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October 4, 2006 New Camera From Olympus
The new Olympus Stylus 750 (Olympus, www.olympus.com, $399) is a compact digital camera that’s a marvel of technology. The camera incorporates many advanced features and usability functions yet employs an easy to use point-and-shoot format. The basic features include 7.1 megapixel resolution, which can produce excellent 8x10 enlargements and even poster-sized prints, image stabilization, 5X optical zoom (plus 6X digital zoom), and a 2.5 inch LCD display that makes it easier to frame your photo and share pictures with others. Although the camera is not waterproof, it is weather-proof (sealed against moisture and dust), so it’s a perfect companion on vacation or watching sports events even in inclement weather. Also included are a custom lithium-ion rechargeable battery and recharger, USB and A/V cables, wrist strap, Olympus Master software and a printed 80-page user manual. The camera has some internal memory that will store a few photos but can use xD memory cards for additional photo storage. Fifteen control buttons operate the Olympus Stylus 750. The Mode dial has five positions: shooting, playback, movie, scene and guide. The guide position displays a helpful Shooting Guide menu that can be used to automatically set the camera for many different shooting situations, such as brightening the subject, shooting into backlight, blurring background or adjusting image quality. One of the many helpful menu items is the adjusting image quality selection, which provides plain English choices such as "large print quality," "postcard quality" or "web/email quality," and not the obscure (for a lot of us) 3072x2304 or SHQ, standard or low compression designations. The Scene position of the mode dial allows setting for 23 different scenes, each of which shows a thumbnail picture and a brief description. For example, the Landscape setting shows a lake/mountain/forest thumbnail and the description: "For shooting landscapes. Vivid reproduction of blues and greens." Or Candle displays a candlelight thumbnail and the description: "For shooting under candlelight. Warm colors are reproduced." Other scenes include Fireworks, Sports, Museum, Cuisine (really!), Behind Glass, Documents, Shoot and select, Underwater (need a waterproof case for this), or Beach and Snow. Movie position of the mode dial allows filming video clips with sound in QuickTime format at 15 frames per second (fps) in three different resolutions. Length of video depends on resolution and the size of the memory card. Zoom cannot be changed during filming and the 15 fps shows a slight jerkiness to the movie.
The Image Stabilization feature is on by default but can be turned on/off by one of the dedicated buttons. With stabilization on, an electro-mechanical gyroscopic system actually moves the image sensor to compensate for photographer motion and, in addition, the camera sets a higher ISO sensitivity and faster shutter speed. We found that the Image Stabilization system worked well in average light or outdoor shooting but actually made photos blurrier in low light situations. The LCD display is bright enough for framing most photos and compensates for low light shooting using what Olympus calls "Bright Capture Technology," allowing you to frame photos even in very low light. The display, however, suffers from a problem common to many LCD displays: in very bright light, especially sunlight, it is very difficult and in some cases impossible to see the image on the display. The result is that you find yourself shooting blind, and there’s no viewfinder to fall back on. Olympus suggests using the histogram display to help compensate for this problem. The Olympus Stylus 750 provides several useful in-camera editing functions, including red-eye removal. Select your red-eyed photo, pick the menu option to remove red-eye, and presto--it’s gone. Worked great for us, with the fixed photo automatically saved as a new file. In-camera editing also provides for adding a frame to any photo, or creating a label or a calendar. Very cool. And the result is also saved as a new file. You can also change a photo to black and white or sepia tone or change brightness and color saturation. All this without a PC.
If you need more editing functions, use the included Olympus Master software for PC or Mac computer. Using the software, you can download photos from the camera into your PC, categorize and display them by calendar or keyword, select photos for further editing or create and share projects such as cards, calendars or web/e-mail. The software is a bit complex and requires some learning time, but an online 422-page user manual is included to help. The camera offers automatic or manual adjustments for exposure, flash, white balance, and ISO. You can choose single or sequential shots, auto or center spot focusing, silent mode and panorama mode (requires Olympus xD card). Shutter speed and lens aperture are auto only. We put the camera to the test at a recent family outing and a high-school football game (in the rain) and were pleased with the results. The photos were sharp and well saturated, and color balance seemed satisfactory. The compact size (4x2x1 inch) makes it easily portable, and we didn’t worry about the rain. The positives of the camera are its 5X zoom, all-weather stylish design, solid metal construction and many ease-of-use features. The negatives were not being able to frame or view photos in bright sunlight, lack of a viewfinder and its sometimes OK image stabilizer. |
