Once the shooting parameters are set the C7070 is close to perfection. Focus is fast and accurate; white balance and exposure are excellent; operation is quick with no noticeable shutter lag; the 7 megapixel sensor produces beautifully smooth images; skin tones and textures are exemplary. Macro is brilliant. This camera is so good that it would have earned a perfect score except for one thing -- the miserable user’s manual. (See Dislike That)

To get the Olympus C7070 to remember preferred settings they must be set in a thing called My Mode. Most serious cameras automatically return to the last used parameter set, but not the Olympus. In its native mode it returns to factory defaults every time -- auto everything. At first this was an irritation but after a while the logic of the system became apparent. With most cameras it is easy to forget what parameters have been set last time the camera is used and to fire away with incorrect white balance setting or exposure compensation still set to plus or minus a stop or two. The My Mode setup means that the camera can be set to always revert to default preferred settings.

Like this: This camera is a serious photographic tool and the quality of construction and the feel of the controls are ahead of its competitors.

The C7070 comes with a soft case which is unusual in digital cameras.

Dislike that: The user manual is supplied on disc as a 222 page pdf. The owner must print and bind his own manual! At $1099 and for a complex camera this is ridiculous.

Parting shot: In this category of 7 megapixel, optical viewfinder cameras there are three brilliant contenders -- the Olympus, the Canon G6 and the Sony DSC-V3. The Sony is $400 more expensive. The Canon has a faster lens which is not as wide but is longer than the Olympus. Choosing is difficult, but no matter what choice is made it is not wrong.

OLYMPUS Australia has just reduced the RRP for the C7070 to $999.The Sony DSCV3 price has also dropped to $1099, the same as the Canon G6. Three superb cameras at about the same price. Competition is wonderful!

[See the sample images from the OLYMPUS C7070 here]