PDA

View Full Version : olympus stylus



earthbound
02-04-2008, 16:26
This seems like its been a popular camera with hikers. I was wondering what people have decided to do about charging its battery? The charger it comes with is exceedingly large.

Mocs123
02-04-2008, 16:34
The Charger for mine (Stylus 720WP) is about the size of the camera, but not too heavy. I can get over 100 shots from one battery charge so with a spare battery or two you might be able to just bounce the charger.

Nearly Normal
02-04-2008, 17:06
Mine last an exceedingly long time.
Just recently I tried to wear the battery down on purpose and it took me all afternoon.
I think bouncing the charger would work great.

AT-HITMAN2005
02-04-2008, 18:34
i just carried it with me. but i try to go light so i had the space. i also carried 2 batteries and 2 256mb cards with me. 1 for in the camera and 1 extra. this is an awesome camera just got mine fixed for my hike later this year.

Two Speed
02-04-2008, 19:35
I've used a Stylus 300 until it finally quit and liked it enough I bought another, a Stylus 760. Frankly, the proprietary battery is the one thing I don't like about the Stylus. That said, a couple of thoughts to make a Stylus work out a little better:

A spare battery is a great idea.
Turning off the flash really extends battery life
Minimizing the time reviewing photos in the field helps, too
The age of the battery(ies) is critical
In order, I had a spare for the 300. Rarely discharged the first battery, much less needed the second. To give you an idea I haven't bothered to buy a spare battery for the 760 yet; can't justify the cost as a section hiker. If I decided to carry this camera on a thru I'd definitely get a spare.

The flash is generally unneccesary for outdoor photos and really eats battery life.

Reviewing photos eats up more battery than you might expect, so try not to spend a lot of time looking at photos in the field. Save that for the zero at a hostel when you've got the charger handy.

The age of a lithium battery is critical. Lithium batteries loose about 20% of their storage capacity every year. By the time the battery's three years old it'll hold half the charge it did brand new. BTW, the age of the battery is determined by the date of manufacture, NOT the day you start using it. If that sucker has spent a year in a warehouse somewhere it'll have lost 20% of it's capacity before you even start using it. The upside is it doesn't matter if you run it all the way down like a Ni-Cad; lithium batteries don't develop a "memory" like the Ni-Cads.

As I said, the proprietary battery is the biggest problem with the Stylus series. They're rugged little cameras, take great photos for a point-and-shoot style camera and really do tolerate very wet conditions with no evidence of distress.

My 760 will probably be long gone by the time I get to do a thru hike, and when I do I'll look for a camera that takes AA or AAA batteries just so I don't have to mess with a bounce box.

fonsie
02-04-2008, 20:03
I've been using the style 710 for about 2 years lately. I have a extra battary for it but I might get a couple extra ones and some 2gig mem cards, for my thru hike next year. Just mail my charger to Harpers Ferry. I figure a bat is but a 1ounce so an extra 2 ounces isnt going to kill me...better than a 10 ounce charger. Also I discoverd the stylest 790(I think thats the model thats water proof) uses the same batteries. So if you want a full water proof camera. Mines only weather proof.

Frolicking Dinosaurs
02-04-2008, 20:49
I've got a Stylus 300 for hiking and I love it. It is not water-proof, but it handles rain and humidity like a champ. It handles bumps and being dropped. It handles mud (don't ask). It takes great pics and the auto-focus and auto-lighting works well. The only thing I've found that I can't do with this camera is a really long exposure for night shots. It has a night setting, but it doesn't work all that well at night - it does work inside when a flash isn't allowed.

The proprietary rechargeable battery is a negative. I have several batteries (thanks to Two-Speed who sent me his when his 300 died) so this isn't a big deal for me. I also have a DC to AC converter in my vehicle and charge batteries when travelling so it works really well for us as section hikers.

Two Speed
02-04-2008, 20:57
The only thing I've found that I can't do with this camera is a really long exposure for night shots.Actually the 300 will take GREAT long exposure shots. Set the camera to trip the shutter with the remote, compose your photo and use the remote. The camera will be rock steady and take a nice, crisp long exposure shot.

Great for those screwy shots (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=17737&catid=member&imageuser=1339) with tricky light. (Just don't tell Skids how I did that.)

Actually that's the ONE thing I wish the 760 had. When I first saw that remote with the 300 I thought it was totally bogus. Then, I started thinking . . .

After my brother bailed me out I started thinking about how I could use the remote to improve my photography, which turned out much better than my first foray into intellectual territory. :cool:

Frolicking Dinosaurs
02-04-2008, 21:01
Thanks for that tip, Two Speed. I'll get out there on the next full moon.

Two Speed
02-04-2008, 21:28
Don't forget to turn the flash off. It'll screw the exposure all up if you don't. Gotta outsmart the built-in programming that thing uses to set the aperture and exposure up. ;)

AT-HITMAN2005
02-04-2008, 22:36
one of the best parts about the stylus i found was the timer feature, great when you want a picture of yourself but no one is around.

i carried mine for the most part in a plastic bag. but it didn't really need it. i did manage to drop it the water on a ford in maine though with it being out of the bag. and it was messed up for a little bit. but when i got to monson i hung in front of the window fan for the duration of my stay and it dried it out for the most part. and worked reliably the rest of the way. had to have it repaired because the lens cover kept popping off randomly. they replaced the casing and it looks like brand new.

earthbound
02-05-2008, 18:05
I wasn't very clear before. I have an olympus stylus 790sw- the bombproof one. The charger for this camera is huge and i don't want to use a bounce box. I was thinking about carrying extra batteries and sending them back and forth between home or buying a different charger that is significantly lighter. There is one online that weighs about 2.5 ounces, which is much more reasonable than the one it comes with. This charger is not made by olympus though. it says it works, but who really knows?

trippclark
02-05-2008, 18:15
I wasn't very clear before. I have an olympus stylus 790sw- the bombproof one. The charger for this camera is huge and i don't want to use a bounce box. I was thinking about carrying extra batteries and sending them back and forth between home or buying a different charger that is significantly lighter. There is one online that weighs about 2.5 ounces, which is much more reasonable than the one it comes with. This charger is not made by olympus though. it says it works, but who really knows?

I have the 720SW and love it. I also have 2 extra batteries. I now only use the Olympus charger. I did buy a Universal charger similar to the one shown at

http://www.cellphoneshop.net/unbatrch.html
(I bought it from a different source)

This charger did/does work, but I noticed a significant drop off in the battery life after using this charger a few times. I may be wrong and it might have been a coincidence, but I feel like the non-Olympus charger ruined my batteries, so I'd be cautious about using a charger if it is not specifically designed for your particular battery.