Olympus SZ-30MR Digital Camera

Comments about Olympus SZ-30MR Digital Camera:

I bought this camera after researching several similar ones. I really wanted something more than a standard point-and-shoot, but wasn't comfortable with spending the money on a DSLR. I really just wanted a nice, easy-to-operate camera for going on vacation last month and it delivered. I've been very happy with the picture quality and the number of features on the camera, especially the number of different options in Scene mode.

Comments about Olympus SZ-30MR Digital Camera:

I'm an advanced amateur and wanted something that was extremely versatile and pocket-sized for travelling. It has one of the wider lenses and longer zooms than most in this category. There is some distortion in the lens, but after all, it is not an SLR. Some of the gadgets aren't much use, but the videos are good and it's nice to take an occasional 180 pan. The length of a video seems to be only dependent upon the size of the card. I took a 25 minute video outdoors in early evening and it came out great. Darker scenes won't compensate, such as filming in a club. The panoramic function is easy. I haven't seen the 3D pix yet as I don't have a 3D screen. The function settings on the top of the camera are small and pale and I found it helpful to make a red mark on the "camera" mode so I could see it easily without putting on reading glasses. Otherwise, it is easy to accidentally bump it into another mode. The battery life is great, but I always carry a spare anyway. I took some videos of fireworks and they came out great--much easier and better than stills. The screen is large and easy to see, except in bright light--a problem with all small cameras that lack a viewfinder. I found the flash to be adequate but can't seem to find an adjustment that doesn't overexpose when I'm trying to do fill flash. The macro funtion works well. It is harder to steady than a large camera. I would prefer to have two hooks for attaching a strap to make it easier to carry. The shutter delay is really good for a small camera. It feels good in my hands--solid and sleek.

Comments about Olympus SZ-30MR Digital Camera:

Use for Weddings, casual, filming while taking pictures. HD feature is a must today. The best is all its quality in a compact camera (makes it the better choice)

Comments about Olympus SZ-30MR Digital Camera:

Love the wide angle for shooting architecture and the incredible zoom is beyond anything else I've used before. It's compact and sleek and so easy to carry in my messenger bag or pocket. The only thing I don't like too much about it is the noise it constantly makes when adjust for focus but that's minor compared to all the other great qualities.

Comments about Olympus SZ-30MR Digital Camera:

A small compact camera that does everything asked of it. I am extremely pleased with my purchase.

Comments about Olympus SZ-30MR Digital Camera:

I Use it to make photos on my holidys. The zoom is incredible and it has high quality of image. You can make 180º or 360ª panoramic pictures.
At the moment I'm very happy with this camera, I can't say any bad thing about it

Comments about Olympus SZ-30MR Digital Camera:

I use for travels, for specials jobs

Comments about Olympus SZ-30MR Digital Camera:

Excellent! :) look forward to do more business with BH. Thank you

Comments about Olympus SZ-30MR Digital Camera:

Hmm I bought this camera the 1st week it came out. Now it would not take sharp pictures, so if you want clean sharp pictures do not get this camera. This camera has a 600mm zoom you HAVE to have a tripod- I do not expect this from a P/S camera. The 3D doesn't look 3D. Fish eye cuts out most of the picture, and the panaramoc doesn't work right 3/4 of the time. It doesn't keep a battery charge long and an over all useless paper weight. I bought it because I thought it would be a good quality compilment (sp) to my DLSR, so I am not packing that huge heavy DSLR around everywhere I go, I thought good for the kids out and about kind of camera. I was so wrong. I do not recommend this camera. You will be disappointed I wouldn't even give this camera a half a star.

Comments about Olympus SZ-30MR Digital Camera:

This camera is a good substitute for an event that will not allow the use of a professional DSLR. I used it in low light conditions with acceptable results in HD Video, Stills, and in multi-record mode. Although my wife have difficulty using the panoramic mode, I like the simplicity of this mode with this camera compared to my older Olympus. The image stabilizer is erratic. My results were better with it turned-off in telephoto mode. A tilting viewfinder would have been great addition for those overhead shots. Additional batteries (I bought three extras) is suggested as one will only last about 30 minutes in HD mode. I also bought an external battery charger to hopefully extend the life of the camera. I simply don't like the idea of charging batteries using the camera. I would suggest to use nothing less than a class 10 SDHC card.

Comments about Olympus SZ-30MR Digital Camera:

I used this camera immediately after I bought it in New York. Many great shots in NY , at the US Open and we went crusing to New England and Eastern Canada, I took over 1200 pictures within 12 days.
Pictures were excellent, panorama, wide angle, low lights, indoor, outdoor, powerful zoom for landscape and distance sceneries. The HD Video is also amazing.
I owned 5 digital point and shoot prior to this one and I am very happy with this camera.

Comments about Olympus SZ-30MR Digital Camera:

Overall usage is very normal for a digital camera.

Things I love:
The zoom is great. Battery life is good too.
When the flash is closed it's won't flash at all. I was recently at MONA (Hobart, Tasmania) art gallery where you can take pics, but no flash, it was handly not having the flash popup all the time.

Things not so great:
Can't view 3D images on the camera (even anaglyphs with glasses) nor the provided software ... not cool Olympus! Anyway, the free software StereoPhoto Maker works.

Comments about Olympus SZ-30MR Digital Camera:

From what i have read this will be a great camera when i buy it!! I have read many great reviews and am about to order it! Can't wait!!

Comments about Olympus SZ-30MR Digital Camera:

I use the Olympus SZ-30MR two weeks ago and its very very good camera. very good screen and very very good zoom night and day, but short battery life, approximately 200 photos, also there is energy saver program but i didn't use it yet.1-2 hours for recharging. easy to use it

Comments about Olympus SZ-30MR Digital Camera:

I bought this camera to take pictures while I shoot movies, but in full resolution I can only take 2 pictures, I use 16gb class 10 SD. So for me this "Multi Recorder" camera is useless. In few times use it I had 2 bugs and have to take off the battery to re-use the camera. It doesn´t come with battery charger, I bought a extra battery and had to buy a charger.
24x zoom is good, but doesn´t have shot speed settings.

Comments about Olympus SZ-30MR Digital Camera:

Used for both holiday pictures and fashioned style pictures (amateur level).
+ Good image quality (16MP, x24 with CMOS), multi-recording/shooting, many fun filters, 3D enabled and full HD video
- Short-time battery life, lack of manual adjustments

Comments about Olympus SZ-30MR Digital Camera:

After reading online reviews and comparing specs to other cameras in it's class, I decided to give the Olympus SZ-30MR a try. Big mistake, I should have gone with my original choice; the Canon S95. The picture quality was terrible. Photos were blurry and unsharp, even in daylight (at ISO 80!). My 4 year old Canon Elph SD-800IS with less than half the the resolution of the SZ-30MR, takes better photos. Also, autofocus was slow and inaccurate. Don't waste your time with this one. I exchanged it for the above mentioned Canon S95 and couldn't be happier.

Comments about Olympus SZ-30MR Digital Camera:

I have had this camera a couple of weeks and really enjoy it. Easy to carry with both nice wide angle and zoom capabilities. The picture quality is great. For the money, I do not understand some of the critical comments provided by other reviewers. All camera's at 24x optical zoom will take a steady hand and require longer focus time. For sports and other situations where your subject is moving, try the sports scene mode. This took are of the blur comment I read in another post.

Comments about Olympus SZ-30MR Digital Camera:

The 24x zoom on this camera Is fantastic. I bought it specifically to take shots of wildlife and it was perfect for up-close images. The images come out sharp BUT, and it's a big but, it's really, really slow between shots and you will often miss some potentially great pictures while you wait for the camera to reset itself. Although there is a "continuous shots" feature, even this is slow. Image stabilization can also be an issue.
I'd recommend this camera only for certain types of photography where speed isn't imperative. Maybe there are other 24x zoom cameras that are faster, if so, I'd opt for one of those instead.

Comments about Olympus SZ-30MR Digital Camera:

Sometimes it's not feasible to carry a big DSLR and a bunch of lenses. I had hoped that this 16mp CMOS out from Olympus with a great zooming range would be easy to carry, fun to use, and give high quality jpeg files for those occasions when I can't use my normal equipment. After doing a lot of testing, I'm disappointed with the image quality. It grossly over-sharpens everything, and leaves images that should not be a problem quite pixelated. Older generation pocket cameras in side-by-side comparisons fared much better. If you want snapshots to post on the web, well then it's fine. Want to make a decent size print from one of these files? Forget it.
As another side disappointment, exposure compensation is only available within a sub-menu in one shooting mode. Really? It ought to be available instantly in any mode using a dedicated button.
Another downside was that a fully charged battery lasted for about 30 minutes, even though I didn't shoot anything with flash. If you end up buying this camera despite my review, at least buy another back up battery. It also doesn't come with a separate charger. You have to charge it in camera. This is a camera designed for snapshot use by kids. Forget it.