written by Ray Niacaris. on 28/04/2003
Good Points
Zoom Lens, Sports mode
Bad Points
Lack of an optical viewfinder
General Comments
I just got the 730, but I had owned a 700 for quite a while. I recently went to the Grand Canyon and lost my 700 there :-(. I bought the replacement, a 730 from Fry's for $400, but outside of the 3MP pictures, both cameras are pretty much the same. Since I bought my 700, I have never for a minute regretted the purchase. The 700 I bought refurbished but the 730 is new. There is just no substitute for a good optical zoom lens on a digital camera. If you look at the 3x cameras on the market, most just get you where you thought you would be at 1:1. Next to the zoom, the best feature on the 730 is the fast exposure, mode when doing action shots. (I coach a roller hockey team) It is flawless on action shots. The battery life is great. I use 2 sets of NI-MH and a fast charger.
The main pain is the lack of an optical viewfinder. When you are taking rapid-fire pictures (machine gun fashion), the viewfinder freezes the last frame shot and you have to guess where the camera should be pointing. If this camera had an optical viewfinder, the problem would go away, but it is something you need to learn to live with. Another area where the viewfinder causes problems is night flash photography. The viewfinder will be very dark and once again, you need to guess how the subject will be framed when the flash goes off. Outside of that, I am hard pressed to complain about anything else. There is a tough learning curve, and it would really be cool to have help screens in the camera, but for the most part, this is the best camera your money can buy. I will never be without a good digital camera and I cannot imagine not staying with this line of Olympus cameras. I just hope I don't lose this one.
As rated by our community of reviewers
Rs.'s Response to Ray Niacaris.'s Review
Written on: 19/07/2003
I also have the 730 but i must not know how to use it correctly, I have an awful problem with blurred pictures when filming moving targets, and with high zoom levels it is almost impossible to hold the camera still enough to get a good clear picture every time. It really needs a image stabilization button or something for the high zoom.
Jeff Rollason's Response to Ray Niacaris.'s Review
Written on: 03/09/2003
The freeze-frame problem you commented on in the TFT viewfinder is an option you can switch off. The TFT viewfinder is a huge plus over non-SLR optical viewfinders as it allows you to assess the focus and see the exact framing of the shot. It also wins over SLR optical viewfinders as you can assess the exposure level and colour balance of the shot, an unheard of luxury with film-based SLRs!
117548_Ray.'s Response to Ray Niacaris.'s Review
Written on: 21/07/2003
With respect to blurry pictures, the mian cause is the shutter staying open too long. There are two ways to overcome this 1) use a manual shutter setting to speed up the shutter, 2) Use the preset set sport mode. This forces a fast shutter speed and can be used when you are fully zoomed in. (It is the runner icon on the selector)