J&R Deals: Olympus Stylus 1000 10 Megapixel Digital Camera $199.99
Olympus Stylus 1000 10 Megapixel Digital Camera
$199.99
Olympus has many similar cameras for different specific purposes, not one is perfect for everything. The Stylus 1000 has a 10 mp sensor with a 2 1/2 inch screen with a 3x 35-105 mm zoom lens.
The Stylus 1000′s sturdy metal body has a gentle wedge shape, making the camera extremely comfortable for one-handed use. However, the tapered left side makes it even more awkward for left-handed users than most point-and-shoots. The controls are mostly flat buttons that are responsive to the thumb, but extremely similar in feel. It’s easy to accidentally hit the menu button instead of the direction pad when reviewing your photos. The power and the image-stabilization buttons sit on either side of the shutter release, but they’re recessed enough that you probably won’t accidentally press them while shooting.
The rubber gaskets on the camera allow you to splash it without fear. It includes image stabilization for low light conditions. Its lacking an autofocus light but has automatic gain in low light conditions. It has a movie mode which allows you to shoot video clips at 30fps.
Noise is the Stylus 1000′s greatest weakness. It started to manifest at ISO 200 and became quite noticeable at ISO 400. At ISO 800 and 1,600, images suffered from a distinct, greenish-purple grain, and details became horribly softened. At the 5-megapixel settings of ISO 3,200 and 6,400, even coarse details were completely destroyed by noise.
However, at lower ISO settings, the Stylus’s 10-mp images were large and quite crisp, with fine details showing up very clear. I noticed distinct purple fringing on the edges of white objects and some slight barrel distortion at the lens’s widest angle, but otherwise the camera’s images looked great.