"Sunlit" Portrait:
(This is my new "Outdoor" Portrait test - read more about it here.)

High resolution and strong detail, but high contrast as well. Slightly reddish color balance.

• Exposure compensation: +0.7 EV, about average.
• Contrast/Tone: High contrast, strong highlights and very dark shadows. Dark midtones. Detail in highlights is better than you'd expect, given the high contrast though.
• White Balance: Auto was warm toned but best overall. Daylight nearly identical.
• Color accuracy: Pretty good, blues dark with more purple than in real life. Reds, yellows, and greens still pretty good.
• Skin tones: Quite red/pink from the warm overall color cast.
• Resolution/sharpness: Good, fairly sharp details.
• Shadow detail: Moderate detail, moderate noise
  

To view the entire exposure series from zero to +1.3 EV, see files OS5OUTAP0.HTM through OS5OUTAP4.HTM on the thumbnail index page.

Stronger resolution and detail, but again, very high contrast.

• Exposure compensation: +0.3 EV, also about average for this particular shot.
• Exposure/Tone: High contrast makes for harsher skin tones.
• Detail: Much stronger, less impact from noise reduction .
• Distortion: Good, 3x zoom lens prevents geometric distortion close-in like this, though a slight amount is visible.
  

To view the entire exposure series from zero to +1.0 EV, see files OS5OUTFACAP0.HTM through OS5OUTFACAP3.HTM on the thumbnail index page.

Normal Flash +1.3 EV

Slow-Sync Flash +1.3 EV

Dark results with the normal flash mode. A brighter exposure with the Slow-Sync setting, but a strong warm color cast.

• Exposure: Dim at +1.3 EV, and quite dark at the default exposure. Slow-Sync setting produced a much brighter exposure at +1.3 EV. (Exposure compensation adjustment seems to have little effect on normal flash exposure.)
• Flash balance with room lighting?: Good, in that the flash doesn't introduce unnatural blue highlights. (It matches the color of the room lighting fairly well.)
• Color: Somewhat reddish skin tones, dark colors in bouquet in normal mode. Very warm and orange in Slow-Sync, due to the strong warm cast of the room lighting.
  

Auto White Balance

Incandescent White Balance

Very good color with both white balance settings, despite slight color casts, and average exposure compensation required.

• Exposure: +1.0 EV adjustment needed, about average for this shot.
• White Balance: Auto and Incandescent settings both good, though Auto a little warm. (Which some people might prefer.)
• Color: Skin tones rather pink, and blue flowers are purplish, but other flowers look good. (A bit better than average, given the tough light source.)
  

To view the entire exposure series from zero to +1.7 EV, see files OS5INTP0.HTM through OS5INTP5.HTM on the thumbnail index page.

Auto White Balance

Daylight White Balance

Good color, with high resolution and strong detail. Slight blurring in the corners though.

• Sharpness/Detail: High resolution and strong detail. Good sharpness.
• Sharpness in Corners: Some softening in all four corners.
• Color: Auto and Daylight both performed well, Auto best overall.
• Detail lost to anti-noise processing?: Slight, visible in brick patterns in shadow areas, but not elsewhere.
  

Excellent resolution and strong detail, though high contrast limits the dynamic range.

This image is shot at infinity to test far-field lens performance, and to present a near-infinite range of detail to the camera. NOTE that this image cannot be directly compared to the other "house" shot, which is a poster, shot in the studio.

• Sharpness/Detail: Very good, a lot of fine detail throughout the frame.
• Sharpness in Corners: Better than average for a compact digital camera, some blurring in all four corners though.
• Color: Good.
• Dynamic Range: A little limited, some loss of detail in both highlights and shadows.
• Detail lost to anti-noise processing?: Little or none in this particular shot, except in the deep shadows.

Resolution Series:

ISO Series:
Image noise in the Stylus 500 is low at ISO 64 and 100, noticeable at ISO 200, and very apparent at ISO 400. That said, prints at 5x7 inches and below from images shot at ISO 400 looked just fine.

Lens Zoom Range

A typical 3x zoom range.

The Olympus Stylus 500 Digital's focal length range of 35-105mm equivalents is typical of most point & shoot digital cameras. It corresponds to a moderate wide angle to a modest telephoto.

	Wide Angle
	3x Telephoto
	4x Digital Telephoto

Auto White Balance

Daylight White Balance

Slightly reddish color balance, but high resolution and strong detail.

• White Balance: Auto and Daylight settings produced similar, reddish results. Chose Auto for the main shot.
• Color: Reddish-magenta flesh tones. Blues are purplish.
• Sharpness/Detail: Very good. (Bordering on the limits of the poster though.)
  

Standard Macro Shot

Macro with Flash

Super Macro Shot

A tiny macro area with excellent detail and good color. Gets incredibly close in Super Macro mode. The camera's flash performed well in normal macro mode also.

• Minimum Macro Area: 1.54 x 1.15 inches (39 x 29 millimeters) in normal macro mode, 0.95 x 0.72 inches (24 x 18 millimeters) in Super Macro.
• Softness in corners?: Some, but less than average. (Most cameras get fairly soft corners in macro mode.)
• Flash performance in macro mode?: Effective in normal Macro mode only, but does well there.
  

Auto White Balance

Daylight White Balance

Good overall exposure and color.

• White balance: Auto setting good but slightly reddish, Daylight setting was slightly warm.
• Color Accuracy: The Stylus 500's color looks pretty nice to the eye (to mine, anyway), but it technically oversaturates reds quite a bit, while simultaneously undersaturating yellows and yellow-green hues. Other colors are almost spot-on though.
• Shadow detail and noise: Moderate detail in the briquettes, moderate noise.
  

ISO Series:

Low-Light Tests

Slightly limited low-light performance, but sensitive enough for average city night conditions. Slightly warm color and moderate noise, but still fairly good results overall. Excellent autofocus performance in low light.

• Exposure limit: 1/8 foot-candle at ISO 400. (About 1/8 as bright as typical city street lighting at night.) 1/4 foot-candle at ISO 200, 1/2 foot-candle at ISO 100, and one foot-candle at ISO 64.
• Autofocus Limit: Really excellent, well below 1/16 foot-candle. (Very dark!)
• White Balance: Slightly warm.
• Noise Levels: Moderately low to low in most shots, though high at ISO 400.
• Detail loss to anti-noise processing?: Little or none at ISO 100 and below, slight at ISO 200, a fair bit at ISO 400.
• General Notes: The Stylus 500 does very well in low-light conditions, particularly for what's really a point & shoot style camera. Its low light autofocus capability was particularly impressive, as the camera can actually achieve focus in darker conditions than it can capture a bright image in.

(Note: If you'd like to use a light meter to check light levels for subjects you might be interested in shooting, a light level of one foot-candle corresponds to a normal exposure of two seconds at f/2.8 and ISO 100.)

	1 fc 11 lux	1/2 fc 5.5 lux	1/4 fc 2.7 lux	1/8 fc 1.3 lux	1/16 fc 0.67 lux
ISO 64	3.2 sec f3.1	4 sec f3.1	4 sec f3.1	4 sec f3.1	4 sec f3.1
ISO 100	2 sec f3.1	4 sec f3.1	4 sec f3.1	4 sec f3.1	4 sec f3.1
ISO 200	1 sec f3.1	2 sec f3.1	4 sec f3.1	4 sec f3.1	4 sec f3.1
ISO 400	1/2 sec f3.1	1 sec f3.1	2.5 sec f3.1	4 sec f3.1	4 sec f3.1

Flash Range Test

A weak flash, quite dim at eight feet, and with significant falloff from nine feet on.

Flash range at telephoto lens setting: Not even eight feet.

8 ft	9 ft	10 ft	11 ft	12 ft	13 ft	14 ft
1/100 sec f5.2 ISO 64	1/100 sec f5.2 ISO 64	1/100 sec f5.2 ISO 64	1/100 sec f5.2 ISO 64	1/100 sec f5.2 ISO 64	1/100 sec f5.2 ISO 64	1/100 sec f5.2 ISO 64

ISO-12233 (WG-18) Resolution Test

High resolution, 1,250-1,300 lines of "strong detail." Low barrel distortion at wide angle. Very low chromatic aberration, better than average corner sharpness.

• Resolution: 1,300 lines horizontally, ~1,250 lines vertically
• Artifacts begin at: ~1,200 lines horizontally, 1,000 lines vertically.
• Extinction point: ~1,700 lines
  
  
• Barrel/Pincushion distortion: Very low, 0.16 percent barrel at wide angle, 0 percent at telephoto.
• Chromatic Aberration: Very low at wide angle, even lower at telephoto
• Corner Sharpness: Some flare/coma, but corner sharpness is better than average.

Resolution Series, medium focal length

Wide Angle	"Fine" JPEG	"Normal" JPEG
2,560 x 1,920	OS5RES2560F	OS5RES2560N
2,048 x 1,536	OS5RES2048	-
1,600 x 1,200	OS5RES1600	-
1,280 x 768	OS5RES1280	-
1,024 x 768	OS5RES1024	-
640 x 480	OS5RES0640	-

 

Resolution Test, Zoom Series

2,560 x 1,920 (Fine, Wide Angle)	OS5RESW
2,560 x 1,920 (Fine, Telephoto)	OS5REST