Olympus's latest Camedia C-4000 Zoom is a 4megapixel digital camera that packs many advanced features into a compact unit that doesn't cost the earth.

Following on from the success of the C-4040 Zoom, the C-4000 Zoom combines a 4megapixel CCD and a high-performance f2.8 3x optical (3.5x digital) zoom lens, allowing you to capture high-quality prints up to 11 x 14in.

The accessories brochure included will further whet your appetite for an assortment of external flashes, extension lenses, powering solutions, and even a matching external dual-slot USB reader/writer for the supplied 3.3v 16MB Smartmedia card. Olympus' new storage media, XD-Picture Card, is also supported, but a card is not included.

Also bundled with the camera is a Quick Start Guide, a basic user manual, shoulder strap, USB and video cables, and lens cap. There's the supporting Camedia Master 4 software too, which also contains the reference manual if you'd rather browse instructions on screen.

Slightly more disappointing is the inclusion of four non-rechargeable alkaline AA batteries (rechargeable Nimh, Nicd, lithium and CR-V3 batteries are supported), and the absence of a carry case and power supply.

The C-4000 Zoom's all-glass 6.5-19.5mm f2.8 to f11 lens is constructed from eight elements arranged in six groups, and contains two aspherical lenses that help to return sharp, bright photographs. The autofocus lens has a focal length equivalent to 32-96mm in a standard 35mm camera, suiting both landscape and portrait photographs.

The camera's noise reduction mode claims to produce relatively noise-free photos during long exposures, which proved quite successful in testing.

Less experienced digital camera users will be able to shoot straight away by using one of the C-4000 Zoom's basic shooting modes.

The rotary Power/Mode Dial lets you select between six pre-set configurations, including self-portrait (for taking a picture of yourself), night scene (a slower shutter speed for shooting in the evening), landscape/scene (blue and green colours are emphasised) and sports, which minimises blurring with fast moving subjects.

The C-4000 Zoom has manual settings offering controls for aperture and shutter priority, and full manual operation with manual shutter speeds.

Multi-metering enables up to eight separate points in an image area to be averaged for exposures in difficult lighting conditions. Dynamic histograms are visible to display a photo's brightness across the image area in a graphical format.

A handy new time-saving feature called My Mode lets you save your favourite settings such as aperture value, shutter speed and zoom position, and the menu features three shortcut buttons so you can assign frequently used menus.

As well as capturing still shots, the C-4000 Zoom supports Quicktime movie capture. Quicktime M-jpegs are captured at either a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels or 160 x 120 pixels, both at a speed of 15 frames per second.

Using the supplied 16MB Smart Media card you can store up to 33 seconds at high resolution and 148 seconds at the lower resolution of 160 x 120 pixels. The maximum number of still photographs you can store on the card is 165 at the low resolution of 640 x 480 pixels, while capturing at the highest resolution of 2,288 x 1,712 pixels reduces the number to two.

The camera is rounded off with features including a 1.8in LCD, optical viewfinder, ISO-equivalent ratings of 100, 200 and 400, and the supplied Camedia Master 4 software which lets you transfer, edit, print and share photos on your PC or Macintosh.

Combine these powerful features with superb-quality images and a market-leading price and you've got a package giving amateur photographers a solution out of the box at the fraction of the cost of professional cameras.

SPECS

DETAILS

Price: £449 (£380 ex VAT)

Contact: Olympus 0800 072 0070
www.olympus.co.uk