In June 1999 I bought my first digital camera, a Sony Mavica FD73 (maximum resolution 640 x 480 pixels, 10x optical zoom, photos recorded on 3.5" diskette).  In three and a half years Amy & I have taken over 10,000 photos on that camera.  Most of the photos on the other pages of this web site were taken with the Sony.

In November 2002 we bought our second digital camera, an Olympus Camedia C-730 Ultra Zoom (3.2 megapixel, maximum resolution 2048 x 1536 pixels, 10x optical zoom, 3x digital zoom, photos recorded on SmartMedia or xD Picture Card).  In seven weeks we have taken 880 photos with this new camera!

A few weeks ago I was talking on the phone to my brother Varrin in California.  He said he was interested in getting a new digital camera and that the Olympus C-730 was one of the ones he was considering.  When I told him that I had recently bought that very model, he asked if I could send him some sample photos from the camera.  That inspired me to create this web page for those who might be interested in examining the image quality of the Olympus C-730 camera.

Three of the photos (Orion, the moon and the sun) were taken using a tripod and the remote control; one photo (city lights) was taken with the camera sitting on the ground; all of the other photos were taken holding the camera in my hands.

The table below is divided into four columns.

1. In the left column is displayed a 256 x 192 pixel ‘‘preview’’ image (one-eighth of the original photo size in linear dimensions, 1/64^th in surface area).
   
   
2. The second column shows a 256 x 192 pixel region cropped from the original image at full size.  (A slightly different crop size was used for the two photos of the moon and the sun.)  To produce these images, a ‘‘lossless’’ crop was done, aligned to the boundaries of the 16x8-pixel JPEG compression grid, using the JpegCrop Windows Application by Guido Vollbeding of the Independent JPEG Group.  Most photo editing programs decode the JPEG image, perform the crop on the decompressed bitmap, then re-compress the bitmap into a new JPEG image.  However, this re-compression of the picture generally results in a (slight) degradation of the image quality.  By contrast, a lossless crop is done using the compressed JPEG data, so that there is no re-compression and no image degradation.  The cropped frame is therefore identical to the corresponding area in the original image.
   
   
3. The third column contains a link to display or download a larger view of the same photo.  The images linked in this column range from 768 x 576 pixels (37.5% linear dimensions, 14.1% surface area) to 800 x 600 pixels (39.1% linear dimensions, 15.3% surface area) to 1024 x 768 pixels (50% linear dimensions, 25% surface area).  These sizes would be best for ‘‘full-screen’’ viewing -- although, of course, the pixel dimensions of your screen depend on your particular hardware and software configuration.
   
   
4. Finally, the right-hand column contains a link to view or download the same photo at its original resolution of 2048 x 1536 pixels (or other resolution as noted).  This size would be optimal for printing the photo (or for viewing fine details of part of the image on your monitor).  However, the entire photo is likely to be several times larger than your computer screen.  (Be careful if printing the sun or moon on an inkjet printer; you don’t want to use up all your black ink!  For those two photos you would probably get better results by saving and printing the cropped image.)

Each column also shows the pixel dimensions of the image, the file size, and the estimated download time over a 28.8 kbps modem.

The estimated download time for this HTML file (text only) is 13 seconds (0:13).  The estimated download time for the 29 preview photos shown on this web page is 2 minutes and 8 seconds (2:08).  The total estimated download time for the text and preview photos is 2 minutes and 21 seconds (2:21).  All estimates are for a 28.8 kbps modem.

When downloading pictures at the highest resolution, it is recommended to click on the link with your right mouse button and select ‘‘Save Link As...’’ or ‘‘Save Target As...’’ from the pop-up menu.  After the download is complete, you can use an image viewing program to display or print the photo.  Your image viewing program may not open the photo at full size.  Be sure to note any scaling factor that the program uses.

The image in the second column of the table below is NOT a ‘‘zoom’’ of the image in the first column.  It is a small section cropped from the same picture.  The reason it looks bigger is because the photo on the left has been greatly reduced in size.

If you want to see an example of the camera’s optical and digital zoom, scroll down to the photos of the flags on top of the Harbour Bridge.

The above photos illustrate nearly all of the major features of the camera:

• Various resolutions up to 2048 x 1536 pixels
• 10x optical zoom
• 3x digital zoom (for 30x total optical and digital zoom)
• Manual shutter speed, aperture and focus (used for above photos of sun, moon and stars)
• Automatic shutter speed, aperture and focus (used for most other photos)
• Infrared remote control for stable shooting when mounted to tripod
• ‘‘Macro’’ mode for close-up (10-60 cm) shots
• Panorama photos with automatic stitching performed using bundled software
• QuickTime movies (320x240 or 160x120 pixels), fixed zoom with sound or variable zoom with no sound

To see photos of the camera itself, detailed technical specifications and other information, check out the following links: