Olympus Stylus 10.1-Megapixel Digital Camera - Blue

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Olympus Stylus 10.1-Megapixel Digital Camera - Blue

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to erase old photos you've fixed in camera, etc., a new, fully charged battery drains fast and without adequate warning. The battery drain I might have expected, and that's not the real issue for me as I can live with that considering all the great things the camera can do. The biggest problem for me so far is that after shooting approximately 40-50 photos one day, doing all of the above (zoom, lots of edits, playing back, etc.) the battery indicator still showed green and full. The following day, after I had taken maybe 5 shots, the battery suddenly (i.e. no quarter or half `down' indications) blinked red and showed a quarter charge left. At no time when I turned the camera on did the battery indicator show anything but green and a full charge. After anywhere from one shot taken to 2-3 seconds after turn-on, the indicator showed almost empty, and eventually empty battery. I had made a trip to a local museum specifically to try the camera out, and left after taking less than half the shots I wanted to try because the battery, which had read fully charged the night before, was completely dead within maybe 18 shots. Again - it's not the battery drain itself that shocked me (I was doing a lot of experimenting), it was the fact that there was no indication that the battery capacity was being used up, so I could be aware and re-charge before another outing. After the battery was fully recharged, I did perhaps 5 min or less of editing and deleting on the camera, and when I plugged the camera back into the charger it took another 15-20 mins. to recharge to capacity! I don't know if this is a fluke, a defective battery, or defective battery sensors in the camera. What I do know is that I can't trust the battery charge indicator, and that an extra battery for this camera isn't just desirable, it's absolutely mandatory to carry with you if you intended to edit in-camera. My recommendation, based on my experience so far, would be to either purchase the wall cable and adapter for the camera ($60 from Amazon.com) or two extra batteries; the cost would be approximately the same. If you don't do this, you really can't make full use of all of the camera's features, or even most of them, on a consistent basis.

That said, it's a very cool little camera. I do love the `little' - fits so easily into a purse for take-along all the time. It's also very light, even with the battery. In the promo description of this camera, Olympus said that they wanted their color not just to be vivid and bright, but to be `pleasing to the eye', and it's definitely that - much more pleasing and accurate colors than my Sony. And what's not to like about the zoom?! Fantastic. The Shadow Adjustment Technology is brilliant - my favorite feature, really. It works like a charm. The macro function, the little I've been able to test it before the battery died, works beautifully. I'm a little confused as to what some of the Scene modes are actually supposed to do. Shots I took in the museum with the `behind glass' feature actually came out looking worse than without it. Some of the Available Light shots I took look better than my Sony, some look the same, and some not as good (I was doing retakes of pix I already had from the other camera, under the same lighting conditions, to compare). The panorama feature, with a little practice, is very cool. As far as the brightness of the screen in bright sunlight - I'd say better than my 2 year old Sony, and viewable in bright sunlight, but just that - viewable, not extra special. In average, less than the brightest sunlight, it's definitely better than the Sony. The video is fine, too - probably as good as the Sony's, and they are known for their video capabilities. The quick charge works well.

In summary, I love the camera and would happily recommend it to others, with a caveat that using all of the features that most people will be buying it for will use up the battery very quickly, so you really do need an extra battery at the least.

Olympus Stylus 10.1-Megapixel Digital Camera - Blue

...

to erase old photos you've fixed in camera, etc., a new, fully charged battery drains fast and without adequate warning. The battery drain I might have expected, and that's not the real issue for me as I can live with that considering all the great things the camera can do. The biggest problem for me so far is that after shooting approximately 40-50 photos one day, doing all of the above (zoom, lots of edits, playing back, etc.) the battery indicator still showed green and full. The following day, after I had taken maybe 5 shots, the battery suddenly (i.e. no quarter or half `down' indications) blinked red and showed a quarter charge left. At no time when I turned the camera on did the battery indicator show anything but green and a full charge. After anywhere from one shot taken to 2-3 seconds after turn-on, the indicator showed almost empty, and eventually empty battery. I had made a trip to a local museum specifically to try the camera out, and left after taking less than half the shots I wanted to try because the battery, which had read fully charged the night before, was completely dead within maybe 18 shots. Again - it's not the battery drain itself that shocked me (I was doing a lot of experimenting), it was the fact that there was no indication that the battery capacity was being used up, so I could be aware and re-charge before another outing. After the battery was fully recharged, I did perhaps 5 min or less of editing and deleting on the camera, and when I plugged the camera back into the charger it took another 15-20 mins. to recharge to capacity! I don't know if this is a fluke, a defective battery, or defective battery sensors in the camera. What I do know is that I can't trust the battery charge indicator, and that an extra battery for this camera isn't just desirable, it's absolutely mandatory to carry with you if you intended to edit in-camera. My recommendation, based on my experience so far, would be to either purchase the wall cable and adapter for the camera ($60 from Amazon.com) or two extra batteries; the cost would be approximately the same. If you don't do this, you really can't make full use of all of the camera's features, or even most of them, on a consistent basis.



That said, it's a very cool little camera. I do love the `little' - fits so easily into a purse for take-along all the time. It's also very light, even with the battery. In the promo description of this camera, Olympus said that they wanted their color not just to be vivid and bright, but to be `pleasing to the eye', and it's definitely that - much more pleasing and accurate colors than my Sony. And what's not to like about the zoom?! Fantastic. The Shadow Adjustment Technology is brilliant - my favorite feature, really. It works like a charm. The macro function, the little I've been able to test it before the battery died, works beautifully. I'm a little confused as to what some of the Scene modes are actually supposed to do. Shots I took in the museum with the `behind glass' feature actually came out looking worse than without it. Some of the Available Light shots I took look better than my Sony, some look the same, and some not as good (I was doing retakes of pix I already had from the other camera, under the same lighting conditions, to compare). The panorama feature, with a little practice, is very cool. As far as the brightness of the screen in bright sunlight - I'd say better than my 2 year old Sony, and viewable in bright sunlight, but just that - viewable, not extra special. In average, less than the brightest sunlight, it's definitely better than the Sony. The video is fine, too - probably as good as the Sony's, and they are known for their video capabilities. The quick charge works well.



In summary, I love the camera and would happily recommend it to others, with a caveat that using all of the features that most people will be buying it for will use up the battery very quickly, so you really do need an extra battery at the least.