Manual Controls
The Stylus 800 does not contain a full manual mode; however it does offer numerous manual control options, ranging from ISO, exposure compensation, and white balance to determining burst rate and resolution options. The camera also offers Aperture and Shutter Priority modes to offer point-and-shooters some control over exposure.

Focus
Auto Focus (6.5)
Two focusing modes are selectable in all of the Stylus 800’s available shooting modes: iESP and Spot. Spot focusing focuses on the subject that is within the white bracket targeting marks, which are superimposed on the LCD screen at the center of the composition, while iESP decides which subject to focus on, regardless of location within the frame. The camera’s iESP focus behaves differently depending upon which shooting mode the camera is in. For instance, when using the cuisine custom preset, the camera will focus on the nearest object. The auto focus emits an audible noise while it works, but it is not too loud to be distracting.

The Stylus 800 uses its TTL contrast-type auto focus to focus from 19.7 inches to infinity in normal shooting, with a range of 7.9 inches to 19.7 inches in macro and 1.2 inches to 19.7 inches in super macro mode. When the camera is focusing, a green circle blinks on the left part of the LCD screen. Auto focusing is activated by partly depressing the shutter release button until the green circle blinks. The Stylus 800’s auto focus is reasonably fast and responsive when the user depresses the shutter release, but when simply pointing and shooting, the camera has a difficult time focusing quickly, often resulting in blurred images.

Manual Focus (0.0)
There is no manual focus feature available on the Stylus 800.

Metering (7.0)
The through the lens metering system on the Stylus 800 offers two choices: spot metering and Olympus’ ESP. The spot metering takes measurements from the area inside the white targeting brackets. Users can use spot metering in high contrast scenes to ensure the most important information is visibly recorded. Olympus’ ESP metering averages multiple readings from the center and surrounding areas of the composition, similar to matrix metering. The ESP mode works well under most conditions, though it renders subjects very dark in strong backlit situations.

Exposure (7.0)
In addition to the exposure controls offered by the shooting presets, the Stylus 800 also has Aperture and Shutter Priority modes. Exposure compensation is also available in the typical +/- 2 EV range, moving in 1/3 stop increments. To alter the exposure compensation, users can scroll up and down a bar graph with numerical values displayed above the particular position. However, the most appealing element of the camera’s exposure compensation function is the ability to view the potential alterations in a live feed superimposed over the actual composition. This will enable users less familiar with 1/3-stop exposure alterations to perceive the impact the adjustments will have on the final image.

White Balance (5.5)
In addition to automatic color balance, the Stylus 800 includes six preset white balance modes, which are represented by icons: sunny outdoors, cloudy outdoors, tungsten lighting, and three fluorescent light modes. As users scroll through the menu, a live preview is available to see the effect of white balance selections. The auto mode performs well under most conditions, but had a difficult time under strong tungsten casts. Unfortunately, with all the technology and gizmos included on the Stylus 800, there is no customizable white balance mode included. This is a significant pitfall for a point-and-shoot camera geared towards gadget lovers. The omission of a custom setting may prevent users from achieving proper color calibration when shooting under mixed lighting or under a particularly strong color cast.

ISO (7.25)
While most compact cameras have a limited ISO range of 50-400, the Stylus 800 offers ISO settings of 64, 100, 200, and 400 at full resolution, extending to 800 and 1600 at reduced resolutions. When the user switches to ISO 800 or 1600 settings, the camera will automatically drop the resolution down to 2048 x 1536.

When using a custom preset mode or blur reduction, the ISO is locked to Auto. Additionally, the ISO is locked to the user in both Aperture and Shutter priority modes. When shooting with flash, the camera will boost the ISO if the subject is out of the flash’s range, which can result in blown-out foregrounds. While the camera reproduces the extended ISO range of many SLRs, don’t expect its small 1/1.8-inch sensor to reproduce images with an SLR’s handling of noise. While the ISO 800 and 1600 options do grant point-and-shooters a bit more flexibility, it comes at a steep cost; images shot at ISO 800 or 1600 with the Stylus 800 will contain a substantial amount of noise and users will be limited to 4 x 6-inch prints due to the reduced resolution.

Shutter Speed (7.5)
The Stylus 800 offers a shutter range of 4 seconds to 1/2000 of a second. When shooting in Auto mode or in any of the custom preset modes, except for night mode, the shutter speed range is limited to 1/2-1/2000 of a second. Shutter speeds can be manually adjusted in Shutter Priority mode by using the right and left arrows on the navigation dial. A slider displaying shutter speed and the corresponding aperture value is displayed over the live view as selections are made. The slider will display shutter speeds that will result in a proper exposure in green, while those that will either under or overexpose an image will be displayed in red. This intuitive graphic is one of the most valuable elements of the camera, since it helps clearly outline the relationship between shutter speed and aperture values and illustrates how the correlation impacts exposure.

Three different shutter sounds can be selected: two strange electronic noises and a traditional camera shutter sound. Users can select between off and low and high volume levels for the sound. Shutter speed information is displayed on the screen while shooting and atop individual images when they are viewed in playback mode.

Aperture (5.5)
The aperture range on the Stylus 800 extends from f/2.8-f/8 in wide shooting and f/4.9-f/8 in full telephoto. Aperture values on the Stylus 800 are adjustable in 1/3-stop steps, enabling subtle alterations and maximizing control. Aperture can be manually adjusted in Aperture Priority mode by using the right and left arrows on the navigation dial. The camera displays a slider with the F-stop setting displayed, along with the correlating shutter speed. As in Shutter Priority mode, apertures resulting in properly exposed images are displayed in green; those resulting in under or overexposed images are displayed in red. Aperture information is displayed on the screen when shooting and in playback mode. When using one of the custom preset modes, the camera will adjust the aperture to suit the particular custom preset. For example, when shooting in landscape mode the camera will use a wide aperture, while in cuisine mode the camera will use a small aperture to increase depth of field.

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