My First Digital Camera, The 4.0 megapixel Olympus C-765 Ultra Zoom

I have wanted a digital camera for a while, but have been hesitant to switch from 35mm film camera (my Olympus Super Zoom 170)to a fully digital camera. I like to take photos of everything and anything related to travel, sports, my family, friends, etc. This is my 4th Olympus camera overall. This camera was a long promised gift from my husband that I got for my last anniversary. So far I have had the opportunity to use this camera for portraits, action photos (college basketball game)and general subjects (i.e. my cats, my garden, trees my kids).

In the box:

C-765 Ultra Zoom Camera
Strap
Lithium ion battery (LI-10b)
Lithium ion battery charger (LI-10c)
USB cable
AV cable
Basic manual
CD-Rom installation guide
xD picture card/card manual
lens cap and string
warranty card
registration card
safety precautions booklet

Since I hate to read the full manual at first, I initially used the QuickStart Guide. The QuickStart Guide covers the basic setup and as follows:

1. Unpacking the box contents
2. Preparing the camera for use:
a. charging the battery
b. inserting the battery and xD card
c. attaching the lens cap and strap
3. a. Turning on the camera
b. Setting the date and time
c. camera diagram and controls
(for familiarization with key controls)
4. Taking a picture
a. auto mode
b. zooming
c. flash modes
d. number of storable pictures
(depending on 16mb to 512mb card being used)
5. Viewing and erasing pictures
a. viewing pictures
b. erasing pictures
i.e. single-frame erase, all-frame erase
6. Connecting the camera to a computer
7. Installing the camera software

The Camera:
The Olympus C-765 Ultra Zoom is a 4.0-Megapixel Digital Camera that features advanced optics and controls.

Key Features:
The camera has a 10x Ultra Zoom lens, which is 38mm-380mm
(35mm equivalent).
40x total seamless zoom
(10X optical x 4x digital)
TruePix TURBO image processor
QuickTime movie mode with audio
Electronic viewfinder and 1.8" color LCD display
Auto-connect USB
PictBridge enabled
11 shooting modes
EXIF 2.2 compatible TIFF and JPEG

The lens:
The lens aperture range offered is f/2.8 to f/8. The shutter speed offered is 15 to 1/1000 second. When utilizing the zoom function the zoom operates very smoothly and quietly. I hardly hear any noise when zooming in. I plan to utilize the zoom feature more in the near future (at marching band competitions and football).

The camera controls:
The controls are on the rear panel of the camera. On the left of the 1.8” LCD screen, there are menu control buttons with “OK” button in the middle. Above the LCD panel is the red power button. Above the power button are the flash button, the self timer button, and the AEL button.

The camera uses a mode dial, on the top right below the shutter and telephoto/wide angle button. The mode dial is easy to use. It is on the right side of the camera below the shutter button. Listed out on the dial are the positions for the Portrait mode, Landscape, Sports, Night Scene, Movie, My mode, Program shooting and the A/S/M.

The ASM stands for Aperture priority, Shutter priority and Manual priority.

A Aperture priority shooting allows you to set the aperture manually. The camera sets the shutter speed automatically.
S Shutter priority shooting allows you to set the shutter manually.
M Manual priority allows you to set the aperture and shutter manually.

My mode allows you to save your own favorite settings as your personal shooting mode and use them as your personal customized settings when taking your photos.

Movie Mode allows you to record movies, with the aperture and shutter settings set automatically. These settings are maintained even when your movie subject moves.

Portrait mode allows you to take a portrait quality photo of a single person. I used it to take a photo of my two youngest daughters at the airport when sending the middle on back to college. The multiple shots I took were great even in the lighting used at the airport. I made no other adjustments.

Landscape mode allows you to take clear photos of outdoor scenes. The background and foregrounds both stay focused. My 16 year old borrowed it to take a photo of our mandarin orange tree in the front yard. She took 3 photos from different angles and they were clear and sharp. I plugged in the USB cable, copied them into an email and off they went to a family member.

Night mode allows you to shoot pictures at night. The shutter speed is set slower to accomodate night shooting.

Electronic Viewfinder (with dioptemer adjustment)
If you wear eyeglasses like me (nearsighted) you can use the button on the electronic viewfinder to adjust focus accordingly. That way you can still wear your eyeglasses and adjust the focus. I hate to take off my glasses to focus then put them back on to see after taking a photo. This eliminates the need to do that.

Camera Body:
According to the manual, the camera itself weighs 0.62 lbs. Like most Olympus 35mm cameras I have previously owned the camera body is compact and easy to hold. It feels like it is made of durable metal. I cannot find where it says the composition.

Flash:
The C-765 comes with a pop-up flash. The red-eye feature is also present. The flash range for wide angle use is: 1.0 ft to 14.8 ft. The flash range for telephoto use is: 3.9 ft to 11.5 ft. At the UCLA basketball game I used the camera from my seat. I know I was further away than 14 ft, yet most of the photos I took came out clear, none were overexposed. A couple however were a tad bit blurry. I probably forgot to use the sports setting.

Noise Reduction:
Included in the camera is the noise reduction feature. I have not experimented with changing the ISO speeds so I am not really familiar with this feature yet.

USB:
The provided USB 1.1 cable allows you to attach the camera to your PC. I have used it with my Dell Dimension OC. I attached the cable, turned on the camera with the power button. The lcd screen shows the menu, where you select p/c.
I used the PC software I already have to open the files copy to my pictures folder. I even copied my images to CD rom. If your printer is PicBridge compatible you can attach the USB cable directly to the printer. You can then print without powering up your PC. I am not sure if my Dell printer is picbridge compatible. I will have to check it out and try it.

Battery:
The C-765 uses the Olympus Li-10b lithium ion battery. I have two batteries. I keep one in the camera and the other fully charged in the camera case. I have not yet needed to use both batteries at one time.

Storage Media:
The camera came with its own 16mb xD card. I have another 256mb xD card that I bought. When I recently used the camera at the UCLA vs WVU basketball game in Los Angeles I forgot that I had not changed to the larger 256mb card. I was still able to capture 18 action photos at the game onto the 16mb card.

Picture Formats:
The camera supports two picture formats, TIFF and JPEG. It also shoots video. When using a 16mb card without sound:
1 frame TIFF: 2288x1712 5 frames SHQ: 2288x1712 16 frames HQ 2288x1712 approx 49 frames SQ1: 1280x960 normal and approx 165 frames SQ2: 640x480 normal

Picture Quality:
I primarily use the auto setting. I simply like to take photos as a hobby. Since I started using the C-765 I have found the pictures to be clear, with great color and contrast. I had a couple of "oops" photos that came out dark and I erased them.

Conclusion:
I am definitely a digital camera rookie. I love the fact that you can basically point and shoot on the "auto" setting and get great quality photos in an instant. I am extremely happy with this camera. I love the fact that I can take photos, hook up the USB cable, download the photos onto my PC, and email them to friends and family immediately. I do not have to wait for film developing any more.