Olympus Stylus 1030 SW

- Normal display: overlays image size and compression setting, file name, image number, date and time taken

- Detailed display: adds shutter speed and aperture, exposure compensation, ISO and white balance settings to the normal display

- No information display: a clean screen, showing the photo with no overlay

- Histogram display: A thumbnail of the photo at top left, a histogram showing over- and under-exposed areas on the lower left, date and time taken under the histogram and, on the right, information on shutter speed and aperture, exposure compensation, ISO, white balance, compression setting, image size and image number. Not shown when a movie is selected.

A basic slideshow utility lets you choose from showing all or only selected images and what kind of animated transitions appear between photos.

There's also a Favorites mode, which transfers an image to the camera's built-in memory, making it instantly accessible for playback by turning the control dial to the star icon.

Custom Image Presets (11.00)
There are 24 preset modes available by turning the control dial to SCN. The extensive help system implemented in the 1030 SW works especially well here: while browsing through the scene mode display, pressing the DISP button (or simply leaving the display unchanged for a few seconds) brings up a brief text explanation of the preset's functions.

In addition to the obvious modes (portrait, landscape, sports, fireworks), there are some more unusual choices among the 24 selections. Four are designed for shooting underwater (Underwater Snapshot, Underwater Wide 1 for landscape shots, Underwater Wide 2 for action scenes and Underwater Macro for watery close-ups). The Auction selection captures 3 photos in a row, sizing them differently for use in online auction postings. There are two Shoot & Select modes. The first engages the lower-res 0.7 frames per second burst mode and, when you're done shooting, displays the results on screen to let you choose which images to save and which to discard. The second Shoot & Select mode sticks with slower, full-res images, even firing the flash if needed, then offers the same keep-it-or-kick-it display. Pre-Capture Movie is an oddball option, constantly keeping 2 seconds of video in a buffer, then adding an additional 5 seconds after you press the shutter and ultimately saving the completed 7-second sequence. Even Attention Deficit Theater fans may find the seven-second running time a bit terse.