Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
173 of 176 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Olympus 770 SW: A little gem, March 29, 2007
I have an Olympus 770 SW (NOT the 720 SW), for sure...and I like it. I have had five digital cameras before, and this one is terrific. Considering that it's a sub-compact pocket camera, image quality is fine (not equal to that of a digital SLR, but I don't want to carry around a big box like a DSLR). Shadow detail is especially impressive. Operation is smooth and intuitive. The screen is fine, even outdoors. Shutter lag, a big concern of mine as I like to photograph my kids at sports, is minimal and can be zero if you prefocus. The number of custom scene settings is impressive. I bought it because of the waterproofing and shockproofing, and because of prior good experience with Olympus over the years, but I'm just as happy with the pictures it takes under normal circumstances too.
A few gripes that stop me from giving the camera 5 stars:
1. The battery cannot be recharged when it's in the camera. For a total of $80 or so, you can get an external power source and a cable, and together they let the camera run a long time without draining the battery, but they don't charge the battery. Battery life is fine for a day of normal shooting, but if you use the camera actively, every single night you pretty much have to unlock the case, take out the battery and charge it, then remember to put the battery back in the next day. Each charge takes 5 hours. I'm going to take the same $80 and instead buy two extra batteries to be comfortable--One in the camera, one reserve along with me, and another charging at home. Even so, it will take some planning and thinking to keep batteries ready all the time on a vacation. It would have been much nicer to have a holster or a charging socket on the case.
2. The case is actually smaller than it needs to be. It could be significantly bigger and still fit in my shirt pocket, which is my standard size requirement. As it is, the advanced engineering is impressive to pack all the features in a tiny box, but the camera is more expensive than need be, the lens is smaller than it should be (depending on zoom position, the lens is between f/3.5 to f/5.0, which is pretty weak), it's harder to hold the camera than need be, and if the case were bigger, there would be room for a nice little charging socket too.
3. There is indeed a background, almost mechanical noise introduced when filming videos. It probably can be filtered out, as it's very constant and very low pitched, but it's mildly annoying.
4. Time between shots is too long--it takes several seconds to save each shot at full resolution.
5. You can use the internal memory only if there's no memory card in the slot. Given the slow transfer speed to the card, it sure would be nice to be able to save a dozen or so shots very quickly to the internal memory and then transfer them to the memory when you have time.
For all that, though, I'm really looking forward to using this camera on a forthcoming sea kayaking and snorkeling trip this summer. With one camera, I'll be able to take snapshots above and below water, also modest videos underwater (there's a special scene selection to do just that)!
|
|
|
117 of 119 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great for what it is. Not a primary digital camera., June 16, 2007
Salt water spray has claimed two of my previous cameras so when I read about this camera and the Pentax Option W30 I decided one of the two would be a very valuable investment. The next question was deciding which one to buy.
The Pentax is a superior camera. Colors are more saturated, and it has lower noise higher up the ISO range. Also, the Pentax produces videos that are 30FPS (the Olymmpus only goes up to 15FPS) which is a huge advantage. Also, the Pentax uses SD cards, which are available at higher density and faster speed.
The Olympus, on the other hand, is much more bulletproof.
First of all, it will survive down to 30' whereas the Pentax is limited to 10. I wanted a camera that could survive light snorkeling. I routinely breath-hold dive to 12'-15' and I'd hate to have a camera on me that I would worry about. With the Olympus I just do whatever I want.
Second, the Olympus is crush proof. I can slap the thing in my backpocket and sit on it and not break it (I weigh about 190#). I can get on my boat, throw the thing on the deck with the rest of my gear, and watch it bounce around unharmed. The Pentax is just not that strong.
In the end, since I already have a camera that takes brilliant, vivid pictures with great resolution and also takes great video (a Canon SD550) I decided rugged was more important than marginally better optical rendition. I figured the Olympus would take acceptably good pictures and I went with the Olympus.
I'm not disappointed, but I'm not thrilled.
The camera is every bit as waterproof and bulletproof as is claimed. I've slapped it around, thrown it, had it around the boat, seawater, sun, kids, and it's just fine. I can take this camera with me on the boat, take it with me swimming and snorkeling, and it will work when I'll want it. A camera is only useful when you have it and I'm not afraid to have the Olympus with me at all times in any environment.
Having said that, the picture quality stinks, I suspect as a result of the lens design dictated by the water resistant qualities of the camera. In bright sunlight, with the ISO set to 100 (and even up to 200 it's not bad) there is no significant noise. On the other hand, the colors appear washed out and dull compared to similar pictures taken with the Canon. Its resolving power is also inferior to the Canon and there's no question but that I'll continue to use my Canon in environments that are friendly to it (like, no salt water spray risk). On the other hand, since I can't take my Canon everywhere, I love having this camera; I recently went to see America's cup practices in Valencia and I'm happy to say I have a couple of shots of Alinghi that will make decent poster prints. They'd look better taken with my Canon but....right, I would not have taken my Canon in that environment, so...
Focusing delay is very short, as is shutter delay. If you prefocus, the shutter delay is non-existent. Without prefocus, it's less than a second: not bad. On the other hand, shot to shot delay is annoyingly long, a couple seconds at full resolution.
Image compression is average. In the best quality mode you can still see some compression artifacts but the average person will not notice. If you do know what to look for, you'll find it annoying but not a deal-breaker.
I bought a 2Gb H Xd card, and it's pretty fast but not as good as high speed SD. Also, it's nowhere near the density that SD has reached, but 2Gb will go a pretty long way.
In short: buy this camera to take it in places where other cameras fear to go. Don't buy this camera if all you want is great pictures for the backyard or the trip to Disneyland.
Ah, almost forgot. Buy a large styrofoam float and attach it to the lanyard. If you lose the camera over the side of your boat, it's nice to be able to go back and pick it up.
|
|
|
77 of 80 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
5 stars but not perfect, April 22, 2007
This camera deserves 5 stars if you need a camera that easily fits in your pocket or purse and is ready to use whenever that picture or movie moment arrives, even under water. Considering the varied picture taking situations, action, and lighting conditions, the performance was beyond my expectations. The only significant limitation is seeing the display in bright sunlight or under water, even when the screen is set at its brightest. However, aiming was intuitive enough that I never missed a shot and I was able to change modes even under water (but I did practice switching between underwater wide 2 and movie ahead of time). One feature that would be an improvement would be the ability to zoom while taking a movie.
I received this camera just a couple days before leaving on a cruise so I didn't have any time to practice with it. Be careful not to have your finger in front of the lens, especially under water where you may not be watching the screen. Also be aware that when you zoom in for movies that the image movement is also magnified. The wide angle underwater movies are much better than at full optical zoom (digital zoom is off). After a couple days the controls were easy to use to change modes and review pictures and movies.
I used 1 gig cards and the highest resolution which provided about 240 pictures or about 40 minutes of movies. Switching back and forth was easy. Movie recording will continue until the card is full or the battery runs out, not just short clips. My clips were too short until I was comfortable that I would not quickly fill up the memory card or run out of battery. Under water pictures were superb with a natural shift in color toward green. I recharged the battery every other night. The battery was able to take about 100 pictures and 15 minutes of movie between recharges. I recommend a spare battery as it did indicate it was getting low a couple times and ran out once.
The camera was also used in daylight, inside, with and without flash, even night shots (the auto setting was better than Night Scene for harbor lights at night. The camera was steadied on the railing).
I purchased a lanyard with metal clasp at Sports Authority for a dollar which provides a very secure leash. With the lanyard around my neck I could tuck the camera in my shirt pocket. I was always ready for the next picture opportunity without worrying about dropping it.
I'm very pleased with the picture quality although it may not match a camera with a much larger lens system, but it was great to be able to take pictures and movies when I would not have had my larger camera available. The 15 fps movies do not match a 3CCD digital video camera, but they are acceptable. I even recorded short clips during live theater performances (with the screen brightness set at its minimum) and I was pleased with the quality from this tiny camera.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
Bright Capture Technology in Action 
Saving...
