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Sony's DSC-S85 was the first digital camera to use Sony's own, 4.1megapixel CCD. Now it's the turn of Olympus, which has essentially popped Sony's higher-resolution chip in its earlier C-3040Z camera.
As we discovered, though, the new Camedia C-4040 Zoom (C-4040Z) does have a couple of extra tricks up its sleeve.
Starting with basics, the C-4040Z is a fairly compact camera, measuring 110 x 76 x 70mm and weighing 320g excluding batteries. Connection to your PC is with USB.
The 4.1megapixel chip produces images with 2272 x 1704 pixels, compared to the 2048 x 1536 images of 3.3megapixel digital cameras. In real terms, this translates to being able to make an inkjet print about an inch bigger before you notice the pixels: around 11 x 9in compared to 10 x 8in.
The C-4040Z also offers a wide range of lower resolutions, along with two levels of jpeg compression and an uncompressed tiff mode.
Interestingly, the C-4040Z also offers two in-camera interpolation modes, which electronically scale the maximum resolution up to either 2816 x 2112 or 3200 x 2400 pixels, the latter badged as an impressive-sounding 7.7megapixels. Each takes about five seconds to record an image.
Like all interpolation, these modes won't deliver any more detail than native 4.1megapixel images, but they do smooth rough edges on big enlargements.
You can, of course, interpolate images with your PC, but the advantage of doing it in-camera comes when you're printing directly from the memory card itself. Since the C-4040Z's native resolution is good enough for A4 prints, though, these modes are effectively redundant unless you're using an A3 printer.
Best-quality jpegs at the native 2272 x 1704 pixels measure around 2Mb each, while images from the two interpolated modes measure around 3.4Mb and 4.2Mb respectively. Olympus supplies a 16Mb SmartMedia card.
Power comes from either a pair of disposable CR-V3 lithium batteries (supplied), or four AAs; you'll need to buy rechargeables or an AC adaptor.
The C-4040Z shares the same 3x optical zoom lens as the C-3040Z, although it's now encased in a rubber grip. Olympus makes a big deal of the bright f1.8 maximum aperture of the lens, which gathers 50-100 per cent more light than its competition.
The lens is equivalent in coverage to 35-105mm on a 35mm camera; the actual spec is 7.1-21.3mm, f1.8~2.6. You can manually focus, but the macro is poor with a closest distance of only 20cm. Composition is with the optical viewfinder or 1.8in screen.
The user interface has been improved, although you still have to navigate several menus to configure whether the A/S/M setting on the dial activates Aperture, Shutter priority or Manual mode.
One big improvement is a Noise Reduction mode which takes a reading from the chip with no light, then subtracts it from the main exposure. This virtually eliminates bright, random blobs that plague digital camera exposures longer than a couple of seconds.
A Pixel Mapping mode recalibrates the CCD to ensure all the pixels are in operation, although the effectiveness of this won't be known until the camera has been in use for some time.
The movie mode records up to 120 seconds of QuickTime video with sound, but there's no built-in speaker; the TV output carries mono audio, though.
Costing the same on the street as Sony's S85 (£799 inc VAT), it's natural to compare these two 4.1megapixel models. Both are excellent cameras that produce great pictures, although the slightly smaller 1.7Mb files from the Sony exhibit fractionally more jpeg artefacts.
The Olympus' lens is brighter too, but Sony's is sharper in the corners. The Sony also has a built-in speaker and a battery indicating how many minutes remain, but the Olympus boasts longer exposures and a Noise Reduction mode. Neither accepts IBM's MicroDrive.
Yes, it's swings and roundabouts again. One thing's for certain, though: at only £50 more than the 3.3megapixel C-3040Z, the C-4040Z is a bargain, and a highly recommended one at that.
Contact
Olympus: 0800 072 0070 www.olympus.co.uk
See also:
This small and light digital camera maintains Sony's reputation for good hardware. 29 Apr 2002
Toshiba thought this digital camera would be cheap, easy to use and give good results. It doesn't quite make it. 07 Dec 2001All Digital Cameras
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