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Olympus Stylus 1000

Digital Camera Review

Previous: Page 5

Modes

Next: Page 7

Image Parameters
November 16, 2006 By Emily Raymond
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Manual Control Options      
The manual controls are scattered across the confusing menus, and there is no manual mode to speak of. The Stylus 1000 is designed more for point-and-shooters who won’t care about manual control anyway.
 
Focus
Auto Focus (6.25)
The contrast detection auto focus system isn’t the speediest I’ve ever seen; it takes about a half-second to lock on a subject at times. The auto focus system seems to take a little longer when the lens is zoomed in on faraway subjects, but it does fine zoomed out. The camera has iESP Auto and Spot auto focus modes, which can focus as close as 23.6 inches normally. In the macro mode, the camera can focus from 11.8 inches at the widest focal length and 19.7 inches at the most telephoto. In the super macro mode, the Stylus 1000 can focus from 3.9-23.6 inches. In low light, the focus system breathes a little but shoots out a green beam to help it find a subject. The focus was a bit unreliable in the movie mode; the focus locks much like it does while shooting still images, but it is possible for the system to lock into the wrong focus and blur the whole movie. Still, the Olympus Stylus 1000 does an overall decent job considering it's a compact digital camera.
 
Manual Focus (0.0)
The Olympus Stylus 1000 does not have the capability to manually focus.

Exposure (6.5)
This digital camera has 24 shooting modes, most of which are automatic. There is a standard +/- 2 exposure compensation scale available in 1/3 increments from the top of the multi-selector. A live histogram is available with a touch of the display button too.
 
Metering (6.5)
The Olympus Stylus 1000 has only two metering modes: ESP and Spot. The ESP mode is the default and measures lighting conditions in 49 points throughout the frame, then averages them for the exposure. The Spot metering measures only one tiny point in the center, and is best for backlit subjects.
 
ISO (8.0)
The Olympus Stylus 1000 has more ISO sensitivity options than most cameras – compact and DSLR alike. The range is very extensive: Auto, 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, and 6400. Still, there are some catches. The top ISO settings (3200 and 6400) only work at the 3-megapixel image size or smaller. The pictures didn’t look very good when using higher ISO settings either; hot pink speckles became more and more abundant. Check out the formal testing results in the testing section. The Olympus Stylus 1000 also has a Digital Image Stabilization mode that utilizes the high ISO settings and combines them with quick shutter speeds to reduce blur. The mode’s title is a bit misleading though because this doesn’t really stabilize the image, but rather tweaks the parameters in order to try to reduce blur. In the scene mode menu, the camera offers an Available Light mode that operates with the higher ISO sensitivities in order to not use the flash while shooting in low light. This left images speckled with noise, lacking in detail, and blurred at the edges. Avoid the extensive ISO range on this camera!
 
White Balance (6.0)
There are several white balance modes available from the OK/Func. menu. When these options are scrolled through, there is a live view: iESP2 multi-pattern Auto TTL, Daylight, Overcast, Tungsten, Fluorescent 1, Fluorescent 2, and Fluorescent 3. It’s a pity that there is no custom white balance setting, as users will have to rely on the automatic and preset options.
 
Shutter Speed (0.0)
The shutter speed cannot be manually controlled, but the specs indicate that the shutter can flip as fast as 1/1000th of a second. In most modes, the shutter opens for as long as a ½ second, but it slows further to 4 seconds in the Night scene mode.
 
Aperture (0.0)
Like the shutter speed, the aperture cannot be manually controlled. It automatically sets as wide as f/2.8 in wide and f/4.7 in telephoto. Both the shutter speed and aperture settings can be viewed in the file information in playback mode. The minimum aperture is not published by Olympus, but it doesn't seem to get any smaller than f/4.7 judging from my test shots. Even when the lens was zoomed all the way in on sunshine and lights, and the smallest I got was f/4.7. This aperture range is extremely limited, as most compact models allow at least up to f/8.
 

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Olympus Stylus 1000
Digital Camera Review
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Previous: Page 5

Modes

Previous: Page 7

Image Parameters