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Olympus Stylus 1030 SW
Digital Camera Review
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Auto Mode (8.50)
Selecting full auto mode resets everything to camera defaults, imposes automatic white balance and ISO control, mandates single-shot mode and ESP (balanced) light metering. The user can still adjust image size and compression, and use the four-way controller to adjust flash mode, macro mode, exposure compensation and self-timer settings. It's a reasonable balance: it's unlikely a newbie will accidentally mess up any significant settings with the camera in Auto mode, but several key adjustments are just a few presses away.
Movie Mode (4.25)
The 1030 SW shoots Motion JPEG movies (stored as AVI files) at either VGA (640x480) or QVGA (320x240) resolution, at 15 or 30 frames per second. Given the camera's substantial underwater credentials, it makes sense that it offers both dry-land and submerged movie modes, though we did find the labeling of everyday video mode as NON-WATER MOVIE (contrasted with UNDERWATER MOVIE in the menu) fairly amusing. We were briefly baffled by the fact that non-water movie mode allows you to record sound but not use the optical zoom while shooting, while underwater mode allows the zoom but prohibits sound recording. Then we listened more closely to the camera while zooming – the sound of gears turning as the internal zoom moves inside the camera would be audible on your movie soundtrack.
Within the scene mode selection is an additional movie-shooting option called PRE-CAPTURE MOVIE, which keeps
2 seconds of video in an ongoing buffer and includes it with the video captured after the shutter is pressed.
Drive / Burst Mode (6.00)
There are three drive mode settings beginning, as expected, with single-shot. Normal sequential shooting proceeds at the current image resolution setting, locking focus and exposure with the first frame and capturing a non-blistering 0.7 frames per second for up to seven frames at full 10-megapixel resolution. If you're willing to compromise on resolution, you can take a far more impressive 5.2 frames per second, for up to 11 frames, at 3-megapixel resolution using the Hi mode setting.
Playback Mode (8.75)
The on-screen view of photos you've taken can be toggled between five different display layouts using the DISP button.
There are five playback mode displays.
- 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.
There are lots of clearly labeled custom presets.
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.
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