Olympus Stylus 410 (mju 410 Digital)

Opinion: I upgraded to the 410 after having a Fuji Finepix 2800Z for 2 years and it's the best thing I ever did.

Construction: it's small, solid and oh-so-sexy. Sure you buy a camera to take nice photos, but a good looking camera is a bonus. I was a bit concerned initially about the on/off switch being the lense barrier. I wasn't keen on the idea of having to slide the barrier over one click, wait for the lense to retract and then slide it all the way. But when compared to my Finepix (where you have to push the off button and then fiddle with the lens cap) it's actually much nicer anyway.

Features: for a point and shoot compact the features are pretty good. If you want control over every aspect of your photography, don't buy a compact in this price range (or any compact for that matter). That said, if you read the manual cover to cover and understand everything in it, you can take good shots in most situations.

Image quality: the white balance and mode features are key here. The image quality (resolution) is fine - of course since it's a 4 megapixel camera - but the colours can go a bit astray in extreme light situations (very bright or very dark) unless you get intimate with these features. After an hour or so of playing around I could get crisp shots with accurate colour regardless of the light. Another thing I liked here is that even on the highest quality setting, I can fit nearly 200 shots on my 512Mb card! I take standard happy snaps at 2048 res and can fit over 650 shots!!!

Ease of use: this is by far the best aspect of the camera. The controls and menu navigation are brilliant. I thought the Finepix was good in this department, but the Olympus 410 blows it away. You can control all of the most commonly required features (flash, modes, etc.) very easily and the menu system is very efficient.

Value for money: it cost me $539 (Australian dollars) for the camera and $300 for the 512 Mb card. Lots of money for a compact, but I couldn't be happier. Two years ago my Finepix cost about the same, but that was only a 2 megapixel, only had a 32Mb card and was almost twice the size (my main reason for upgrading was to get something that would fit into my pocket). For something you can take anywhere, you'll get plenty of great pictures and you'll have fun doing it.

Opinion: I've used this camera now for a year and am still very happy with it.
It's small enough to make it convenient to carry around all the time and not too small for proper operation.

During daylight the performance of the camera is excellent, although the shutter delay takes some getting used to. It's easy to miss the moment when the camera still needs to focus on the subject.

I am really disappointed in the performance under low light conditions.
The flash is too bright, basically blinding everyone in the room, and at the same time causing very strong shadows and unnatural looking colors.
With the flash turned off it is very hard to take good pictures as most will turn out more or less blurred.

I've not been able to get used to the menu structure, even after a year. It just does not seem logical and I'm always looking for the functions.
Most annoying is the fact that you are not able to play back the pictures you've taken without turning off the camera first (and thus retracting the lens).
This uses a lot of power, and, more importantly might cause you to miss a next shot because the camera has to power-up again before taking the next picture.

If you want to use the camera mainly in-doors, I'd think again (I now purchased a 300d, to be able to take proper pictures in low light conitions).
If you are looking for a good, small point and click camera for outside (it's water-resistant!) this is a good choice.

Opinion: Just to correct something in another review:

"Most annoying is the fact that you are not able to play back the pictures you've taken without turning off the camera first (and thus retracting the lens)."

You can review pictures you've taken with a push of one button - the "Quick View" button - without switching the camera off at all.