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Photograph: Rick Rizner
Olympus Stylus 800 Digital Camera
Pricing
$229.99 From 1 Vendor Get Best Prices »
- Spec Navigator
- Digital Format
- Display
- Exposure
- Image Processor
- Included Hardware
- Included Software
- Lens
- Shutter
- Storage
- LCD Screen
- Exposure Controls
- Dimensions
- Power
- Flash
- Lens Features
- Connectivity
- Other Features
Image Processor
| Number of image sensor pixels | 8 megapixels |
| Image sensor | CCD |
| Maximum horizontal image resolution | 3264 |
| Maximum vertical image resolution | 2448 |
| Image sensor quantity | 1 |
| Image format | JPEG |
| White balance | 0 |
Included Hardware
| Included Hardware |
|
Included Software
| Included Software | Olympus Master Image Editing Softwareadvanced instruction manual. |
Lens
| Accessory Lens | 0 |
| Lens Model | Olympus 3X |
| Telephoto Aperture Maximum | 4.9 mm |
| Wide-Angle Aperture Maximum | 2.8 mm |
Exposure Controls
| Maximum shutter speed | 2000 |
| Minimum shutter speed | 4 |
| Bulb setting | 0 |
| ISO equivalencies |
|
| Exposure settings | 0 |
| Exposure compensation range | 0 |
| Number of scene modes | 19 |
PCWorld Rating, December 28, 2005
5 User Reviews Add your own »
$229.99
From 1 Vendor
Get Best Prices »
- Lab Tested
- How We Test Cameras »
Pros
Very high image quality
Stylish design and water resistance
Cons
On-screen guides are cumbersome
Bottom Line
Stylish, well-designed camera offers terrific image quality, is water-resistant, and has a big, bright LCD screen.
Olympus Stylus 800
Stylus 800 Digital Camera Review, by Richard Baguley November 22, 2005
At just over one and a quarter inches thick, the $450 Olympus Stylus 800 is not the smallest or thinnest camera we've seen, but it is still impressively small and packs a lot of features into a svelte system. The aluminum case is well designed and should be tough enough to protect the camera from the knocks it's likely to receive when you stick it in your pocket. It has a built-in lens cover; it also has rounded corners and no bits sticking out that could get caught on something when you whip it out for a quick snap. It's pretty quick to start up, as well: It's ready to take pictures in about 2 seconds. Olympus describes the case as all-weather, meaning that it should keep out small amounts of water. It doesn't mean you can use the camera under water, but it should be fine for use by the pool or at the beach--places most other digital cameras fear to go.
Gripping the small case might be a bit uncomfortable for those with large hands, but the camera should suit most users, with the zoom falling naturally under the thumb and the shutter under the index finger. You'll need two hands to use the other controls (such as the mode dial and menu buttons), though. On the left side of the LCD are buttons that allow you to view the last picture taken, change the display mode, and set the timer. A Guide button takes you to a number of on-screen help files that show you how to shoot in various situations (such as adjusting the area in focus or shooting at night).
This is an interesting idea, but it doesn't work very well: The guides are only a single screen each, and they pack too much information into too small a space. There's also no way to have the guide on screen when you're making the suggested change--touch any button, and the guide vanishes. The 2.5-inch LCD screen is big and bright, and looks fairly good in daylight. The colors get rather washed out in the bright sun, but the display is good enough to allow you to check if you've got the shot you're after.
We were able to get very good pictures from the Stylus 800 in our lab tests, with nice color and exposure in shots both with and without the flash. The images did seem a little too sharp in some cases, though: On our test of text on a white background, the text had a halo around it, caused by the camera overzealously applying a sharpening algorithm--something you can't control.
The images were relatively noise-free, although, naturally, some noise does become evident when you raise the ISO sensitivity of the camera. The Stylus 800 is unusual in that it can go up to 1600 ISO--much higher than the 400 rating that most point-and-shoot cameras allow. Another useful feature is the blur-reduction mode, which significantly diminishes the blur in an image where the camera or subject is moving, but at a cost: The maximum image size is reduced to 2048 by 1536 pixels (about 3.1 megapixels).
Battery life was pretty good, with the rechargeable 1230-mAh lithium ion battery allowing us to take 366 shots with the camera over 201 minutes. That's easily enough for a weekend trip. You can't use any other type of battery in this camera, but a spare will cost you only $25.
Upshot: Whether you like the serenity of the poolside or the rough and tumble of the beach, the Stylus 800 lets you take pictures without worrying about a splash of water or the surf and sand.
Richard Baguley
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PCWorld Lab Results
- Rating Breakdown
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90
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72
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82
- See Complete Lab Results »
Performance Comparison with Similar Cameras
90
77
75
81
Performance
| Battery Life (minutes) | 201 |
| Battery Life Score | Very Good |
| Image Quality Score | Superior |
| Image Quality, Color | 62.4 |
| Image Quality, Distortion | 63.3 |
| Image Quality, Exposure | 63.4 |
| Image Quality, Exposure--Flash | 61.1 |
| Image Quality, Exposure--Normal | 64.4 |
| Image Quality, Overall | 58 |
| Image Quality, Sharpness | 52.8 |
| Number of Batteries | 1 |
| Number of Shots | 366 |
User Reviews
Review Now! Already own it? Tell us What You Think
User Reviews From Around the Web
-
Reviewed by: skothari
Strengths: wide screen; multiple modes for shooting; easy to use
Weaknesses: in night mode, picture quality is poor
Overall: does not come with x-D picture card (have to purchase separately). Can be used during drizzle or rain also as camera is all weather proof (however you need to be careful)
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Reviewed by: laidbacklarkin
Strengths: good all round performance
Weaknesses: none
Overall: great quality pics. Water proof. 8MP CCD. light weight. HyperCrystal LCD. 2.5" Display. Great price. Took it on a recent trip to the Canyon and was very impressed with picture quality. Need anything else be said ?
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Reviewed by: petvetmom1
Strengths: ease of use, on board instructions, all weather camera
Weaknesses: No viewfinder
Overall: I bought this camera for Christmas. I also bought a JVC Everio HDD video camera. It turns out that the Olympus, with a 1 gig card, takes much better videos than the more expensive Everio. This little camera takes beautiful snapshots, has a large variety of specialized settings, allows playback with sound of movies taken, has a huge amount of capacity with 1 gig card, very long battery life even with a lot of use. It is sturdy, great LCD display, very powerful flash. I truly love it. I would and have recommended it to family and friends. The more expensive Everio is its box in my closet, we haven't needed to use it since we got the Olympus 800. By the way, the prints come out lovely, and I even made a poster size print of a picture taken at a concert--it came out great!!The Olympus 800 will not disappoint you.
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Reviewed by: grizzo
Strengths: resolution, ISO sensitivity digital zoom,light,small
Weaknesses: none major
Overall: very good camera,many modes to control picture, good display quality/size limited size/weight.might be best to add 1GB of memory for the video/ many high resolution pictures.
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Reviewed by: jiexu521
Strengths: Big LCD,high resulution,convinient mode change, unique operation guidance
Weaknesses: Uses expensive xD cards,optical zoom is only a 3x.
Overall: I got this baby this week and played with it for some time. Compared with my previous Canon SD400, it has a much bigger LCD which make viewfinding very comfortable. But most of buttons are kind of small, especially the power button. It is light and has a nice shape. In all, it is very good camera that takes excellent pictures.
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