Olympus Stylus 1030SW 10.1MP Digital Camera with 3.6x Optical Wide Angle Zoom (Silver) by Olympus
|
Our Price: $599.99 Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $325.00 (click here) Category: Digital Camera See more digital camera details and other models |
|---|
Digital camera reviews of Olympus Stylus 1030SW 10.1MP Digital Camera with 3.6x Optical Wide Angle Zoom (Silver)
Digital camera Review: Fantastic Point & Shoot!!
Summary: 5 Stars
I've owned this little camera for about a year now, and it is FANTASTIC!! I let my three year old daughter play with it ALL the time (she's becoming a shutterbug,) even in the bathtub, and my 15 year old takes it on Boy Scout campouts. I never have to worry about it, except for fear of losing it. Loaded with features, great photos, waterproof, freezeproof and shockproof! What more can you ask for in a camera for versatility?? I carry it DAILY, because it is so convenient.
About nine months into the ownership, I had to send it back to Olympus for service because when recording video, there was always a popping noise present. It had done that since purchasing it new and never really bothered me, but I DID want to get it fixed before the warranty ran out. They repaired it promptly and returned it. NO other complaints or problems! :)
Digital camera Review: Final Thoughts - Great camera for what it's meant to do. Good enough outside of the water.
Summary: 3 Stars
***Edit #2 - After using the camera a lot more, including in my pool, i've upgraded my rating to a 4 star. The underwater capabilities of this camera are great. Great photo quality (clearer the water, the better). Survivability of camera is also great. So far, 2 trips to the pool, approximately 30 min of consistent time under the water, including me jumping into the pool with the camera running - no significant issues so far. Quality of pics are great. Clear water provides great range. You can see the other end of the pool from the opposite end clearly. You will occasionally get bubbles that form on the lens and therefore, your image will contain this bubble, but, crap happens. the bubbles did not stay on the camera and that's what's important. I took a video of myslef jumping into the pool - no degradation in image quality nor issues with camera functionality. Worked great. No sound though for underwater movie mode - but it makes sense since otherwise, all you'd hear is water swooshing. You're not buying this camera to listen to whales after all.
***
I've had this camera for a little over two weeks. Bought it so that i can take underwater images when in Hawaii. Haven't tried out the waterproof aspect yet, but can go ahead and give some insight into the quality of its normal pics.
10 mp camera, but is limited to 3 mp images when shooting on some of the preset modes (scenes) - specifically candlelight images and other night-time image settings. If you don't use the scene options, your images can be maxed at the 10 mp setting. Night images using scene (candlelight) were pretty grainy, so i'd avoid using that setting.
Normal daytime images were good. Crisp and clear. From power to first image - is really quick. However, taking one image at 10 mp causes a delay before you can take the next image of ~2 seconds. Unless you use the burst mode. 3-shot burst allows for 10 mp images, whereas the super 12 shot mode caps it again at 3 mp images.
People have written that the lcd screen is easy to see in any light from any angle. I discovered that this is not true. Taking an image into the sun (i know this isn't recommended) while holding the camera up high (which people will use when at weddings to shoot over people's heads) leads to glare. I had to guess what i was shooting at. I'd say image visibility on the lcd was ~50% when doing this.
Even given the above, i still like the camera a lot. Looks nice. Takes panoramic photos, battery lasts forever. Used it on and off for 4 days before it finally warned me of being low. Be careful b/c the battery indicator is deceiving. It said full for most of the time and then jumped to warning quick on me. Didn't even notice any intermediate indication position.
I give it a 3 for now until i go and try out the underwater capability.
Edit #1: Forgot to mention that the menus are pretty easy to use. Scrolling wheel menu cycles between the different options. One touch photo preview. Icons are easy to understand.
I've tried using the macro and super macro - works really well. Good detail on the close images.
One other con though - could not for the life of me figure out how to get the face detection to work. I swear that it'll sometimes follow a face and sometimes it'll target a random cup. I don't yet see an option in any of the menus that allows me to force it to do face rec every shot. Not a huge issue - but it's a spec that is being advertised, therefore i expect it to work.
Digital camera Review: Flawed
Summary: 2 Stars
The screen stopped working before a dozen pictures were taken. The warranty does not cover the shipping. Very expensive and disappointing.Digital camera Review: Fuzzy Fotos
Summary: 1 Stars
This is a terrible camera, of my 500 photos taken over 3/4 of them were out of focus and fuzzy. Photos that were posed and up close were fuzzy - not just action shots. We are returning this camera.Digital camera Review: Good camera, not problem free
Summary: 4 Stars
For the most part this is a good camera. I bought it for it's durability and compactness. The photos are quality, the camera is easy to use and it has a lot of nice photo options. Panarama mode is not perfect, but nice. You can edit photos right on the camera. This was a great purchase for what I wanted...a good second camera for extreme winter conditions. My complaints are the following: Battery life: By the end of the day, I was already getting a message battery was low...disappointment when you have to ration your photo selection. Speed of use: When you are in the SCN mode, everytime you turn the camera on, you have to confirm that you want that setting. I kept the camera in Landscape mode and everytime I turned it on, I had to answer "yes" I wanted to be in that mode. Also, any changes I made to this setting (like light balance), I had to reset every time I turned the camera on. Also, the flip open cover is nice, but it easily slides open and turns the camera on as you slide it into your pocket.
Don't get me wrong. I am satisfied with the camera all around, these are minor complaints (except battery life).