OLYMPUS VG-160 Point & Shoot Camera  (Silver)

The VG-160 is an entry level compact digital camera which belongs to Olympus’ V-series. This camera is an ideal choice for anyone looking to learn the ropes of digital photography or for those looking to preserve life’s unforgettable moments in high quality, all within a reasonable budget.

This compact digital camera sports a 26 mm wide angle lens with an RGB colour filter. With a focal length of 4.7 – 23.5 mm and a 35 mm equivalent of 26 – 130 mm, the camera also features a 5x optical zoom with the availability of an additional 4x digital zoom. This gives the VG-160 a combined zoom capacity of up to 20x of magnification.

Working through a CCD image sensor, this Olympus comes with a commendable 14 megapixel resolution. With all these features packed into a compact and sturdy design, the VG-160 manages to weigh only 125 g with the inclusion of its battery and a memory card. The camera further features a 3 inch TFT colour LCD display with a 4:3 aspect ratio and a 230,000 dot resolution. This camera also has the capability of recording 1280 x 720 resolution HD video recording at 30 fps, which is saved on the memory card in the AVI M-JPEG or Motion JPEG file format.

Battery and Storage

The VG-160 runs on a LI-70B rechargeable lithium-ion battery that powers the camera for up to 165 shots. The main memory storage unit on this Olympus is accessible through the camera’s memory card slot that is compatible with SD or SDHC memory cards. The captured files from the memory card can be easily transferred to a PC or a laptop through the camera’s high-speed USB port or by using an SD memory card reader.

Performance

The aperture control function on the VG-160 lets you adjust the amount of light that falls on the image sensor, which ranges from f/2.8 to f/6.5. It also features a TTL or through the lens iESP autofocus system that works using contrast detection. The VG-160 has an autofocus range of 20 cm (Wide) and 60 cm (Tele) in the macro mode.

The light sensitivity or ISO speed on this compact digital camera ranges from ISO 80 to 1600, letting the user capture clear images irrespective of the available light. The camera also features a wide range of adjustable shutter speeds that ranges from a shortest duration of 1/2000 sec to a longest duration of 4 sec. A built-in flash with auto and manual adjustment modes lets you control the intensity of the flash, with an available flash range of 20 cm to 4.8 m (Wide) and 60 cm to 2.1 m (Tele). This along with the with Red Eye Reduction feature makes it possible to capture clear and sharp images even under insufficient lighting conditions.

Features

The Olympus VG-160 comes with dual image stabilizing technology that provides both optical and digital stabilization, ensuring the captured images appear sharp and blur-free. The Intelligent auto scene mode identifies the scene you're shooting, be it portrait, landscape, night portrait, macro, or sport and automatically adjusts the camera's settings for optimum results. With 6 pre-set white balancing options to choose from, the VG-160 lets you choose from a variety of image colour tone and temperature adjustments. The face detection feature automatically detects focuses and prioritises the clarity of up to 16 faces within the image frame.

The self-timer mode lets you delay the shutter release by 2 or 12 seconds, making this a very convenient option for self-portraits and group shots, where the photographer too can be in the image frame. The continuous mode lets the Olympus VG-160 shoot 20 images at 10 fps and 200 images at 2.3 fps while in the high-speed mode.