Olympus C-3030 Zoom Misses its Mark

Party favors
The Olympus C-3030 brings to the 3-megapixel party many of the same features as other guests: auto-exposure-bracketing, white-balance adjustment, a movie mode, direct connection to a TV or printer, sound recording, and a panorama mode, to name a few. Threads inside the lens ring suggest that the camera accepts a lens converter, but neither the manual nor the Olympus Web site offer any information on conversion lenses for the C-3030. A $500 external flash is available (requiring a special grip and cable, as well), but the C-3030 does not have a built-in hot-shoe as does the Epson PhotoPC 3000Z.

One unique feature of the C-3030 is the included remote control, which lets you get in the picture (with the self-timer function) or give a slideshow when the camera is attached (via the included video cable) to a TV monitor. Cute, maybe, but for my money any number of other items — an AC adapter, a case, a rechargeable battery pack — would have been a better value.

Down time
When it came to downloading, I found tethering my Olympus C-3030 and crawling behind the PC to plug in the USB cable, removing the lens cap, turning the camera on, and remembering to turn it off, to be very tedious. With CompactFlash (CF) media (used by the Epson and Nikon cameras), by contrast, getting pictures into my PC involves simply popping the CF cards into my Lexar USB JumpShot reader. While there are similar options for SmartMedia (a $100 SmartMedia reader, a $150 FlashPath floppy disk adapter, and a $150 PC Card adapter), the slower SmartMedia cards’ flimsier construction and exposed contacts make them less suitable for throwing in a pocket and frequently swapping out. And SmartMedia tops out at a capacity of 64 MB, while CF cards run as high as 160 MB.

I also found the C-3030’s bundled software (Olympus Camedia Master 2.0) to be more wearisome to use than the Sierra Image Expert that comes with the Epson cameras. The latter’s Camio Viewer plug-in pops up automatically when it detects a CF card or camera connection and allows simultaneous copying and erasing of images on the card. The Olympus software requires each of those steps to be performed manually. It does provide a respectable set of quick image-retouching tools, however. Adobe Photoshop 5 LE is also included with the camera.

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