OLYMPUS STYLUS 790 SW

Reviewed March 2008

Test Photos

STILL LIFE PHOTO

This scene was photographed indoors in a room lit by natural light. The camera flash is used to add fill light.

This photo is taken at the widest setting of camera's zoom lens. When viewed at 100 percent in an image editor, the picture is relatively clean, with some noise in the portion of the curtains that fall below the bookcase at the left side of the image. Lettering on the boxes in the background is very sharp and smoothly rendered. There is some purple spotting under shelving behind the tripod at the right edge of the photo. The flash was unable to fill the entire shot, which drops off sharply into black at the left side of the image. Objects in the photo appear soft. Colors are true.

ZOOM STILL LIFE PHOTO

This shot tests the camera's zoom on the still life scene under the same lighting conditions.

With the zoom extended to full telephoto, an examination of the image in a photo editor at 100 percent showed details within the field of focus were sharp. Lettering, numbers and iconography were smoothly rendered. Colors are true, but the object appears underexposed. Some noise was evident in the table cloth under the camera. Image stabilization was turned on in this photo.

The 790SW has two macro modes, Macro and Super Macro, which can also be used with lighting from the camera's LED light in low light situations. The photo at the left was taken in Macro mode. At 100 percent view in a photo editor, the image has good color fidelity. The latticework in the object is nicely defined but translucent elements are muddy. Background is noisy. The middle photo was taken in Super Macro without a flash. It is underexposed, very noisy and lacks good detail. The photo on the right was shot in Super Macro with LED assist. Exposure improves and noise is reduced, but latticework had soft lines and translucent elements were muddy.

This is an outdoor test shot. The house has lots of fine detail in the shingles and slate roof, as well as the architectural design of the doorway.

Most elements in the photos are sharply defined and colors faithfully rendered. Little noise was evident when the image was viewed in a photo editor at 100 percent. Dark areas at the bottom were slightly muddy. When enlarged to 300 percent there were some "jaggies" in the roof line.

ZOOM BUILDING PHOTO

Without moving from the spot that the building photo was taken, the image of the entrance to the house was captured with the camera's zoom at maximum telephoto. At 100 percent view in a photo editor, signs of noise can be seen in the dark areas of the photo. Detail is soft. Colors are accurately rendered.