Olympus SZ-30MR

I had been wanting to buy a more advanced digital camera for a while and having saved up some money I decided on this as well as my compact digital camera that I bought a month or so ago. This one is not too pricey but a bit more than most digital cameras and it has quite a nice design to it. The main reason I chose this model in the end was the zoom being so good on it as well as it being 16 megapixels, for the price it seems to have really good features on it and also my other camera is an Olympus and I really like the brand for photography.

APPEARANCE

The camera is a dark grey colour and it has a big lens on the front as well as having a pop up flash. The model is a bit bigger than most and has dimensions of 4 x 10.6 x 6.9 cm and is 227g in weight which isn't too heavy. The camera comes with a wrist strap and a USB cable to charge it. It comes with an instruction manual but it is very basic and doesn't go into too much detail. The camera has a colour LCD screen on the back and the power button and a wheel to change the modes on top.

OLYMPUS SZ-30MR

The camera has a number of great features which I'll firstly talk about. To set the camera up is straightforward enough you should charge it first just so that it has enough battery life to begin using it. When you charge it though you only get a USB charger which isn't the best so I bought a travel charger so I could charge it from a socket. The battery life is a bit disappointing as it only lasts about 2 hours which isn't that much if you are using this for holidays, I'd say it goes down quickly so that is my main issue really.

To look at what the camera does, well it is 16 megapixels and it has a 24x optical zoom as well as a 3 inch LCD screen. The camera also films full HD film clips and it has panoramic photos on it also. The camera like most Olympus cameras comes with your photo filters so that you can choose different looks for your photos, this has punk, pop art, fish eye, drawing, pin hole, soft focus, sparkle and water colour.

MY EXPERIENCE

Now, with this camera apart from my battery problem, I really don't have much else negative to say. I want to speak a bit more about what I think of the features. Firstly, the 16 megapixel pictures, I think this camera is effective in taking high quality, sharp photos and they capture the smallest detail. The optical zoom is also very good at helping with this but I find most of the time 24x zoom is too high and I never really use it that much. I also find that you need to have a really steady hand or at 24x it will blue if you are not steady.

The photo filters I have tried out a few times, I think the drawing one is ok it gives a sketch effect but it isn't one I'd use that much. Punk is quite good, it is very different I mean they are all fun to try out if you just want to make your photos a bit different. The scene modes are good also, you have landscape, and then you have panoramic which is great for holidays just again you need a steady hand. There is an animal mode for pets where it senses them passing and photographs them which I find useful having pets.

The night time mode I haven't tested too much yet but I want to test it a lot more to really get the photos looking amazing. The memory card is easy to pull in and out you just open the flap and insert it in the right way and it will load. In terms of transferring photos onto the computer it is easy to do, the laptop installs the correct drivers and then it will upload them if you choose to. Be careful when removing the USB stick and make sure you do it safely or the Olympus can delete photos as I learned the hard way from just taking out the USB instantly.

Having a pop up flash was a bit weird at first as I wasn't expecting it but it just pops out and if on automatic it just takes the picture. To delete photos and view them on the LCD screen is quite easy to follow and the screen has vibrant colour and is good quality. I am pleased with pretty much all of the features but think the part where you insert the USB to the camera is very flimsy for the price and it is very delicate I was scared it broke which isn't the best for the money being spent.

OVERALL

The camera is best for amateur photographers who don't expect too much. It is fine for something a bit fancy and it would take good photos on holiday but you just have to make sure it is always fully charged. It doesn't come with a camera case again which is a bit annoying but the photo quality is very high with this camera and all of my photos have come out really well. The more you learn the settings the better your photos will become and maybe I will start using videos a bit more.

COST

This camera is £220.20 which is from Amazon and that is with free delivery. It is pretty much the standard price for it.

The official Olympus website is http://www.olympus.co.uk