 cheaper than at Argos! It was a one-off, a catalogue return and carried a full year’s guarantee.

“Take it home and try it out, Duck,” said the saleslady (they call everyone Duck in Lincoln – don’t ask me why). “You can bring it back within fourteen days and get a refund if you don’t want it…”

------------Hang On A Bit! What Does All That Technical Stuff Mean? ---------------

The trouble with enthusiasts is that they love their jargon and either forget that for a lot of other folk it’s mumbo-jumbo or else they just want to impress others with their knowledge. So having started with the technical stuff and fooled no-one, I’ll try to make it simpler to understand. I’m not really an expert; I’ve just learned a few big words. If you already know the jargon you can skip the next bit – unless you’re intent on embarrassing me by pointing out where I’ve got it wrong (there’s always one, isn’t there?)…

*** Pixels ***

The quality of the picture (often called the “image”) taken by a digital camera depends on several factors of which the most important is still the lens, followed by the resolution (or “sharpness”). This is measured in pixels which is a word derived from the phrase “picture cell.” A picture cell is one of the dots used to build up a picture on a television screen. Obviously, the more dots used to build up a picture, the more detail it will reveal. If you take a magnifying glass to a newspaper picture you will see that it, too, is built up from tiny dots. The more powerful the magnifier, the less distinct the picture – all you see is a mass of dots. In the same way, if you take a picture from a digital camera, the larger you make it the more you see its component dots (in this case the squares known as pixels). So the more pixels it takes to produce a picture the more you can enlarge it before it loses clarity. And as I like to produce A4 sized pictures I need at least three million (or “mega”) pixels to work with and preferably four.

*** Zoom ***

This is a bit like using a telescope. You can narrow down the view by “zooming in” so that you see a smaller area to be photographed. Thus, when you look at the picture you’ve taken it seems closer because you’re using all your available pixels on this small area instead of the whole field of view. That way you can for instance get a really good close-up of someone’s face and cut out the surroundings without getting too close. This is particularly useful if you want to use flash – flash used too close gives a flat, garish quality to skin tones. It’s also useful if your subject is further away than you would like – it enables you to get “closer.” There are some photos below to show what I mean.

There are two types of zoom: optical and digital. Optical means that the view has been enlarged by using the lens system and results in a picture that uses the full pixel capability of the camera. Digital zoom narrows down the field by enlarging the pixels – in other words you start losing definition as soon as you use it. This won’t be noticeable if you are printing small photos – the normal postcard size, say – from a camera using 3 or 4 million pixels. But enlarge your picture to A4 and there is a noticeable fall-off in quality.

The camera under review has a 3X optical zoom. That means it will effectively enlarge the selected area by three times. The camera I was going to buy, probably the Olympus C-765, has a 10X zoom, which means it would be like taking a picture through a telescope – ideal to bring distant objects close up. The trouble is that it’s almost impossible to keep your hand completely steady, an effect magnified by the zoom process, and without a tripod you can end up with a blurred image. There are some cameras available – Panasonic make one – that incorporate a clever piece of wizardry called an image stabilizer, which compensates for the shake and gives you a clear picture. But that, of course, pushes up the price.

It is possible to combine the optical and digital zooms to get quite close in to your subject. The μ (pronounced “mew”) 410 has a 4X digital zoom so in combination with the 3X optical you can zoom in by twelve times! This may be seen below, where a tower of Lincoln Cathedral, only a distant blob in the first picture, becomes quite close in the third, even though they were taken from the same point. However, the fall-off in quality begins to show a little.

*** Start-up and Response Times ***

A digital camera has a tiny microprocessor inside it, just like a computer. And just as, when you switch on your computer it takes time before it’s ready to use, so a digital camera takes time when you switch on – a far shorter time, admittedly, no more than a couple of seconds. But some cameras are ready more quickly than others. And when you point and shoot, unlike a simple, cheap film camera whose mechanism operates immediately you press the button, there is an appreciable delay between the pressing and the taking of the picture. On my previous camera I noticed this when photographing a firework display in Italy. I would press as a huge coloured sphere lit up the sky – and the picture showed its dying remains. I eventually learned to press a second or two before a firework started its burst – but then I wasn’t sure where to point! So a quick response time is essential for pictures involving movement. The delay is caused by the fact that the camera has to process the request for a picture, determine the focus, decide whether flash is necessary, check your required settings and so on…

*** Shooting Modes ***

Ah, the clever bit. You can set the camera to use its own discretion and you’ll get perfectly acceptable results most times. But you may want to take pictures at night, which uses longer shutter speeds. There’s a setting to allow you to do that. Or you may want to take pictures in the snow or on the beach. There’s a setting for that too. In fact, some of the settings you may never use. The μ 410 has one called “cuisine” which lets me take close-up pictures of food (don’t worry, it’s quite legal – depending of course on what you’re actually doing with the food. But we won’t go into that…). What the shooting modes do is to set the camera for the optimum picture quality for the type of subject you’re taking.

-------------------------------- What Are This Camera’s Features? -----------------------------------

The μ 410 has an impressive range of features. The trouble is, of course, that it takes time to get the best from it and having had it for only three weeks I’m still finding out what it can do for me. The shooting modes for example - there are ten of them:

1) Auto (in which the camera selects the optimum settings): This is the mode the camera is in when you first switch on and is the easiest to use. You can just point and shoot.
2) Portrait: Adjusts focus and colour settings for close proximity and natural skin tones.
3) Landscape & Portrait: Adjusts to keep foreground and background in focus.
4) Landscape: Gives a wide depth of field to the focus to keep all the scenery sharp.
5) Night Scene: Allows for longer exposure times.
6) Indoor: Allows the flash to reach further
7) Beach & Snow: Adjusts to take account of all the whiteness of snow and white sand.
8) Cuisine: Adjusts colour and lighting settings for clear, sharp pictures of food (!!!).
9) Self-Portrait: Allows you to take a picture of yourself at arm’s length ( yes, check your new hairdo, ladies!).
10) Movie with sound.

*** Shoot Yourself ***
There is a self-timer so that you can set the camera up, then run in front of it so that it will automatically “shoot” you. However, even better, it comes with a tiny remote control, which gives a delay before shooting so you don’t really need the self-timer.

*** White Balance and Flash ***

There’s a white balance facility to compensate for various types of lighting including ordinary and fluorescent light bulbs. As for the flash, you can set it you use its own initiative as to when it’s needed, turn it off completely or force it to come on (for instance on a bright day to fill in the heavy shadows), as well as setting it for red-eye reduction.

All the optional settings are accessed by a full on-screen menu – there are too many to mention here (and if you’re new to digital cameras it would confuse you anyway). Once you get to know it, it’s reasonably easy to set the camera just as you want it.

*** Picture Storage ***

Pictures are stored on a very tiny “XD” card, which is unique to Olympus and Fuji. The camera comes with a 32MB card, which will store about 37 high-quality pictures. However, according to the size you want to print them you can increase the number of pictures stored by decreasing the resolution (again, easier to do than it sounds).

*** Battery ***

The camera comes with a rechargeable Lithium Ion rechargeable battery, which last for ages – well over sixty photos with flash – I haven’t actually counted, but I was always having to change batteries with my old camera. It’s well worth buying a spare at about £20, however – S*d’s Law says that the picture you desperately want to take will present itself at the moment the battery runs down. A charger is, of course, supplied, as are leads to connect the camera with TV or PC.

** The Screen ***

The 1.5-inch TFT screen is bright enough to see in sunny conditions, unlike my previous one. One of the joys of digital photography is the ability to see your pictures immediately you’ve taken them and to erase anything you don’t like. You can use the screen to see what you’re taking, though I prefer to use the viewfinder.

*** Sounds ***

The camera has a range of inbuilt sounds, most of which I’ve switched off. However, I’ve kept the sound that tells me I’ve taken a photo – a satisfying “clack” simulating the old-fashioned shutter-release of a pre-digital camera.

*** Etc ***

Like most digital cameras, this one doesn’t come with a case. A bit annoying, but at least, with a sliding lens cover which also doubles as a start-up / shut-down switch, the lens is protected. A case is still advisable, though.

If you have a PictBridge-compatible printer (which allows you to print directly from the camera without using your computer), you’ll be pleased to hear that this little machine will work with it.

The software with the camera is a bit disappointing but there are plenty of decent photo-editing programs available (some stuck to the front of PC magazines) so that isn’t a problem. And the full manual is on the CD – another nuisance as it would be nice to have a chunky little handbook to refer to as my old C-960Z came with. There is a barely-adequate quick-start guide, which will get you on the right track.

------------------------------------------ Summing Up ------------------------------------------

The quality of the prints is generally very impressive. I still have to get the best from it indoors and this seems to be a problem with many digital cameras. I’m not sure whether it’s it or me!

I love the zoom facility at 4 million pixels. As you can see below, using the combined optical and digital zoom, the ability to get in close is astonishing.

Even if you have never used a digital camera before, taking a good picture is simple: just point and shoot. But to get the best out of it, experiment and test it to its limit: there’s no film to waste. When the card is full, just store the pictures on your computer or on CD-rom, erase the card and reuse it – indefinitely!

*** Prices ***

The μ 410 (which is called the Stylus 410 in the USA, for some unaccountable reason) can be found widely at equally widely-differing prices. The cheapest I’ve found in the UK is at Pixmania at £198 plus £9 postage and packing. Amazon lists it at £202.99 post free, which is obviously a better deal. But shop around – some places throw in an extra, higher memory card and card reader for a bit extra. Hint: to type it into a search engine, enter “mju” 410: it will produce the same results as μ 410 and is easier to spell.

*** And Finally ***

The photos below were taken to show various aspects of the camera’s performance and are not necessarily representative of good photography! That’s left to you to do, Duck…
 

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