Olympus Camedia C-310 Zoom
(Also known as the Olympus Camedia D-540 Zoom)
Review Date: July 14th 2004
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Image Quality
All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the SHQ 2,048 x 1,536 file quality setting, which gives an image size of between 1.5Mb and 2Mb, allowing around 10 images to be stored on the supplied 16Mb xD-Picture Card memory card.
Noise
As mentioned previously, the ISO range available on the C-310 Zoom is 50-320, but unfortunately you can't choose which ISO speed to use. Instead the camera selects what it thinks is the most appropriate speed for you. This is OK when the ISO is 50, but not so good when it's 320. Even ISO 144 looks quite noisy, as shown in the example below. The camera will always try to keep the subject sharp at the expense of greater image noise.
ISO 50 (100% crop) |
ISO 105 (100% crop) |
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ISO 144 (100% crop) |
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Sharpening
Here are two 100% crops which have been Saved as Web - Quality 40 in Photoshop. The right-hand image has had some sharpening applied in Photoshop. As you can see, the out-of-the camera images are very slightly on the soft side and will benefit from some sharpening.
Original 100% Crop |
Sharpened 100% Crop |
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File Quality
The C-310 Zoom has 4 different JPEG quality settings. Here are some 100% crops which show the various file quality settings.
SHQ (2,048 x 1,536) |
HQ (2,048 x 1,536) |
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SQ1 (1,600 x 1,200) |
SQ2 (640 x 480) |
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Chromatic Aberrations
As with most digital cameras, the C-310 Zoom does suffer from some chromatic aberrations, especially in high-contrast photographs with the sun in the frame or just outside it. The good news is that chromatic aberrations are very well controlled, and only a couple of the sample photographs that I took showed any signs of this problem.
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Overall Image Quality
The Olympus C-310 Zoom produced a set of sample images that had strong colours, both in bright, sunny conditions and on overcast English summer days. Unfortunately you can't set the ISO speed yourself, although the camera almost always tries to set a slow speed so that noise levels are low. This comes at the expense of aperture, which is usually set to wide-open so that shutter-speeds are fast enough to keep the subject sharp. I was unable to force the camera to use ISO 150 and above, so my only comment on noise is that it is acceptable between ISO 50 and 105 (as it should be really), although at ISO 144 noise is quite visible in the shadow areas. The images are fairly sharp out of the camera at the default setting and will benefit from some post-processing. Chromatic aberrations are apparent in situations where you would expect this problem to arise e.g. high-contrast lighting, but they are very well controlled in all other instances. Overall a good performance from the C-310 Zoom that puts more expensive digicams to shame.
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