Mount Olympus – Beau Photo Supplies Inc.

Seeing as I wrote about an Olympus camera in my last blog, lightning strikes twice as I wish to highlight another Olympus camera that rewound me back twenty years. Despite its age, its ergonomics and quality still hold up as I take it with me on my lunch break. I spend my thirty-minute noon respite (plus or minus five minutes of walking time) in the sanctuary that is downward 8th Avenue and west of Hemlock, up the stairs past the parking garage entrance. The stone fountain to your right, the expansive patch of grass, the set of stone steps where workers sunbathe in their office garb, all complete the picture of what the lunch break can to be: green, and yellow, and blue, with air whipping the scent of the overcooked risotto in your Tupperware. I don’t cook risotto, but I can. Past the steps, facing North, is another hideaway: four benches line this secluded spot. If you seek shade and complete focus on your sandwich (and I focus on my sandwich: cheese, Genoa salami, cucumbers) this nook is to the perfect retreat, to what the CCD camera is to the classic lofi summer.

The camera was released in the same month as Mario’s “Let Me Love You,” so let me cover what I love about this camera: its boxy, rectangular magnesium alloy body that’s comfortable to hold, and its swiveling, almost dancing viewfinder. The C7070 has an option for an onboard flash, offers an excellent macro mode for capturing summer sunflowers, quick start-up time, and gorgeous saturated colours straight out of the camera. It offers the lo-fi look that you can only recreate with CCD sensors. The camera shoots in JPEG at three different compression settings, uncompressed TIFF and even in RAW!

CCD cameras are popular (and rightly so) in part because of the richness of their colour palette that appears closer to film than that of CMOS sensors that populate every smart phone on the planet. The image softness and the way highlights tend to roll of into the shadows are features that have returned users back twenty years. Plus, the tactile joy of buttons and dials, of which the C7070 has plenty of, is unforgettable.

The photos that I have included here are straight out of the camera, no editing, no Photoshop, no dark room hoobie doobie.

I’ll list the tech basics taken from dpreview.com

Body type	Compact
Max resolution	3072 x 2304
Effective pixels	7 Megapixels
Sensor size	1/1.8″ (7.144 x 5.358 mm)
Sensor type	CCD
ISO	Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400
Focal length (equiv.)	27–110 mm
Max aperture	F2.8–4.8
Screen size	1.8″
Screen dots	130,000
Max shutter speed	1/4000 sec
Storage types	xD Picture Card, Compact Flash I/II
USB	USB 1.0 (1.5 Mbit/sec)
Weight (inc. batteries)	480 g (1.06 lb / 16.93 oz)
Dimensions	116 x 87 x 66 mm (4.57 x 3.43 x 2.6″)

If only summer would stick around another two months, there are plenty of outdoor activities to be had. CCD cameras are perfect and compact to take with you in your tote bag to the beach, to the campground, or to stroll about the city with your friends doing nothing but eating overpriced gelatto at the bottom of Davie St.

If you’ve set your eyes on the Olympus C7070, we have one in mint condition (and the only one we’ve ever had) for $350.

And recently we have received another dose of CCD camera consignments that sit on the shelf before our film fridge. I don’t often recommend, but when I do, I would recommend that you stop by and see what other point-and-shoot cameras will let you love them.

Boris Riabov

Found Treasure

Old But Still Good - Film Developing Tanks