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C-730 going in for repair - sample photos - poor quality - opinions please

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wdwms

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All,

I'm a newbie to this forum but wanted to get some opinions on this forum. In early Nov I got a C-730, hoping it to be a BIG step up from my little Kodak DC260. So far, other than the super macro i've been less than impressed. Here is what i've experienced so far:

• Photos from camera are often grainy and out of focus – just poor overall quality
• Camera struggles from time to time focusing on objects
• Low light or indoors? fogettabout it!

• Pressing the monitor button does not turn on the monitor in all modes except Auto. - Just started doing this last night

• Pressing “OK” button does not turn on monitor in all modes except Auto. Therefore all settings must be made by looking through the viewfinder - Just started doing this last night as well.

So I called Olympus Tech support. Kudos to them, they were more than helpful, but to make a long story short, i emailed them 2 test shots taken at HQ, one with flash one without. And they agreed that I had a bum camera.. :( So its off to the repair shop.. hope i can get it back by xmas.

For those interested, and those who wish to comment or voice an opinion, here are the test photos I sent.





Hopefully someone will agree that these shots are not up to the capabilities of the C-730..

A disspointed user..
Todd
 
Psychephylax said:
First thing I noticed is that you have ISO set to 200 or it chose
200...Try setting the ISO to be at 100 all the time.
-
Click to expand...
These photos were done at Auto as that is what tech support wanted. Even at ISO 100 it didnt help the grain much at all

-Todd
 
wdwms

I have made my choice and it is not C730. The C730 noise is just too much not to see it in every photo. The noise is in every shady place of the image. My next camera is Fuji 602. Features and image quality are definite winners. I will miss the X10 zoom. I did not consider 717 because its memory stick and proprietary battery. I have used images from compare from Images Resource and Steve Digicams.

The C730 need light and a lot of it. Use soft sharpenning and low contrast and correct later in Photoshop oor any other. Always use 100ASA and SHQ.
Leo
wdwms said:
All,
I'm a newbie to this forum but wanted to get some opinions on this
forum. In early Nov I got a C-730, hoping it to be a BIG step up
from my little Kodak DC260. So far, other than the super macro i've
been less than impressed. Here is what i've experienced so far:

• Photos from camera are often grainy and out of focus – just poor
overall quality
• Camera struggles from time to time focusing on objects
• Low light or indoors? fogettabout it!
• Pressing the monitor button does not turn on the monitor in all
modes except Auto. - Just started doing this last night
• Pressing “OK” button does not turn on monitor in all modes except
Auto. Therefore all settings must be made by looking through the
viewfinder - Just started doing this last night as well.

So I called Olympus Tech support. Kudos to them, they were more
than helpful, but to make a long story short, i emailed them 2 test
shots taken at HQ, one with flash one without. And they agreed that
I had a bum camera.. :( So its off to the repair shop.. hope i can
get it back by xmas.

For those interested, and those who wish to comment or voice an
opinion, here are the test photos I sent.





Hopefully someone will agree that these shots are not up to the
capabilities of the C-730..

A disspointed user..
Todd
Click to expand...
 
Are you certain it was the picture quality that the Olympus tech reps "they agreed that I had a bum camera.." was the reason they are agreeeing to repair your camera? just want to be sure, because you also mentioned the monitor button not working right......
wdwms said:
All,
I'm a newbie to this forum but wanted to get some opinions on this
forum. In early Nov I got a C-730, hoping it to be a BIG step up
from my little Kodak DC260. So far, other than the super macro i've
been less than impressed. Here is what i've experienced so far:

• Photos from camera are often grainy and out of focus – just poor
overall quality
• Camera struggles from time to time focusing on objects
• Low light or indoors? fogettabout it!
• Pressing the monitor button does not turn on the monitor in all
modes except Auto. - Just started doing this last night
• Pressing “OK” button does not turn on monitor in all modes except
Auto. Therefore all settings must be made by looking through the
viewfinder - Just started doing this last night as well.

So I called Olympus Tech support. Kudos to them, they were more
than helpful, but to make a long story short, i emailed them 2 test
shots taken at HQ, one with flash one without. And they agreed that
I had a bum camera.. :( So its off to the repair shop.. hope i can
get it back by xmas.

For those interested, and those who wish to comment or voice an
opinion, here are the test photos I sent.





Hopefully someone will agree that these shots are not up to the
capabilities of the C-730..

A disspointed user..
Todd
Click to expand...
--
C-700 and C-730 ULTRA ZOOM
FL-40 Flash, bracket and cable
Canon S900 printer
http://www.pbase.com/galleries/donald_spencer
(pbase supporter)
 
Donald Spencer said:
Are you certain it was the picture quality that the Olympus tech
reps "they agreed that I had a bum camera.." was the reason they
are agreeeing to repair your camera? just want to be sure, because
you also mentioned the monitor button not working right......
Click to expand...
Yes i am sure. The tech said that the camera should be performing better than this (quality wise) and it there was most likely a problem with the camera. Just hope it comes back working properly..

Todd
 
Donald Spencer said:
do keep us posted as to how Olympus deals with this issue. I'm
finding the shots with the C-730 to be grainier/noisier than I
expected....

have 5 samples here, outdoor shots

http://www.pbase.com/donald_spencer/test_samples
Click to expand...
nice shots... i'll try the camera outdoors once I get it back. I found I really have to put a lot of light on in the room in order to get good shots.. i shoot indoor for model aircraft reviews.

its just very frustrating and dissapointing.. i hope the camera is damaged, in that case at least it would come back performing better! lol

If you took an indoor photo, would it be as grainy and out of focus as mine?

Todd
 
please tell to us the end of this story (hopfully happy)
Leo
wdwms said:
Donald Spencer said:
Are you certain it was the picture quality that the Olympus tech
reps "they agreed that I had a bum camera.." was the reason they
are agreeeing to repair your camera? just want to be sure, because
you also mentioned the monitor button not working right......
Click to expand...
Yes i am sure. The tech said that the camera should be performing
better than this (quality wise) and it there was most likely a
problem with the camera. Just hope it comes back working properly..

Todd
Click to expand...
 
The first shot looks normal to me given the settings you used. The second is very soft, but I can't tell why--could be a bit of camera shake, if you didn't use the self-timer/tripod. From the samples I've seen, the C-730 is a noisy camera, especially at high ISO. As mentioned above, you should try soft sharpness, low saturation, low contrast. If you haven't done it yet, you should run the pixel mapping program (after having warmed up the camera). Run it, do some test shots and then run it again if you like until it seems to have reached maximum quality. But don't expect to get rid of all the noise. You can lessen it, and it won't show up in most prints, but it won't go away completely.

Of course the problem with the LCD not coming on isn't normal.

The C-700 is relatively noisy too, judging from sample shots I've seen.
wdwms said:
All,
I'm a newbie to this forum but wanted to get some opinions on this
forum. In early Nov I got a C-730, hoping it to be a BIG step up
from my little Kodak DC260. So far, other than the super macro i've
been less than impressed. Here is what i've experienced so far:

? Photos from camera are often grainy and out of focus ? just poor
overall quality
? Camera struggles from time to time focusing on objects
? Low light or indoors? fogettabout it!
? Pressing the monitor button does not turn on the monitor in all
modes except Auto. - Just started doing this last night
? Pressing ?OK? button does not turn on monitor in all modes except
Auto. Therefore all settings must be made by looking through the
viewfinder - Just started doing this last night as well.

So I called Olympus Tech support. Kudos to them, they were more
than helpful, but to make a long story short, i emailed them 2 test
shots taken at HQ, one with flash one without. And they agreed that
I had a bum camera.. :( So its off to the repair shop.. hope i can
get it back by xmas.

For those interested, and those who wish to comment or voice an
opinion, here are the test photos I sent.





Hopefully someone will agree that these shots are not up to the
capabilities of the C-730..

A disspointed user..
Todd
Click to expand...
 
I would return the camera or replace it. The images you have shown are very!!!!!! Noisy. Don’t you see it?
Leo
wdwms said:
All,
I'm a newbie to this forum but wanted to get some opinions on this
forum. In early Nov I got a C-730, hoping it to be a BIG step up
from my little Kodak DC260. So far, other than the super macro i've
been less than impressed. Here is what i've experienced so far:

• Photos from camera are often grainy and out of focus – just poor
overall quality
• Camera struggles from time to time focusing on objects
• Low light or indoors? fogettabout it!
• Pressing the monitor button does not turn on the monitor in all
modes except Auto. - Just started doing this last night
• Pressing “OK” button does not turn on monitor in all modes except
Auto. Therefore all settings must be made by looking through the
viewfinder - Just started doing this last night as well.

So I called Olympus Tech support. Kudos to them, they were more
than helpful, but to make a long story short, i emailed them 2 test
shots taken at HQ, one with flash one without. And they agreed that
I had a bum camera.. :( So its off to the repair shop.. hope i can
get it back by xmas.

For those interested, and those who wish to comment or voice an
opinion, here are the test photos I sent.
Click to expand...
wdwms said:
Hopefully someone will agree that these shots are not up to the
capabilities of the C-730..

A disspointed user..
Todd
Click to expand...
 
not sure, I'll have to take some more test shots.....

this is a crazy time of year, I'm an absolute fishing addict, I put as much time surf fishing as I can this time of year. That, plus yard work, and Xmas coming, it's crazy time!!

I'm going to set up some side by side C-700 and C-730 shots to compare. I'll try to do some this weekend, I'll upload to pbase if they get back online anytime soon!
wdwms said:
Donald Spencer said:
do keep us posted as to how Olympus deals with this issue. I'm
finding the shots with the C-730 to be grainier/noisier than I
expected....

have 5 samples here, outdoor shots

http://www.pbase.com/donald_spencer/test_samples
Click to expand...
nice shots... i'll try the camera outdoors once I get it back. I
found I really have to put a lot of light on in the room in order
to get good shots.. i shoot indoor for model aircraft reviews.

its just very frustrating and dissapointing.. i hope the camera is
damaged, in that case at least it would come back performing
better! lol

If you took an indoor photo, would it be as grainy and out of focus
as mine?

Todd
Click to expand...
--
C-700 and C-730 ULTRA ZOOM
FL-40 Flash, bracket and cable
Canon S900 printer
http://www.pbase.com/galleries/donald_spencer
(pbase supporter)
 
I added some new shots, taken this morning, showing off a 30" striper I caught in the surf this morning :)

http://www.pbase.com/donald_spencer/test_samples

one shot taken on the beach

PB300028aa.jpg

three taken on my deck using the FL-40 as fill flash, camera on tripod using self-timer

PB300001a.jpg
PB300002a.jpg
PB300003a.jpg

I'm going to send all these shots to Olympus. the noise is really surprising.
I'll try turning down the sharpness,

--
C-700 and C-730 ULTRA ZOOM
FL-40 Flash, bracket and cable
Canon S900 printer
http://www.pbase.com/galleries/donald_spencer
(pbase supporter)
 
How long have you had it...doesn't the place you bought it from allow you to exchange it?

Some things, like the LCD are (most likely) because of settings YOU have changed...you probably turned on the Battery Save option...with that on you can't turn on the LCD for anything (except viewing saved images by clicking the LCD button twice) but it will turn on in Auto.

Due to the size of the photos, I can't wait for them to download due to being on dialup so I can't see the Exif info...but I have to wonder what other things have been fiddled with. I'd suggest leaving the batteries out for a few hours until the camera resets back to the default settings and starting again before doing anything else.

Low-light focusing is a problem with most cameras without focus assist. See the following to see how focusing works:
http://www.howstuffworks.com/autofocus3.htm
wdwms said:
All,
I'm a newbie to this forum but wanted to get some opinions on this
forum. In early Nov I got a C-730, hoping it to be a BIG step up
from my little Kodak DC260. So far, other than the super macro i've
been less than impressed. Here is what i've experienced so far:

• Photos from camera are often grainy and out of focus – just poor
overall quality
• Camera struggles from time to time focusing on objects
• Low light or indoors? fogettabout it!
• Pressing the monitor button does not turn on the monitor in all
modes except Auto. - Just started doing this last night

• Pressing “OK” button does not turn on monitor in all modes except
Auto. Therefore all settings must be made by looking through the
viewfinder - Just started doing this last night as well.

So I called Olympus Tech support. Kudos to them, they were more
than helpful, but to make a long story short, i emailed them 2 test
shots taken at HQ, one with flash one without. And they agreed that
I had a bum camera.. :( So its off to the repair shop.. hope i can
get it back by xmas.

For those interested, and those who wish to comment or voice an
opinion, here are the test photos I sent.
Click to expand...
 
That's a beauty, Don.

When you turn down the sharpness, turn down the saturation and contrast too. Those are things that can be tweaked better later if you want to, and they do contribute to noise. Also, try the pixel mapping. Two people have reported great improvements from that.
Donald Spencer said:
I added some new shots, taken this morning, showing off a 30"
striper I caught in the surf this morning :)

http://www.pbase.com/donald_spencer/test_samples

one shot taken on the beach

PB300028aa.jpg

three taken on my deck using the FL-40 as fill flash, camera on
tripod using self-timer

PB300001a.jpg
PB300002a.jpg
PB300003a.jpg

I'm going to send all these shots to Olympus. the noise is really
surprising.
I'll try turning down the sharpness,

--
C-700 and C-730 ULTRA ZOOM
FL-40 Flash, bracket and cable
Canon S900 printer
http://www.pbase.com/galleries/donald_spencer
(pbase supporter)
Click to expand...
 
Mike_PEAT said:
How long have you had it...doesn't the place you bought it from
allow you to exchange it?

Some things, like the LCD are (most likely) because of settings YOU
have changed...you probably turned on the Battery Save
option...with that on you can't turn on the LCD for anything
(except viewing saved images by clicking the LCD button twice) but
it will turn on in Auto.
Click to expand...
I got it in early November.. but Buydig.com has only a 10 day return policy..

these photos are extremely noisy, and have more noise than my fathers older olympus... not sure what model he has..

Todd
 
When I first got mine, I was getting similar results to your posted images and worse. I went through the Pixel Mapping "process" and this is what I get now........ first is at full wide... second is at full zoom

Taken in my basement under low light conditions. Handheld, so they aren't perfect.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid40/p4cd684852eaa7c582b4ee635f7b9e66c/fcfcde2d.jpg.orig.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid40/p6caf54bdea360f65a8830cad70541131/fcfcde23.jpg.orig.jpg

Somebody had suggested about resetting your camera settings... you can go into the setup menu and turn reset on to put it back to factory defaults when you power off. Just be sure to turn it backup when you turn the camera back on. If your camera works properly after the resetting (buttons work like they're suppose to, etc.), then try the PMP to see if you get better images too.
wdwms said:
Mike_PEAT said:
How long have you had it...doesn't the place you bought it from
allow you to exchange it?

Some things, like the LCD are (most likely) because of settings YOU
have changed...you probably turned on the Battery Save
option...with that on you can't turn on the LCD for anything
(except viewing saved images by clicking the LCD button twice) but
it will turn on in Auto.
Click to expand...
I got it in early November.. but Buydig.com has only a 10 day
return policy..

these photos are extremely noisy, and have more noise than my
fathers older olympus... not sure what model he has..

Todd
Click to expand...
 
Can you enable Pixel Mapping in one of your My Modes modes? Then you'll have Pixel Mapping every shot.

That, in and of itself, would be a great improvement, no?

fsw
Bradly said:
When I first got mine, I was getting similar results to your posted
images and worse. I went through the Pixel Mapping "process" and
this is what I get now........ first is at full wide... second is
at full zoom
Click to expand...
 
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