Olympus C-720 Ultra Zoom Reviews

Rating
Reviewed by: kyle
(Intermediate)

Review Date
August 8, 2003

Overall Rating
4 of 5

Value Rating
5 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Review 1 of 12

Price Paid: $300.00

Summary:

Wanted a digital but couldnt justify spending the 1k for the cameras I wanted. Decided to go with a refurbished c720 on reccommendation of others. Couldnt be happier. It took some time to get used to having autofocus and adjusting aperture/shutter speed takes much longer than on my slr due to having to press buttons instead of simply spinning ring. After using it for a period (took over 100 pictures at one instance) I learned how the autofocus would focus and just what to do.

Strengths:

large lens range, intuitive design.

Weaknesses:

not a weakness but I do not like AF cameras....what can ya do though

Similar Products Used:

fixed focal length digi cams. fm-10, n65, various other nikon slrs

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Rating
Reviewed by: leandro
(Intermediate)

Review Date
July 24, 2003

Overall Rating
4 of 5

Value Rating
4 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
2.50 of 5,
2 votes

Review 2 of 12

Price Paid: $475.00 from MercadoLibre.com.ar

Summary:

Hi. I bought this camera last week, after months looking for my first really good digicam, and I{m really happy with my camera. I came from SLR's, or manual cameras, and I find this camera like a digital SLR, that's affordable. It's not really a SLR, but, despite it's only automatic focus sistem, the rest it's like a proffessional camera! Almost manual at all, and automatic when you want it. Almos perfect. I suggest something to otrer people that posted reviews: YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO USE THE FOCUS, thats the problem why you get blurred pictures. You should press the shutter halfway, then WAIT until the subjetc gets focused and the AutoFocus STOPS!. And don't release the buton after the AF! Simply, press the sutter button fully (remember, if you released the shutter, you should do the AF again). And DON'T SPECT very good STILL PICS at night if you dont use a tripod, becouse that happens with any camera!! You can ask me for photos I've taken with my cam, and you'll see that it's possible to take perfect focused pics!! My email is leandro@ragau.net. Any doubt qith the camera, ask me, I'll answer.

Strengths:

It fells almost like an SLR!! It's the cheapest and greatest camera with almost full manual parameters (aperture and velocity) that I have found in Argentinian's market (the same as Miami, EEUU). I love the 320mm zoom, and everithing that it's manual in this digicam. 3MP is really OK! In close up pics, you can see everithing! You can work proffesionally with this cam!

Weaknesses:

In saturated, overexposed areas of the pics, where a lot of light reaches the sensor, appears a slight violet tone. A manual focus mode would rise this camera to perfect, for me! Consumes lots of cells. Use rechargeble Ni-MH!!!

Similar Products Used:

Manual cameras: 1970's RICOH 500 G - Some Single Lens Reflex borrowed cameras. (SLR's, full manual cameras) 640x480 Iomagic Digital camera (my first digicam)

Customer Service:

No big problems with the camera

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Rating
Reviewed by: M Petrena
(Casual)

Review Date
May 20, 2003

Overall Rating
2 of 5

Value Rating
2 of 5

Used product for
0-1 years

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5,
5 votes

Review 3 of 12

Price Paid: $490.00 from Sam's Club

Summary:

I bought this camera mainly due o the megapixel capability and the plentiful optical zoom (8X). Still pictures, expecially outdoors, are excellent. Once you get indoors, the whole situation changes. The flash pictures, even on auto don't come out with the proper lighting. Any movement, even on the sport setting, doesn't auto focus quick enought and the pictures are almost always blurry.

Strengths:

For the price, the optical zoom, megapixels and functions were good. The size is also good for the capabilites included.

Weaknesses:

Auto zoom and flash are extremely poor. The menu system is extremeley complex. I even accidently deleted some pictures try to get out of a menu I had accidently gotten into, since the instructions are confusing. Finally, the hard copy manual is just about useless.

Similar Products Used:

First digital still camera

Customer Service:

Had an issue with the camedia software "hiding" files that are in the "albums" it creates. Why they would "hide" such files is beyond me. However, their email response was adequate.

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Rating
Reviewed by: abayarde
(Casual)

Review Date
May 4, 2003

Overall Rating
4 of 5

Value Rating
4 of 5

Used product for
0-1 years

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5,
1 votes

Review 4 of 12

Price Paid: $430.00 from Online

Summary:

With its 8x optical zoom and good color reproduction, this camera is well suited for outdoor nature shots. I've read a lot of reviews complaining about blurry pictures. Never had that problem when giving the auto-focus a chance to do its job (i.e. pressing the shutter half-way while the lens focuses on the subject and THEN all the way to take the shot) For indoor pictures, people shots appear washed out when the flash is used. I would suggest to turn off the flash if you can or set it to the lowest intensity. Lots of noise too at high ISOs. Setting the ISO to 100 instead of using the auto mode improved things noticeably. The camera has a lot of features and is highly customizable. However, some of these features are buried in menus and it takes time to learn to find quickly. The electronic manual was far more helpful than the printed manual that comes with the camera. All in all, excellent shots can be taken with this camera if you're willing operate it in semi-manual mode. Though it can be used as a full-automatic, I would not recommend it to users who prefer to just point and shoot.

Strengths:

Excellent outdoor pictures. Killer zoom.

Weaknesses:

Out of its element for indoor/low light conditions. Flash washes out subjects.

Customer Service:

GOOD. Sent the camera to manufacturer after it stopped working a week after purchase. Service was fast and satisfactory and camera has had no problems since.

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Rating
Reviewed by: Ron Reeder
(Beginner)

Review Date
March 13, 2003

Overall Rating
2 of 5

Value Rating
3 of 5

Used product for
0-1 years

Visitors rate this review
1.00 of 5,
1 votes

Review 5 of 12

Price Paid: $300.00 from Office Max

Summary:

Good color except in dark light, nice zoom but pictures are blury even with a tripod. Basically a poor camara, I think they should recall the product if they want to preserve their good name.

Strengths:

Hmmm picures are much better than my $30 digital camara.

Weaknesses:

Just plain doesn't take clear pictures. At office Max they said they had a lot of returns and so they took some pictures with the same camara right out of the box and they had the same problem.

Similar Products Used:

Took some pictures with my brothers Hp camaras with similar resolutions and they looked much better.

Customer Service:

I filled out a form on there web sight a 3 days ago,stateing my problem and have got no response. So I can only conclude that they have crummy Customer service.

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