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Thursday, March 13, 2008

Olympus Stylus 850 SW - mini Review


This is one of those products where I'm surprised by the lack of their popularity. A camera that is freezeproof (-10 C.), shockproof (5ft) and waterproof (10ft). When you have kids it almost sounds too good to be true. Even if you don't have kids but love the outdoors this camera seems to fit the bill like no other.

I was looking for a cheap camera so that i could hand over to my kids so that they could take pictures with. Even though this isn't necessarily a cheap camera ($299) it is less worrisome handing over a camera to my young children that they can drop on to the pavement... into a puddle of water no less.

It even takes video underwater... but this is where the shortcomings come into view. You either have to take small videos (320x240 - youtube size) or use a slower frame rate (15fps) to get video lasting around 30mins. Due to lack of buffer size if you try video at 640x480 at 30fps you'll clip will end in 10sec. (go 320x240 at 15fps and sky's the limit.. well,.. at least the size of your memory card is the limit)

The photos might not be the best but for what i want it's perfect. Couple this with a more serious photography tool (Digital SLR would be a good choice) and you'll be set up for pretty much anything.

I give it a 8/10 for what it is. A 'point and shoot' that i don't have to be careful with. nice.

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Posted at 1:26 AM
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2 Comments:

  • Hey Jae,

    Thanks for the review. I still think that's a lot of money for a "kid's" camera, so I'm going to wait for the prices to come down. Maybe by Christmas they'll have a sale or something, I'm hoping. I'll have to get the pink one for sure to match my iPod nano... nice! tam :)

    By Blogger tam :), At August 29, 2008 10:59 AM  

  • oh,.. i didn't want to suggest that this camera was for the kids. I meant that this was a perfect camera for the family that i would be at ease with giving to the kids to take photos with.
    since we've had the camera we've been to a waterpark and the caribbean. where it was very fun to have. and i can forsee many other 'water' trips in the future.. not to mention 'snow' adventures... and places where a more fragile camera may be unrealistic to take...

    this is a perfect point and shoot for the family imo. except for the fact the pictures could be better.. but for me the flexibility outweighs that issue especially if you have another 'better' camera.

    By Blogger simply j., At August 29, 2008 11:29 AM  

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