Connections

Behind a plastic door on the left side of the camera are terminals for DC in (6V), AV out (video and audio), mini USB and RS232 serial. Just to the left of the door is the flash synch terminal which comes with a screw-on cover. Olympus have once more used their five pin sync connector which can be used with their FL-40 extension flash or other brands of flash using the optional grip and bracket cable.

Using other brands of external flash equipment the manual notes: Using other brand of extension flash cannot be used without the main flash, other brands of flash can only be used in auto mode.

Lens

The short MPEG above (2 MB) shows the lens extension and retraction (with audio). Here's how the new lens stacks up to those found on other similarly specified 3 megapixel digital cameras:

Compared the the C-3030Z you get a little (you won't notice it) more top-end zoom and lose a little wide angle, the lens is faster (larger aperture) at full wide but approximately the same at full tele as last years lens. Faster? Certainly. Revolutionary? Hardly. What I'm really hoping they've fixed are the chromatic aberrations which plagued the C-3030Z (more of this later).

Not much difference then to the relatively common lens used on other 3 megapixel, 3x zoom digital cameras which is 34 - 102 mm but F2.0 - F2.5, so the C-3040Z's F1.8 is just a third of a stop faster (and only at wide angle). Both the Nikon Coolpix 990 and Kodak DC4800 look like the slow coaches of this bunch.

Internal Flash

The C-3040Z's flash hasn't changed since the days of the C-2020Z, rated range is: • Wide: 0.8m (31") - 3.8m (12.5ft) • Tele: 0.2m (8") - 3.8m (12.5ft)

Tripod mount / camera base

Again, why? The C-3040Z's tripod mount is located off-center (of the lens) and too close to the front edge. First this makes accurate panorama's a pain because the lens isn't rotating around a central axis and second its location may lead to the camera not sitting flat on a tripod mount (leaning forward very slightly). I can't tell but the mount seems to be made of the same magnesium alloy of the rest of the case.

Remote Control RM-1

Olympus have included the excellent little RM-1 remote control, it allows you control the zoom and shutter release from a distance. You must put the camera in self timer/remote mode before using it, upon pressing the remote shutter release button there's a 3 second delay before the shot is actually taken. Kudos once more Olympus.

Supplied In the Box

Supplied in the box are: * exact contents may vary by region

• Olympus C-3040Z Digital Camera
• Infrared Remote Control (RM-1)
• Shoulder strap
• AV Cable
• Lens Cap
• USB Cable
• Serial (RS232) Cable
• 16 MB SmartMedia Card
• Manuals
• CD-ROM: Olympus Camedia Master

Accessories

Availability of accessories may vary by region.

SmartMedia Additional SmartMedia cards, available up to 128 MB in size.	CLA-1 Lens adapter (required to use any optional lens) Fits around the lens and screws into body, features a 43mm filter thread.	MCON-40 Macro lens. Improves macro abilities.
TCON-14 Telephoto lens. Produces a 1.45x magnification, equates to 140mm tele (35mm equiv.)	WCON-08 Wide-angle lens. Produces a 0.8x wide angle, equates to 26mm wide (35mm equiv.)	FL-40 External Flash. Comes supplied with hand-grip bracket.
MA-2 PCMCIA adapter. Access SmartMedia cards (up to 32MB) as an external hard disk on PCMCIA compatible computers.	MAFP-2 Floppy adapter. Flash Path adapter allows SmartMedia cards (up to 32MB) to be read in a 3.5" drive (with drivers).	PT-007 Underwater housing Allows the C-3040Z to be used underwater (to a depth of 30m). Available only in certain regions.