Olympus C-1400XL (1998)

The Olympus C-1400XL was announced 1998-09-10 and demonstrated it at the Photokina '98. The camera was of course based on the C-1400L but still offered a lot of improvements like easier handling and more creative control. This means that it included new shooting functions, manual white balance control, flash exposure compensation, quick focus function and a flash synchronization socket for an external flash unit. In the sequence mode the camera could record up to five frames in 3.3 sec. The camera had a huge internal memory buffer that would allow the user to take up to 5 images in full resolution before the camera would process them. A new shooting function minimized the interval between shots while the battery saving mode minimized power consumption. Also the body color was slightly brighter than the C-1400L. The only negative thing was the missing video out port and the poor quality of the LCD screen.
 
Together with this model Olympus introduced the Camedia P-330 digital color printer. This came in handy because the user could select up to 30 frames for direct printing in the camera. The C-1400XL was offered for the same price as the C-1400L one year earlier. Although both cameras did not have interchangeable lenses, they still were DSLRs. In the US the camera was called D-620L.
 
Little fun fact here, the guy who was responsible for developing the C-1400XL was Hiroyuki Watanabe, Group Chief Senior Engineer at Olympus. Above you can see a pic of a partially dismantled C-1400XL as well as an official sample pic from Olympus.
 
All images © digicammuseum.com except sample image © Olympus Corp and interior shot © Impress Corp. Japan

Specifications

  • Brand: Olympus
  • Model: C-1400XL
  • First mentioned: 1998
  • Marketed: yes
  • MSRP: $1,000 - $1,200
  • Imager Type: 1.31MP 2/3" CCD
  • Resolution: 1280x1024
  • Internal Storage: -
  • External Storage: SmartMedia
  • Lens: f=9.2-28 mm /F2.8-F3.9
  • Shutter: 1/4s - 1/10,000s
  • Aperture Range: F2.8,F5.6 (wide) / F3.9,F7.8 (tele)
  • LCD screen size: 1.8" TFT LCD
  • Size: 130 x 115 x 83mm
  • Weight: 470 gr.
  • Remarks: -

The Digital Camera Museum
© 2023 digicammuseum.com
Disclaimer & Copyright Notice