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Olympus C-700 Ultra Zoom Olympus packs a 10x zoom lens into an amazingly small body, for an amazingly low price. Select a topic Reference: Datasheet C-700 Ultra Zoom Sample Images --------------------------------- 1. Intro and Highlights 2. Executive Overview 3. Design 4. Viewfinder 5. Optics 6. Exposure & Flash 7. Shutter Lag & Cycle Time Tests 8. Operation & User Interface 9. Camera Modes & Menus 10. Image Storage & Interface 11. Video, Power, Software 12. Test Results & Conclusion --------------------------------- Print-Friendly Review Version Additional Resources and Other Links Reader Comments on C-700 Ultra Zoom Review --------------------------------- Digital Camera Comparometer (TM) --------------------------------- <-- Digital Cameras (Home) <-- Digital Camera Reviews Index <<Camera Modes & Menus :(Previous) | (Next): Video, Power, Software>> Page 10:Image Storage & Interface Review First Posted: 5/31/2001

Image Storage and Interface
The C-700 stores uses 3V (3.3V) SmartMedia memory cards and comes equipped with an 8MB card. Currently, you can upgrade to card sizes as large as 128MB.

The C-700 can store images in both uncompressed TIFF and compressed JPEG file formats. The TIFF setting can be assigned to any one of four resolutions through the Record menu (1,600 x 1,200, 1,280 x 960, 1,024 x 768, or 640 x 480 pixels). JPEG compression levels include Super High Quality (SHQ), High Quality (HQ), and Standard Quality (SQ). Both SHQ and HQ settings record files at the 1,600 x 1,200 pixel size, while the SQ compression level has a few options. SQ records files at either 1,280 x 960, 1,024 x 768, or 640 x 480 pixel sizes, with High and Normal quality options.

As we have with Olympus digicams in the past, we greatly appreciated the C-700's file naming protocol, which includes the month and day at the beginning of the file name, and provides the option of numbering images progressively from one card to the next, or of resetting the naming sequence for each card. The Camedia allows you to write-protect individual images from accidental erasure through the Playback menu. Entire SmartMedia cards can be write-protected by placing a write-protection sticker over a specified spot on the card. While individually protected images can still be erased by a card format operation, cards that are write-protected with a sticker are also protected against card formatting. Write-protect stickers can only be used once and must be clean to be effective.

The table below summarizes the compression ratios and number of images which can be stored on the included 8MB memory card with each size/quality combination.

Image Capacity vs Resolution/Quality 8MB SmartMedia Card		TIFF	High	Normal
High Resolution 1600x1200	Images	1	7	16
	Approx. Compression	1:1	5:1	12:1
Standard Resolution 1280x960	Images	2	11	24
	Approx. Compression	1:1	5:1	11:1
Low Resolution 1024x768	Images	3	13	38
	Approx. Compression	1:1	4:1	11:1
Lowest Resolution 640x480	Images	8	33	82
	Approx. Compression	1:1	4:1	9:1

The following table shows the maximum seconds of movie recording time for various sized memory cards. These measurements represent the amount of time that can be recorded by depressing the shutter button one time and shooting continuously. The remaining available shooting time on the card will be displayed on the LCD monitor or LED control panel following the recording.

Resolution Sizes	Seconds (without sound)	Seconds (with sound)
(HQ) 320 x 240	16	15
(SQ) 160 x 120	70	62

The C-700 comes with interface software and a USB cable for high-speed connection to both Macintosh and Windows computers. Like all of Olympus' most recent digicams, the C-700 is a USB "storage class" device. This means it can connect directly to Mac OS Version 8.6 or later, or Windows Me or 2000 computers, without separate driver software. Storage-class connections are also generally faster than device-class ones. We clocked the C-700 at a download speed of 479 KBytes/second on our PowerMac G4. This is well toward the upper end of the range of digicams we've tested.  

One of the first things any new digicam owner will need is a larger memory card for their camera: The cards shipped with the units by the manufacturers should really be considered only "starter" cards, you'll definitely want a higher capacity card immediately. - Probably at least a 32 megabyte card for a 1.3 or 2 megapixel camera, 64 megabytes or more for a 3, 4, or 5 megapixel one. (The nice thing about memory cards is you'll be able to use whatever you buy now with your next camera too, whenever you upgrade.) To help you shop for a good deal on memory cards that fit the C-700, we've put together a little memory locater, with links to our price-comparison engine: Just click on the "Memory Wizard" button above to go to the Olympus memory finder, select your camera model , and click the shopping cart icon next to the card size you're interested in. You'll see a list of matching entries from the price-comparison database. Pick a vendor & order away! (Pretty cool, huh?)