Olympus Stylus 500 Digital Camera Review

Manual Control Options
If you're looking for manual control, you should probably quit wasting your time reading this and start looking for another digital camera. As stated before, this camera was built for the point-and-shooter. There aren't many manual controls on this digital camera nested between its lengthy list of scene modes. Most of the available manual settings are available in the Program Auto mode, which is a bit ironic considering the second word of the mode. All of the controls are located within the mode menu, so be prepared to dig a little. The white balance and exposure compensation are two of the four options on the first matrix menu that appears, so those won't be hard to find. However, everything else is buried in the mode menu. So from the matrix, scroll right to the Camera tab and right again to the list of options that includes things like Metering and ISO.

Focus
Auto (7.0)
Using a contrast detection system, the Stylus 500's auto focus can be a little finicky. It only focuses on the center, and does so only when the shutter release button is pressed halfway down. Most compact digital cameras are like this, so this isn't much of a surprise. The focus tends to have problems with fast-moving objects moving across the frame, so if you're taking pictures of sports, learn to pan the camera with a centered subject. In the normal shooting mode, the camera can focus from 19.7 inches to infinity. In the macro mode, the Olympus 500 can shoot from 7.9 inches to infinity. The super macro mode lets users focus as close as 2.8 inches.

Manual (0.0)
There is no manual focus available on the Olympus Stylus 500.

Metering (6.0)
The camera’s two metering options can be found at the top of the Camera tab of the mode menu. Olympus’ multi-pattern metering system is titled ESP (Electro Selective Pattern). When users so choose, they can also select the Spot Metering option. This works especially well when a subject is backlit. I tried this one on a person standing in front of a row of windows on a sunny day and was pleasantly surprised to see that the spot metering mode really does work; the picture was properly exposed and the facial details were all visible. The available settings seems to work amply for straight-forward shooting conditions, although for more clustered frames and shots with extended depth of field, a few additional metering options would be helpful.

Exposure (7.0)
Olympus includes a list of 20 still shooting modes that all automatically adjust the exposure. In every mode, exposure compensation can be adjusted from +2 to -2 in 1/3 steps. This is the typical range for compact digital cameras. The Stylus 500 provides users with a live view as they scroll through the numerical options, making it easier for users to choose the value.

White Balance (5.5)
This camera’s white balance is one of the easier features to change. It is located on the first matrix menu that appears when the menu button is pressed. The white balance menu is composed completely of icons, but most are intuitive. The options are presented on gray boxes in the middle of the screen with live views to both sides. The following options are available: Auto, Daylight, Overcast, Tungsten, Fluorescent 1, Fluorescent 2, and Fluorescent 3. The only confusion I foresee is between the three fluorescent modes. This is a common flaw with digital cameras; how are users supposed to know that the 1 is for shooting in daylight fluorescent lamps and the 2 is for the desk lamp-type of fluorescent lamps? Fortunately, the live view lets users see lighting changes take effect on their subjects – which is more powerful than text for visually oriented photographers. One quick complaint on the white balance: there is no manual setting. I realize this camera is for the automatically oriented and therefore offers a host of presets, but a manual white balance feature would have been a nice touch nonetheless.

ISO (7.0)
Located in the mode menu, users of the Stylus 500 can set the sensitivity of the camera to the following ISO options: Auto, 64, 100, 200, and 400. When users scroll through these options, there is no live view available like some compact digital cameras offer. All of the modes provide access to the ISO option, so it can be manually set at any time. The Stylus 500's ISO options are comparable to other compact digital cameras, as most have this standard range.

Shutter Speed (0.0)
Shutter speeds cannot be manually set on the Olympus Stylus 500, rather the camera automatically selects them from a range of 1/2-1/1000th of a second – except for in the Night Scene mode, where shutter speeds can go as slow as 4 seconds. Each scene will have its own range of shutter speeds, with modes like Candle and Indoor having slower speeds. This range of shutter speeds should be fine for most point-and-shooters– if the camera selects the right one.

Aperture (0.0)
The Olympus Stylus 500 has the same automatic aperture selections that the earlier Stylus 410 has. With f/3.1 as the maximum aperture available in the wide zoom setting and f/5.2 in the telephoto setting, the Stylus 500 has an average range of apertures for a compact digital camera, although the limited opening will slow down shutter speeds. The aperture cannot be manually adjusted.