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Olympus Camedia E-100 Rapid Shot Olympus unleashes a 1.5 megapixel speed demon: By FAR the fastest digicam we've tested to date! Select a topic Reference: Datasheet Camedia E-100RS 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 Camedia E-100RS Review --------------------------------- Digital Camera Comparometer (TM) --------------------------------- <-- Digital Cameras (Home) <-- Digital Camera Reviews Index <<Design :(Previous) | (Next): Optics>> Page 4:Viewfinder Review First Posted: 1/18/2001

Viewfinder
The E-100RS provides both an "optical" Electronic ViewFinder (EVF) and LCD monitor for viewing and composing images. The optical viewfinder is essentially a smaller version of the larger LCD display (0.55 inches), which enhances the digicam's electronic SLR design. The Display button on the back panel controls where the viewfinder display appears, either in the EVF or on the LCD monitor. A soft rubber viewfinder cup surrounds the Electronic ViewFinder, effectively blocking out ambient light for a clearer view of the display. On the left side of the eyepiece is a diopter adjustment dial, which adjusts the viewfinder focus to accommodate eyeglass wearers.

The 1.8-inch, TFT color LCD monitor features approximately 114,000 pixels, and is activated by pressing the Display button just adjacent to it. When the LCD monitor is activated, the optical viewfinder is automatically disabled. The monitor's information display is controlled by the Info button, which cycles through three levels. The first shows a central autofocus target only. The next level of display reports the camera settings, including exposure mode, aperture, shutter speed, memory card type, the number of available shots, and the autofocus target. The third level reports all of the same information, with the addition of the capture mode, flash mode, white balance setting, ISO setting, image stabilization system, and image quality setting. Whenever the Info button is pressed, the battery symbol appears on the screen for a few seconds, reporting the level of battery consumption.

In Playback mode, the LCD monitor can show either one image at a time, or an index display of four, nine, or 16 thumbnail images on a page. There's also a playback zoom feature which enlarges the selected image for closer viewing. Playback magnification ratios of 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.0x are available. The Info button again controls the amount of image information displayed on the screen, with three levels of display. The first level is no information, which shows only the card type selected. The partial information display includes any print settings, write-protection, image quality, date, time, frame number, battery power, and memory card selected. The full information display includes all of the above, as well as exposure information such as shutter speed, aperture, and the file name. Like the Record mode, a battery symbol appears on the screen whenever the Info button is pressed, reporting the level of battery consumption for a few seconds only.

The E-100RS LCD monitor is very accurate, showing approximately 98.5 percent of the final image area at wide angle, and about 99.3 percent at telephoto (for both 1,360 x 1,024- and 640 x 480-pixel image sizes). In our testing, the EVF exactly matched the performance of the main LCD monitor. Since we usually like to see LCD monitors as close to 100 percent accurate as possible, we judge the performance of the E-100RS LCD monitor to be excellent.

Our one complaint about EVFs in general is that they are essentially useless when shooting in very low light conditions. The EVF on the E-100RS seems quite a bit better than average in this respect, but still won't work at light levels nearly as low as the camera is capable of taking a picture at. Here's what we found: The EVF works fine down light levels as low as about 1 to 1/2 foot-candles. When the AF assist light is turned on, it'll work in complete darkness, but of course there's the issue of the intrusiveness of the AF light. (Not exactly a choice for candid shooting.) Interestingly, the EVF can give you a glimpse of the subject at lower light levels (down to 1/4 foot-candle or so) when the camera is running at ISO 400. We say "glimpse" though, because it's exactly that: You get a quick look at the subject when you first half-press the shutter button, after which the display again decreases in brightness. While still not as useful as a true optical viewfinder for low-light shooting, the E-100's EVF does quite a bit beter than most we've seen.