Small and compact

Poor lens quality,
poor zoom

Imprint date very poor quality
Zoom got broken after 4 rolls
Neither retailer nor olympus wants to replace
Not comparable with any other brand used.
Not happy at all

Customer Service

retailer and olympus customer service very bad

Similar Products Used:

Leica Mini zoom

Nice looking, compact.

Poorly designed, defects.

On the first roll, the date imprint "bled" onto pictures. Some kind of lighting defect on feature
that imprints date..ruined pictures.
Take it back to dealer. Gives me a replacement..
fair enough. The switch controlling zoom defective..lots of play in it. Also, zoom lens as it extends is wobbly. Pictures I took on first roll sans date imprint,okay, not great. "Clam" enclosure design okay, but awkward in its use e.g. inadvertantly closes when using other buttons on comera. Buttons for setting time/date hard to use. Not happy with this product.

Customer Service

My retailer promised me
a full refund.

Similar Products Used:

None

Feels good in the hand.
Good control layout an easy to read
Fairly sharp lens
small

Major red-eye problems, even with reduction on.
I think the build quality could be higher, not that I have had any problems

We are reasonably satisfied. The red-eye problem is severe and we likely would have chosen differently if we had known. The build quality is good but not great like some of the older Olympus models, but good for the price. The picture quality is good, not great. The flash does not dispurse well, as with many smaller cameras. We moved to 400asa film to help with exposure. It is nicely compact and I like the lens cover.

Customer Service

not needed

Similar Products Used:

Canon
Ricoh
Nikon

Zoom Range
Compactness
Weatherproof
Olympus optics

Startup and shutdown are a little slow, and therefore somewhat irritating...not unlike your typical digital. You can't just turn it on and shoot, it takes about 4 seconds to get ready. Not all that important, just might miss the odd, rare spontaneous shot....

This camera has been a godsend. I used to have to take my fairly bulky SLR, complete with two lenses and a flash, along with me on holidays. SLR probably took technically better pics and since I could run it manually, I probably got a few that I wouldn't have gotten with the Stylus. There is also the aspect that when you are carrying an SLR system around with you, you have that constant reminder "Take a picture, take a picture" On a recent trip, I took the Stylus 80 Wide alone, took far fewer pictures but ended up with as many keepers as I usually end up with with the SLR. I took fewer pictures because carrying this little gem around was so easy that I tended to forget I even had it unless something memorable came into view.

Now picture quality is astounding, especially when you consider that it is a point and shoot. Contrast and colour saturation are as good as any consumer grade zoom lens that I have seen. If you want that ultra, ultra close up to enlarge to poster size then this is probably not the camera for you but if you are like 99.9% of the camera users out there..taking pics of friends, family, events and holidays, then buy yourself one of these. The pictures I got on my last trip were nothing less than breath taking....buy one, buy one, buy one.

I have given it a 4 for value rating because I think for the money, I should be able to lock in a fast shutter speed, not necessarily have complete control but some...like if you want to freeze an incoming wave at the beach. This isn't an overwhelming problem..if you use fast film (400) and are in bright light, you will get a pretty quick shutter, it would just be nice if you could be sure of it.

I gave it a 5 overall because the bottom line really is the results, and the minor, niggling items I have against it are ultimately irrelevant.

This is one of the best investments I have ever made.

I have some sample pics on my website at ns2.stn.net/timberdog/index.html..but they were scanned with a very poor scanner...I am upgrading the scanner and will repost same images once I have done so but what's there should give you a pretty good idea of how accurately this camera exposes and focuses.....and some idea of the sharpness as well.

Customer Service

Not needed, so far........have talked on the phone, to tech support and they have been very friendly and helpful, but so far have had no problem with the camera

Similar Products Used:

Olympus Stylus Epic
Canon Sure Shot
Minolta Freedom 3
Original Olympus Stylus

- 28-80mm great p/s zoom range
- clamshell design offers nice protection when closed
- great stepping in zoom range -- about 15 or so different settings (compared to the Konica’s 5 settings)

- worst indoor shots I have ever seen from any camera -- edges/background VERY DARK -- see review below)
- slow to “get ready” when clamshell is opened -- about 4x longer than the Konica Lexio 70 -- seems like an eternity when you miss the perfect shot because the camera isn’t ready!
- viewfinder in middle of camera; nose always touches camera back
- viewfinder view is small and not very sharp, even with diopter adjustment
- pop-up flash interferes with where I like to hold camera
- clamshell design is easy to close accidentally which shuts camera down
- not a good value compared to Konica/Minolta/Canon cameras costing $90-$120 less with similar features

THIS IS ONE LONG LIST OF NEGATIVES, FOLKS, but poor indoor picture quality is the main reason this only gets 2 stars (actually one-and-one-half rounded up)

We had owned an Olympus point-and-shoot camera for about 8 years. About two years ago my wife dropped it and it landed in such a way that the glass over the flash cracked and part broke off, but the flash bulb was still intact and the camera continued to work just fine. Finally, though, the camera died last Dec. With two small kids running around my wife and I decided to find a replacement that would also pretty much replace our SLR, as diper bags and other stuff make lugging around an SLR near impossible.

We were very busy in December, so we didn’t look around too much. We knew we wanted to get a p&s with a 28mm lens. We liked the Olympus name, so decided on the Olympus 80 Wide DLX. We felt it to be little pricey at $230 from B&H (now at $250) compared to about $100 for a 38-70mm (like we used to own), but we felt the price was worth it as this camera was to be our “main” camera. Plus, B&H sold an Olympus additional 3-yr warranty for only $20, so I thought this to be a bargain.

My wife and I are casual photographers, mainly photographing people our one/two-year-old children. We mainly shoot indoors, or if outside, in the shade. We go through about 1-2 rolls of film a month.

After buying this camera at Christmas 2000, we were very disappointed with the first couple sets of pictures we got back. Most of the indoor shots, and even many of the outdoor ones, had dark edges. The background was so dark on many inside shots that you could not even tell what was in the background. Our old Olympus did not take such dark pictures. Even some of our outdoor shots in bright sunlight had darker edges, so we thought the camera must be defective. Contrast was horrible as on a sunny day with shade you cannot see what is in the shade as it is all black, even though to the naked eye what was in the shade was very perceptible.

After a few rolls of film I called B&H and they took the camera back, and after they received that camera in the mail along with a few poor pictures as proof, B&H sent us another Olympus 80 Wide (I verified brand new with different serial number). This second camera produced identical results -- background very dark on most indoor shots (with flash on). So the first camera was not at all defective -- this must be the way this camera operates.

We compared the results of this Olympus Wide camera with pictures from our old camera in the same room and similar lighting conditions, and the 80 Wide was very disappointing. We thought we could live with this, but after we continued to get back miserable results, we decided no way. Something had to be done. I called B&H, not expecting them to take it back, but for a recommendation on what to do, and they suggested we sell the camera on ebay. So we did and lost a little on it. We purchased a Konica Lexio 70 to replace the 80 Wide. Read the review I will post on the Lexio page, but suffice it to say, I’d recommend the Lexio 70 over this Olympus 80 Wide any day.

I’m surprised at all the rave reviews over the good looking pictures of the Olympus 80 Wide. Pictures were sharp in outdoor sunlight with no shadows, I’ll give the camera that much, but the contrast was horrible in low light conditions, be it indoors, or in the shadows outdoor. I mainly use 400 speed film. Indoors, with the flash on, subjects are brightly lit at camera level, but the background and edges are just too dark.

If you plan to do a moderate amount to a lot of indoor photography -- AVOID THIS CAMERA! I wish I had the benefit of a review like this as I would not have purchased it. The Konica Lexio, at about $120 less, is a much better value. In my opinion with a direct comparison of both cameras, the Konica Lexio takes much better indoor shots, the controls are better laid out on the Lexio, plus the Lexio is a LOT smaller than the Olympus, if that is what you want (I do).

Simply put: I would not recommend this Olympus when comparing it to the competition. Even if the Olympus 80 Wide cost less than the competition, I would not buy it. But it costs about $100, so you decide what is best for you. (Read my Konica Lexio review for more info.)

Customer Service

N/A

Similar Products Used:

- various Minolta/Olympus p&s zooms over the years
- Canon Rebel XS (still own)
- Konica Lexio 70 (replaced this Olympus 80 Wide)

Zoom 28-80 -Great for Wide shots
Size

Easily to break zoom Feature

Buy anything else. The 28-80 feature isn't worht the money if it only works for 4 rolls of film

Customer Service

Very Weak - After 4 rolls of filem ths zoom broke. Of course the warranty is invalid three month later

Similar Products Used:

Fuji