Olympus Stylus 800

Reviewed January 2006

Test Photos

STILL LIFE PHOTO

This subject is photographed in a room that has a mix of fluorescent and incandescent light, but which is not brightly lit. The camera's flash is used to add fill light. The backdrop is 1.95 m (6.5 ft) from the camera.

With the sensitivity set to 64 ISO in an attempt at preventing as much noise as possible, the stylus yields an image that is a touch too dark. As with this camera exposure compensation has no effect with flash photos, the only alternative to obtain a sufficiently bright image is to set the sensitivity to Auto. This allows the camera to boost the sensitivity up to 100 ISO.

Observed at 100% scale on a monitor, the image shows signs of both compression and noise which it would appear engender an overall loss of sharpness.

ZOOM PHOTO

Now we zoom in on a specific area. The intent is to test the sharpness of the image at the zoom's maximum setting. The camera remains at the same distance as with the preceding photo.

At the maximum telephoto setting of the zoom, the brightest aperture is f4.9, yielding a darker image than when the zoom was at the wide angle setting. Yet even with the sensitivity set to Auto, the camera does not increase it past 100 ISO.

The colours the Stylus 800 captures are quite faithful, but noise can be seen in shadow areas. And when the image is seen at 100% scale on a monitor, some artefacts are visible along the edges of objects.

MACRO PHOTO

The Olympus Stylus 800 provides two macro modes: the Standard Macro mode which leaves the zoom lens useable, and the Super Macro mode which locks the zoom at the wide angle end.

Used with the Standard Macro mode the Stylus 800 is able to focus at a minimum distance of 20cm (8 in.) with the zoom at the wide angle end and 30cm (1 ft.) at the telephoto end. While with the Super Macro mode, the minimal distance becomes 3cm (1.2 in.).

With the Standard Macro mode the width of the field of view captured by the camera is 13cm (5.2 in.) at the wide angle end, while it becomes 9cm (3.6 in.) at the telephoto end. While with the Super Macro mode the width of the field of view the Stylus 800 captures is 3.8cm (1.52 in).

Whichever mode is used, the Aperture priority mode can be used to maximize the depth of field, which may require stabilizing the camera, as the shutter speed can be quite low at f8.

BUILDING PHOTO

This image is our outdoor test. The architecture of the building, in particular the angled girders, immediately show the presence of jaggies. The shadowed entrance can also often reveal the quality of the exposure.

The default ESP metering pattern of the Stylus 800 is quite similar to a centre-weighted system as it gives greater importance to what is at the centre of the viewfinder than to what is on the periphery. As a result, under this wintry sky, the metering for this photo was performed on the paved area in front of the building as it provides an average level of brightness.

ZOOM PHOTO

Zooming in on the entrance of the building, the shadowed entrance takes on a greater importance for the metering and can cause an overexposure of sections that are directly lit.

As with the wide angle shot, zoomed in, the metering is best performed on the wall to the right of the entrance doors, thus avoiding having the exposure influenced by the deep shadows behind the doors.

The result is a well exposed image that not only reveals details on the outside of the building such as the little sign on the right door, but also inside the entrance.

NIGHT PHOTO

Since this camera is capable of long exposures, a photo taken at night is included here.

The Night Scene mode of the Stylus 800 is limited to a maximum exposure time of 4 seconds, as is the Shutter Priority mode. The Shutter Priority mode, on the other hand, allows selecting the ISO sensitivity and the white balance, unlike the Night Scene mode, which offers no user settings.

Therefore, for this image the Shutter Priority mode is used, with the white balance set to Incandescent so as to minimize the influence of urban lighting and capture more natural-looking colours.

Interestingly, when comparing images captured at 64, 100 and 200 ISO, the gain in noise at 200 ISO over the noise contained is minimal, and allows capturing a much brighter image. As do most other cameras, the Stylus 800 processes long exposures for noise by capturing a second exposure at the same shutter speed, but without opening the shutter. Then, the noise gathered during the second exposure is used diminish the noise content of the first exposure before saving it, but by the same token lessening the image detail somewhat.