Olympus C-700 10X Optical Zoom Digital Camera $250 at OfficeMax

[Sesopedalian]

Originally posted by: NazzyG
This is an awesome deal. I think I'm gonna go ahead and get it. I did searches on the internet and couldn't find this model for anything near $300 (new). The brand is one that I trust, the specs are great, and the price is the lowest I've seen.

Any opinions before I go out and shoot a $250 wad on this new toy?

A camera has sensitive electronics, so try not to shoot any wads on it, however, you may not be able to resist when you see how beautiful the 10X pictures look. At Target they have these small cheap tripods that may fit. Great for shooting animals in the yard from a window. People sitting on the fence on this deal, remember that there are many lurkers that don't post who are snapping this great deal up as you read this.

 

[fornax]

I also have Canon A40 and in my personal opinion, the A40 has slightly better optics than the Olympus. But I couldn't resist the 10X optical zoom

 

[Hobit]

Originally posted by: NazzyG
This is an awesome deal. I think I'm gonna go ahead and get it. I did searches on the internet and couldn't find this model for anything near $300 (new). The brand is one that I trust, the specs are great, and the price is the lowest I've seen.

Any opinions before I go out and shoot a $250 wad on this new toy?

Well, another choice could be the Minolta F100. It is small, light, sturdy (aluminum casing), cool-looking, and 4 megapixels. I got Staples to priced match to Digitaletailer.com and with $40 off code and got it shipped for $328.00. I received the camera last week and love it. My last digital camera was a Minolta s303 and I upgraded to the F100 because I don't like to carry anything bulky around. Small size is the way to go. Anything big and bulky is reserved for the the professionals who really know what to do with them.

 

[spanky]

dayam! 10x opt zoom?!?!?! :Q

 

[blstriker]

I have this camera and I love it. Once you use 10x optical zoom, it's hard to use regular cameras! Here are a bunch of pictures i've taken at USC football games. The ones in 2002 are with this c-700 camera. The pictures are not exactly the way the camera took it because the software I use to generate the webpages recompress the pictures, sometimes with worse results.

Sample pictures from the c-700

 

[DeviousTrap]

That zoom sure is great. However, this camera is not the fastest when taking pictures and a sport games but most shots look perfect. Unfortunatly it is not as small as I would like

 

[Greg03]

i like kodak. i have a kodak 4800 that i use MUCH more than my olympus 3000

Me too, but my glaucoma explains my choice...what's your excuse?
Seriously, the picture quality, which is my #1 factor in deciding what digicam to buy. The 4800 is garbage. I have an S30 and a G2 and would trade the 1MP for the better pics any day (in the s30). But...the kodak is good for people who aren't real comfy with all the buttons and bows.

 

[stockjock]

Just want to put out a big ThanK you to fornax for putting this up....I've been waiting to get a decent one of these digicams with good optical_ zoom . I got this exact deal. I called the local Officemax found out they did have it for $299.99, then I called the online ordering number and got a very nice CSR, Karen. She did the pricematch with no problem and then let me tack on my 50 off 250.

 

[LiQiCE]

I've owned this camera for over a year now and my only gripes about the camera (and they are very very minor ones at that), is the camera takes a few seconds to power up, because the lens has to come out, the camera takes a few seconds to recover from a flash (but most cameras have this limitation), the camera suffers from some pretty bad chroma effect (anything shiny like metal will have a purple haze to it) ... (most cameras with a large optical zoom built in have this problem), the lack of image stability assist for 10x Zoom shots that don't look all jumpy, and the fact that the viewfinder is impossible to see through in room lighting because it is an actual mini-lcd instead of a normal optical viewfinder ... in fact if you press the shutter down halfway the camera takes power away from the mini-lcd and the image becomes even darker ... this makes shots very difficult to line up if you're taking a picture of lets say a pet that doesn't always stay still for pictures

Everything else on the camera is great, 2.1 Megapixels imho is good enough unless you're printing out bigger than 8x10 pictures, or need to use "digital zoom" (why would you want to when you have 10x optical though?) ... It takes amazing outdoor shots, is fairly decent in low lighting shots without a flash, and has a manual mode that lets you change virtually everything ... It also can take and buffer about 10 or so high quality shots before it fills up and needs to write to the memory card (this only works on pictures taken w/o the flash, since the flash takes long enough to recharge that the picture is already written to the card by then).

Check out Steve's Digicams for a review of this camera ... Its fairly in depth and he explains some of the problems I've mentioned in more depth.


Don't forget if you buy this camera to get good NiMH batteries! This thing will NOT run on alkalines! (When I tried, it would take about 3 pictures and then the batteries would die!) The included non-rechargable Li-Ion battery lasts around 200-300 shots or so, but after that you'll need NiMHs to get by! A good set of 1800mAh NiMH batteries lasts around 100-150 shots, and then its just a matter of recharging them!

BTW- As mentioned above, the Olympus C-730 is replacing this camera, with its 3 Megapixel/10x Optical Zoom lens. So if you want more megapixel, get that camera instead. It will cost you more money though of course!

 

[ajf3]

Looks like a great deal... just keep in mind that it's hard to take good shots at 10X zoom without some form of image stabilization. I believe Olympus makes a higher end version of this camera with IS. I used to have a Sony Mavica with 10X zoom and it was great but it was a real effort to keep the camera steady when shooting at full zoom.

This is misleading - it's 10x zoom shots come out excellent in bright daylight (ie, a soccer game) - even with fast panning movement. The only time I run into blurring is in low-light / high-zoom situations - I carry a little pen tripod for those situations, when the shutter speed drops down to 1/2s.

 

[petalfly]

I ordered one from internet shopping of Officemax, And I filled the price match form by email, but they reply there is only one in the store I provide, they can't pricematch for me, Is there anyone got the pricematch for c-700

 

[donald78]

i just went to check it out at officemax.com, and it says "Sorry, This product is currently unavailable"

and when i try to click add to cart, it says "Product 20056369 available in retail stores only"

is this deal dead???

 

[GregFish]

It is still availabe in stores, but for 299. I purchased one today. Works great!

 

[donald78]

which store.. i mean what city and state... i'm going to need to price match it... my OM is still selling it for 499.

thanks

 

[unclebud]

they shouldn't be... it said "closeout" in big letters on the flyer i saw ($299 this afternoon)... maybe some om are dragging their feet on updating the system? *shrugs*
i wanna know the guy who said the 4800 was garbage, where was he when threads were being locked left and right and there was LITERALLY a forum frenzy to get THAT cam? don't let me speculate whatever dude. and saying the 4800 doesn't have options, then what does that big knob on the top do? eject?
READ THE MANUAL. then at least one MIGHT know what they're bashing...

 

[GregFish]

Store was in Columbus, OH on Broad St. I think they had more in stock too.

 

[Mpowered]

Thanks formax! I got one this morning for $250 + tax. I called the store to check price and availability (they had 1 left), printed out the $50 off $250 page, took it to the store (Phoenix,AZ 9st/bell) and bought it. I'm very impressed with its 10x zoom. The only feature it lacks is image stabalization.

Now to see which one I have to get rid of. This camera or my Canon A40.

 

[fornax]

I dropped by the store today and got the actual flyer. If anyone wants a scan, PM me. The deal ends Nov. 30.

 

[BOYOBOY]

None of the stores in Oregon have this camera. If anyone doesn't want this camera, i am interested in buying.

 

[audscott]

Originally posted by: BOYOBOY
None of the stores in Oregon have this camera. If anyone doesn't want this camera, i am interested in buying.

I checked mall 205 & Milaukie with no luck - but did find a demo at the Vancouver, WA store - so I got that with an additional 10% off - basically negating the tax I wouldn't had have in BEAUTIFUL SALESTAX FREE OREGON.

Thanks for the deal...now all we need is a 128 MB memory card deal.

 

[WheelsCSM]

Hmm. Just tried getting in on this deal, and the OM website doesn't even st the C-700 under its digital cameras section. I ran a search and found it, but then when I clicked on it, it said the item was unavailable. Guess I'm too late...

 

[audscott]

This is an "in store" special - you have to either go to or cll your local OM.

 

[Tigger2k]

GregFish,

I see that I have a fellow ATer wandering the stores of Columbus. Also, I am glad to see that you are not in the same area (based on where you picked up this deal).

I am still on the edge as to whether I should get this camera or consider the 720UZ or 730UZ. Any assistance is appreciated.

Tigger2K

 

[hiking]

Originally posted by: GregFish
Store was in Columbus, OH on Broad St. I think they had more in stock too.

how can you print out 50 off 250 coupon and use at local store? I can only find officemax.com coupon on internet

 

[Garet]

Hey,

I tried to get a pricematch on this yesterday - called officemax.com after finding it in a local store, howerver csr said its out of stock/discontinued. Now debating whether to pick it up from the store or go for an A40.