Introduction
Normally we don’t review cameras at OcPrices, but I just bought myself a shiny new digital cam for review shots, and I thought I might help some of you out there who may be aspiring to become web reviewers, (and what a grand job that is) or just looking to buy a digital camera. The camera in question is Olympus’ 4.1 megapixel Camedia C-4040.
I looked at quite a few different models when camera shopping, and I immediately liked the Olympus’ design. Its body is a combination of plastic and metal, and has the same “mini-SLR” look as the previous 3 megapixel C-3040 model. As you can probably tell this camera isn’t modeled to be easily thrown in a pocket and taken on vacation, it is more geared to the semi-professional crowd. It is still a very easy and comfortable camera to shoot with, however. The grip on the right side of the body is large to accommodate the batteries (AAs or the included long-lasting nonrechargeable CR-V3 lithium-ion cells), and it helps greatly with one handed shooting. You’ll notice that the lens barrel is very close to the edge of the body. You hold the barrel with your left hand when using both hands on the camera. This was a bit awkward for me at first, but I got used to it pretty quickly.
The camera comes with a fast, or what Olympus calls “Super Bright”, f-1.8 3X auto-focus zoom lens that is currently the widest-aperture lens available on a consumer digital camera. What this means is that the camera can handle a wide variety of lighting conditions in stride. This is a great feature for taking hardware pictures, most of which need to be taken as extreme close-ups. At this range the flash is pretty much useless, as it will vastly over-expose the image and produce hotspots and harsh light. With the flash off, the camera has no trouble with what would normally be not enough light to properly expose the image. In addition to the lens, the front of the camera also houses the built-in flash, optical view finder, microphone, and remote control IR sensor.
