Olympus Stylus 830 Digital Camera Review

 
Model Design / Appearance (6.75)
The Olympus Stylus 830 has the same indistinguishable, utilitarian design as many cameras currently on store shelves. The plastic body is not an eye-catcher, but it is available in green, black, silver, blue, and orange, which dress it up a bit. Olympus markets the Stylus 830 as weatherproof, which basically means it won’t be damaged by a few rain droplets. Don’t be fooled by this feature; it is certainly not in the same class as the waterproof Olympus Stylus SW series or the Pentax W30.

Size / Portability (7.0)
The Stylus 830 is slimmer than many mid-range zoom models. It measures 3.9 x 2.2 x .94 inches and weighs 4.4 ounces without the battery and memory card. It can be easily stowed away in a back pocket or small purse or dangle from a wrist with the included wrist strap without discomfort.

Handling Ability (5.0)
Handling is an area where the Olympus Stylus 830 falls short. It’s light enough to hold with one hand, but there isn’t much to hang onto. The horizontal grip on the camera’s front and circle of divots on the camera’s back don’t improve handling all that much. While some of the Stylus 830’s competitors’ bodies aren’t as thin, they have bulging right handgrips, which make the camera easier to hold.


Control Buttons / Dial Positioning / Size (7.25)
On the camera’s top are the power, shutter release, and image stabilizer buttons. The image stabilizer button is where the shutter release button is on most digital cameras. Its placement in between the image stabilizer and power buttons and its small size may cause some finger fumbling.

At the top of the camera’s back are the mode dial and zoom toggle. Many point-and-shoots’ zoom toggles surround the shutter button, which is a logical placement because it is in convenient reach of the index finger. The user has to bend their thumb at an odd angle to reach the zoom toggle, which is not very comfortable, especially if shooting for an extended period of time. To the right of the zoom toggle is the mode dial, another component that is on the top of many other digital cameras. The Stylus 830’s mode dial is too small and its placement makes it difficult to turn.

Beneath the zoom toggle and mode dial is the square four-way controller and flanking pairs of levers, labeled with icons that turn glow-stick green when pressed. This will be useful when shooting at night or in a dark bar, for instance. The four-way controller and surrounding buttons are well spaced and easily distinguishable.

Menu (7.0)
Menus are an area where Olympus has struggled in the past and the Stylus 830’s menus are no exception. It’s a good thing there’s a Function menu, accessed by pushing the ok/func button in the middle of the four-way controller. The Function menu is a truncated version of the Camera menu. It gives users easy access to commonly used functions such as white balance and ISO.

Function menu
Shooting mode	Program, Auto
White balance	Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent lamp 1, Fluorescent lamp 2, Fluorescent lamp 3
ISO	Auto, High auto, 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600
Drive	Single, Continuous, High-speed continuous
Metering	ESP, Spot

Pressing the menu button to the top left of the four-way controller brings up a screen of six icons, each representing a submenu: Reset, Image Quality, Setup, Silent mode, Scene, and Camera menu. Selecting one of the submenus leads to a list-style menu with numbered tabs on the left. A descriptive icon would be much more helpful to the user than a number.

Camera menu
White Balance	Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent lamp 1, Fluorescent lamp 2, Fluorescent lamp 3
ISO	Auto, High auto, 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600
Drive	Single, Continuous, High-speed continuous
Fine Zoom	Off, On
Digital Zoom	Off, On
Metering	ESP, Spot
AF Mode	Face detect, iESP, Spot
Add audio to image	Off, on
Panorama	Assists users in shooting a panorama of up to 10 images. Images are stitched together using the included Olympus Master Software. An Olympus xD-Picture card is required to use this feature.
Image Quality
SHQ 3264 x 2448
HQ 3264 x 2448
SQ1 2048 x 1536	2560 x 1920, 2304 x 1728, 2048 x 1536
SQ2 640 x 480	1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960, 1024 x 768, 640 x 480
16:9 1920 x 1080
Setup Menu
Memory Format
Backup
Language
PW on setup	Screen, Volume
Menu theme	Normal, Blue, Black, Pink, My Favorite
Beep	Off, Low, High
Sound	Off, Low, High
Shutter Sound	Off, 1, 2, 3
Volume	Off, Low, High
Rec View	On, Off
File Name	Reset, Auto
Pixel Mapping
LCD Screen Brightness
Date/Time
Dual Time	Off, On
Alarm Clock	Off, One time, Daily
Video Out	NTSC, PAL
Power Save	Off, On
Silent Mode	Off, On

When the camera is set to Playback mode and the menu button pushed a different set of submenus is displayed. Options are as follows: Slideshow, Edit, Print order, Perfect Fix, Playback menu, Setup, Add Favorite, Erase, and Silent mode.

Playback menu
Slideshow	Set the slideshow transitions
Edit	Resize, Color edit, Frame, Label, Calendar
Print order	Set number of prints for each image and date and time information.
Perfect Fix	Apply shadow adjustment and red-eye correction
Playback menu	Protect, rotate image, add audio to image
Setup	Format, backup, select language, set startup screen and volume, select menu theme, turn beep on or off, adjust volume, select shutter sound, adjust volume, choose to display image immediately after taken, file name settings, pixel mapping, LCD brightness, set date and time, set date and time for another time zone, alarm clock, video out, power save on or off
Add favorite	Tag images as favorites
Erase	Erase select or all images
Silent mode	On or off

Ease of Use (7.0)
The Auto mode, more than a dozen Scene modes, Shooting Guide, and camera settings explained with a touch of the “?” button make it easy to take a picture and learn a little something too. However, some of the buttons and controls are either poorly placed are hard to operate and the menus are a mess, which makes operating the Stylus 830 more of an annoyance than a challenge.