Olympus C-740

Quite a value! I bought one of the first generation of Olympus digital cameras when they first came out years ago (i.e, a D500L) and it would take great pictures but it was bulky, only 3X zoom and took forever to focus and take a picture. Great for still life but useless for action shots. This camera has a multitude of shooting modes and takes pictures quickly and sequentially. The 10X zoom is excellent although you should use a tripod to steady the camera.

Totally agree with Geoff in previous review regarding the technicalities. I bought my Olympus C-740UZ digital camera after painstaking research and have not been disappointed with the results.

This is my second Olympus, having upgraded from my old faithful 100 series, and this is light years ahead in functionality, but so simple to use. I bought it originally to take pictures at my daughters wedding. My only disappointment was that I paid several times as much to have a professional photographer to do the official photos - the quality of my prints on A4 glossy using an Epson inkjet was superior to the photographers !

Took 300 indoor photos in one day - only changed the batteries and downloaded the memory once.

The Olympus C-740 is basically a stripped down C-750. But this is a gem of a Digital Camera. After extensive research, reviewing, downloading and comparing photos - I would say this is an excellent choice unless you need movie sound or an additional flash. The lens is very sharp and crisp and in super macro it will focus down to around 2cm. I looked at just about everything up to 5 mega pixels and OK, at 5 mp some cameras were slightly better detailed under extreem magnification and in the centre of the picture. But this lens stays sharp right out to the edge where it beat most 5 MP cameras! It even compares well with the C-750. I chose this one over the C-750 as, for reasons unkown, it seems to have a consistantly crisper and cleaner reproduction and the extra 0.8 MP doesn't seem to make that much of a difference. I also closely compared it with the excellent C-4000 which has a 3x zoom (only) and goes a bit wider. I have been very impressed with the results on the C-740 and would recomend it thoroghly. One tip for the less experienced (an old formula) to avoid camera shake, especially with the more zoomed in pictures, use the formula of focul length (eg 200m in 35m equiv.) equal to shutter speed (- 1/200th) I have taken pictures at full zoom (380) using a faster shutter speed (400 - nearest equiv.) without any blurring or shake using this simple formula.

Oh, lastly, the veiwfinder - is electronic. I have decided I really like it as it's the next best thing to full SLR - you see through the lens even though it is another screen. It's often easier to see the menus through there as well. Highly recomended.