"Picky Details" for the Olympus Stylus 410 digital
camera
(Timing, Power, and Storage Info)
Timing
When you press the shutter release on a camera, there's usually a lag time or delay before the shutter actually fires. This corresponds to the time required for the autofocus and autoexposure mechanisms time to do their work, and can amount to a fairly long delay in some situations. Since this number is rarely reported on (and even more rarely reported accurately), and can significantly affect the picture taking experience, I routinely measure both shutter delay and shot to shot cycle times for all cameras I test, using a test system I designed and built for the purpose. (Crystal-controlled, with a resolution of 0.001 second.) Here are the numbers I collected for the Olympus Stylus 410:
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(secs) |
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| Power On -> First shot | |
LCD turns
on and lens extends forward. About average. |
| Shutdown | |
First time is time to retract
lens, second time is worst-case buffer-clearing time. Buffer clearing
time is reasonable, given that it corresponds to clearing 7 large/fine
shots after a continuous series in continuous shooting mode. |
| Play to Record, first shot | |
Time until
first shot is captured. Fairly fast. |
| Record to play | |
First time is that required
to display a large/fine file immediately after capture, second time
is that needed to display a large/fine file that has already been processed
and stored on the memory card. Somewhat slow. |
| Shutter lag, full autofocus | |
First time is at full wide-angle, second is full telephoto. About average, faster than average at telephoto lens settings. |
| Shutter lag, prefocus | |
Time to capture, after half-pressing
shutter button. Very fast. |
| Cycle Time, max/min resolution | 2.03 / |
First number is for large/fine files, second number is time for "TV" mode (640x480) images. Times are averages. Continues at this rate seemingly indefinitely in either mode. Buffer clears in 8 seconds in large/fine mode, and almost immediately in TV mode. Not blindingly fast, but not bad either for a compact, basic point & shoot model. |
| Cycle Time, continuous mode, max/min resolution | 0.49 / 0.48 (2.03 / 2.08 fps) |
First number is for large/fine files, second number is time for "TV" mode (640x480) images. Times are averages. In large/fine mode, shoots 7 frames this fast, then slows to an irregular rate of about 2.8 seconds per shot. In TV mode, continues at this rate indefinitely. Buffer clears in 9 seconds in large/fine mode, and almost immediately in TV mode. Reasonably fast for a basic point & shoot model, with reasonable buffer capacity. |
Average to slightly better than average performance for a basic point & shoot model. Compared to other compact digital cameras in its general category, the Olympus Stylus 410 comes in about even with the pack, perhaps slightly faster in some areas such as continuous shooting speed and shutter lag when prefocused. Full autofocus shutter lag is about average, with a range of 0.83-0.85 second. Shutter response is very fast when the camera is "prefocused" by half-pressing and holding down the shutter button before the shot itself. Continuous-mode speed is pretty good, at just over two frames/second, for up to seven large/fine images.
Power
The Olympus Stylus 410 uses a custom rechargeable LiIon battery for power.
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(@4.8 volts on the external power terminal) |
(LiIon cell) |
| Capture Mode, w/LCD | |
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| Capture Mode, no LCD | |
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| Half-pressed shutter w/LCD | |
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| Half-pressed w/o LCD | |
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| Memory Write (transient) | |
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| Flash Recharge (transient) | |
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| Image Playback | |
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Pretty good battery life for a compact digital camera. Small digital cameras often suffer in the battery life department, as there just isn't a lot of room for a beefy battery inside their tiny cases. The Olympus Stylus 410 does very well in this regard though, with worst-case run times of more than two hours, stretching to over nine hours (!) when the LCD is left turned off. (Unfortunately, the poor accuracy of the optical viewfinder means you'll need to rely much more heavily on the LCD than you might otherwise.)
Storage Capacity
The Olympus Stylus 410 stores its photos on xD memory cards, and a 32 MB card is included with the camera. (I strongly recommend buying at least a 64 MB card, preferably a 128 MB one, to give yourself extra space for extended outings.) The chart below shows how many images can be stored on the included 32 MB card at each size/quality setting.
| Resolution/Quality 32 MB Memory Card |
Fine | Normal | |
| 2272 x 1704 | Images (Avg size) |
11 2.8 MB |
33 962 KB |
| Approx. Compression |
4:1 | 12:1 | |
| 2048
x 1536 |
Images (Avg size) |
40 785 KB |
- |
| Approx. Compression |
12:1 | - | |
| 1600 x 1200 | Images (Avg size) |
49 642 KB |
- |
| Approx. Compression |
9:1 | - | |
| 1280
x 960 |
Images (Avg size) |
76 417 KB |
- |
| Approx. Compression |
9:1 | - | |
| 1024 x 768 | Images (Avg size) |
117 272 KB |
- |
| Approx. Compression |
9:1 | - | |
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Images (Avg size) |
199 160 KB |
- |
| Approx. Compression |
6:1 | - | |
Download Speed
The Olympus Stylus 410 connects to a host computer via a USB interface. Downloading files to my Sony desktop running Windows XP (Pentium IV, 2.4 GHz), I clocked it at 528 KBytes/second, a good if unspectacular rate. (Cameras with slow USB interfaces run as low as 300 KB/s, cameras with fast v1.1 interfaces run as high as 600 KB/s. Cameras with USB v2.0 interfaces run as fast as several megabytes/second.)
OS410 Test Images
OS410 Specifications
OS410 "Picky Details"
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