Four years ago, Olympus had some of the best consumer digital cameras on the market. Dominating other manufacturers, they enjoyed their position at the top for a short amount of time before slipping in the ratings.
Now, nearly half a decade later, they are making their name again in the high-end and professional market, only to begin dipping into the point and shoot market once again. One of the newer point and shoot digital camera’s is the Stylus 820, a compact shooter for low-needs consumers.
If you’re looking into getting an Olympus digital camera, then you can be sure the 820 is a good option. Read on to find out if this camera is worth it’s $175 price tag, as well as any issues you need to be aware of.
Body
The body of this device is relatively small and available in several different colors. It has a retracting zoom lens and an integrated flash. The back of the camera features the LCD display and navigation buttons, which are laid out similar to nearly every other digital camera on the market.
Features
The Olympus Stylus 820 features an eight megapixel sensor for high resolution shots. It offer 5x optical zoom for those far away shots.
The LCD is 2.7″ and has a 176 degree viewing angle, and is visible even in bright outdoor light. For steady and crisp shots, the 820 has fast shutter speed and image stabilization to keep your photos as sharp as possible, even if you are the subject is moving.
Other nice features include Face Detection, which keeps the faces in your photo in focus even if they are in the background. There’s also shadow adjustment for those times when your photo gets exposure issues.
Image Quality
The image quality is average. It is good enough for any average use, and doesn’t require you to do any post processing or image manipulation. The photos experience noise at higher ISOs and in low light situations, as is the case with most digital cameras.
Cons
The photos suffer from low-light noise and noise at high ISOs (400+). In addition, there is a long delay between each shot, as it takes a fair amount of time to write the image to the flash card. This delay can cause you to lose otherwise good shots.
Conclusion
If you want a camera that is cheap, small, and easy to use, then this camera will certainly suffice. With that said, the amount of time it takes to write the images to flash is longer than it needs to be, and you can find similar cameras in this price range that don’t suffer this problem.
By: Blair Mathis