Reviews for Olympus Camedia C-770 4 Megapixel Bridge Camera

Olympus Camedia C-770 4 Megapixel Bridge Camera

Strengths: Very strong zoom (10X Optical). Many picture modes. Great video mode, recording with sound.

Weakness: Pictures could be sharper. Battery life is too short. No case. 1 second delay in picture from when you press button.

I like this camera a lot. It has a ton of features that would take a newbie a long time to utilize. The price now under $400 is pretty good for what you are getting. Does not come with case, and very hard to find one that will fit. Comes with abbreviated manual. To get the full manual (200 pages), you need to print the PDF. The battery life is pretty short. Make sure that if you buy replacement batteries you buy the ones made by Olympus. You can also get generic brand replacement batteries for about $5 on E-bay, but they only last 1/3 as long.
In many of my pictures, especially low light, the picture looks grainy. This may be because of the auto-sharpening set on the camera. To eliminate this, decrease auto sharpness. In certain camera modes (ie landscape), there will be more sharpening than others (ie portrait).
The video mode is pretty good with sound. Quicktime (640x480) is the highest quality mode, but takes up so much space as it is not compressed. MPEG4 (640x480)has lower quality, but takes up a lot less space. Note you must download an audio codec that is not included on the CDrom to get the video and sound working with Windows Media Player. Go to www.3ivx.com to get their MPEG4 toolkit. Alternatively you can play the videos with Quicktime, but they will not be as smooth (depending on your system) and you will get some skipping. Do not get this camera if you do a lot of quick shooting as there is a 1-2 second delay from the time you press the button to the time it takes the picture. You can eliminate this to about half a second if you press the shoot button halfway to focus. Overall all the flaws in this camera are minor and it is the best high zoom camera for the amateur you can get.

100% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Olympus Camedia C-770 4 Megapixel Bridge Camera

Strengths: Has a great 10x zoom, takes nice outside pictures

Weakness: Very short battery life, Flash is terrible for indoor pictures, Pictures could be sharper, Have to download manual, No case.

I like the fact that it has such a great zoom. It takes nice pictures outside on sunny days, but indoor pictures are not up to par. I even used SHQ to help, but it did not make much of a difference. The flash is very weak for taking inside pictures, plus the pictures are not very sharp at all when it comes to indoor pictures. I am planning on buying an extra flash, hoping that it will help with indoor pictures? The battery life is pathetic. I have to carry numerous spares if I want to be sure I have power. It is also difficult to get the battery out, which is bad if there are some pictures you want to take right away. I missed numerous shots because of this. The adjustment time and delay time is terrible. Again miss a lot of shots because of that, especially if someone is moving. The fact that you have to download and print the full manual stinks, especially since it is over 200 pages!!! It would have also been nice if for that price they would have included a carrying case. I have owned numerous Olympus 35mm cameras and have always been happy with them, but I am not happy at all with this digital. I would definitely try a different brand next time. Plus when I have contacted the web site about different questions I have not been happy with their responses. It seems the people do not know what they are talking about. they either do not answer the question that I am asking directly or are so vague you don't know what they mean because they truly don't answer. So you basically just have to guess and keep trying on your own and that does not always work.

100% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Olympus Camedia C-770 4 Megapixel Bridge Camera

Strengths: Excellent. Two thumbs up. My dream camera.

Weakness: Battery discharges quickly. More pixels could be there.

I am a serious photographer. And after owning this camera after a series of Canons and Ricohs and Kodaks, I can finally say: I hit on my dream cam. It is simply wonderful -- awesome. It's AF lock is wonderful, it could have more pixels but still the picture quality is very fine.

100% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Olympus Camedia C-770 4 Megapixel Bridge Camera

Strengths: Fast, smooth, quiet. Really well built

Weakness: My wife likes it to much

This is my second Ultra Zoom. Man, they have really come a long way. I really like the burst mode. The Zoom is smooth and fast, the scene modes work well. I am really happy!!! Great color.

100% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Olympus C 770 Ultra Zoom

Strengths: Solid feel and handling,good photos, excellent zoom. Mpeg4 movie mode is also excellent, just make sure to enable sound before recording.

Weakness: Sound recording should be automatic on movie mode. Flash unit could be better at max. distance.

Great photos, Very good ease of menus, excellent zoom.Excellent Mpeg4 movie mode.The LCD display is good, but I prefer using the viewfinder in most instances.Do get a bigger memory card if you use the movie mode.
Excellent software with camera as the printouts were pretty good and also the panoramic shots.

100% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Olympus Camedia C-770 4 Megapixel Bridge Camera

Strengths: Smallest large zoom camera available. Lithium Ion batteries have a long shelf life. Great optics, minimal distortion and chromatic aberration.

Weakness: No IR focus assist to help with low-light. First camera had a smudge on the CCD --> this was found by taking a picture of a blue sky with the aperture wide open.

Overall, an excellent camera. The MPEG movie mode is a nice feature. It does require a fast computer (e.g. Intel P4) to play back the videos smoothly. Also records sound in high-quality stereo, unlike other cameras. Sharp, bright LCD display. Viewfinder also displays a nice image. Accessories such as 1.7x Teleconverter and lens barrel (for filters) are great to use. No complaint about included 16 MB memory card. I would rather not pay for Olympus to include a higher capacity card. Faster processor helps improve speed.

97% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Olympus Camedia C-770 4 Megapixel Bridge Camera

Strengths: Ease of Use, MPEG movie, easy to upload to PC, accompanying software good

Weakness: Battery Life 2 hours Max, small xD card, difficult to focus in low lighting.

This is a good camera with stunningly colorful photos and a good EVD. I am an Olympus SLR camera owner for 30 years and bought this camera as my first digital camera for the reputation of the name of the company. Many good technical features I've only started to review and use. Manual is on the CD which is a bummer, as is the battery life and small storage capacity (16MB). I bought 2 extra batteries and the 512MB xD Card. I also purchased the wide angle and telephoto lens with adapter ring. The only drawback of using the larger lens housing is the flash lighting doesn't clear the lens housing resulting in dark half moon at the bottom center of the photo frame.

I would buy another Olympus Digital Camera.

96% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Olympus Camedia C-770 4 Megapixel Bridge Camera

Strengths: 10x optical zoom, MPEG4 video, small size in relation to great number of features. Great pictures!

Weakness: Auto white balance can be fooled, printed manual good, but not complete. (CD Rom manual is very good.)

This is a fantastic camera! It takes great pictures and the 10X optical range is just outstanding. (Disregard any remarks of any camera about digital zoom. That feature is a sham!) I love the compact size. This camera replaces my Pentax full SLR camera---so I no longer have to frantically switch lenses to catch the action---just move the zoom lever! The 30 frames per second video is a great bonus feature. (A limitation: You can't zoom if you are using the built-in microphone. {If you really want to shoot video--buy a video camera!}) There are plenty of manual settings to satisfy the avid photographer like me. Or just use it as a point-n-shoot. The panorama feature is fun, too!

The "settings" menu can take some time to learn, but is worth it. Especially to correct for automatic functions that can be not exactly what you really want. I found that it is sometimes better to set the white balance to a preset like sunny, cloudy, Incandescent, etc. instead of auto. i.e. a close-up of the Statue of Liberty (green) against a blue sky came out with the sky appearing purple. Setting the preset to sunny fixed it. Note that to get to manual focus, just press the center (OK) button for> 2 seconds. This tip is not in the printed manual--only on the CD ROM.

If you want more range, like an even wider angle or longer telephoto, you can buy an adapter to file .5X and 2X lenses (and other choices, too). I did that but didn't buy good enough quality 2X, so I returned it. The .5X helps a lot because the camera at widest angle is only about 38mm. That is not always wide enough.

I highly recommend this camera!

96% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Olympus Camedia C-770 4 Megapixel Bridge Camera

Strengths: The 10x Optical zoom, easy to use manual settings, tons of options to play with, beautiful pictures, mpg4 video is great.

Weakness: None really, only it can't fit in your pocket...

The C770 is my first digital camera after using automatic and manual film cameras for years. I researched for weeks, and finally decided on this model for many reasons, especially the super zoom and mpg4 compressed video feature.

I took the camera on vaction with me all summer, and I have absolutely loved it. There are plenty to manual functions to work with (for taking pictures of fireworks for example) and it is easy to snap a quick picture that turns out just as well. I took over a thousand pictures in the past three months and have had no problem at all with the camera. I have printed over a hundred pictures and they have turned out beautifully.

It was one of the best investments that I have made, highly reccomended!!

96% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Olympus Camedia C-770 4 Megapixel Bridge Camera

Strengths: Outstanding clarity and good color. Excellent Macro Capability. 10X digital Zoom. Very light weight and compact. Appears to be Durable. Easy to operate once you learn some basics.

Weakness: Expensive battery. Hot shoe cover falls off. A bit difficult to judge exposure in some lighting conditions. Limited battery life before recharge is necessary.

I am a semi-serious amateur photographer. I purchased this camera (my first digital) for a trip to Yellowstone. I used it under a variety of lighting conditions & zoom settings. One caveat here is that I have yet to print any images.

Overall the results are very good to outstanding, perhaps less so under low light situations. Nonetheless, the camera yielded some incredible high contrast sunsets, which I would have had difficulty shooting with my SLR. After a few hours of reading the manual and shooting, I was able to navigate all the buttons and menus needed. I shot one 10X photo of some Trumpeter swans, bracing my arms on a rock ledge. The resulting image was sharp as a tack.

For an unintentional durability test, I dropped the camera from a height of two feet. The camera showed no ill effects.

The Olympus 770 warms up & is ready to shoot within a few seconds. I found that after a day of shooting 20-30 pictures (typically turning the camera off between exposures), the battery warning light came on. Fortunately, I have a 110V outlet in my car, so I could recharge while driving.

In sum, I am very pleased with this camera and would recommend it to my friends.

95% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Olympus Camedia C-770 4 Megapixel Bridge Camera

Strengths: Macro mode is fantastic, zoom is great, panoramic function is a blast to play with, movie mode makes clear videos, with sound.

Weakness: It's a crowd pleaser, my friends, family, and company get to play with it more than I do.

I've only owned the camera for about 2 weeks, yet I haven't been able to put it down since. The shots are great, the available functions are ones that the average person can, and will, actually use. I've taken macro shots, full 10x optical zoom shots (I don't participate in that digital zoom jazz), low light shots, portraits, panoramic shots, etc.. All turned out great.. I would highly recommend this camera. If I'm able to, I'll post a great macro mode shot.

94% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Olympus Camedia C-770 4 Megapixel Bridge Camera

Strengths: MPEG4 video with audio is a great function. also like its 10x optical zoom.

Weakness: Not yet found. Maybe the price!!(Lower is better)

C-770UZ is my 2nd DSC. Because the MPEG4 function and 10X optical Zoom, I bought it. And it meets my desire. I highly recommend this C-770UZ DSC for who are looking for a new DSC. It really worth to buy one if you are looking for a DSC. I really like this C-770UZ and enjoy its performance and functions.

92% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Olympus Camedia C-770 4 Megapixel Bridge Camera

Strengths: Excellent, clear shots, great zoom!

Weakness: A bit heavy and awkward (front of camera is "top heavy").

This is an excellent camera, takes great photos. I've taken it to Ireland, Disneyland, the beach, everywhere...great photos! The zoom works flawlessly and gets you close enough to get those candid shots! I Love this camera!!!!

92% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Olympus Camedia C-770 4 Megapixel Bridge Camera

Strengths: The point and shoot qualities on this camera are great and perfect for me. A big priority of mine was that it had good clarity, a great zoom and was still compact and very light. 'Nuf said.

Weakness: I would have liked a more thorough step by step manual explaining what all those great features are and why you would want to use them.

The memory card shouldn't be listed as a "feature" as it's only 16mb. Too bad it didn't come with a case. The remote looks cool, but I don't see myself using it a lot. The movies are great to make and watch, though it would be cooler if it had a speaker so I could hear what is happening as well. (There may be, but I haven't figured it out.)

91% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Olympus Camedia C-770 4 Megapixel Bridge Camera

Strengths: 10x opictal zoom, 4 mega pixels, panorama, macro zoom, solid construction, 640x480 videos with sound encoded in MPEG4 which saves a ton of space, optional underwater camera housing

Weakness: NONE!!!

This camera is incredible. It has an outstanding 10x optical zoom to take pictures of wildlife or objects in the distance. The picture quality is incredible. With 4 mega pixels and the 10x optical zoom, you can take some great pictures.
This camera also takes videos at 640x480 resolution. The videos are extremely high quality considering that this is a camera. This feature is excellent for taking movie clips when you're on a trip. With the MPEG4 encoding, you get about 50 mins of video on a 512MB memory card. With the optional underwater camera housing, you can take high quality pictures and videos underwater. This would be great for a trip to the keys. The large LCD screen makes reviewing pictures quick and easy. This camera has tons of different shooting modes including Panorama and Macro zoom.
This camera uses the XD picture cards which are among the fastest. Having a fast media type helps cut out the lag time between taking pictures that most digital cameras have. In addition, the C770 has different drive settings that allow you to set up the camera so that it automatically takes multiple pictures in a row. This feature allows you to get the perfect picture and not worry about getting the timing right. This camera is definitely worth the price. Especially if you get it for around $450 like I did at 6ave.com. If you search around enough, you can get your camera for a pretty good price.
If you don't know what you're doing, then it'll take you a little while to learn about all of the different settings. But you can always just take pictures in the "auto" mode which does everything for you. There needs to be more reviews of this camera so that people don't have to search all over the internet to find out how incredible this camera is!
For the people that complain about not being able to zoom once you start to take video with sound, there's a way around that. If you hook up an external mic, then you can zoom while recording video with sound. I think Olympus set up the camera to lock the zoom so that the audio isn't messed up because of the sound of the lens moving like other cameras.

90% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Olympus Camedia C-770 4 Megapixel Bridge Camera

Strengths: Compact, Excellent Zoom, Great MPEG4 video picture

Weakness: Cannot put in your pocket, XD card are bit expensive, hard to navigate picture/video after you view a video

I should say that I am very impressed with 770. I had purchased a 750 from CompUSa and I returned it back as I was displeased with its shutter lag. I have a toddler and it was very important for me take her pictures and the shutter lag was very annoying since many of her pictures would be fuzzy as she would move. Olympus has fixed this problem in 770 with its turbo processor. I am glad I returned my 750(bought for $449) and bought the 770 ($479).

The pictures look great and I can also take good quality video (MPEG4). The cons are that the XD card is not cheap as compared to a compact flash card. The retail price of $599 is too pricey and I just bought it when I saw it on sale at MicroCenter for $479 (they had 20% on all digital cameras).

87% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Olympus Camedia C-770 4 Megapixel Bridge Camera

Strengths: Multi programs for shooting coupled with powerful zoom lens makes for one very neat package. small size makes for discrete shooting.

Weakness: Zoom unavailable when shooting video unless external mic attached. Flare like image on right part of screen when shutter is depressed midway, can be very disconcerting.

Had previously owned the C750 and c150, my experience with the olympus brand so far had been very good. Pictures come out crisp and clear while their cameras has proven to be very reliable.

if there is anything to gripe it would be that the proprietory battery cost a bomb and you need buy an extra battery to avoid running out of juice. guess we can't have the compact size (compared to the C750) running on AA batteries.

will recommend it to any one, don't just take my words, take a look at one.

79% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Olympus Camedia C-770 4 Megapixel Bridge Camera

Strengths: The 10X optical zoom and ease of operation. I like the remote control option.

Weakness: The 16MB xD-Picture Card shipped with the camera should at least be a 64MB. It would be great if the battery lasts longer.

The Olympus C770 camera is my first digital camera. The quality of the pictures is awesome. I was really impressed. I enjoy the 10X optical zoom enhanced by 4X digital. The movie mode is fine enough to replace a digital camcorder for short movies w/audio. Camera is easy to learn and fun to operate, even for a novice. Highly Recommend, I am recommending to my family as well.

79% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Olympus Camedia C-770 4 Megapixel Bridge Camera

Strengths: Zoom capability, remote, 4MP, MPEG movie mode

Weakness: None that I have found, so far.

This is a great camera with awesome zoom capability. I have newborn twins and I wanted a digital camera that could take very tight, close-up shots. This one does it with ease!!! My pictures are crisp and clear. I am very happy with the camera and its ease of use.

78% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Olympus Camedia C-770 4 Megapixel Bridge Camera

Strengths: Zoom

Weakness: none is apparent yet

The Olympus C-770 is my first "ALL FEATURED" digital camera. The few pictures that I have taken turn out great. The 10x zoom will truly be worth the extra cost. Also I have taken several pictures with the remote control with camera mounted on my tripod.

77% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Olympus Camedia C-770 4 Megapixel Bridge Camera

Strengths: Medium size camera 10x optical zoom. Lots of features, great picture quality, Fairly simple to use.

Weakness: Small 16 meg xD memory card included and proprietary battey. Software included could be better. No image stablization, and no auto focus assit lamp for low light situations.

I have only had my Olympus C-770 for 15 day, but I have been very impressed so far. I like the 10 x optical zoom for taking pictures of my son playing baseball. I found the basic controls easy to figure out. I didn't even have to read the instructions to take and view my first pictures. The camera has enough features and modes that I feel I will not out grow it anytime soon. I have no buyers remorse, and would definetly buy this same camera again.

76% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Olympus Camedia C-770 4 Megapixel Bridge Camera

Strengths: Enjoy the 10X optical zoom and ease of operation

Weakness: The shipped 16MB xD-Picture Card should be at least at 64MB.

The C770 camera is my first digital camera. I enjoy the 10X optical zoom enhanced by 4X digital. The movie mode is fine enough to replace a digital camcorder for short movies w/audio. Camera is easy to learn and fun to operate, even for a novice. Recommend strongly.

71% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Olympus Camedia C-770 4 Megapixel Bridge Camera

Strengths: Long zoom range, great amount of manual control, great pictures, ability to use for underwater photography (w/ accessory)

Weakness: Sometimes focusing or zooming takes a little while, 16mb XD card that comes with the camera is nice for demo purposes, but that's it

Overall I'm very happy with this camera. I had another Olympus before, and it treated me well too, so I knew this would be a great camera. The manual control is great too and is comparable to even the higher end digital cameras. When I go to Hawaii and camping in the Sierra Nevada I'm sure I'll have some beautiful shots with this camera to take home with me.

68% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Olympus Camedia C-770 4 Megapixel Bridge Camera

Strengths: TV quality Video 640x480 30fps, compact, 10x zoom

Weakness: Can't zoom when taking video WITH AUDIO, no video stabilizer, not so good in dim lighting.

Overall I like this camera, the menu's are not as intuitive as the sony's, but you can customize them which is nice. When you press the shutter half way down, the LCD screen always seems to flash funny colors before it sets up the shot. Stabilization for video would have been a plus. I have no regrets and highly recommend this camera.

62% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Olympus Camedia C-770 4 Megapixel Bridge Camera

The camera has a problem with the LCD when using it in the bright sunlight. There is a pinkish shadow appears on the right handside of the TFT LCD when you halfway press the shutter. Please, let me know if you have the same problem. Many thanks in advance
Lpha

57% of readers found this review helpful. Did you find it helpful or unhelpful?

Olympus Camedia C-770

Olympus Camedia C-770 receives an overall TopTenREVIEWS score of 2.49 out of 4.00. It is ranked the #184 standard digital camera of all time. The overall rating represents an intelligent balance of features, value as a function of price to features, and a summary of reviews from a variety of sources. The TopTen REVIEWS' formula gives a picture of important consumer features, market value, and a...

Read Full Review

Olympus Camedia C-770 UltraZoom

The Olympus C-770 Ultra Zoom is a 4-megapixel, 10x zoom camera that's the "big brother" to the C-765 model I reviewed just a short while ago. This higher-end model adds a unique dual-range flash head, external flash capability, faster processing for improved cycle times, and expanded movie capability, including 640x480 MPEG4 recording. Overall, a strong candidate in the long-zoom race, continuing...

Read Full Review

Olympus C-770 Ultra Zoom

A good all rounder for the snapper who doesn't want to lug around a camcorder too

Read Full Review