The latest addition to Olympus' compact range has a 4.1Megapixel CCD along with many new features. With the E-10, Olympus challenged the lower-end of the professional digital camera market with its true 4Megapixel sensor.

It's now one of the first to offer a compact 4.1Megapixel camera in the higher-end of the consumer market.

As the successor to the 3.3Megapixel C-3040ZOOM, the camera retains the same body shape and key features, but adds a noise reduction mode, an image enlargement system and a completely revamped programmable menu system.

Physically, it resembles a compact 35mm camera. A retractable 3X zoom lens protrudes only slightly further than the rather rugged handgrip, which adds to the camera's comfortable, well-balanced feel.

Although easy to use and equipped with a fully automatic mode, the C-4040ZOOM offers many advanced features, such as multi-spot metering, auto bracketing, infrared remote control and external flash sync.

Shutter speeds range from 16 seconds to 1/800th with four shooting modes, including a full manual option. There's also a range of additional accessories and lens adapters.

The camera uses the same recently introduced f/1.8 lens as the C-3040ZOOM, which offers improved brightness over previous models. This delivers a zoom range equivalent to a 35 to 105mm lens on a 35mm camera.

One common problem with digital cameras is noise in the CCD. This often shows up in images as random coloured speckles, especially in dark sections. The camera's noise reduction system helps to lower this by taking two exposures and subtracting one from the other.

In previous usability tests, some found Olympus' menu system rather difficult to operate. However, the C-4040ZOOM offers an improved interface that places frequently used options at the first page. You can also program the interface to keep your favourite controls handy at all times. PC connectivity is via the included USB cable and Olympus' own Camedia Master 2.5 utility software.

The 2,272 by 1,704-pixel images look stunning. Our only criticism is of the occasional appearance of some chromatic aberration at the image edges.

Olympus' new Optimum Image Enlargement system interpolates images internally up to a maximum 3,200 by 2,400 pixels, which is the ideal resolution for printing at A4 on Olympus' P-400 printer.

Storage is supplied by SmartMedia cards, with a 16Mb card as standard. Also included is a pair of high-capacity Lithium batteries. No mains adapter is included.

Contact: Olympus 0800 072 0070
www.olympus.co.uk/consumer/digimg/