Olympus Stylus 730 First Impressions Review

Likes

- Backlit user interface - Thin profile - Shooting guide - Enlargeable text and icons - All weather metal body

Dislikes

- Short battery life - Confusing menus - $399 price tag

Conclusion
The Olympus Stylus 730 is one of several new releases this fall from the manufacturer. This camera has one of the biggest LCD screens in the market at 3 inches, and its resolution is also great at 230,000 pixels. This 7.1-megapixel model is definitely a point-and-shoot with its vast number of scene modes and limited manual controls. It has a digital image stabilization mode that is new to the Stylus series, and it is functional in recording and playback modes. Besides the large display and new stabilization mode, the Stylus 730 adds an ISO 3200 setting to the mix. These are all great features, but the camera still suffers from other issues that are typical of Olympus cameras. The menu system is split so that some options appear in multiple places and there are menus within menus within menus. The ease of use factor just isn’t there on the 730, unless using the camera’s Simple mode which totally disables menus altogether. We reviewed a pre-production model that still has plenty of glitches that need to be worked out, so keep checking back in a few months for the full review. The Olympus Stylus 730 will be available in September for $399.