Olympus Stylus Digital 720 SW Review



Record Modes & Screens
Here you can see the typical record mode screen. The "P" indicates Program (Auto) exposure
mode, in the center are the auto focus target marks, and across the bottom is image quality,
SHQ = Super High Quality (7-megapixels) and there's enough space on our xD card for 144
pictures.
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.) The "red lightning bolt" icon indicates the flash is charged and ready.
Pressing the 4-way controller Up, Down, Left or Right allows you to quickly change settings for
Macro focus mode, Flash mode, Self-timer, and Exposure compensation.
You can access a variety of Scene modes by pressing the Mode button. 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 (shown above.) You can choose from 24 different exposure modes: Portrait, Landscape, Landscape+Portriat, Night Scene, Night+Portrait, Sport, Indoor, Candle, Self Portrait, Available Light Portrait, Sunset, Fireworks, Museum, Cuisine, Behind Glass, Documents, Auction, Shoot& Select 1, Shoot&Select 2, Beach&Snow, Under Water Wide 1, Under Water Wide 2, Under Water Macro, and Underwater Snapshot.
Unlike its Stylus siblings, the 720 SW can be submerged up to 10 feet, without the use of an
underwater housing.
Digital Image Stabilization Mode is also accessed through the Mode button (shaky hand symbol)
and uses Olympus' Bright Capture technology, which boosts the ISO sensitivity. This keeps
shutter speeds higher in order to reduce the blurring effects of camera shake or subject
movement during the exposure. Image size is not reduced when using this feature.
Pressing the OK/FUNC. button will bring up the menu of options shown above. FUNC. Menu Options
White Balance - Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Tungsten (Incandescent), or Fluorescent 1, 2, and 3 ISO - Auto, 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 Drive Mode - Single, Continuous, High-Speed Continuous Metering - ESP or Spot
Press the MENU button to bring up the Record mode Menu. You can use the shortcut menus to
quickly change image resolution, reset all settings to factor defaults, change the scene mode
as well as enter the Camera or Setup menus.
CAMERA
ISO - Auto, 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 Drive Mode - Single, Continuous, High-Speed Continuous Metering - ESP or Spot Digital Zoom - Enable or disable digital zoom option AF Mode - iESP or Spot focus modes Voice Memo - Off or On Panorama - Enable Panorama mode (only if using Olympus xD card)
SETUP Menu Options
Backup - Save a copy of images on to your PC Menu Language - English, French, Espanol, Portuguese PW ON Setup - Select power up screen animation and sound level Color - Choose menu background: Normal, Blue, Black, Pink Beep - Choose Low, High or Off Camera sounds - Low, High or Off Shutter Sound - Choose Shutter 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 Dual Time Setup - On/Off Alarm Clock - Daily or One-Time Video Out - Video out signal - NTSC or PAL format
Press the 4-way selector "left" to enable Macro focus mode and take closeup shots at a range of
7.9 inches (0.2m) to infinity, or enable Super Macro mode and get as close as 2.8 inches (7cm.)
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 the
Stylus 720 features a built-in microphone, the optical zoom may not be used during recording.
You can preset the desired focal length before starting to record a movie.
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