Olympus Stylus Digital 800 Review

Pressing the GUIDE button will bring up the built-in Shooting Guide on the LCD screen. There are 15 selections to choose from.

Typical record mode screen. The "P" indicates Program AE exposure mode, "S"hutter speed 1/30, "A"perture F2.8, "±" exposure compensation is 0.0 and the ISO sensitivity is 64. In the center are the auto focus target marks, the "rounded rectangle" indicates normal single frame drive mode. Across the bottom is image quality, SHQ = Super High Quality (8 megapixels) and there's enough space on our xD card for 50 pictures. And the histogram is enabled by pressing the DISP button.

When you half-press the shutter release it starts the autofocus process and if it locks you'll get the "focus OK" green icon (top left). If focus fail you will get a red "can't focus" icon (not shown.) If the flash is enabled it will show as ready with the "red lightning bolt" icon.

Turn the mode dial to SCENE and then pick the desired scene mode from: Landscape, Landscape+Portrait, Portrait, Indoor, Sport, Beach&Snow, Behind Glass, SelfPortrait+Selftimer, Self Portrait, Sunset, Available Light Portrait, Night Scene, Night+Portrait, Fireworks, Candle, Cuisine, Documents, Shoot&Select 1 and Shoot&Select 2.

As you go through the Scene selections an image depicting the mode is shown and then a brief text explanation of the mode is presented.

Turn the mode dial to "S"hutter-speed priority when you want to specify the shutter speed and then select it with the 4-way controller. Choose from 1/2 to 1/2000 second.

As you select the shutter speed this screen is displayed.

Turn the mode dial to "A"perture when you want to specify the aperture value, usually for depth of field effect, select it with the 4-way controller. The aperture values are F2.8 through F8.0 and vary depending on focal length.

As you select the aperture this screen is shown.

Blur Reduction mode uses the Bright Capture technology and boosts the ISO sensitivity up to 2500. This keeps the shutter speed above 1/15 sec in order to reduce the blurring effects of camera shake or subject movement during the exposure. As with all Bright Capture modes, the image size must be 2048x1536 or less.

Press the OK/MENU button to bring up the Record mode Menu. You can use the shortcut menus to quickly change exposure compensation, image resolution, or adjust white balance. To access all menu options press the 4-way selector to the "Right" for the Mode Menu - see the next frame.

Shortcut Menu Options

Exposure Compensation - Override metering by +/- 2.0 EV in 1/3 EV steps

Resolution - SHQ, HQ, SQ1, SQ2

White Balance - Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Tungsten (Incandescent), or Fluorescent 1, 2, and 3

Mode Menu Options

CAMERA

ESP/Spot - Select ESP or Spot metering

Drive - Single, Continuous, High Speed Continuous

ISO - Auto, 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 (800 and 1600 are at SQ2 only)

Digital Zoom - Enable or disable digital zoom option

AF Mode - iESP or Spot focus modes

Sound Memo - Enable or disable sound attachment to still pictures

Panorama - Enable Panorama mode (only if using Olympus xD card)

2 IN 1 - Enable the 2in1 exposure mode (takes two separate pictures and then merges them into one side-by-side image)

CARD

Card Setup - Format the xD-picture card

SETUP

All Reset - If OFF then current settings are remembered from power off to power on. If ON then all settings are reset to default.

Menu Language - Japanese, English, French, German

PW ON Setup - Select power up screen animation and sound level

Color - Change menu color scheme (Normal, Blue, Green, Pink)

Camera Sounds - Adjust the sound levels (Off, Low, High)

Shutter Sound - Select shutter sound theme

Rec View - View image immediately after capture on LCD

File Name - Select between Reset and Auto

Pixel Mapping - Map out bad pixels

Monitor Brightness - Adjust LCD backlight

Set Clock - Set time and or date

Video Out - Video out signal - NTSC or PAL format

Press the 4-way selector "down" to enable Macro focus mode and take closeup shots at a range of 8 to 20 inches, or enable Super Macro mode and get as close as 1.2-inches.

The Panorama mode has an onscreen guide to help you make the best possible panorama pictures by getting the necessary overlap between successive images. Up to 10 frames can be captured and then stitched together with the Camedia Master software. You must use an Olympus brand xD-Picture Card to use the Panorama mode.

Movie mode lets you capture SHQ (640x480), HQ (320x240) or SQ (160x120) resolution motion video at 15fps with sound. The length of a movie is limited only by the available memory. Because sound is recorded, the zoom can not be used during recording but can be preset before. You can use Digital Zoom during recording but it degrades image quality.

Pressing the Menu button in Movie mode give you access to theses options. From the shortcut menu you can use exposure compensation, change the resolution, and adjust white balance. The mode menu give you access to metering, ISO and the digital zoom.