Olympus Stylus 720SW

Reviewed May 2006

Introduction

The Stylus series of Olympus cameras is composed of cameras designed to be moisture and humidity-proof. But with the arrival of the Stylus 720 SW (called Mju 720 SW in Europe), Olympus introduces a waterproof camera, and adds shock protection.

Only two controls are located on top of the camera: on the right the two-stage shutter release, which has an oblong shape, and to its left the power switch, which is small and recessed to avoid having the camera turn on accidentally while it is being handled.

When the power switch is pressed, the camera turns on in capture mode, and the lens cover slides down; and since the zoom operates fully internally, no part protrudes from the front of the camera.

First at the top is the zoom control, which serves to adjust the focal length, and is composed of two buttons labelled W for wide angle, and T for telephoto. In addition, when the camera is set to the playback mode, the W button serves to review captured images as an index of thumbnail images (4, 9, 16 or 25 images per screen, or as a calendar page of the month showing images by the date on which they were captured); while the T button can be used to zoom into any part of an image (up to 8X) shown on the monitor.

Directly below the zoom controls a small LED lights red when the camera is starting up, or while it is accessing the memory, or when it is connected to a computer or a printer.

Further below two round buttons positioned one above the other are flanked by the camera’s speaker. The upper button serves to turn on the camera directly in the capture mode, and to select the capture mode:

Pressing this button once start the Anti-blur mode, a digital image stabilization mode that uses the highest shutter speed possible to limit the likelihood of the image being blurred by camera shake, and which can increase the CCD sensitivity up to 1600 ISO in the process.

Pressing the button a second time displays a menu that occupies the entire screen and which offers a selection of 24 Scene modes, and the Movie mode. Each mode is illustrated by a typical image for which the mode is designed, and a short explanation: Portrait Landscape Landscape + Portrait Night Scene Night + Portrait Sport Indoor Candle Self Portrait Available Light Sunset Fireworks Museum Cuisine Behind Glass Documents Auction Shoot & select 1 Shoot & select 2 Beach & Snow Under Water Wide 1 (for use with water tight case PT-033) Under Water Wide 2 (for use with water tight case PT-033) Under Water Macro (for use with water tight case PT-033) Underwater Snapshot (without the use of a water tight case, but limited to a maximum depth of 3 metres) Movie which captures video clips in QuickTime format with mono sound using any one of three frame sizes: 640 x 480 pixels (SHQ) 320 x 240 pixels (HQ) or 160 x 120 pixels (SQ) Whatever the frame size, movies are recorded at 15 frames per second, and the length of the movie is only limited by the capacity of the memory. During the recording, focus and zoom position are locked at the first frame while the exposure and white balance are adjusted as needed. If desired, a 5X digital zoom can be activated in the menu (see the Characteristics section of the review for more information about the contents of the menu).

The next button down, labelled , starts the Playback mode. It can also be used to turn on the camera, without opening the lens cover, if it is held pressed for more than 1 second.

Next down is the 4-direction controller, called the arrow pad, which rings a small round button at its centre.

The arrow pad serves to navigate the menus and select options, or move through images in the playback mode, be they presented as index, in calendar format, or even when full-screen or magnified.

Moreover, each of the 4 directional arrows of the pad provides an additional function, identified by an icon embossed on its surface. And, when one of these is pressed while the camera is in a capture mode, it displays a short menu on the monitor for the function:

• P: allows switching back and forth between Program mode and Auto mode.
• WB serves to choose the white balance: Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Tungsten (incandescent), Fluorescent 1 (daylight), Fluorescent 2 (neutral white), Fluorescent 3 (white fluorescent).

• ISO to select the sensitivity: 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, or 1600 ISO.
• Drive serves to choose the rate at which images are captured:
  • Single: captures one image at a time when the shutter release is pressed
  • Sequential Shooting: captures up to 8 images in SHQ format at a rate of 1.1 frames per second.
  • High Speed Sequential Shooting: captures up to 12 images using the SQ1 format (max. image size 2048 x 1536 pixels) at 3.7 frames per second.

• ESP selects the metering pattern:
  • ESP, which is the equivalent of a multi-zone averaging pattern,
  • or Spot which evaluates a small area at the centre of the frame.

When the Stylus 720 SW is set to the Playback mode, the OK/FUNC button can be used to delete an unwanted image, or those that have been previously selected in index screens, a function that is indicated by the icon below the arrow pad itself.

The last two external controls are positioned below the arrow pad:

The button on the right displays the menu that corresponds to the currently active camera mode (see the Characteristics and Interface and Software sections of the review for more details about the various menus of the Stylus 720 SW).

The one on the left, labelled , is reserved for when the Stylus 720 SW is connected directly to a PictBridge compliant printer, and serves to set printing parameters and start printing.