Olympus Camedia C-730 Ultra Zoom

The lens AF system is pretty standard, but manages to take most things in its stride. However, we did notice it needs a second to settle on the intended position. This, combined with a shutter time lag, takes some getting used to and you may find it difficult to use the C-730 for capturing action.

In terms of image quality, our test exposures were good with slightly saturated colours, which add a punch that many will enjoy. You can also adjust image quality settings - such as saturation and sharpness - in-camera for extra control. The maximum interpolated image size of 3,200 x 2,400 pixels is ideal for fairly large prints and there are options down to 640 x 480 pixels for quick snaps. We obtained some good A4 prints from our photo inkjet printer at its default settings, and by experimenting with the exposure, sharpness and other settings we could even get some reasonable prints up to A3.

The C-730 isn't suited to those looking to capture fast action, although the massive 10x optical zoom is a superb feature on a camera in this class. Image quality is also good and support for the xD-Picture Card is a forward-looking feature, although it does nothing, currently, to reduce the physical size of the camera.

Author: John Clements