Olympus Stylus 790 SW (Blue)
Manufacturer: Olympus America Inc. Part number: 226100
- More product information:
- Editors' review
- User reviews
- Specifications
- Product series
- Accessories
- Manufacturer info
- Bottom Line:
- If you need a camera that you can take snorkeling or skiing, then the Stylus 790 SW might be just the ticket, but you can find better image quality elsewhere for the same price.
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Where to buy
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CNET editors' review
Olympus Stylus 790 SW (Blue) price range: $35.46
- Reviewed by: Philip Ryan
- Reviewed on: 09/27/2007
The good: Camera is waterproof to 10 feet, shock resistant to short drops and mild impact, and freezeproof down to 14 degrees Fahrenheit; also, has nifty Perfect Shot Preview function.
The bad: No manual exposure controls; slightly soft images.
The bottom line: If you need a camera that you can take snorkeling or skiing, then the Stylus 790 SW might be just the ticket, but you can find better image quality elsewhere for the same price.
Do you like to drop your digital camera on the floor? Dunk it in water? Bury it in snow? Who doesn't? But usually, that can cause some problems, since most cameras hate water, won't operate in freezing cold temperatures, and don't take well to falls. However, Olympus' Stylus 790 SW, like the Stylus 770 SW before it, is tough enough to shoot in 10 feet of water or when it's 14 degrees Fahrenheit. Plus, it can withstand drops of up to 5 feet, so if you're klutzy, you won't have to worry quite as much. If you swim deeper than most, the 770 SW might be better for you than this model, since it can operate down to about 33 feet. Other than that, a slightly different body design, and a new feature or two in the 790 SW, the two cameras are basically the same.
If it didn't say so on the front of the camera, you might not think that the Stylus 790 SW is a waterproof camera. While last year's 770 SW's body design screamed rugged, with its all-metal construction and tougher-than-nails look, the 790 SW has a softer look, with plastic accents on the top, side, and front. Also, the 790 SW is about one ounce lighter and comes in five bright colors, while the 770 SW only had three, more-muted colors.
All of the camera's buttons are on the right side of the camera back, except the shutter and on/off buttons, which are on the top. The mode dial, also accented with black plastic, is on the back, and in my opinion, a bit small. The plastic has little notches in it, though, so it's thankfully not all that hard to turn. Menus are separated into the shooting menu, accessed by pressing the OK button in the center of the four-way rocker, and the main menu, which you get to by pressing the Menu button. The main menu lets you activate the silent mode quickly, but makes you choose a submenu before proceeding to anything else. This slows things down a bit, but Olympus does organize the menus well, and the shooting menu and four-way rocker let you quickly change anything you need while shooting.
In our lab's performance tests, the Stylus 790 SW had decent shot-to-shot times, but otherwise didn't impress. The camera took 1.3 seconds to start up and capture its first JPEG. Thereafter, it took 2.3 seconds between images with the flash turned off. With the flash turned on, that wait increased to 3.2 seconds. Shutter lag measured 0.6 second in our high-contrast test and 1.6 seconds in our low-contrast test, which mimic bright and dim shooting conditions, respectively. In burst mode we were able to capture an average of 1.5 full-resolution frames per second.
Image quality isn't the 790 SW's strong point, but it isn't particularly bad either at lower ISOs. Colors aren't quite as saturated as they can be on some other cameras, but they do look fairly accurate. The images also aren't as sharp as I'd like to see, but the clarity is not terrible, and given that this is a waterproof camera, it's not totally unexpected. The 790 SW's automatic white balance leaves photos shot under incandescent lights to look slightly warm, but it does a good job with fluorescent lighting and, of course, natural sunlight.
Olympus keeps noise down through ISO 200. While you can see the beginnings of noise at ISO 200, it's only visible as a slight mottling of colors and won't mar prints. At ISO 400, this gets a little more pronounced, but you can still make good prints and there's only a slight loss of fine detail. At ISO 800 noise becomes heavy, there's a significant loss of fine detail (the markings on the measuring tape in our test scene became illegible), but only a mild loss of shadow detail. At ISO 1,600 noise is extremely heavy, fine details are obliterated, and a lot of shadow detail is lost. I suggest staying below ISO 800 when using the Stylus 790 SW and avoiding ISO 1,600 at all costs.
While the Stylus 790 SW is far from perfect, it's one of the few cameras on the market, especially in this price range, that can take a beating and actually operate well under water or at the top of a ski resort. If you need a camera that can face up to those challenges, then the 790 SW makes sense. If not, you're probably better off with a regular compact camera that can perform faster and give you better image quality.
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
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Typical shot-to-shot time | |
Time to first shot | |
Shutter lag (typical) |
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
User reviews
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GREAT CAMERA AFTER EXPERIMENTING A BIT
by red4life51 on October 15, 2007
Pros: Built strong, can take a beating, waterproof, attractive, nice size.
Cons: Lens placement
Summary: I just purchased this camera recently. Despite all of its good quality's, i was thinking about returning it, because the picture taking wasn't great. But after some tinkering, ...
Summary: I just purchased this camera recently. Despite all of its good quality's, i was thinking about returning it, because the picture taking wasn't great. But after some tinkering, the camera has produced some nice pictures. The camera is capable of removing red eye and shadows, it can also brighten the picture after it has been taken. However, i have an iMac with iphoto, which i can also use to edit the pictures. I have used mainly Canon camera's for the past few years, the pictures are usually crisp and clear, the Olympus i now own, is not quite as crisp as the Canon sd 750 i owned, but it comes very close. I am happy with the picture quality, but most of all i am happy with all the other fine quality's, for instance, i can take it in the pool, rather than just beside the pool, also if it slips out of my hand, it will still work. OH! and this model is also dustproof. In conclusion, i would recommend this camera.
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Olympus America Inc.
- Part number: 226100
- Description: The camera built for life's adventures. The Stylus 790 SW is packed with technology tailored for active people. The Shockproof, Waterproof, Freezeproof and Dustproof design means it's incredibly durable, but it's also sleek and stylish. The new Face Detection feature recognizes subjects' faces and automatically focuses and optimizes exposure for sharp, brilliant portraits. Whether you're playing volleyball at the beach, mountain biking or just hanging out at the pool, the Stylus 790 SW is a must-have vacation and party accessory.
General
- Product Type Digital camera - Compact
- Width 3.7 in
- Depth 0.8 in
- Height 2.4 in
- Weight 4.8 oz
- Enclosure Color Blue
- Body Material Metal
Main Features
- Resolution 7.1 megapixels
- Color Support Color
- Optical Sensor Type CCD
- Total Pixels 7,380,000 pixels
- Effective Sensor Resolution 7,100,000 pixels
- Light Sensitivity ISO 80, ISO 100, ISO 200, ISO 400, ISO 800, ISO 1600, ISO auto
- Digital Zoom 5 x
- Shooting Modes Frame movie mode
- Shooting Programs Candle, Indoor, Sunset, Auction, Cuisine, Documents, Fireworks, Landscape, Beach/snow, Night scene, Sports mode, Behind glass, Portrait mode, Night portrait, Shoot & select 1, Shoot & select 2, Underwater macro, Underwater wide 1, Underwater wide 2, Landscape-portrait, Underwater snapshot, Candlelight portrait, Available light portrait
- Special Effects Sepia, Frames, Black & White
- Max Shutter Speed 1/1000 sec
- Min Shutter Speed 4 sec
- Exposure Metering Spot, Multi-segment
- Exposure Modes Program, Automatic
- Exposure Compensation ±2 EV range, in 1/3 EV steps
- White Balance Presets, Automatic
- White Balance Presets Daylight, Overcast, Tungsten light, Fluorescent light (daylight), Fluorescent light (cool white), Fluorescent light (warm white)
- Digital Video Format AVI
- Still Image Format JPEG
- TV Tuner None
- Video Capture AVI - 640 x 480, AVI - 320 x 240, AVI - 160 x 120
Memory / Storage
- Integrated Memory 14.7 MB
- Floppy Drive None
- Image Storage JPEG 3072 x 2304, JPEG 2560 x 1920, JPEG 2304 x 1728, JPEG 2048 x 1536, JPEG 1600 x 1200, JPEG 1280 x 960, JPEG 1024 x 768, JPEG 640 x 480, JPEG 1920 x 1080
Camera Flash
- Camera Flash Built-in flash
- Flash Modes Auto mode, Fill-in mode, Flash OFF mode, Red-eye reduction
- Red Eye Reduction Yes
- Effective Flash Range 8 in - 12.5 ft
Lens System
- Type Zoom lens - 6.7 mm - 20.1 mm - F/3.5-5.0
- Focal Length 6.7 mm - 20.1 mm
- Focal Length Equivalent to 35mm Camera 38 - 114 mm
- Focus Adjustment Automatic
- Auto Focus TTL contrast detection
- Min Focus Range 19.7 in
- Macro Focus Range 20cm
- Lens Aperture F/3.5-5.0
- Optical Zoom 3 x
- Zoom Adjustment Motorized drive
- Lens Construction 8 group(s) / 10 element(s)
- Features Aspherical lens
Additional Features
- Self Timer Yes
- Self Timer Delay 12 sec
- Additional Features DPOF support, Direct print, Face detection, Audio recording, Auto power save, Shock resistant, Water resistant, Histogram display, Resizing an image, Brightness control, Built-in manometer, PictBridge support, Saturation control, In-camera red-eye fix, USB 2.0 compatibility, Digital image rotation, Digital noise reduction, Built-in LED illuminator, Bright Capture Technology, Digital image stabilization, Automatic Pixel Mapping (APM)
Display
- Type LCD display - TFT active matrix - 2.5 in - Color
- Display Form Factor Built-in
- Display Format 230,000 pixels
Digital Player (Recorder)
- Type None
Microphone
- Type Microphone - Built-in
Connections
- Connector Type 1 x USB, 1 x Composite video/audio output, 1 x DC power input
- Expansion Slot(s) 1 x xD-Picture Card
Software
- Software Olympus Master, Drivers & Utilities
System Requirements for PC Connection
- Operating System Support MS Windows XP, MS Windows 2000, MS Windows Vista, Apple Mac OS X 10.3 or later
- Peripheral Devices USB port, CD-ROM drive
Miscellaneous
- Carrying Case None
- Underwater Depth up to 9.8 ft
- Microsoft Certifications Certified for Windows Vista
- Included Accessories Wrist strap
- Cables Included 1 x USB cable, 1 x A/V cable
Power
- Power Device Power adapter - External
Battery
- Supported Battery Olympus LI-42B
- Supported Battery 1 x Li-ion rechargeable battery ( Included )
Environmental Parameters
- Min Operating Temperature 14 °F
- Max Operating Temperature 104 °F
- Min Storage Temperature -4 °F
- Max Storage Temperature 140 °F
- Humidity Range Storage 10 - 90%
Product series
-
Manufacturer: Olympus America Inc.
Specs: Ultracompact, 7.1 megapixels, 3 x, 2.5 in LCD display, 14.7 MB - Integrated
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Manufacturer: Olympus America Inc.
Specs: Ultracompact, 7.1 megapixels, 3 x, 2.5 in LCD display
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Manufacturer: Olympus America Inc.
Specs: Ultracompact, 7.1 megapixels, 3 x, LCD display
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Olympus Stylus 790 SW (Silver)
Manufacturer: Olympus America Inc.
Specs: Ultracompact, 7.1 megapixels, 3 x, LCD display
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Olympus Stylus 790 SW (Orange)
Manufacturer: Olympus America Inc.
Specs: Ultracompact, 7.1 megapixels, 3 x, LCD display
Accessories
Manufacturer info
- Olympus America Inc.
- Manufacturer profile
- Browse Olympus America Inc. products on Shopper.com
-
- Website: http://www.olympusamerica.com/
- Address:
Two Corporate Center Dr., Melville, NY 11747 - Phone: 631-844-5000
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