Pentax K-x

Pentax K-x

With its bearing in the upper entry-level market, the new Pentax K-x DSLR borrows its compact build from the K2000 (a.k.a. K-m) while sharing some of the features of their pro K-7. There are some unique functionalities behind the Pentax K-x, like HDR in-camera processing, a fast continuous shutter of 4.7 frames per second, and some great in-camera processing features. We'll discuss all this and more further on down.

The K-x also has some pretty standard features that are quickly becoming mainstays in the DSLR market, like a 12.4 megapixel APS-C sized CMOS image sensor, 11-point auto focus, 1280x720 HD video capture (at 24 fps, which is the standard speed for cinema motion picture capture), live view and an image stabilization system.

Another feature unique to the K-x is that it comes in four different colors, including black (our unit), white, and the harder to find navy and red. It certainly seems to have all the ingredients for a great camera. Its street price of $650 (body with 18-55mm kit lens) will get you some unique processing options, decent continuous shooting speed, HD video, 1/6000th sec. shutter speed max, and expandable ISO up to 12800. We took it through the paces, with the good folks at Digital Camera Review testing it in the lab and me in the field, and we have a comprehensive look at the Pentax K-x for you.

BUILD AND DESIGN
The design of the K-x is almost exactly identical to their entry-level K2000. The two cameras share the same dimensions of (WxHxD) 4.8x3.6x2.7 inches with only a minute difference in weight - the K-x weighs in at 18.2 oz. and the K2000 at 18.5 oz. With the same steel skeleton, rubber exterior, and similar button layout, there isn't much difference between these two siblings physically.

Ergonomics and Controls
The control layout of Pentax's K-x is nearly a spitting image of the K2000, minus a Live View button on the back of the camera. The DSLR body is very similar to all other Pentax creations, who have been known for creating sturdy DSLR bodies that don't feel chintzy, even with an affordable price tag on them. Often, cameras will suffer poor build quality when price is low, but not in the case of the K-x. It's a solid camera with a nice metallic/silver trim wrapping around the front of the camera and an excellent feel in the hand. The K-x doesn't have the ruggedized and weather-conscious build that the K-7 and K20D have, but it is created equally in terms of look and feel.

The K-x, as mentioned above, has the same exact layout at the K2000, minus the Live View button on the back, with an e-dial that lets you change shutter, aperture, EV and ISO when shooting. In image playback, the same control initiates image zoom. The shutter and power switch reside on the top panel, and other buttons include the Mode Dial, Exposure Compensation to change the exposure steps (or in Manual it sets the aperture), a customizable green button, a four way controller that helps you navigate the menu system, and an Info button that takes you to all the advanced features of the K-x without having to navigate menus to find things like metering and HDR.

The K-x also has an AF/AE-L button that either locks exposure or autofocus, an Up button that deletes during playback or pops up the flash, and a focus mode lever to choose between AF or manual focusing. The K-x has a 2.7 inch LCD with a 230,000 dot resolution.. The K-x isn't much different from most other Pentax DSLRs, making it a small camera that is easily portable and feels substantially well crafted.

Menus and Modes
The Pentax menu systems haven't changed much at all, retaining a common looking layout that is layered with sub-menus. This is great if you are a Pentaxian - you'll find shooting with the K-x basically the same as all of their DSLRs, but from an outsiders' view, it may look a bit dated. However, there is a new user interface that I was completely pleased with.

As I mentioned just above, with the Info button you can quickly access important camera functions without having to rely on the sub-menu system, making it dramatically faster to get the settings you want without having to fuss with it. I've seen this in a few DSLRs over the years, including the Olympus E-3 that had a similar button that gave you access without menu diving. This is a welcome feature for a working photographer that wants pro access to their most used functions, but for the beginner to intermediate shooters out there, it gives you more control and easy usability when you're learning how to best optimize your camera use.

The Mode Dial offers your typical manual shooting options, including Pentax's proprietary Sv mode, as well as different Scene modes and Picture modes. Here's a run down of what you get on the K-x, starting with a total of seven different picture modes:

* Auto Picture: Automatically chooses the right capture mode for any given scene.
* Portrait: For portraits, automatically enhances for a bright skin tone.
* Landscape: Extends depth of field, and produces more saturated hues.
* Macro: Take pictures of small objects like flowers from close distances.
* Moving Object: Changes the drive mode from single shot to continuous shooting so you can capture all the action.
* Nice Scene Portrait: Take a low-light shot while the camera chooses the best settings.
* Flash Off: Forces the flash off.

There are ten different scene modes:

* Night Scene: Takes low-light shots while you're using a tripod for stability.
* Surf & Snow: Chooses the correct exposure for low-contrast images.
* Food: Saturates the images more to make food pop out.
* Sunset: For taking picturesque sunset images.
* Stage Lighting: For taking indoor images in a theater or concert.
* Kids: Set to continuous shooting for moving kids.
* Pet: Drive mode is also set to continuous to get a moving pet.
* Candlelight: For low-lit candle shots.
* Museum: Shoot in museums where flash is not allowed.
* Night Snap: Shooting without a tripod, but in a dark scene.

Movie recording mode captures wide-screen 16:9 aspect ratio 1280x720 HD video at 24 fps. Rounding out the mode dial are five more exposure modes.

* Manual: Allows you to choose shutter speed, aperture value, and many other parameters.
* Aperture Priority: Control aperture, while the camera chooses the best shutter speed.
* Shutter Priority: Choose shutter speed, while the camera choose the best aperture speed.
* Sensitivity Priority: Sets the shutter speed and aperture automatically, while you choose ISO sensitivity.
* Program: Sets both aperture and shutter speed, similar to automatic.

Display/Viewfinder
Where the K-x differs from the K2000 is that it employs Live View, allowing the user to bypass the viewfinder and compose shots on the LCD. The K-x has a 2.7 inch 230,000 dot wide-angle view LCD that is pretty much a basic size and resolution as far as DSLRs go. It also has a mirror-box pentamirror viewfinder with a 96% area of coverage, which is pretty nice for this class of camera. The viewfinder has a diopter adjuster for people who need to make adjustments for their vision.

Although the K-x has Live View functionality, there are a couple of things that make it somewhat difficult to work with. First, it is extremely hard to get the camera to focus on objects quickly when using Live View, especially in low light, and the second is that it drains the battery almost completely when in use. As Pentax's Live View comes with a price, it also helps photographers to compose shots are strange angles, and with patience, you can get the shot, but I have certainly seen better renditions of Live View with Olympus, Nikon and Canon branded DSLRs.

The comparatively low resolution of the LCD can be somewhat misleading in the field, making you think you've captured a great shot when you are in image playback, but when you zoom in with the e-dial, or put it on your computer, there is somewhat of a disparity between playback and what is actually captured. This was especially true with video capture, which I will discuss later on. With all things considered, it's an okay LCD monitor, and the viewfinder is accurate.

PERFORMANCE
Pentax has built a nice little camera with the K-x, though it does have a few flaws. It is poised to take over the place of the K2000, following the path they pursued with their point and shoots by including HD video capture in every camera. Some advanced functions position the K-x not quite at the entry-level, while at the same time it offers different scene modes and automatic settings, making the K-x on paper seem to be the best of both worlds. For the most part, the K-x is the best of both worlds, but some of what it lacks includes poor power performance, trouble focusing during live view capture, and a somewhat sluggish image buffer.

Shooting Performance
The K-x performed very solidly in our lab tests. We measured shutter lag (press-to-capture, pre-focused) at 0.03 seconds, which is just below the Olympus E-620. AF acquisition (using the viewfinder) came in at 0.25 seconds, while the K-x's continuous shooting reigns supreme at the top of the pile, at a fast 4.4 fps (slightly slower than the advertised 4.7 fps though).

There are three auto focus modes on board the K-x, including AF.S (Single mode) where focus is achieved via a halfway press of the shutter, AF.C (Continuous mode) where the subject is kept in focus after you press the shutter a half click and continues to keep the selected subject in focus, and AF.A (Auto) which switches between the two modes to give you the proper AF mode depending on the scenario. I mostly used AF.A, which worked great for single captures. However, when I used the continuous shooting drive, the AF.C was a requirement.

The AF uses a phase-detection system like most DSLRs, and offers four different options, including Auto 5 AF points, 11 AF points, Select, and Spot. All work well in the field, but the biggest issue we found with the focusing system was in Live View. It worked very hard to find its focus on objects, even in good lighting. Overall, the AF system works well, but does struggle a little bit in low light.

Continuous shooting is top notch. With a 4.4 fps rating, the K-x is completely capable of grabbing a split second frame in the middle of fast-moving action. Other exceptional areas of performance include the Shake Reduction feature, which reduces blur in images. When shooting, I tested out the SR with it on and then off, and it makes a dramatic difference.

Flash performance is spot on, giving a nice fill with its automatic modes and slow sync. The K-x is even equipped with a wireless flash mode that can set off optical slave flashes.

The biggest deficiency I found in the K-x is the powering system behind it. It uses four AA batteries instead of a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. We have mixed feelings about the AA system - it's convenient in that you can pick up batteries anywhere, but a DSLR takes a lot of juice to function. Even if you opt for rechargeable AAs, a power-hungry DSLR can run them down pretty quickly.

I advocate that AAs are better suited for point and shoots, but for a DSLR with advanced features, it is bound to be a power hog. In the case of the K-x, it's true. I went through four sets of batteries during the span of writing my review. The functions that chip away most at the power are use of live view, video capture, flash, and advanced camera processing like HDR and the different digital filters.

Lens Performance
Our K-x review unit arrived body-only, but I was provided with what the kit lens is for the camera - the smc Pentax DAL 18-55mm variable aperture lens. It's a pretty typical piece of kit glass, though it doesn't offer much reach for playing with depth of field. Although you can get a pretty shallow depth of field in Av mode, the lens does a reliable job of giving you what you need.

The camera's low-light performance is exceptional, so the glass if more forgivable when you can just bump up the ISO and still get a great low-light shot. This is great when you want an affordable lens like this one, and still want to get good dark shots.

Another great part of the camera body is that you can correct for aberrations that sometimes the lens can cause, and in this case, its inherently going to have some issues like barrel distortion and pin cushioning. Options include in-body distortion correction that works quite well, and also Chromatic Aberration control that helps get rid of purple fringing around the edges of high contrast. All in all, the K-x offers some nice alternatives in-camera to fixing problems in post-processing.

Video Quality
There seems to be a problem with Pentax's rendition of HD video. Earlier this year I reviewed their ultrazoom X70 and the HD video was not good at all. We found all sorts of artifacts and grain in the capture. Video recording in the K-x improves on that, presumably thanks to a bigger image sensor. The video captures detail, but still struggles with the grain issue throughout the frame. The quality is pretty decent, but the noise levels make the video subpar compared to video capture from its competitors.

Image Quality
Image quality at default settings is very faithful to what the eye sees. There is also a cool manual tool for changing the image processing called Custom Image, which allows you to use sliders to change the saturation, hue, high/low key adjustment, contrast and sharpness of your image. Among these preset options with sliders are Bright, Natural, Portrait, Landscape, Vibrant, Muted, and Monochrome.

Other in-camera tools include Cross Processing and High Dynamic Range capture mode. The latter is available in HDR1 and HDR2, offering different levels of processing that create the effect of a wider dynamic range in your final image. What the HDR tool does is take three images simultaneously (one over, one under, and one correct exposure) and processes them together in-camera.

Auto White Balance in the studio shot slightly warm, but in the field worked well under a variety of lighting conditions. Even on a blown out gray day, the AWB gave me the right exposure every time. Although the AWB works great in the field, you still have your pick of WB Daylight, Shade, Cloudy, Fluorescent Light Daylight Color, Tungsten Light, Flash, CTE, and Manual.

This brings us to the ISO performance charts, and this is where the Pentax K-x really sings. The ISO range is 200-6400, with expanded options up to 12800. As you can see in the lab samples, ISO 200 all the way to 1600 produce a great image, which is excellent for a 12.4 megapixel image. As I have said before, 12 megapixels is an optimal resolution for an APS-sized image sensor. I'm glad Pentax stepped away from pushing higher resolutions and concentrated on image quality instead.

CONCLUSIONS
The Pentax K-x is a worthy competitor for the major manufacturers out there, and is probably in line for the third best with the other smaller camera companies. Since the days of the K10D and the K100D, Pentax has made affordable DSLRs with great form factors, exceptional build quality and superb image quality. The K-x does not stray from that formula. The K-x is a great younger brother to their top-of-the-line K-7, though not without a few flaws.

The LCD isn't great, focusing in live view is frustrating, battery power is drained quickly, HD video is somewhat noisy, and it can be slow to process images. But what it lacks in these areas it makes up for in price, image quality, construction, the perfect resolution, unique in-camera processing options, exceptional ISO performance and continuous shooting speed.

The Pentax K-x offers a great value for its price. It gives you total control of image processing, manual shooting, a few post-processing shortcuts, and easy-to-use automatic and scene modes that makes it an entry-level to intermediate camera. Yes it has some quirks, it can be slow at times, and it drains battery juice at the drop of a hat, but we can't deny that the K-x is top notch otherwise.

Pros:

* Excellent image quality
* Great ISO/Low-light performance
* Unique in-camera processing
* Competitively priced
* Solidly built

Cons:

* Eats batteries for breakfast
* HD video has some noise
* AF in Live View mode slow and uncontrollable

(Source: digitalcamerareview.com)

Olympus Stylus 7040, Stylus 7030 and Stylus 5010

Olympus Stylus 7040, Stylus 7030 and Stylus 5010 launch with 7 and 5x zoom

Olympus updates today its Point and Shoot lineup with the Stylus 7040, 7030 and 5010. Their focus is offering a wide angle lens with up to 7x optical zoom range - available in the Stylus 7040 and 7030 - and a 5x zoom in the Stylus 5010.

Olympus Stylus 7040 and Stylus 7030

The 7x optical zoom 7040 and 7030 cover an equivalent focal range of 28-196mm. They both pack a 14 megapixel sensor into a compact camera body, stepping up from the 12 megapixel resolution in the currently available Stylus 7010. The Stylus 7040 will shoot 720p HD video, and the 7030 will record movies in standard definition.

Olympus Stylus 5010

Trading in for a slightly smaller equivalent zoom range of 28-130mm, Olympus says that the Stylus 5010 features a slimmer form factor than the higher zoom models. That 5x optical zoom power is accompanied by 720p HD video recording and presumably the same 14 megapixel sensor.

Standard features shared by all of the above models include:

* In-Camera Panorama: One shutter press will capture three images as the user pans across a scene. Images are stitched together in-camera.
* Dual Image Stabilization: Digital image stabilization, which raises ISO and increases shutter speed in dim light, is coupled with lens-shift stabilization in hopes of reducing blurry photos.
* Shadow Adjustment: An optional tool that aims to recover underexposed detail in scenes with tricky lighting.
* Magic Filter: Four in-camera digital filters that will add artistic effects to photos - Pop art, fisheye, pinhole, and drawing (coloring book style).

The new Stylus cameras carry the TruePic III image processor as well as a number of interesting changes to the existing Stylus model. First, the new cameras will forgo the xD picture card in favor of SD card compatibility - a welcome change for those already invested in the ubiquitous SD card. They've also re-designed the GUI (graphical user interface) and ditched the physical copy of their user manual, offering instead a full copy on the camera's built-in memory.

All priced at or under $250, the new Stylus cameras aim to please the photographer looking for a camera that covers a lot of angles for less money. Our own review of the Stylus 7010 saw it through a cross-country roadtrip. We liked the flexibility of the wide angle lens coupled with a 7x zoom range, though image quality suffered at higher ISO settings. We'll be interested to see whether another 2 megapixels creates a significant increase in noise apparent in high ISO images.

Pricing and availability
Starting from the top, the Stylus 7040 will retail for $249.99, the Stylus 7030 for $199.99, and the Stylus 5010 for $199.99. They are slated for availability in February.

(Source: digitalcamerareview.com)

Olympus Stylus 7010 Review

Olympus Stylus 7010 Review

Consumers have always loved tiny cameras and Olympus has long been the industry leader when it comes to producing mini-cams. Their "Pen" series half-frame cameras were small before small was cool, and the first Stylus was a tiny clamshell style 35mm point and shoot. It was only a matter of time before somebody produced a tiny digital camera with a very long lens - a mini-megazoom digicam. The Olympus Stylus 7010 is both ultra compact and super thin - a genuine shirt pocket digicam that features a zoom that starts at the equivalent of 28mm and goes all the way to the equivalent of 196mm. That's a lot of juice for a camera that's only marginally larger than an MP3 player.

So how does the Stylus 7010 measure up as one of the first of a new breed of mini-megazoom digicams? Photography has always been about compromises and the Olympus Stylus 7010 is a perfect example. The secret to creating a tiny imaging tool that provides maximum reach is to manufacture a product that doesn't require compromises that are too onerous. The 7010 is currently the smallest digital camera available with a 7x optical zoom - the 7010 also features 12 megapixel resolution, dual image stabilization, an intelligent Auto mode, in-camera panorama stitching, and a nifty Shadow Adjustment tool.

That's a lot of bells and whistles, but there really is no free lunch. What will those who buy the 7010 have to give up? Right off the bat the 7010 does not provide an optical viewfinder and the zoom is a bit slower than comparable zooms on larger cameras. Keep reading to find out how the benefits and drawbacks of the ultra-slim 7010 weigh out.

BUILD AND DESIGN

The Olympus Stylus 7010 is a very conventionally designed lozenge-shaped digicam that looks remarkably similar to just about every other ultra-compact digital camera out there. The 7010 is a tiny (3.8x2.2x1.0 inch) auto exposure only digital camera that weighs a bit less than four and a half ounces. The body seems to be relatively robust with metal alloy sheathing over a polycarbonate shell. The Stylus 7010 is available in three colors - Silver, Dark Gray, or Pink.

The 7010's major claim to fame is its 7x zoom that starts at the equivalent of 28mm - most digital cameras this size provide only 3x to 5x zooms and start at around the equivalent of 35mm. That's pretty impressive specifications for a camera that is only an inch thick.

Ergonomics and Controls
The Olympus Stylus 7010's user interface is uncomplicated and reasonably straightforward. The camera is fairly stable in the hand for such a small unit, but it lacks any sort of handgrip. The 7010's 2.7 inch slightly protuberant LCD screen takes up about four fifths of the camera's back deck.

The 7010's control layout is fairly typical and quite similar to most recent consumer digicams. Dedicated controls are minimal and while all are logically placed and come easily to hand (for right-handed shooters) they are all rather small. The 7010's controls (except the on/off button and the shutter button) are crowded into a small strip along the extreme right side of the camera. The zoom rocker switch and mode dial occupy the exact area where your thumb would naturally rest near the top right corner of the camera's rear deck.

The compass pad (four-way controller) and FUNC button provide direct access to exposure compensation, white balance, ISO, image size options, metering options, flash settings, macro mode, and the self-timer. The compass pad is very close to the display/delete rocker switch below it. This makes deleting images difficult because it is very easy to hit the menu/review rocker switch above the compass pad instead of the north/top (for yes) position on the compass pad. Kudos to Olympus for placing the exposure compensation button at the North (top) position on the compass pad - making minor exposure adjustments (incrementally lightening or darkening images) easy.

Using the camera is really simple - all exposure options are minor variations on the auto mode theme. The 7010 was clearly designed to be usable by just about anyone. Most folks will have no problem using the camera right out of the box.

Menus and Modes
The Stylus 7010 features Olympus' new cartoon-icon menu system. A camera icon appears in the middle of the screen when the menu button is pressed and then the compass pad is used to move a set of brackets through the different menu options available (image quality, magic filters, reset, panorama, scene mode, silent mode, and set-up mode) - to select the menu desired the user presses the OK/FUNC button. The FUNC button provides direct access to the most commonly changed/adjusted functions like White Balance, ISO, drive mode, metering, image size and quality settings.

Here's a listing of the Stylus 7010's shooting modes:

* Auto: (usually called Program mode) - Auto exposure with limited user input (sensitivity, white balance, etc.)
* iAuto: (usually called Auto mode) The camera makes all exposure decisions - just point the camera at the subject and press the shutter button
* SCN: The camera optimizes all exposure parameters for the specific scene type selected - Portraits, Landscape, Night Scene, Night+Portrait, Sport, Indoor, Candle-light, Self Portrait, Sunset, Fireworks, Cuisine, Documents, Beach & Snow, Pre-Capture Movie, and Pet
* Beauty: Like Portrait Scene Mode but with a smoother and softer look
* Movie: VGA video (640x480) at 15 fps or 30 fps

Display/Viewfinder
Like most recent point and shoots, the Stylus 7010 doesn't provide an optical viewfinder so the "HyperCrystal II" 2.7 inch LCD must manage all framing/composition, captured image review, and menu navigation chores. The 7010's LCD is relatively sharp (230,000 pixels), bright, hue accurate, relatively fluid, and the info display provides all the data the camera's target audience is likely to need. The display gains "up" (automatically increases brightness) in dim lighting.

The LCDs on compact digital cameras are TTL (through the lens) and function as very accurate framing tools, but for shooting in bright outdoor locales I generally prefer an optical viewfinder. The 7010's LCD sticks out a bit from the back deck, making it slightly easier to smudge or scratch the surface, but it doesn't seem to be as subject to glare as some of its competition. The user-enabled LCD grid-line display is a nice (and useful) touch as well.

PERFORMANCE
The Olympus Stylus 7010 comes in about average, in terms of overall performance. It isn't the slowest camera in its class, but it's not the fastest either. Experienced photographers shouldn't have much trouble capturing the decisive moment with kids/pets/events, but rapidly unfolding action/sports may pose a challenge.

Shooting Performance
The 7010 starts up pretty quickly (just a bit over a second), but shutter lag (press-to-capture, pre-focused) is a bit slower than average at 0.03 seconds. AF Acquisition (press-to-capture, no pre-focus) is also a bit slower than average at 0.45 seconds. Continuous shooting is slower than most of the Stylus 7010's competition at 1.7 fps - the 7010 dumps the buffer after only 2 exposures. Shot to shot times are noticeably slower than most of the 7010's competition - averaging about 3.0 - 3.5 seconds between shots.

The Stylus 7010's iESP TTL Contrast Detection AF system utilizes a single (center) AF bracket that glows green when focus is locked and red when the camera is unable to lock focus. AF is pretty quick, very accurate, and features AF tracking and face detection for up to 16 subjects. The 7010's AF system works nicely in decent (outdoor) lighting, but it often has difficulty locking focus in dimmer (indoor) lighting - focusing is also noticeably slower in poor light.

The 7010's built-in multi mode flash provides a barely acceptable selection of artificial lighting options, including Off, On (fill flash), Auto (fires when needed), and Red-eye Reduction. Olympus claims the maximum flash range is about 9 feet at ISO 800. The flash needs between 4.0 and 5.0 seconds to re-cycle (with a fully charged battery) after a full-power discharge.

The Stylus 7010 is powered by an Olympus LI42B 3.7v - 740mAh lithium-ion battery. Olympus claims the battery is good for 300 exposures. It's almost impossible for me to keep track of exposures because I do a lot of shoot, review, delete, and re-shoot so I can't quibble with Olympus' numbers - but I do believe they're a bit optimistic. The battery in my test unit may have been new and lithium-ion rechargeables are supposed to need a few charge cycles to attain maximum output levels, but I never got anything close to 300 shots.

Unlike most of its competition, the Stylus 7010 provides not only the expected ESP evaluative light metering mode, but an unexpected (and welcome) Spot metering mode as well. The Olympus Stylus 7010 can use either xD-Picture Cards or microSD memory media.

Lens Performance
When the Stylus 7010 is powered up the zoom extends automatically and when the camera is powered down the zoom is fully retracted into the camera body and a built-in iris style lens cover closes to protect the front element. Very thin cameras sometimes utilize internal focus periscope style zooms that fold the light path (via mirrors/prisms) in order to save space, but periscope zooms produce images that are consistently softer than traditional optical zooms. The 7010 features a relatively sharp and super compact traditional f/3.0-5.9, 5-35mm optical zoom that goes all the way from 28mm (equivalent) moderate wide-angle to 196mm (equivalent) medium telephoto - that's a lot of zoom for a camera that is only about an inch thick.

Zooming (10 steps) is fairly smooth and operation is very quiet. The 7010's zoom is surprisingly good, but it does display noticeable corner softness and some minor vignetting (dark corners). Barrel distortion (at the wide-angle end of the zoom range) is minimal, which is impressive since barrel distortion is a common fault with tiny highly complex (especially prevalent with longer or wider) digicam zooms. Pincushion distortion is essentially invisible at the telephoto end of the zoom.

The 7010's Dual Image Stabilization system provides both mechanical sensor shift IS and digital IS. With digital IS the camera boosts sensitivity/ISO and increases shutter speed to counter camera shake and to compensate for minor subject movement.

Video Quality
The Olympus Stylus 7010's fairly standard 30 fps VGA (640x480) AVI Motion JPEG movie mode with monaural sound can't compete with a dedicated video camera, but it is OK for generating e-mail video attachments for friends and family. Video duration is limited only by card capacity.

Image Quality
Unlike most of its competition, the 7010's colors are pretty close to neutral which is actually a god thing, but contrast is a little flat and there's no way to boost either color saturation or to adjust contrast. Olympus did include a selection (pop art, pin hole, sketch, and fish-eye) of "Magic Filters" just for fun, though.

Outdoors, in good light, the Stylus 7010 (like most of its competition) does a very nice job - image quality is dependably very good and exposures are consistently accurate although there is a very slight tendency toward overexposure and highlights are sometimes burned out.

The 7010's Auto White Balance setting did a pretty good job outdoors, but it struggled to get hue right indoors and in dim/low lighting.

Indoor image quality is decent, but as sensitivity automatically rises to overcome lower levels of ambient lighting, noise rises exponentially and color accuracy suffers a bit.

Noise levels are quite reasonable up to ISO 200, but distortion levels rise as sensitivity rises. At ISO 400 and higher, noise is noticeably above average.

CONCLUSIONS
The Olympus Stylus 7010 provides a similar balance of dependably good pictures requiring little user input and dead simple ease of use that distinguishes many of today's more popular consumer digicams, but it's smaller, lighter, thinner, has a longer zoom (that starts at the equivalent of 28mm), and it's also cheaper than many of them.

Performance-wise, the Stylus 7010 ends up near the middle of the 12 megapixel ultra-compact digicams pack and like most of its contemporaries, it is probably not a good choice for those who like to shoot indoors or in low/dim light. The 7010 is true shirt pocket digital camera and it should appeal to casual photographers looking for a nifty little gadget to complement their iPhone and iPod, along with hikers, mountain bikers, backpackers, and space weight conscious travelers looking for a P&S digicam that packs lots of photographic potential into a small super-thin package with a long lens.

Pros:

* Long zoom
* Super thin ultra-compact body

Cons:

* No optical viewfinder
* No manual control over exposure
* Noisy images

(Source: digitalcamerareview.com)