Olympus Stylus 800

Reviewed January 2006

Interface & Software

Interface

Equipped with an excellent 2.5-inch, 215,000 pixel monitor, the Stylus 800's interface is very legible. All the relevant camera settings are available at a glance on the periphery of the screen and a histogram, or two different types of composition grids can be superimposed at will. Under dim lighting conditions, the camera increases the CCD gain, which allows the image to be visible on the monitor, even if the scene is quite dark.

The interface of this new model also benefits from a well-designed Help system which includes 16 topics that detail the steps to take to obtain specific results with the camera, and provides detailed explanations of the options found in the menus.

The menu system on the other hand is typical for an Olympus camera. Dividing the menu into sections — three for the capture menu and four for the playback menu — the menus identify each section with tabs arranged vertically on the left side of the screen. The two last sections of the menus, with the exception of the Album menu, are common to both the Capture and Playback modes, but with some minor differences:

The CARD section contains options related to the internal memory, or the memory card:

• All Erase (shown only in Playback mode): serves to delete all images, with the exception of those that have been protected.
• Format: serves to format either the internal memory, or if a card is present in the camera, the memory card. Formatting deletes all memory content, including protected images or movies.
• Backup: serves to copy images located in the internal memory to a memory card.

The other section of the menu is labelled SET, and is the access to the Stylus 800's basic configuration:

• All Reset: On or Off, allows retaining current settings or not, even after the camera has been powered off.
• Language selects the interface language. With this North American model, the languages supported are: English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. Using Olympus Master, the software included with the Stylus 800, other languages can be added when the camera is connected to a computer.
• PW On Setup decides if the camera will display a image on the monitor when it is powered on: either one of two Olympus logos, an image captured by the user and registered for this use with the next option, or nothing. In addition, the option also offers a way to set the volume of the start-up sound that is associated with the image: Off, Low or High.
• Screen Setup (Only in Playback mode): serves to register an image that will be shown when the camera starts-up.
• Colour serves to select the background colour used in the menus: Normal, Blue, Green or Pink.

• Volume exclusively controls the Playback volume for sound clips and movies: Off, Low or High.
• Beep: this option controls the volume of the sounds produced by the camera during operation: Off, Low or High.
• Shutter Sound (capture modes only) offers a choice of three different sounds or none, and of two volume levels, High or Low.
• Rec View (only in the capture modes): decides whether or not the image is displayed immediately post capture.

• File Name (only in the capture modes): decides whether images and movies are named consecutively, or restart at 1 when the memory/card is empty.
• Pixel Mapping (capture modes only): allows the camera perform a self check of its CCD and its image processor and adjust their function if necessary. This option is recommended for use approximately once a year.
• LCD Brightness: serves to adjust the brightness of the monitor over a range of ± 6 brightness levels.
• Date and Time: allows setting the date and time on the Stylus 800 and selecting the date format.
• Dual Time Setup: intended for travel, the function makes it possible to set an additional time zone on the camera.
• Alarm Clock: allows using the camera as an alarm clock (Off, One Time, Daily) .
• Video Out: selects the video standard to use NTSC or PAL.
• Index (playback mode only) allows selecting the number of thumbnails the camera will display per screen when the index mode is used in playback: 4, 9, 16 or 25 images per screen.

A printed but abridged version of the complete manual is included with the Stylus 800, providing a basic introduction to the camera in English, French and Spanish. Olympus provides the complete camera manual in PDF (Adobe Acrobat) format. The manual is clear and concise and well-organized, and is partially interactive. Pages referenced within explanations are linked, making it possible to explore the camera and its functions gradually.

Software

In North America, the Olympus Stylus 800 is supplied with two CDs: one contains Olympus Master version 1.2, the other the user manuals in PDF format and in a variety of languages.

Olympus Master starts with a menu that proposes a series of possible tasks:

• Transfer Images: to retrieve photos on the camera when it is connected via USB to the computer.
• Backup Images: to backup images unto a hard disk or other device, and a CD/DVD if the bundled version of the software is upgraded to the Plus version.
• Browse Images: to view the images on the computer, and edit them (see further).
• Online Print: to select and order prints on-line.
• Print Images at Home: to select and print images on a printer
• Create and Share: to create albums, slide shows or e-mail selected photos.

The image browser of Olympus Master starts out by showing the folders in the left pane of the program's window, but can also be set to show a calendar. Meanwhile, the photos contained in a folder, or those captured on a specific date as selected in the calendar pane, are displayed in the right pane.

A third, narrow, vertical pane offers shortcuts to to Support, to Shopping, to Online Lessons, to Olympus Ofoto, to Software Downloads, to Olympus Photo Printers, and to the Olympus Photo School.

The remainder of the program's window is occupied by drop-down menus, and by a toolbar that provides accesses to image editing, rotation, printing, e-mail, and also allows viewing the properties of an image, including the shooting data.

Selecting the Edit from the toolbar opens the image in an editing window, where a number of corrections or changes can be made.

The editing window makes it possible to work on the image, either using tools directly available on the toolbar, or using the Filter menu. With the toolbar, images can be rotated, cropped, have an Instant Fix applied — which brightens and sharpens the photo — or the red-eye effect can be corrected and the colour balance adjusted.

Using the Filter menu, photos can be adjusted for brightness and contrast, sharpness, blur, distortion. In addition, tone curves can be manipulated as well as gamma, hue and saturation. If desired, photos can also be converted to black and white or sepia, and whatever the modification or correction, the altered image can be saved as a new JPEG, TIFF, or BMP image.

Furthermore, the editing window offers the possibility of applying the changes to selected parts of the image using the tools provided on the lower toolbar, or a magic wand whose sensitivity can be adjusted.