Olympus Reviews

This is not a bad camera, so please don't be mislead by my review. For anyone who wants a [inexpensive] camera that works, nothing beyond that, this could be the camera for you. If you plan on taking the camera everywhere, this is fine. If you want to be a serious photographer, however, don't even consider this one. Liek I said, it will take pictures just fine, it isn't a single-use camera, and it doesn't touch anything else beyond that. I hope this product review has been helpful to you.

Well, you live and learn. These binoculars are ergonomic, look great and will perform well in bright light. However, out in the woods at dusk, the image just isn't bright enough.

Binoculars all advertise a strange-looking formula, such as 7x35, 8x40 or 10x45. This formula is one of the key elements in judging a particular binocular, but few of us understand how to do so.

Most of us know that the first number in the formula is the magnification power, such as 7, 8 or 10. Something 1000 yards away looks as if it were only 100 yards away when viewed through a 10-power magnification. However, the amount of magnification is not an indicator of how good a binocular is. You pick the magnification based on your needs, keeping in mind that the higher the magnification, the more shake will appear in the image. The use of magnifications greater than 10 or so often requires a tripod for a steady image.

And, of course, the second number in the formula is the diameter of the objective lens in millimeters. The size of the objective lens controls the image received -- how much light is gathered. Also, larger objective lenses generally offer larger fields of view, or the width of the image that you see at a given distance, for example 350 feet at 1000 yards.

But it turns out that these two numbers can be used to calculate a third--and very important--one: the exit pupil diameter. The exit pupil diameter influences the brightness of the image that is transmitted to the eyes. All other things being equal, larger is better, especially in low light. In bright light, the viewer's pupils contract, making the size of the binocular's exit pupil less important. In these conditions, the brightness of the image is limited more by the size of the viewer's pupils. But in low-light situations, such as at dawn or dusk and in areas of heavy tree cover, the size of the exit pupil is very important.

The diameter of the exit pupil in millimeters can be calculated by the formula: D / P, where D is the diameter of the objective lens and P is the magnification power.

So a 10x25 binocular has an exit pupil of only 2.5mm, while a 10x50 binocular has an exit pupil of 5mm. This means that several times more light is passed to the eye with the latter than with the former. (Although the 10x50s will tend to be larger and heavier)

Keep in mind that there are additional variables that play a role, such as optical quality, coatings and prism type. With all other things being equal--say between a Tasco 7x42 and a Leica 7x42--the better quality binoculars will out-perform the lower quality ones. -- Scott Loban

Very nice portable/compact binoculars. Very high quality given the necessary tradeoffs between price of the lens/prism system and the size of the overall unit. I have had very bad experiences with other "compact" binoculars in the past. Either they seem to have bad optics, a narrow field of view, a high price tag, or all of the above. But this Olympus has really made a believer out of me.

The most important things I appreciate about these binocs are:

1. that they have a wide field of view (72 deg), which is useful in framing your subject and in compensating for the minor hand jitter attendant in a 10x mag binoc;

2. that they are reasonably small, portable and durable (they were effortless to carry with me when I went India earlier in the year, and very useful for spotting and identifying the birds wheeling over the city, and I didn't feel like the binocs were too fragile/expensive to carry around with me);

3. the field of view is flat and well-focused from edge to edge.

Additionally, it is worth mentioning that the tradeoff made in these binocs for optic quality versus total size (i.e. they are not among the smallest of the 'compact' binocs out there) was a good one. The bottom line is that you want the binocs to be small, but not to the extent that the image is poor. The porro prism design of this Olympus model adds a little bit of size to the binocs, but in return you get better optics. I have experienced many problems with other "compact" binocs in the inexpensive (<$) price range because of the common use of cheap roof prism systems. Convergence problems sometimes manifest themselves in roof prism binocs; recognizable as vertical misalignment of the left and right eye images. This causes eyestrain. This Olympus model gives me a very clear image across the entire field of view with no convergence problems whatsoever.

Binoculars are great for concerts and the outdoors.

First digital recorder for me and found this one to be excellent. It does everything it says in the standard play mode. For 180 minutes, you have to put up with quite a reduction in sound quality. But if you are recording your own voice and can be near the mike, it will easiy be recognizable. Doesn't do too well to pick up a discussion. For the one hour standard format, it is a winner with many good features. .... The weight is light and really easy to carry around. I had been using a good Lanier and will still use that for picking up groups of voices or speakers at a distance.

The VN90 is a cute device that looks like a cell phone but feels like a light plastic toy
i have mine for more than a year and it still works. Unlike tapes, digital is magic and seems it will last forever. I wish they were playing with these on the Titanic so we could listen to old conversations and notes from the past, provided they were left in air pockets, a posting says it does not survive washmachine :-(

i use it a lot! i also still use paper notes, it's a competition
voice notes are easier to take, like during a hike, and much safer while driving
taking a phone number or an address is so convienient
then at the end of day i can just review latest messages, add more when going to bed and have a more relaxed sleep (except when i come accross a rush note where I do not understand myself anymore)

i regret the ergonomy; all buttons feel the same so it is still necessary to look at the device quiclky to operate it and at night some dim light is necessary
the size is good (nice fit in hand) but i wish a mini version existed that i can attach to my keychain along with my car alarm, always
the device is easy to use, sturdy, and the 2 batteries last almost forever
note that at replacement messages are NOT lost
i like the 3 folders A,B,C capability and the fact that folder C has date-month compartiments is great, though it takes forever to review messages in these 365 boxes the sound is of pretty good quality (i wish my answ machine had such a sound, so i can record music in my greeting) An when it's not clear it's because there was noise around. Unfortunately there's no feature 'record my voice but not the background noise of the street or restaurant'
the device has no computer link capability. Too bad, it would
be nice to put some 'voicessages' on hard disk.

now a few tips if you have one:
tip1: write your phone number on it on the back. This way i lost and recovered mine one day. Think that the recorder with messages of sentimental value on it is then worth much more than the original cost.
other tip: deposit some wax glue dots on the buttons (eg 1 blop on play and 2 blops on stop, imitating braille) so you can operate the device without looking at it
tip3: the microphone is not on the front but on the back! still talk as if it was on the front. However when recording on a phone handset (for example i am in Paris in a phone booth remotely reading an important message and need a copy on my olympus) please apply the back (the tiny area with 2 grooves above the word battery) on the speaker of the handset, and your ear on top of this like a sandwich. You can then hangup and replay at no cost. Works great.

Again, Olympus has succeeded in making a quality product. This model in particular served me quite well. I have had it for only half a year and it is in top shape. The features that this model contains are amazing. I recommend this to anyone who is looking for a serious device to record and store your thoughts.