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General discussion

Olympus SP-700--good camera???

by italiangal Mar 24, 2006 5:13AM PST

I picked this up today on a whim and because there was a $60 coupon at Costco. it has 3.0" color LCD, 6.0 megapixel CCD sensor; 2x Optical zoom 38-114mm; 18x total seamless xoom; 27 shooting modes. I have done no research yet on getting a digital camera; so I figured that I could always return it. I am looking to take general family/vacation photos. It says that it can also take video. I appreciate your opinions.

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4 Posts
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Olympus SP-700
by snapshot2 Forum moderator Mar 24, 2006 7:14AM PST

This camera was announced in October of 2005 and has been available in Europe and England for several months.

It just recently made it to the USA.

I can not find any reviews of the camera.

It appears to be Olympus' entry into the ulta thin cameras. According to the specifications, it has plenty of features. The very large 3.0 inch LCD is certainly a plus.

Olympus makes great cameras and excellent lenses.
So I would expect the SP-700 to be the same.

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Since there is no first hand customer information available on the SP-700, how about you giving us your thoughts on the camera.

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Olympus SP-700
by italiangal Mar 24, 2006 11:07AM PST

I am very new to this......so it may take awhile for me to learn the ins & outs of using a digital camera. Should I be concerned that there is no viewfinder just the 3" screen?

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Maybe....Maybe Not
by snapshot2 Forum moderator Mar 24, 2006 11:29AM PST

As small cameras have gone to larger LCDs, they had to abandon the viewfinder, because there is not enough room for it.

Take the camera out in the sunlight and try using the LCD. If the LCD image is completely washed out by the bright sun, that is a problem. If you can't see the image, you can't compose the shot.

LCDs have been getting better in that respect.
Test your LCD in the sun and see how it does.

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I purchased the SP-700 from Costco too!
by cshyland Mar 26, 2006 9:27AM PST

I like this camera. I have used it in the dark and in extreme sunlight and even though it "is" slightly difficult to see the screen in these conditions, the results are outstanding.

In those conditions, however, I just point and shoot and have not gotten a bad picture yet. Critical framing may be difficult to achieve.

The camera feels solid in your hand and all buttons are easy to access. The flash is bright and delivers quite good saturation. Exposures right on.

I would recommend this camera to anyone who is looking for a simple to use digital camera and does not like to squint when looking at the LCD results.

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