Olympus SP-820UZ Compact Digital Camera - Black (14MP, 40x Wide Optical Zoom) 3 inch LCD Screen

I needed a camera that was better than one of the little compacts but not as big as a DSLR. This one neatly fits the bill.

It will fit in a jacket pocket as it is not too bulky, yet can produce excellent results. I am particularly impressed by the 40x optical zoom, the results are fantastic and allow me to stand off quite away from the subject yet it looks like I am next to it.

I took some landscape photos that I have taken in the past with my old film camera and various lenses and the results were what I had been trying to achieve for years.

This camera is packed with functionality, the magic filters (not all of which are that useful to be fair) are very good and I use a couple regularly. The menu system is easy to follow, though do have a read of the manual on the enclosed CD to get the full benefit of the camera.

Finally, battery life. This camera uses 4 AA batteries. Normally this is downer as digital cameras suck the life out of batteries, not this one. The battery life is very good even on bog standard batteries.

This is a superb little camera and is the one I take with me whenever I am going out. My poor old DSLR with the interchangeable lenses has not left the house since I bought.

Absolutely thrilled with this camera. I had the Olympus SP-600UZ before and was very distraught when it got damaged! This has been a perfect update and the extra zoom has been perfect for our safari shots. Highle recommend this camera for its ease of functionality and results.

Just use the rotating switch on the top to what suits you and your abillity cant be simpler.

What makes a bit more simpler is no matter where you go and what setting or where you are in the menu a description comes up with sample pictures to inform you and show you exactly what it can do, no guessing or knowledge required.

It could be the first time you ever touched a camera and in minutes you are ready to go, no books or manuals to read or learn they made this as simple as it can get yet as advanced as anything else, ideal for the first timer or newbie.

(1)

If you no good at photography and you the sort of person who wants to take good shots and like to have an expert with you to set it up for you all the time then just leave it on auto the intelligent system does it all for you, just point and click.

If you need a flash just pop it up but be warned it is a powerfull flash and it covers some distance more than you expect it to do.

On Auto your functions are limited, including the flash unit.

(2) If you want to do more use P setting if you have little knowledge just leave all the settings like white balance, exposure, shutter speeds etc on auto, and just alter what you want to do you want, like a water fall or fireworks or any moving object alter the shutter speed for different effects what ever your imagination comes up with.

On This setting all camera functions are yours to control.

If you like technical stuff on screen that press the silver menu button 12 o clock position and it gives you photo information on play mode and camera mode tells you exactly your settings press it again and grid lines appear and a histogram which shows you what the camera sensor sees on a bar graph osciloscope type scale press it again it its gone.

Very important point to note If you going to snap close range at night using the flash then you will have the options of
Auto- Always on - Off - and red eye,

Use red eye the flash unit strobes like a disco light very quickly pre emittant flashes before taking the photo, on the on setting at close range its a powerfull flash unit and you could end up with white out, on red eye every shot is spot on, but also be aware it takes extremely good photos at night with out the flash.

It says 40 times zoom but on p using the menu you can switch on the digital zoom and it will go to 80 times zoom, it says the pictures may not be so good but on a clearish day with enough light and if you press gently on the shutter then the pictures you can take can be flawless i taken some fantastic shots on 80, it also has a super res function that improves the quality - apart from that it may say 40 optical - 80 digital - but when you zoom it to its max it goes right up to 160 magnification as you wil see in its viewfinder i wasn't expecting that and is still good enough to take a photo - the anti shake and image stabiliser on this thing really does work at max zooms with unbelievable good results.

Theres loads more it can do, Set it on beauty mode take a photo of somebody forward facing, guy or girl it doesnt matter, soon as it its taken a beauty fix option comes up, if you select it it will take you through an easy to follow picture which is quite a fun looking menu which can give you the giggles.

You can slap various lipstick on your subject in different colours, whiten skin color, eye liner, change eye colour brown to blue to green and a few odd colours, enhance smile whiten teeth, slender and slim the face etc you can air brush you subject quite ideal if you with a partner thats needs a few touching ups to look good on a photo so you can show off to your friends and family while hiding them away from public view.

Panoramic If you like doing these, i was awfully impressed by the galaxy 2 it could stitch 8 photos together so just enough for a complete 360 where most other cameras do 3 and yet no one knows exactly what that can do it has an amazing system and fantastic camera, for a tablet.

I you do the sea front it trips up it stitches as you move it and it cant get lines right on the sea horizon that well you can see the stitching,

i tried this where that failed, it says it stitches 3 together, which is not the case it can do 10 if you use a pc to do it, you can do it manually or on auto, if you use auto go into settings you get 2 choices 180 or 360 you dont have to use the full range you can stop at any angle by repressing the shutter button, take what you want - i used it on auto and its spot on even if you tilt the camera vertically and move it horizontally the picture comes out in the right orientation all the time for deeper views, you dont have to do anything forget manual forget the pc just point and click and turn, press play back and it plays it back like a movie, i found it hard to find errors on them once down loaded to the pc.

The magic settings

There are many the reflection is amazing on landscapes where there is deep blue sky, water of fog about you can make things float in the sky you can take a photo of a pet or person and it will reproduce 2 of them, depending on how you angle it you can have them shaking hands with themselves or a bit more imagination you can angle the camera to half the subject with 1 arm 1 leg in the air so looks like they are flying, theres so much you can manipulate with it, it does drawing of the pictute, pop art is very similiar effect to autumn colours i had on other cameras for bringing out the best in the depth of colours,

minature is also good effect esp on trees in front of a water fall or similiar scene for that gerry anderson thunderbird look -

fragmented a tile effect

dramatic is a very powerfull effect on this camera and can be really over powering in some scenes with some fantastic results, on a cloudy day with lots of cloud detail it can take what looks like the end of the world type photos, it picks up every detail you dont see and enhances it, turns a cloudy day into a storm, theres a lot more it can do on the right scenery.

Pin hole is pin hole but gets better if you use it with a zoom, for that old fashioned camera affect its really good in black and white mode or sepia for that victorian era or wild west effect.

Fish eye how good it is depends what angle you use the camera its like looking through a gold fish bowl great for bending tall buildings or railway tracks and other straight things of considerable length.

Soft focus for that angelic look on pretty things like flowers does not do well on hell angels bikers and wrestlers.

Punk just purples everything cant see no use for it yet.

Sparkle thats a brilliant one anything in a photo that emmits light like xmas lights on a xmas tree or light reflections over water will have a sparkle effect that really makes them stand out its that glint you see on water that moves but you can never capture it so on holiday no one really sees what you see, on this you can it can bring anything to life esp a night scene.

Pictures taken on this setting comes out as a painting

On all these settings you always see the effect in real time so you know what you want and you decide when or if you want to take it.

The scene mode SCN

landscape - Just landscapes as long as it got plenty blues and greens for more rockie terrains just use auto for better results.

night scene - for illuminated scenes at night.

night + portrait - as above but with a subject

sport - fast moving subjects, cars - jets - alien big cats - ufo's etc

indoor - saves a flash blinding everyone esp if you are in a restuarant where every one else there is eating with out wearing sun glasses, or birthday parties where dont want everyone to be dazzled into falling into the cake.

self portrait (yes you photo yourself)

fireworks - slower shutter speed to catch the best in displays also works for water falls where you want to produce fantasy results and other such moving things where you want to introduce time and travel.

cuisine ( i use this for any photo that has a lot of vivid colours it really brings out anything natural to this planet, birds, butterflies, flowers anything thats not a man made colour it really enhances)

documents - it does not require strong lighting on this setting or direct lighting or its dazzling, but take some scenes in this setting it puts a light dramtic effect to it.

portrait - if you fancy yourself as a model photographer or just family portraits

beach and snow - self explanatory

pet mode cat - pet mode dog ( these 2 effects will put the camera into a wait mode and it will only take a photo when the cat or dog through intelligent recognition actually faces the camera then it will take the picture, so you get that most amazing pose, dont stop there you be surprised on how many other things it works on even some people

Sunset - As of this time none have appeared to test it out on but it does take some glare out of any strong colour lighting it does love reds and yellow back grounds so i will have to see what it can do on the big ball in the sky come improvements in weather.

Backlight hdr - For that darken image against a bright back ground it takes a series a photos and combines them intelligently to bring out the best in a subject with optimal brightness clever stuff. Read more ›