Olympus C-1400L

Olympus has decided to be the first to break out of the stan-dard, compact, pocket-sized box format and produce a single-lens reflex, TTL (through the lens) consumer digital camera. The disadvantage is that more complex optics make the C-1400L noticeably bulkier than the competition. But the advantage is that the image you see is exactly what the CCD (charged-coupled device — the image sensor) captures, without tricky viewfinder frames and distance zones, or a battery-sapping LCD. Olympus has also thrown in an f:2.8, 36 to 100mm zoom and a 1.4 million pixel CCD to give an impressive top resolution of 1,280 by 1,024.
Although it looks a bit gawky at first, the layout and controls of the C-1400L are well thought out. Snapshot shooters can simply switch between play or record, adjust the zoom lever and shoot. The autofocus, auto-exposure system is based on Olympus’ traditional SLR cameras and works fast and accurately even in low light. A pop-up programmable flash is provided for night-time or fill use. For more adventurous types, a broad range of exposure and focus options are available,
as is the selection of image quality.
The camera memory is one of the new Toshiba SSFDC (solid state floppy disk card)
units, which is around 1mm thick or half the size of a credit card, and yet stores 4M of data. Olympus hopes to have 8M versions on sale within the next month or so, at around half the price of competing CompactFlash format cards. The SSFDC
slots into the side of the body and swallows up to 50 standard-quality (640 by 512) images, but a meagre four images at the top resolution (1,284 by 1,024). The SSFDC can be slotted into a PC Card holder for use in any Type II slot, but this is not supplied with the camera.
The built-in LCD offers good image playback if required, with the usual range of multiplay or display options, but no direct TV connection. Instead you can opt to print directly to a dedicated Olympus dye-sublimation printer, or download images to the host PC using the supplied software. Downloading top-resolution images does take a few minutes, and saps battery life fast. It would be well worth buying the external power supply that plugs into the camera. That small gripe aside, the results are superb, with excellent tonal quality and definition; the lens quality takes sharpness right to the edge. At the moment, this is definitely state of the art in consumer digital cameras. It’s pricey, but well worth it.