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With the release of the Stylus 800
(called Mju 800 across Europe) Olympus extends its
series of all-weather cameras into the 8 megapixel range,
and takes the opportunity to equip it with a 2.5-inch monitor.
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shutter
release, which is the larger chromed button, and to its
left, the tiny power switch that is recessed into the
surface of the camera to avoid any accidental activation.
The power switch is flanked by an even smaller green LED
that glows when the camera is on. And a second LED, positioned
on the angled ridge towards the camera's back, blinks red
when the camera is performing some operations.
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The other external controls for
the Stylus 800 are arranged on either side of the 2.5-inch,
215,000 pixel monitor.
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The first of these is the zoom
control, a silver rocker switch on the top right. In addition
to controlling the zoom, the control also serves when the camera
is in playback mode. The W 
side displays thumbnails — index screens — with
4, 9, 16, or even 25 thumbnails per screen, or as a calendar
display that organizes images according to their shooting date.
And pressed on the T 
side, it makes it possible to zoom into an image on the screen
up to 8X. |
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The Mode Dial is located
directly below the zoom control, and has 8 positions, with
the capture modes indicated by white icons:
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Program allows the
camera to set both the shutter speed and the aperture,
but leaves all other settings to the discretion of the
user. |
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Image Blur Reduction Mode
gives preference to a high shutter speed, and allows the
camera to boost CCD sensitivity up to 2000 ISO if necessary
to freeze movement without using flash. With this mode,
however, the image size is limited to a maximum of 2048
x 1536 pixels (SQ1). |
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Is the gateway to the Stylus
800's 19 scene modes. Each mode is illustrated
with a typical photo, the image being replaced after
a second by a text explanation of the mode and a description
of its intended use:
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Landscape |
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Landscape +
Portrait |
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Portrait |
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Indoor |
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Sports |
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Beach and Snow |
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Behind Glass |
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Self Portrait
+ Self-timer |
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Self Portrait |
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Sunset |
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Available Light
Portrait |
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Night Scene |
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Night Portrait |
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Fireworks |
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Candle |
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Cuisine |
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Documents |
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Shoot &
Select 1 |
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Shoot &
Select 2 |
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The selection of Scene modes is displayed as soon as
the Scene mode is selected, disappearing after
a second or so. Should another Scene mode be required,
a press of the right arrow on the Arrow Pad (see
further) brings up the selection screen again.
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Shutter Priority Mode
makes it possible to choose a shutter speed in a
range that covers from 1/1000 second to 4 seconds while
the camera selects a matching aperture. |
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Aperture Priority
offers an aperture range that starts at f2.8 through f8
when the zoom is set to the wide angle end, and from f4.9
through f8 when the zoom is set to the maximum telephoto. |
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Movie Mode captures
QuickTime (*.MOV) video clips with mono sound. Three
image formats are available:
- 640 x 480 pixels (SHQ),
- 320 x 240 pixels (HQ)
- or 160 x 120 pixels (SQ),
Whatever the frame size selected, the movies are captured
at 15 frames per second; and the recording lasts as
long as there is memory space available. During recording,
focus and zoom position are locked at the first frame
while the exposure is adjusted as the recording progresses.
If desired, a 5X digital zoom can be activated in the
menu (see the Characteristics section of the review).
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The last two icons are coloured green, indicating that they
are Playback modes:
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Playback immediately
displays the last captured image, and allows complete
access to all other images and videos stored on the
memory card.
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Album Mode serves
to view images and videos located within specific Albums
as long as images and videos have been previously assigned
to albums. (See the Characteristics section
of the review for more information.)
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Worth noting, if either of these modes is selected prior
to turning on the camera, the lens cover remains closed.
The next control below the Mode Dial is the Arrow Pad
with the OK/MENU button at its centre, which serves
to call up the menu and confirm selections made there.
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The Down
arrow also serves to select the Super Macro Mode,
which locks the zoom at the widest angle and lets the
camera focus on a subject that is 3 cm (1.17 inch) from
the front element of the lens. |
The other external controls of the Stylus 800 are four buttons
that are stacked on the left side of the monitor:
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First at the top is the QUICK
VIEW button. It serves as a quick way to place the camera
in Playback mode, providing access to all the standard playback
functions without having to change the Mode Dial position.
The mode can be exited by either pressing the QUICK VIEW
button a second time, or pressing the shutter release
halfway.
Moreover, when the camera is turned off, holding this button
for more than 3 seconds displays the time and date in the
upper right of the screen.
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Below, the GUIDE button
offers two modes:
- With the camera set to either a capture mode or the playback
mode, the button displays a menu that contains 15 guides
that provide instructions on how to set the camera to obtain
specific results or deal with specific photographic situations.
- And, while a menu is displayed on the monitor, the button
provides contextual help about the highlighted option.
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Next is the DISP button
which controls the way information is superimposed on the
monitor, cycling through 5 modes:
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With the Stylus 800 set
to a capture mode the simplest display superimposes
the capture mode, the AF brackets, the memory in use
(internal or card), and the remaining shots that can
be captured.
From there, pressing the button once adds the shutter
speed and aperture, exposure compensation, ISO setting,
drive mode, and the current image size and quality. |
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A second press of the button adds a composition grid that divides the image
into 9 areas. Pressing the button a third time replaces
the grid by a cross that indicates the diagonals of
the frame. Finally, a fourth and last press on the button
removes the composition assistance and superimposes
a real-time histogram that shows the distribution of
luminance in the image. |
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With the Stylus 800 in Playback
mode, the image first appears with information superimposed
on it. The display shows memory in use, image file name,
image quality, image size, aperture and shutter speed
used, exposure compensation, white balance, ISO setting,
date and time of the shot and the image number as it
relates to those currently in memory.
All this information disappears after a second or so,
leaving only the memory type superimposed on the photo.
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Pressing the DISP button
once clears most of the information shown in the first
display. A second press of the button presents the image
as a thumbnail in the top left quarter of the screen,
and adds a histogram below while showing the shooting
data on the right.
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Finally, the last button has a dual role depending on the
camera's mode:
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Introduction
