Olympus Stylus 770SW

Manual Control Options
The Olympus Stylus 770SW has just about the same amount of control as its predecessor, which isn’t much. There is a Program mode that is as manual as this camera gets. There are a few manual controls located in the OK/Func and standard menus, but there isn’t direct control over shutter speed and aperture. This is just fine for the camera's main point-and-shoot audience.

Focus
Auto Focus (6.25)
The Olympus 770SW has two auto focus modes in its menu: iESP and Spot. The iESP mode is the default and evaluates the entire frame to find the subject. The Spot mode focuses only on the center. Neither mode operates very fast, although they’re not as slow as the 720SW. The contrast detection system can focus as close as 2.8 inches in the super macro mode, 7.9 inches in the macro mode, and 19.7 inches normally. This isn’t very impressive because most cameras can now shoot within an inch of the lens. The focus in the macro and super macro modes isn't very reliable even within that range. There is an LED super macro mode that is accessed by pushing the left portion of the multiselector. This mode constantly illuminates close-up subjects with a white LED; this doesn't necessarily help the focus but provides softer lighting than the flash - although its coverage is even spottier. The camera often had trouble focusing even when the subject was centered. This only worsened underwater when shooting subjects closer to the water's surface. The focus was even more unreliable in low light despite the auto focus assist lamp that can be turned on in the setup menu. This white LED lamp is located to the right of the flash on the front of the camera. The auto focus causes a few tenths of a second of shutter lag, which is a little annoying. Users can get around this by pushing the shutter release halfway so that the camera focuses and locks the exposure.

Manual Focus (0.0)
This is not an option on the Olympus Stylus 770SW.

ISO (8.25)
The Olympus Stylus 770SW has an expansive ISO range from 80-1600, all available in full resolution. There is also an automatic ISO setting. The ISO can be found in both the OK/Func and standard menus, although the OK/Func menu is the better option because it has a live view. The Olympus 720SW has a similar ISO range, although its lowest ISO is 64 instead of 80.