Sony DSC-S70 vs. Olympus C-3030Z vs. Nikon Coolpix 990
It seems overly simplistic to compare the Sony DSC-S70, Nikon Coolpix 990 and Olympus C-3030Z, yet they are the cameras seen to be at the top of the "prosumer digital camera" buyers list and thus they are often compared. This year will be quite different, with more quality 3+ megapixel digital cameras coming out from a larger selection of manufacturers I personally wouldn't limit yourself to looking at just these cameras.
Below I've listed features which we can back up with facts and how they rate "In My Honest Opinion". You'll have to go down this list, decide what is important to you if you wish to use it to help your purchase decision. If a feature is a matter of preference then I've not chosen a "better option".
| Feature | Nikon
Coolpix 990 |
Olympus C-3030Z | Sony DSC-S70 |
| Body |  |
 |
 |
| Build Quality | Best | Good | Good |
| Street Price | $900 | $900 | $800 |
| Sharpness | Equal | Slightly Sharper | |
| Resolution | Equal | Slightly higher resolution | |
| Noise | Equal | ||
| Colour saturation | Natural but conservative | Accurate | Vivid but sometimes unnatural |
| Chromatic Aberrations | Average | Poor | Little |
| Barrel Distortion | Equal | ||
| Zoom range | 38mm - 115mm | 32mm - 96mm | 34mm - 102mm |
| Optics | F2.5 - F4.0 | F2.8 | F2.0 - F2.5 |
| AF | Better, five area AF | ||
| Full-time AF | Yes, equal | None | |
| Focus Confirmation | "Sharpness"
display in AF & MF |
Magnifying loupe, MF only | None |
| Metering | Matrix, CW, Spot | CW, Spot | CW, Spot |
| White Balance Preset | Yes | No | "Hold" |
| White Balance Fine Tuning | Yes | No | No |
| Shutter Lag | Equal | Slower | |
| Operation speed | Good
though limited to 4 images @ NORMAL |
Excellent, up to 29 images @ HQ | Slow |
| Remote Control | Optional Wired | Supplied Infrared | None |
| Movie mode | QuickTime (no audio) | QuickTime (with audio) | MPEG (with audio) |
| Audio Annotations | No | Yes | Yes |
| External Flash | Yes (equal, all proprietary) | ||
| Flash Anti Redeye | Poor | Better (equal) | |
| Flash output power control | Equal | ||
| Macro | 20mm / 0.8" | 58mm / 2.3" | 40mm / 1.5" |
| Flexible program exposure | Yes | No | No |
| Shutter priority | BULB, 16 s - 1/1000 s (14 pos) | 1 s
- 1/800 s (30 pos) |
8 s
- 1/1000 s (19 pos) |
| Aperture priority | W:
F2.5 - F7.0 (10 pos) T: F4.0 - F11.0 (10 pos) |
F2.8 - F11 (13 pos) | F2.0
- F8.0 (9 pos) (limited by 1/30s shutter) |
| Full Manual mode | 16
s - 1/1000 s (14 pos) + BULB |
16 s - 1/800 s (42 pos) | No |
| Bracketing | Yes, equal | No | |
| AE Lock | Yes | Panorama mode | No |
| Continuous mode | 9 @
1.6fps @ 2048 x 1536 (with more burst modes) |
5 @ 3.9fps @ 2048 x 1536 | None |
| Sharpening control | Equal | ||
| Exposure compensation | Equal (+/-2EV in 0.3 EV steps) | ||
| ISO Sensitivity | Auto / 100 / 200 / 400 (equal) | Auto (100 - 300) | |
| Uncompressed mode | TIFF (equal) | ||
| JPEG modes | 3 (Fine, Normal, Basic) | 3 (SHQ, HQ, SQ) | 1 |
| Other modes | 2 Colour GIF | ||
| Information display | Better (top LCD) | ||
| Playback display | Better (faster, histogram) | Slow | |
| Picture Filters | Contrast, Brightness, B&W | B&W, Sepia, Black & White board | B&W, Sepia, Solarize, Negative |
| Power-on settings | Multiple user settings | Forgets settings :( | |
| Battery Life | Equal (4 x AA batteries) | Excellent, InfoLithium | |
| Bundle | Both missing batteries, charger and case | Good, includes battery and adapter/charger, no case | |
| Portability | Smaller & Lighter (equal) | ||
| Usability | Split body | Fixed body | |
| Ergonomics | Command wheel, control layout | ||
| Tripod mount | Better (rubber base) | ||
| Connectivity | USB (equal) | ||
| Storage | 256MB+ on a CF card | Limited
to 64MB Smart Media |
Limited
to 64MB Memory Sticks |
| Other features | Best Shot Selection | Movie editing | Night Shot long exp. |
| Review | Nikon Coolpix 990 review | Olympus C-3030Z review | Sony DSC-S70 review |
