Best Buy

  • Price: 425

  • Company: Olympus

  • Pros: Top quality compact digital camera with tough metal body, wide-angle lens, full manual and auto controls and an excellent flip-up/rotating LCD monitor.

  • Cons: Like its rivals, it’s big and heavy. Flash doesn’t pop-up. Somewhat outclassed by affordable small digital SLRs (including Olympus’ own E-300), some of which cost less.

  • Our Rating: We rate this 9 out of 10 We rate this 9 out of 10

Why would Olympus introduce a 7.1mp digital camera as a follow-up to its 8mp C-8080? The reason is that this C-7070 is really an improved version of the 5mp C-5060, and is aimed at users who might be considering that model. The C-8080 has a completely different body with a flip-up/down LCD monitor.

The C-5060 and new C-7070 have an excellent articulated monitor that flips up and over to stand above the body, where it can rotate through 360 degrees. It also works as a waist-level or overhead finder. The C-8080 has a pop-up flashgun while the C-7070’s is fixed.

border=0 />The C-7070 body is tough but quite large and heavy (433g). It’s not unusual for the market though – it’s a similar size to Nikon’s CoolPix 8400. Olympus’ new offering continues the company’s tradition of offering a good lens, a clear user interface, full manual and automatic controls, lots of fast-access function buttons, and support for external flash with interfaces to the exposure system. </p> <p> The ‘Wide Zoom’ is the equivalent of a 27-110mm lens on a 35mm camera, which is wider than most compact cameras. The f/2.8 maximum aperture is good, and the macro focusing distance of 20cm is nothing special. There’s an accessory thread to accept wider-angle and telephoto adaptors. </p> <p> There’s a wide choice of exposure and autofocus modes, including a predictive focus mode for fast-moving objects and a manually selectable focus area. However, the shutter response is no better than rival compacts – there’s a definite lag. </p> <p> <b>Exposed</b> </p> <p> <img src= Print

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