Olympus Stylus 400 looks and feels great. Picture quality sinks
Written: Oct 30 '03
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Pros: *Weather proof *size *looks good *controls are relatively easy to use.
Cons: *** Horrendous picture quality!! Returned camera after 2 weeks.
The Bottom Line: Find a sales person that will let you take some pictures outside and download to a PC before you buy it.
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| vincentjhv's Full Review: Olympus Stylus 400 Digital Camera |
I own the same camera that uses regular film and I love it. I was looking for a digital camera, and it made sense to try the digital version.
This camera's body is really nice. The size is great, and the weatherproof feature was a must for me (lots of hiking in lots of weather). I forked out the cash for it after a lot of reading, and in spite of finding quite a few reviews that were very negative regarding picture quality I thought it would be worth it the chance.
I hated the picture quality from pic #1. The camera was very poor at balancing light and dark contrasts. For example, an outside shot on a beautifully clear day of my house would result in the house being so dark you couldn't distinguish windows and doors, but the sky would be perfect. Or, the sky would be so dark you couldn't make out a cloud, but the house would look OK. I tried and tried to learn to use it, and balance the shots manually, but it just didn't work. Pictures of landscapes would result in trees being so dark you couldn't see detail of them or the mountains, but the sky would be perfect. Or visa versa. The sky is dark and appears cloudy when it should be blue, but the mountains/trees are OK. Indoor pictures weren't much better, with lots of white washing.
I called Olympus and they asked me for pictures. After seeing the pictures they responded that I needed to send the camera in for servicing/testing. The camera was 2 weeks old at the time. I said I wanted it exchanged if something is wrong, but they wouldn't do it. So, I returned it to Amazon for a full refund.
Point-and-shoot is a huge deal, and I wanted point-and-shoot with little fuss. However, I also want some manual functions. The Stylus has a complete lack of manual functions, with very few and limited settings. I really hated to give up on it, but the money I spent was not worth it.
I ended up buying a Canon Powershot S400, and I absolutely LOVE it!!! It's about the same size (easily fits in a pocket), uses common CF memory instead of Stylus' proprietary and expensive memory, and it's point-and-shoot pic's are excellent. It also has many more manual features. Down-side to it, it's not weather proof!! Why doesn't somebody else do weatherproofing??
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 400
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Easy Enough for Anyone to Use
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Epinions.com ID:
vincentjhv
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Reviews written: 3
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