Olympus VR-350 16MP CCD Compact Superzoom Digital Camera

 Re-Living the CCD Sensor - A look back at the Olympus VR-350 superzoom digital camera, a vintage travel compact with a 16MP CCD sensor.

I am still looking through the annals of vintage digicams for a super compact (travel zoom?) digital camera that I can take along on my trips. As for image rendering, I am also looking at digital cameras with CCD sensors (vintage now as most cameras now are fitted with CMOS sensors), which are known to produce high-quality images with low noise, better color accuracy and uniformity, higher sensitivity, and with a look and feel that are different from CMOS sensors, with some saying that the images are very much film-like.

For this review and early images test, I opted for the Olympus VR-350, a compact superzoom with a 16MP CCD sensor, an Olympus 1:3~5.7 4.2-42mm (24-240mm full frame equivalent) 10x optical zoom lens, and a 3-inch 460,000 dot LCD screen. The camera is designed to be easy to use and comes with a user interface that is well laid out and quite intuitive even for the first-time user.

On the physical side, the Olympus VR-350 is a solid and well-built camera that feels reasonably weighty and sits well in the hand. It has a simple and sleek design, with an anodized aluminum shell available in silver, black, or maroon. The front panel is complemented with a ridged protrusion finger grip. With the camera powered-off, off and the lens recessed, the camera is compact enough to fit even in your shirt pocket.

Camera Operation

The operation of the camera is straightforward, with buttons and controls that are well laid out and easy to reach. Shooting Modes include iAuto (Intelligent Auto), Program Auto, Beauty, Scene, Magic, and Panorama. While the mode listing starts you off in the Program mode, the most basic shooting mode is the iAuto mode, which analyses the subject and adjusts the camera's settings optimally to match that scene, which includes Sunset, Fireworks, Candlelight, Beach, and Sport.

In Program mode, you are free to set up your own variables with sub-set options for Flash, Macro, Self-Timer, Exposure Compensation, White Balance, ISO Sensitivity, Shots Sequence, and Image Resolution settings, with the option to continue to the Main Menu Setup pages.

The Beauty mode lets you shoot a front-facing portrait and be taken to an interface where you can lighten the skin tone, whiten teeth, and apply blush, eye shadow, and lipstick.

Scene Mode selections let you set the camera setting for Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene, Night+Portrait, Sport, Indoor, Candle, Self Portrait, Sunset, Fireworks, Cusine, Documents, Beach & Snow, and Pets.

The Magic Mode lets you add Art-Filter effects to the image with Pin Hole, Drawing, Soft Focus, Punk, Sparkle, Watercolor, Reflection, Miniature, and Pop Art with further settings for Flash, Macro Mides, Self-Timer, Exposure Compensation, White Balance, and MP count.

Panorama Mode lets you capture images in a panoramic sequence which can be edited via the Olympus Viewer 3 tabletop software application.

Externally, the VR-350 has a microphone opening located just off the lower left lens mount frame on the front panel of the camera, and a speaker on the bottom plate of the camera, which is where the propriety USB 2.0 multi-connector port is located. The port is the connector for Data Transfer (Storage), MTP (Media Transfer Protocol), Easy and Custom Printing, and Charging.

The camera is powered by a powered by DC 3.7V 925mAh battery, which is good for up to 300 shots (average use), weighs 170 grams with battery and card, and will accept SD/SDHC/SDXC/Eye-Fi cards for storage. The camera can also be used with a dedicated USB-AC F-3AC adapter, which is sold separately.

I bought the camera at an auction for just below US$ 32 + shipping from the Big Bay.

Early Images In Red

A red hibiscus blooms in the garden.

A handy and very practical camera to use and carry around, small enough to fit into your shirt pocket or a handbag, and has a very convenient one-cable operation for data transfer, printing functions, and charging the battery.

Due to its slim and minimalistic design, the camera may not at all be convenient for one-handed shooting, it needs to be held up and kept steady for image framing and capture preferably with both hands.

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Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 8.3MP CCD Digital Bridge Camera

Re-Living the CCD Sensor - A look back at CCD sensor images from the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 as an alternative to film photography images.

It has been quite a while since I last posted images captured with the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18. I did well with the camera when I was using it then, but I had to put it aside as the battery was losing its charge, and I was on the upgrade path to a digital SLR instead of staying put in the 'bridge' section.

I have the camera running again now, after replacing the dead battery, and maybe within the dire straits of the ever-spiraling cost of film and the even higher cost of a more advanced digital camera which could be too complex to handle, I could find myself a reason for a push to re-live the CCD sensor, the heart of the digital imagery development, until they were replaced by the later complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology.

The accolades linger on, and the love for CCD images stays with many photographers who prefer the different look and feel of pictures rendered. If there is to be a new move toward this interest, let this be the time to pick it up and get it going again.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18

The Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18, launched in 2007, is a compact super-zoom bridge camera with an 8.3MP sensor, a superb Leica DC Vario-Elmarit lens with an 18X (28-504mm equivalent) optical zoom, a DSLR-like design with a 188,000 pixel EVF, a 207,000 pixels 2.5 inch LCD monitor, a 1 cm. macro mode, RAW shooting mode, and an optical image stabilizer. The model was an upgrade to the DMC-F8, launched six months earlier with a 7.1MP sensor. 

Other new features found on the DMC-FZ18 include a dedicated AF/AE button, Face Detection, a new Intelligent Auto mode that integrates Image Stabilization, Intelligent ISO, Face Detection, and Scene Detection into a 'Super' Auto Mode, an ISO 6400 High Sensitivity mode, and a five-level Noise reduction capability.

The DMC-FZ18 is compact and lightweight, comes with a dimension of 117.6 x 75.3 x 88.2 mm, and weighs 360 grams.

Operation and Control

As I am only exploiting the point-and-shoot and zoom functions of the FZ18 in iE (Intelligent Exposure) mode (same as before), I am not currently into the operation and control of the camera at all, which may probably take me a few days to exploit it all.

For such a camera that is compact in size with a powerful zoom, though, the camera bristles with a large set of features that offers everything from point-and-shoot scene modes to advanced manual photographic controls, though they are easily accessible via the joystick-controlled quick menu system.

The top control of the camera is located on the handgrip (right) side of the top plane, which includes the Shutter Release and Zoom Lever dial, AF Macro/Focus switch button, AF/MF button, Exposure Mode dial, Power ON/OFF switch, and a GREEN power ON diode.

On the rear, all functional controls are to the right of the 2.5-inch LCD screen, except for the pop-up flash button located to the left of the electronic viewfinder eyepiece, and to the right is EV/LCD display switch, and AF/AE lock button. On the back panel itself, to the right of the screen are the joystick and Display button (changes the amount and presentation of on-screen information). Next is the four-way controller with a central Menu/Set button.

In record mode three of the four arrow keys have a single function; Quick Review (look at the last image saved), Flash Mode, and Self-Timer, while the top (up) arrow cycles through AE-Compensation, Flash Exposure Compensation, and AE Bracketing. At the bottom is a final button used to delete images in playback mode (or in Quick Review) and to change drive mode when shooting.

In Use

The multitude of functions and shooting modes is the enabler that makes the Panasonic FZ18 suitable for both the amateur who wants the power of a long lens, the enthusiasts who are out to enhance their photographic skills or even the advanced photographers who are out on specific assignments.

For advanced users, the Panasonic FZ18 offers Aperture Priority (F2.8-8.0), Shutter Priority (8-1/2,000 seconds), and full Manual mode. The latter offers shutter speeds as long as 60 seconds for night shots or, alternatively, you can use the Starry Sky mode with shutter speeds of 15, 30, and 60 seconds. The ability to save and access three sets of custom settings will also please more advanced users.

Auto and Program AE modes are on tap for the no-brainer point-and-shoot. The Auto mode minimizes the number of parameters you can set manually. At the same time, Program AE takes care of the basics but allows you some flexibility in choosing specific settings like ISO, and more.

For easier shooting, go for the camera's Intelligent Auto Mode. This mode incorporates Optical Image Stabilization, Intelligent ISO (a maximum ISO can be set to avoid unwanted levels of image noise and noise reduction), Face Detection, and Scene Detection. The latter analyzes the scene and then chooses the best mode according to the subject. These options work surprisingly well and are a real time saver if you don't want to set each individually.

Aside from the standard Scene modes such as Portrait, Scenery, Beach, Snow, and Sports which are available on the FZ18, there are also the Advanced Scene Modes, which provide sub-options such as Normal, Soft Skin, Outdoor, Indoor, and Creative for Portrait mode. Similar Advanced Scene Modes options are also available for Scenery, Sports, and Night Portrait Advanced Scene Modes.

Storage and Battery

The Panasonic FZ18 uses SH/SDHC/MMC media cards. The camera comes with 27MB of internal memory, which gets you a single RAW file or a half-dozen high-quality (low compression) 8-megapixel images. It is powered by a proprietary lithium-ion battery. The Panasonic FZ18's CIPA rating is 400 shots per charge - using the electronic viewfinder.

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Olympus VR-330/320 14MP CCD Compact Superzoom Digital Cameras

 Re-Living the CCD Sensor - A look back at a pair of Olympus VR-series compact superzoom digital cameras with CCD sensors.

Early digital cameras, colloquially referred to as digicams, and later compacts and superzooms that were profusing the market before the days of smartphones, are inadvertently fitted with CCD sensors as the heart of their system. CCD sensors are well known for the high-quality images that come with a different look and feel, sometimes said to be film-like, when compared to images captured on current CMOS sensors. Cameras like these are still plentiful and available today, all for the wanting.

On that notion, I asked Bing AI, a straight question, "Are CCD Sensors The Alternative To Film?", and the answer was an equivocal;

"Yes, CCD sensors are an alternative to film. CCD cameras are up to 100 times more sensitive than film and have a greater dynamic range, capturing both faint and bright details in a single exposure..."

For those who are up to the challenge, and the fulfillment that can be derived, digital cameras fitted with CCD sensors are available in abundance at the auctions, available at very low prices, with some needing only a new battery or charger and a small capacity SD card to get it going. I believe that the low start you are embarking on is a real saving, and the results you will be getting are mind-blowing.

A pair of such cameras worth looking at is the Olympus VR-330 and VR-320 14MP CCD sensor compact superzoom from Olympus's Small Sensor Superzoom class camera series.

Olympus VR-330 and VR-320 Compact Superzooms

The Olympus VR-330 and VR-320, a pair of 14MP compact superzooms with a small CCD sensor (6,17 x 4,55 mm), were launched by Olympus in 2010 (VR-320), and the VR-330 in 2011. Both cameras are fitted with an Olympus-made 24-300mm F3.0~5.9 equivalent zoom lens and have features that include 720p HD recording, image stabilization, Olympus's Magic filters, an HD output, and a 3.0-inch fixed-type LCD display.

The Olympus VR employs a contrast-detection autofocus system that includes a face-detection function linked to both the autoexposure and autofocus systems. The function is capable of locating up to eight faces in the image frame simultaneously. The AF system also allows tracking a subject as it moves around the frame, once a lock is achieved. A Shadow Adjustment function is included to help restore detail in shaded areas without blowing out the highlights in high-contrast scenes.

The cameras are also capable of capturing high-definition 720p videos at 15 or 30 frames per second, using AVI Motion JPEG compression. Connectivity options include USB 2.0 High-Speed data, composite standard definition video output, and Type-D Mini HDMI high-definition video output. The HDMI connection includes HDMI-CEC (Consumer Electronic Control) support.

Menu System

The Menu System of the VR-330, selectable from the LCD display, lists an additional 4 exposure modes (Scene, Magic, Panorama, and 3D) selection aside from the Program Auto and IAuto (Intelligent Auto) mode which can automatically select the correct mode from a subset of either Portrait, Landscape, Night + Portrait, Macro, or Sports. The VR-320 is missing the 3D Exposure Mode selection.

Selection of the menu system is via the Arrow Pad, Left and Right arrows for Mode Selection, and Up and Down arrows for Mode options.

While the IAuto (Intelligent Auto) mode allows you to adjust the parameters for Flash ON/OFF and Self-Timer Mode options, the Program Mode allows you to adjust the parameters for Flash ON/OFF, Macro, Self-Timer, Exposure Compensation, White Balance, ISO sensitivity, and Shot Sequence options.

The Scene Mode lets you set the camera setting for Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene, Night+Portrait, Sport, Indoor, Candle, Self Portrait, Sunset, Fireworks, Cusine, Documents, Beach & Snow, and Pets.

The Magic Mode lets you opt between either of the 7 Sparkle options listed, Flash Auto/Off, Macro Modes, Self-Timer Modes, Exposure Compensation, and WB (White Balance).

In Panorama Mode the options available are Macro Modes, Self-Timer Modes, Exposure Compensation, and WB (White Balance).

In 3D Mode (not available on the VR-320) you have the option of setting the Exposure Compensation option.

In Use

While holding the camera up with both hands when framing the image and releasing the shutter is the way to go, placing the camera on a form of support, or a mini tripod grip mount, may give you steadier shots when faced with odd picture-taking moments.

Early Images

The Olympus VR-330 lets you shoot images with a maximum resolution of 4288 x 3216 pixels 4:3 and 16:9 image aspect ratios, The camera has a native ISO range of 80 - 1600, and a fixed type 3.00-inch LCD screen with a resolution of 460k dots. Videos, which I do not do much at all, at the highest resolution of 1280 x 720 at 30 fps saved in Motion JPEG format.

Memories of an Everlasting Journey

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