Olympus Stylus 840 8 MP Digital Camera with 5x Optical Dual Image Stabilized Zoom (Blue)

I love, love, love this camera. It takes GREAT photos! I have been amazed! It's fun 2 experiment with all the extra settings but works awesome on automatic. A friend purchased a similar camera the same time I purchased this one. We compared photos & features & she immediately returned hers & traded 4 this same camera. I highly recommend it!

I was highly disappointed in the photo quality of my new Olympus Stylus 840. It takes the worst, grainiest pictures I've ever seen! I have no idea what camera the people below are reviewing.

I recently bought the Olympus Stylus before a trip 2 Europe. I needed 2 replace an old SONY camera that had issues holding a battery charge (it took AA rechargeables, which was a nice feature). It was time 4 an upgrade anyway, so I did a lot of research, wanting 2 have a balance of price & features. What's great about this camera is its optical zoom (5x). It's also great that there are many features (including a panoramic feature-- it takes a bit 2 get used to).
Some negatives:
1) The battery life runs out pretty quickly (didn't last more than 3 days). This depends partially on the features that you use (it seemed 2 run out faster when I took panoramic shots or used the menu 2 adjust the brightness of the shot), but I would advise buying a second battery or have an electricity converter if traveling abroad. One battery, charged once, will not be sufficient. The camera is probably average in terms of battery life, but I had higher expectations.
2) Sometimes the camera takes blurry shots when indoors, if you're trying not 2 use the flash (there's a menu that adjusts the brightness- super cool!). This is the only time I was really frustrated with the camera, as a flash sometimes washes out the photo subject. There may be a way 2 fix the issue, but as the camera is new, I've not yet discovered it.

Overall, I would recommend this camera. It takes great fast-motion action pictures, has brilliant colors in outdoor lighting, & provided 4 a great way 2 preserve memories of my trip. Love the 5x zoom. Love the video feature (has sound, which my old camera did not). Love the multitude of features & possible settings.

I bought this one 4 my wife. 5 stars I give here is a measure of her happiness :)
What I noticed & don't like is when you set video recording 2 highest setting (VGA @ 30 fps) it can record only 10 secs.
Other than that, my wife is happy. Have a good day :)

This camera is great! It takes nice quality video, very good pictures all in a very small package that even looks good. The quality of sound (as others have mentioned) 4 video is minimal so obviously if you are recording something other than the family vacation you should go 2 a true video camera. Its very easy 2 use as well, reading the book was hardly necessary 4 me. One thing 2 watch out 4 is the optional muvee software you can buy after putting the included software on your computer. Think you can edit a "movie" with the "muvee" software? Wrong. All it does is string pictures & sound together 4 slide shows & it costs 29.95 (I'll consider that money wasted). Olympus has really done a great job with this camera & I think it is a great pocket video/picture taker that I am very happy I bought.

The Stylus 840 is a perfect camera 4 users looking 4 a compact digital camera with advanced features. An attractive package of features including a 5x Optical Zoom & Digital Image Stabilization helps users capture clear, crisp memories.