Updated 26 May, 2012, 4:18 pm IST

REVIEWS / POINT AND SHOOT / OLYMPUS IMAGING INDIA PVT. LTD.

Olympus 850 SW

08 May, 2008, 10:18 am IST | by Shayne Rana | Point and Shoot

The night mode, especially in a city that has a lot of night life, will require some attention. Having a steady hand is a prerequisite, but that wont help much for a clear picture. You’ll have to put the camera on a steady surface and I’d also suggest using the preset 10-second timer (not adjustable, by the way). The images aren't too bad, except for the parts where you’ll see a bit of a blur or ghosting of people or objects that moved. But that’s not something you can do much about.

I had one major gripe with the 850 SW and that’s with the video. It allows users to record in VGA (640 x 480) and QVGA (320 x 240) resolutions with 30/15 fps. The catch is it will record in VGA for no more than 10 seconds. I could not for the life of me find a setting to change this. In QVGA there's no time limit. The recordings were really good, but you will not be able to use the zoom while shooting. You’ll have to preset a zoom and go with that.

The 850 SW gives a better-than-average battery life. The company claims up to 190 images on a full charge. I think they were being modest, as I managed to squeeze in almost 200. That’s really great in my book – or anyone else’s for that matter.

The Bottomline
The Olympus 850 SW is a great camera for people who go on offbeat vacations and/or are generally clumsy. It’s not a delicate piece of equipment that you’d need to treat with kid gloves. The only thing I’d say to even a child is – go nuts! The price of Rs 16,995 may seem a bit steep, but it includes a 2GB XD card. There's a one-year international warranty and a two-year Indian warranty, but the camera is durable enough to last you a really long time. Consider it an investment.

Specs

Dimensions	93.6 x 60.9 x 21.3 mm
Weight	140 g
Type	Ultra-Compact
Connectivity	USB 2.0/AV out (proprietary)
Storage	Internal /XD card
Battery Type	Lithium-Ion rechargeable
LCD Type	2.5 inch, HyperCrystal LCD
View Finder	N/A
Sensor	CCD Contrast Detection
Effective Pixels	8.0 Megapixel
ISO Sensitivity	Auto, 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600
Optical Zoom	3x
Digital Zoom	5x
Shutter Speed	1/1000 sec (up to 4 seconds in night mode)
Aperture	F3.5 - F5.0
Format	JPEG, AVI
Scene Modes	Portrait, Landscape, Landscape + portrait, Night scene, Night + portrait, Sport, Indoor, Candle, Self portrait, Available Light portrait, Sunset, Fireworks, Food, Behind Glass, Documents, Beach and Snow, Underwater, Underwater Wide, 23. Underwater Macro)
White Balance	6 positions
Flash	Auto, Fill-In, Red-Eye Reduction, Off
Self Timer	12 secs
Sound	Yes
Street Price	Rs 16,995

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