Olympus C-2040 ZoomOlympus updates an old favorite, producing a "third generation" two megapixel digicam.<<Design :(Previous) | (Next): Optics>> Page 4:ViewfinderReview First Posted: 2/20/2001 |
ViewfinderThe C-2040 Zoom offers both an optical, real-image viewfinder and a rear panel, 1.8-inch, 114,000 pixel, TFT color LCD screen. The optical viewfinder accommodates eyeglass wearers with a diopter correction adjustment and a comfortably high eyepoint, leaving a reasonable amount of room between your eye and the finder for an eyeglass lens to fit in. Although the optical viewfinder zooms along with the lens, it does not show the operation of the digital zoom, which can only be enabled when the LCD monitor is on. A central autofocus target helps to center your subjects, and two LED indicators (one orange and one green) are adjacent to the viewfinder window, indicating camera status with either glowing or blinking lights. If the green LED is blinking, the camera is reporting trouble with either the SmartMedia card or the autofocus. A solid green LED indicates that focus is set and the camera is ready to snap the picture. A flashing orange LED means that the flash is still charging, while a solid orange LED shows that the flash is fully charged and ready to fire.
The C-2040 Zoom's LCD monitor provides detailed information on a number of exposure settings, including the currently selected f/stop, shutter speed, and exposure compensation adjustments across the top of the screen. In Aperture and Shutter Priority modes, the chosen aperture or shutter speed appears as a constant, while the second, automatically determined exposure value changes whenever the shutter button is half pressed (based on exposure compensation and changing light levels). The Manual mode displays the selected f/stop and shutter speed values together, while the exposure compensation value reports when a setting is over- or underexposed by glowing red. In Manual Focus mode, a distance display scale appears on the LCD monitor, which helps to adjust focus in low-light situations.
In our testing, we found the optical viewfinder to be a little tight, showing only about 86.7 percent of the final image area at wide angle, and about 87.0 percent at telephoto, for both the 1,600 x 1,200- and 640 x 480-pixel resolutions. The 1,024 x 768-pixel resolution varied by a few percentage points, showing about 86.5 percent at wide angle and approximately 86.9 percent at telephoto. We also noticed that the optical viewfinder framing resulted in an image shift toward the lower right corner. The C-2040 Zoom's LCD monitor produced much more accurate results, showing approximately 98.7 percent accuracy at wide angle, and about 99.2 percent at telephoto, for all three resolution sizes. Since we generally like to see LCD monitors as close to 100 percent accuracy as possible, we rate the C-2040 as excellent in this category.
When using the LCD monitor to review captured images, you can zoom in on displayed images up to 3x, and then scroll around the enlarged image using the Arrow buttons. This is extremely handy for checking focus, small details, or precise framing. There's also an Index display option, which shows either four, nine, or 16 thumbnail-sized images at a time. A very handy "quick view" function lets you check the last picture taken in Record mode by pressing the Display button twice in quick succession. The image will remain displayed on the LCD until you revert back to Record mode by pressing the Display button again.
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