Olympus C-740 Ultra Zoom

Features:

Lens: 10x optical zoom (equivalent to 38mm to 380mm), f2.8 to f8.0.
Resolution: six choices, from 640 x 480 to 2048 x 1536 (3.2 megapixels).
Image storage format: JPEG (choice of two compression levels) or TIFF (no compression).
Memory: xD flash memory (16 MB supplied).
Viewfinder: 0.44" TFT (.18 megapixels).
Monitor: 1.5" TFT (.114 megapixels).
Price: I bought mine in 8/03 for $430, plus $70 for 128MB xD flash memory; by 4/05 the price had dropped to $200 (after rebate), plus $70 for 512MB xD flash.

10x optical zoom. Very addictive indeed!
Extremely flexible. Complete manual control if desired, automatic modes available.
Images stored on flash filesystem; connect camera to computer via USB and download from flash directly.
Panorama mode: fixes aperture/speed/focus so that adjacent photos mesh.

Digital viewfinder. What you see is what you get, but there can be a considerable time lag before the image comes into focus.
Single shot and quick multiple exposure options, but there is a considerable time lag before the viewfinder screen becomes available in single shot mode.

Zoom range has its price: the camera is quite bulky, though it does fit the hand nicely.
No hard copy reference manual provided, need to print hard copy from CD-ROM PDF file.
Reference manual is terrible.
Camedia software is terrible (though it does stitch panoramic pictures together well).
When using red-eye reduction flash, the viewfinder/monitor blacks out when the preflashes begin, leaving the user shooting blind.
Camera menu structure is confusing and not user-friendly.
Camera buttons are semantically overloaded, making it awkward to access some features.

Olympus says panorama mode works only with Olympus-brand xD flash (but this is not true!).

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