Olympus Stylus 120 35mm Camera w/ Zoom

Pro's - 1) Unusually high quality lens, both in terms of construction (aspheric lens elements) and materials (ED glass),
makes for very high quality pictures across the entire zoom range. 2) Stepless zoom - most cameras in this class "step",
that is, they restrict you to a handfull of pre-determined points in the zoom range. So instead of, say, a "38-120" lens

as advertised, you actually have a "38, 50, 70, 90, 120" on these other cameras (Canon, Minolta, and many others).
The Stylus lets you zoom to any point in its range, which makes it easier to frame your picture accurately. 3) Multi-zone
metering detects and automatically corrects for backlight (putting the sun in the picture won't ruin your shot). 4) Spot
metering option let's you tell the camera that you want to concentrate on a small area (your friend's face) under difficult

lighting conditions. 5) Focus lock let's you focus on your subject and then reframe (your friend's face again, next to the
small tree in the foreground - you want your friend in focus, not the tree). 6) Flash modes for just about every conceivable
need in a point and shoot camera. 7) Relatively high shutter speeds for a lens-shutter camera (1/630 second vs 1/400 or so on
some other makes) 8) Advanced flash control adds the right amount of flash when needed, not too much, not too little
9) Small, lightweight, reasonably rugged, weather-resistant, clearly laid out controls, clamshell design protects lens when
closed.

Cons - 1) Zoom range doesn't go truly wide - you won't get a large group in without backing up. This is common to almost all
point and shoot cameras - most people will buy a longer lens rather than a wider one, thinking that "bigger is better". For
people who would rather get the group shot, or that shoot indoors a lot, try the Stylus 100 Wide, which has a true wide
angle lens in it (28-100mm instead of 38-120mm). 2) Clamshell design can develop problems with the electrical contacts (but
other designs can develop problems with their lens covers, so
you're trading one for another here, in my experience). 3) Red-eye reduction is oversold - they all have it, but it's more
annoying than effective. To avoid red-eye, have your subject look just to the side, not right at the camera.

In short, as a "second" camera for the enthusiast, or a "main" camera for the mainstream user, this one's hard to beat.
For the record, I have no relationship with any company or person in the industry.


Good for a while   December 5, 2003
15 out of 17 found this review helpful

This camera has sharp pictures, ease of use, and a good zoom. However, it suffers from a design flaw. To turn the camera on or off, you must slide the lens cover to one side. This design is fragile and thus vulnerable to breaking. We have fixed it once within the first year of use. Recently, it broke again. Fixing it again is more than it is worth, especially given that such a repair would only be temporary. Instead, we are looking for a new camera--one with a traditional (and sturdier) on/off switch.


Great little camera, packs quite a punch   December 21, 2004
Jack B. Nimble (Florida, USA)
11 out of 12 found this review helpful

I bought the Stylus 120 right before taking a month long trip to Europe over the summer, and I have yet to see a single thing wrong with it. It takes GREAT pictures, and it is quite resilient. I dropped it a couple of times,it was constantly banged around, and yet it always functioned faithfully. The only thing that I can complain about was completly my fault: the manual focus got knocked around when I wasn't paying attention, and so a couple of pictures were out of focus. I would HIGHLY recommend this camera to both amateurs (I never even read the directions, the camera is that simple) and pros alike.


Film will not load!   May 17, 2004
6 out of 10 found this review helpful

We registered for this camera on our bridal registry and we actually received two cameras at my bridal shower. However, after spending over an hour trying to load the film, I gave up and went to Target to get help. The electronics clerk also could not get the film loaded for the longest time and finally he did something (he doesn't know what) and it loaded. We followed the directions over and over again but the film was so tricky to load that it isn't worth the hassle! We even opened up the other camera I had received in case the first one was defective, and that one would also not load the film. I still don't know how to do it and we returned both cameras and chose a different one. We were taking this camera on our honeymoon and we didn't want to risk getting stuck on the cruise with a camera that would only load film at random. For a brand new item, this was not high quality. Shop carefully!


PIECE OF JUNK!   August 12, 2006
Annette Phillips (Hyde Park, New York United States)
3 out of 6 found this review helpful

I bought this camera recently for a party I was throwing (after my other camera died and I was in a hurry to get something else) and it was an absolute piece of JUNK! The viewfinder was totally blurry so you couldn't even focus the camera to take a picture! We tried cleaning the lenses (even though that shouldn't have been necessary, because the camera was brand new; it came like that!) but nothing worked and I finally just returned it. Also, the stupid flash pops up and sticks way out which is not a good design. Stay away from this camera and go digital!!