Olympus Camedia C-J20: Capable digicam for novices

By Heinz Bulos

esigned primarily or beginners,
the Olympus Camedia C-120
does not disappoint. 1hat is, as
long as you`re the point-and-shoot type.
1his 2.0-megapixel CCD is easy to use,
ast on the draw, and produces decent
photos.

1he C-120 takes ater the amiliar body o
entry-leel Olympus digital cameras:
rectangular, compact, plastic, and with a
sliding lens coer ,that turns the camera
on and o,. It`s not exactly pocket size,
gien its 4.8 inches by 2.6 inches by 1.8
inches ital stats, but its light enough at
around 6. ounces without batteries. It`s
comortable enough to handle and the
size does add some stability.

It`s certainly easy to igure out. 1he
buttons are at minimum and clearly
labeled. 1he naigation menu is a breeze
to use and sel-explanatory. 1here are,
howeer, non-typical eatures such as
Dual Subject Portrait mode and Panorama
mode that still make the straightorward
manual necessary.

At 2.0 megapixels, the C-120 produces
high-resolution images, with a maximum
resolution o 1600x1200. \e did not
deelop prints, but 2.0-megapixel cameras
are good enough or up to 8x10 inches.
1he photos we took look sharp on a
computer screen, particularly the outdoor
shots. 1he indoor photos with lash are
airly acceptable, though a bit sot.

Zooming in on subjects resulted in quite
blurred close-up shots. 1hat`s because it
uses a 2.5x digital zoom, not optical
zoom. So, the camera just enlarges the
center pixels o the camera`s CCD, in the
same way photo-editing sotware like
PhotoShop zooms in on an image. Don`t
expect also to get sharp images when
zooming in on a subject rom a ar
distance. But i you`re taking close-up
shots, ditch the zoom and switch on
macro mode, which changes the ocus or
subjects as close as 10 inches and thus
produces better quality.

1he ixed ocus lens has its limitations,
but on the other hand, it means you don`t
hae to wait or the lens to ocus like
adanced cameras, so the C-120`s shutter
button is a lot more sensitie and quicker
to respond when pressed. So, taking
photos in succession or capturing ast-
action shots is a snap.

As with other entry-leel digicams, the C-
120 is largely automatic, with little manual
controls, such as exposure compensation
and lash ,built-in, with the usual options,
plus slow sync,. 1here are Digital LSP and
Spot metering options, DPOl ,Digital
Print Order lormat, compatibility, and
USB AutoConnect. But you can`t set
aperture and shutter priority, and other
adanced unctions.

loweer, the C-120 does hae a surprises
up its sleee. It takes Quick1ime moies,
without sound. It has a sel-timer or
delayed shutter release. 1here`s a
Panorama mode or stitching together
multiple images, up to 10 consecutie
shots. 1here`s an unusual Dual-Subject
Portrait mode, which captures two ertical
hal-size portraits and saed side-by-side
as one photo. \ou can also use black-and-
white and sepia eects. 1he
CamediaMaster 4.0 sotware is also easy to
use. 1he USB connection lets you quickly
drag and drop images rom the camera to
olders on your hard disk.

D
1he camera is bundled with an 8MB
SmartMedia card, apart rom built-in 2MB
o RAM. Obiously, that`s still not
enough, and you really must buy at least a
128MB card i you don`t want to keep on
worrying about running out o space.

It also comes with a set o our single-use
AA alkaline batteries, but you can also use
two CR-V3 lithium-ion battery packs.

I you`re used to ilm-based instamatics
and want to switch to digital, the C-120 is
a good buy, especially i you`re not
particular with zoom and manual controls.
It`s ery easy and ast to use and takes
good photos, with some extras like ideo
and panorama mode thrown in or good
measure.

PROS: Decent image quality, ast shutter,
extra eatures like ideo and panorama
mode.
CONS: Digital zoom only, only 8MB
SmartMedia bundled.