Olympus Stylus Verve: Fashion vs Performance
by Stephen Caston on November 4, 2004 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Digital Camera
The Design: Olympus Stylus Verve
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The front of the Stylus Verve features a 2x optical lens that is protected by a circular sliding door. When the power button is pressed, the lens door slides to the left inside the camera and the lens extends. To the right of the lens are the microphone and the self-timer lamp. Above and to the left of the lens is the built-in flash. Because of the compact size of the camera, the built-in flash has a rather small working range of 0.7' - 9.2' at wide angle and 0.7' - 6.0' at telephoto.
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The back of the Verve features a relatively large 1.8" LCD monitor. To the left are the Quick View button and an indicator lamp. The indicator lamp flashes while the camera accesses the flash card. To the lower left is the Arrow pad, which is used as the navigational tool and to access major camera functions. Above the Arrow pad are the speaker and zoom controllers. The zoom controller operates both the zoom function in Record mode and the magnification of images in Playback mode. It is important to note that the Stylus Verve does not have an optical viewfinder. The user must always rely on the LCD monitor.
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On the top of the Verve are the shutter button, power button, and Mode Dial. The Mode Dial has a textured grip on the right side that makes it very easy to rotate. The open space on the left is designed as a resting place for fingers on your left hand. This helps keep them away from the lens and flash.
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The only thing to see on the bottom of this camera is the metal tripod mount.
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The right side of the camera features a swinging door that snaps into place. It has a rubber gasket that helps protect against water. This door covers the USB/AV-out port, battery compartment, and xD-Picture Card slot. There is a "Card Cover" that covers the xD-Picture Card slot. In order to get the flash card out, the Card Cover must be snapped up. If the Card Cover is left up, the LCD will display the error message, "Card-Cover Open". The "Card Cover" seems a bit superfluous to us, especially considering there is already a large swinging door protecting the card. The Stylus Verve uses a very small LI-30B 3.6V 645mAh Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery. There is also a post for the wrist strap on this side of the camera.
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There is nothing to see on the left side of the camera.
The first thing that most people will notice about the Olympus Stylus Verve is its oddly shaped body. Indeed, it is striking and it almost looks aerodynamic. However, it is surprisingly comfortable to hold with either two hands or one. The camera fits very easily into pockets both because of its small size and its shape. For a camera that is mostly metal, it is also pleasingly lightweight. As far as its weather-resistant nature, the User's Guide states that the "Camera is not damaged by water spray from any direction." Let's take a look at its recording features.
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shuttleboi - Thursday, November 4, 2004 - link
When is Anandtech going to review portable storage devices/personal video players?Souka - Thursday, November 4, 2004 - link
grab a Canon S410 for $275 delievered from a variety of online places...jiulemoigt - Thursday, November 4, 2004 - link
you'd think after getting acess to fuji's electronics they'd have really nice optic combined with their really nice lenses... only these look cool but have crappy eletronics and crappy lenses!Foxbat121 - Thursday, November 4, 2004 - link
I bought one for my wife for just $299 (Newegg). It's a nice camera for what it is intended for (point and shoot in a compact design). Overall, it is well worth the money I paid for considering the similar sized cameras are no cheaper either with lower resolution (Canon SD110, 3MP).AtaStrumf - Thursday, November 4, 2004 - link
Looks like a nice little camera. Its a shame its so expensive.stephencaston - Thursday, November 4, 2004 - link
WooDaddy, thanks for the comment. I agree, it is shocking to see such jagged edges in the pictures taken by this camera. As for the details of Olympus's image processing, I'm sorry I can't offer any specifics. Since this is a point and shoot camera, we can only assume that Olympus designed the process this way so that users would not need or want to post-process the images at all. Indeed, if these images are printed at the popular 6x4" format, the problem would be hard to see. And it looks like Olympus knows this.WooDaddy - Thursday, November 4, 2004 - link
Stephen can you comment on this for me?As a previous owner of an olympus camera (back in 1999) it just seems that Olympus doesn't get it when it comes to handle aliasing? Looking at the resolving fine lines page, it looks like their aliasing algorithm or low-pass filter is non-existant. Do you see it too? Suggestions?
WooDaddy - Thursday, November 4, 2004 - link
Good article.I'm glad a review finally came out for this camera... But I'm disappointed that Olympus feels it's worth $399. There are a PLETHORA of other cameras that perform so much better than this one. I agree that the price is too much. Don't be afraid to say that. Hell, I think it's just plain ridiculous. I'm starting to think the limits have been met for the megapixel squeeze; meaning a 4mp sensor in a camera with a tiny/crappy lens just is a waste of money. Especially when the aperture isn't fast nor slow.
Maybe a Foveon sensor in the same package... but nope.
I disagree with #1 though. Viewfinder in compact cameras have always been limiting and inaccurate. I understand the feeling of pressing up a camera against your face just makes you feel good and professional like, but in the digital world where you can take better pictures now, LCD-only is the way to go. Heck I wish I had a big 2.5" screen on mine.
goku21 - Thursday, November 4, 2004 - link
That is one hairy arm =)CasmirRadon - Thursday, November 4, 2004 - link
Very very pretty.You know though, all other negatives aside (did anyone expect it to perform above average?) I got to say that I really don't like the idea of not having a quality viewfinder on these ultracompact cameras. I just plain don't like taking pictures with the LCD screen.