Digital Camera Review

Digital Camera Review

The Olympus D series is tailored for point-and-shoot users who don’t want to be bothered with manual adjustments to capture impressive images. The 5-megapixel Olympus D-630 debuts as the new top-of-the-line model with more resolution and increased ease of use with an added Help Guide. A 3x optical zoom lens rotates into place, giving the camera a modern and sleek look, unique in the D series. At 4.4 ounces and only an inch wide, the D-630 provides consumers with a slim, no-fuss digital camera that’s as easily portable as it is to use. There are no manual options included on this Olympus Camedia model; the focus is more on automatic settings and user friendliness. The Olympus D-630 will be available for a retail price of $299 in April.
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Auto Mode
The Auto Mode is the bread and butter of this digital camera. The Olympus D-630 was built for consumers who want to take great pictures without having to fuss with manual settings. The camera offers automatic control and setting of exposure, color, focus and sensitivity as well as including several preset scene modes. All of the settings are adjusted automatically by the camera and designed for ease of use rather then control.

Movie Mode
The Olympus D-630 has a less-than-impressive movie mode. It records in only 320 x 240 resolution at a slow rate of 15 frames per second. The only fortunate advantage of the D-630’s video recording capabilities is the opportunity to view individual frames in playback mode. Otherwise, by current standards, as a video recorder the D-630 is a humorous novelty.

Drive / Burst Mode
Not surprisingly, this model does not have a burst mode.

Playback Mode
Switching into Playback mode is simple with the green Playback button below the LCD screen. Images can be viewed as single frames and can be zoomed in up to 5x, or viewed in pages of 4, 9, or 16 thumbnails. Photographs can be rotated and resized and slide shows can be played on the LCD monitor. Movies can also be played back either normally or frame-by-frame.

Custom Image Presets
Olympus’ D series of digital camera is meant for the point-and-shoot user, so the preset scene modes are crucial on this model. The D-630 does not go above and beyond; it only provides users with the basics. The following scene modes are available: Portrait, Indoor, Landscape and Portrait, Landscape, Sport, Night and Portrait, Night Scene, Self-Portrait, and Movie Mode.

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