Customer Reviews

Olympus Stylus 710 7.1MP Ultra Slim Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Silver)

5 star:		(56)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

I just purchased (and received) this camera from Amazon.com and I'm ecstatic. If you're looking for a high quality (compact) point and shoot digital camera, look no further.

First of all, although the camera is extremely lightweight, it is very well-made. If you're anything like me, you take good care of your possessions, but at the time same, you don't want something so fragile that you spend more time worrying about it than actually enjoying it. With this camera, you don't have to be preoccupied with damaging it in any way - which is the case with most other compact digital cameras.

Second, in addition to its durable body, the huge 2.5 inch LCD is strong (i.e., wont crack), scratchproof, and waterproof. I like to keep my camera in my front pocket and so I don't want a camera that has a fragile screen. In this respect, the camera gives me some leeway in case someone bumps into me at a bar or club, or if I take pictures in a moist environment. Once again, I love the ruggedness of this camera.

Third, the camera is just beautiful too look at. The metal casing is sleek, there are not many buttons, and the camera is slim enough to fit in my front pocket, yet not small enough to make me worry about dropping it.

Fourth, the picture quality is superb. I know a few of the more "renown" digital camera review sites said the picture quality was merely "acceptable", but I found that it is not the case. Sure you may run into some quality issues when you make 16 x 20 prints, but as far as keeping them on your computer (e.g., for saving and emailing) or making 4 x 6 prints, this camera is more than fine.

Lastly, the flash works great in multiple light settings. One of the biggest issues I've had in the past with digital cameras has involved pictures being overexposed or underexposed, depending on available light. I've taken about 40 pictures with my Stylus in various light settings, and all have turned out near perfect.

People have to realize that when one purchases a digital camera, he/ she does so because he/ she has certain needs. For example, you might be able to take higher quality pictures with a digital SLR, or even a bigger digital camera (e.g., a canon powershot), but can you keep those cameras in your pocket? Do those cameras make people oooh and aaaahhh? There's always an opportnity cost involved when choosing a digital camera, but for the best all-around compact camera, the Olympus Stylus 710 is a very wise choice.

Awesome camera! Small and light, large LCD screen, easy to use (you can keep it on auto or more advanced users can use the manual options), waterproof feature is nice, seems durable and is supposed to be scratch proof which has proven true so far, good optical and digital zoom, takes videos with sound and has continuous photo options for active pictures... I love it and so does everyone else that sees it!

This is a beautiful little camera to own and look at, seems very well made, hefts easily and works easily, menus are quite comprehensive, require a bit of reading, and awful lot there, or if you get lazy, go to full automatic.
And now for what it produces, first, I use Picas 2 from Google, I like it, does what I want it to do.
When you look at the photos on the screen, they are well, sort of BLAH, well I edit with Picasa 2 and print, they come print out very, very well, color is nice, and photos are sharp, very pleasing qualities everyone I,ve show the shots too really liked them, image stabilization works well, what we sets it apart from so many other digital cams in this size and price range, its 7.2 megs, and just like Olympus says, you can very well take shots in an almost totally dark room, also seems to work very well in bright light, with all of these compact cameras I think Olympus has engineereed the best screen, its a lovely little camera that I hope to have for some time.
The battery is small, but, seems to last for quite a while.
I thoroughly enjoy using it and the results it gives.

This camera is not weather proof as claimed and Olympus will find any reason to void the warranty. I purchased this camera about five months ago, and was very pleased with it those first five months. The high resolution and many shooting modes worked well. I purchased this camera over the many, many other cameras with similar resolutions because of Olympus' claim that it is "weather proof." However, the first time I used it in the rain, the camera failed completely. When I opened up the battery compartment, there was water inside. Olympus refused to cover the repair under warranty because my camera was not in brand new condition because it has some normal nicks and scuffs (the kind that happen to anything that you keep in your pocket all the time). So, I have to pay Olympus $193.00 to fix their defective camera. BE WARNED -- Olympus will void the warranty unless your camera is in out-of-the box new condition, so the warranty is not worth the paper it is printed on. Olympus has the worst customer service of any large company I have ever dealt with and the sole purpose of their customer service department seemed to be to deny warranty claims. I recommend against purchasing any Olympus product.

Leave it to Olympus to come up with a nifty camera that not only gives you a mammoth amount of pixels but a rechargable lithium battery and up to 1 GB on a tiny film card. I can't believe how compact it all is, and best yet easy to use. The camera casing is brushed metal and comes in four distinctive colors, not two. It feels durable, not like the plastic digital cameras you see in a similar price range. A nice big screen on back allows you to focus in on the fun with 3x optical zoom, with a handy turning knob that allows you access to various features. The menu is pretty much self-explanatory but there is a booklet to guide you through the process and open you up to the world of possibilities. The internal hardware allows you to print directly from the camera, provided you have a compatible printer, and the CD's that come with the camera pack allow you to stitch together panoramas on the computer as well as other fun things, with the USB connection that is included. The only thing missing is a compact carrying case to properly store all these items, so that you don't misplace them. All in all, this is a great package at a great price. Enjoy!

I bought this camera a month ago and absolutely love it. It's small enough to fit in a pocket, even in it's case, but it takes amazing pictures.

The LCD display is good quality, clear and easy to see in most situations. The buttons are nicely positioned and easy to use without thinking.

Using special features is easy. I've had other digital cameras before and couldn't remember how to do most of the special without referring to the instruction books. That is not a problem with this camera because the built-in menus walk you thru the features, such as macro, super-macro, rapid-fire action shots, low-light, indoor, fireworks ... you name it and it's there. You just scroll thru the menu and when you find what you're looking for you just hit the OK button and the camera is ready to go in that mode. Very simple.

The 7.1 MP quality allow you to blow up the pictures and digitally enhance easily with no "graininess." For example, I took some pictures of a Fireworks show and then touched up and cropped the photos to remove some of the backgrounds. I was able to make clear, clean and very professional-looking posters in both 16x20 and 20x30 sizes. Even cropped the 20x30 size is clear as a bell. I'm even thinking about entering these pictures in photo contests! I have a new hobby - talk about fun!

Changing the battery, removing the memory card and linking over to the computer is easy. Be sure to get the 1Gig memory card ... with 7.1 MP you'll need the extra space.

The only things I'm not as fond of on this camera are the red-eye function (you have to re-select each time you turn on the camera or change modes) and the optical zoom (my last camera was stronger). But, because of the high quality of the pictures, cropping, modifying, and cleaning up red-eye is pretty easy on the computer. (I use Microsoft PictureIt!)

As you might have guessed, I love this camera and highly recommend it to anyone, from pros who want a pocket-size camera and to point-and-shoot novices. Try it ... I'm sure you'll like it!

I have purchased not one, but four of these cameras. After I researched and bought one for myself, I found the camera to be so user friendly and provide such a high quality image that I had to get one for friends and relatives as holiday gifts. The camera over all is very easy to use. But, probably one of the gratest features is the ability to achieve different ISO's simply by selecting a scene from a menu. Are you in a low light situation, just select that option. How about a low light situation where you want to take a portrait, then select that option. These options are not buried deep in some sub-menu, but rather are found with a click of a wheel and the use of the down or up arrow.

My family and I went on vacation to Europe. We had an opportunity to use the camera in museums (yes, there is a museum mode), at night at the Eiffel Tower and during bright day trips while riding a bicycle. All the pictures came out great. What was nice about the bike trip is I was able to select the shaky hands mode which provides for a much higher shutter speed. Despite riding over cobblestones all my pictures came out crisp and focused. This mode is also very nice for those who may be elderly or who otherwise have a hard time keeping the camera still.

If you are using the camera in a low light situation it does take some steady hands to get a great picture. You are better off with a tripod. The time lag between pictures could also be better, but I found that for a camera in this price range it still is one of the fastest ones on the market.

Also, depsite a few falls and quite a lot of travel, the lcd screen has not cracked, scratched or otherwise lost picture. I gave 4 out 5 merely due to the time lag between pictures and due to the amount of time you need to hold the camera still in very low light situations. While the flash seems good, I would say it is only average compared to other cameras I have used.

With a large enough xD chip, you can even take a good amount of movies with this camera. A very good choice for a compact to sub-compact camera.

I find the 710 7.1 MP Stylus to be versatile. I use it to take pictures of job sites for cabling and PC installs. I also take some pictures of New York to send to friends. It connects directly to hub port for easy transfer of photos without additional equipment. It has certain prefixed shooting apertures that you can select for portraits, landscape, night shots, etc. However, if you take a picture at night, many times I find that the picture comes out darker after I transfer the image to the computer. If you move the camera while taking picture at night, very frequently I get blurring of images. If you take pictures of animals, their eyes are frequently red. If you want to take pictures of people in low light conditions you have to point the camera at an angle to prevent glare in their eyes in final picture. It works well in well lit conditions. The macro is not as good so that if you really wanted macro imaging of documents you would be better getting a more expensive digital camera. So I think the camera has many uses in many different situations. If your needs are simple, then this camera will serve your needs adequately. But if your needs are more demanding, then a higher end model would be appropriate and you will be disappointed if you choose this model.

I was very disappointed with this camera. The description says it has a digital stabilization mode but you couldn't prove it by me, as so many photos turned out blurry. Another huge problem was its slow shutter speed, as time after time, I would lose a shot when friends using other cameras and snapping their shots at the exact same time as me got their photos.

One important consideration: the camera does not have a view finder, only the LCD monitor on which to center the image. Perhaps I'm hopelessly old fashioned but I really missed the view finder as using it helps to stabilize the camera and makes centering the image so easy. It takes steady hands to hold a camera at arms length, find and center an image and click the shutter--no wonder the shaky photos. But perhaps the worst failing of the LCD monitor is the glare factor on a sunny day. It makes it very difficult if not impossible to see any image on the screen.

I've not been a fan of Olympus' most recent compact digital cameras, but the Stylus 710 is winning me over.

First, it's just a gorgeous camera. It's unusual shape makes it appear very small once it's in your hands. Its metal finish looks smart yet rugged. Controls on such a small camera are always less than ideal, but they're done well here.

The menu is very good, especially in the photo example/text description it gives you in the scene modes. Don't have your manual? Just turn the selection dial to the "guide" mode, and it'll get you there!

The weather proof ability sets this apart from most of the competition. You may not plan on using your camera in the rain, but the rain may not plan on your taking pictures!

As I've stated before, I'm not a big fan of the xD cards. SD is simply dominate right now, easier to find, more capatible with more things, and usually easier to find a bargin. But the new "H" series cards are of equal quality to the best SD cards. But xD card and charger with a 3' cord (v. flipout plug), drops this winner one star.