Digital Trends

Olympus Stylus 770 SW May 1st, 2007 | by David Elrich

Picture Quality

Given all these rugged bona fides, what kind of pictures did this camera take? First, you have to realize this is a step above a point-and-shoot digicam—and the step is a small one. Besides the many screen modes, this camera offers little in the way of photographic adjustments. You can change the white balance, ISO (up to 1600), metering and focus—that’s really about it. Forget aperture or shutter speed. Olympus claims a fast continuous shutter speed but that’s at 3-megapixel resolution, not full 7.1MP. Use that setting and the camera will take four in a row then give it up, about half the ability of the just-reviewed 8MP Sony DSC-W90. And this camera suffers from the other main problem of Olympus cameras—slow response. The Stylus 770SW really labors saving SHQ 3072 x 2304 pixel files. It’s one of my biggest complaints about Olympus digicams—they just don’t have the processing power of competing cameras from Canon and Sony. The company better step up to the plate with its next generation models or they’ll be left on the tech trash heap. While I’m piling on, this camera only has electronic image stabilization rather than optical, a much inferior method of eliminating blur from your pictures. Also the movie mode is 640 x 480 pixels at 15 frames per second rather than the 30 fps of almost everyone else.

After that riff, how were the pictures? Actually pretty good, especially outdoors. Before the April showers came along, I took many shots of the new spring blooms and the camera did a fine job. Colors were very accurate in my final 8 ½ x 11 prints. My only real complaint was the lag time as it saved the images. There really shouldn’t be a reason for this circa 2007. Shots taken indoors were good as well, thanks to the AF Assist lamp. And—as you’d expect—photos taken above ISO 400 had digital noise galore but that’s to be expected in the vast majority of point-and-shoot digicams.

Conclusion

There is no digital camera available like the Olympus Stylus 770SW. None can take the beating this camera can. If you’re an outdoorsy type and are looking for an easy-to-carry camera to take along on your treks, this is the one. Folks who expect to be at the beach and near the surf should consider this one too—the screen really takes the sunlight well and you can drop it in the water and it’ll be fine—as long as you grab it before it hits 33 feet below the surface. Yes, it has its shortcomings—especially the high price--but this 7.1-megapixel survivor is unique.


Pros:

• Takes a beating
• Accurate photos, especially outdoors
• Excellent LCD screen

Cons:

• Slow response
• Few manual options