Olympus VR-310 Review

The Olympus VR-310 offers plenty of megapixels and zoom in a relatively small body size. It may not quite slip into the pocket of your jeans, but it is still a very handy size for a digital camera offering you this much zoom. When it comes to using the VR-310 it handles like a standard point and shoot digital camera.

This type of camera is often targeted at people that are considering a holiday. This is because of the combination of smaller size and amount of zoon.

As well as the amount of zoom you get Olympus have added in a few other features worth noting such as High Definition movies and image stabilisation.

This camera comes in a variety of colours and you can choose from versions in pink, silver, black and red.

Compared with a lot of travel digital cameras the VR-310 is relatively light on features. This means that the price tag Olympus have placed on this camera is a lot lower than the majority of digital cameras with a 10x zoom lens.

Ease of Use 9
Features 8
Movie Mode 8
Build Quality8
Colours 8

Photo Quality 8
Style 8
Lowlight 7
Macro 8
Value for Money 9

Megapixels:
Zoom:
LCD Screen:
Dimensions:
Weight:

14
10x
3 inches
100.6 x 58.2 x 28.5 mm
158g

Macro:
HD Movies:
Manual Controls:
Batteries:
Memory Cards:

1cm
Yes
No
Lithium-ion Rechargeable
SD / SDHC

Megapixels

14 megapixels is likely to be more than enough for even the largest of prints. This large number of pixels also gives you the option to crop your photos.

Zoom and Image Stabilisation

The 10x zoom lens has a focal length equivalent to 24 - 240mm in 35mm format. This means that as well as the more obvious potential to zoom in on distant subjects the lens has wide angle capabilities. 24mm is as wide as any digital camera I have reviewed. A wide angle lens allows you to squeeze wider scenes into your photos. Olympus have built image stabilisation into the VR-310. This is an important feature when you have a camera with this length of lens. Image stabilisation will help you to reduce camera shake and keep your shots in sharp focus.

LCD Screen

The LCD screen is 3 inches in size. That is about as large as you are likely to get with a camera in this price bracket.

Get Access to High Definition Movies

Although High Definition movies are becoming more common they are not available on all digital cameras at the cheaper end of the market. So it is a bonus to find Olympus have equipped the VR-310 with a High Definition movie mode. Individual movies are limited in size to 2GB.

Get in Close with Super Macro Mode

The VR-310 has two macro modes. These are standard macro mode and super macro mode. In standard macro mode you have the ability to zoom in on your subject. In super macro mode zoom is not available, but you can focus from just 1cm away from the camera.

How Intelligent Auto and Scene Modes Can Help Picture Quality

If you were using a camera with manual exposure controls you can change settings to give your photos a different look. For example portrait shots may have a more flattering, softer focus. There is a limit to what you can achieve with a point and shoot camera like the VR-310, but you can point it in the right direction to a degree. This is by using the Intelligent Auto and pre programmed Scene modes. When you place the camera in Intelligent Auto mode the VR-310 attempts to automatically identify the type of picture you are taking. It can then select what it considers to be the ideal settings for your picture. The pre programmed scene modes work in a similar way. There are more pre programmed scene modes than the picture types available in Intelligent Auto mode and by selecting one you take the guesswork out of the process for the camera. There are 14 pre programmed modes. These include portrait, landscape, sports and night scenes.

Magic Filters Can Give Your Picture Something Different

You might see the magic filters as a bit of a gimmick, but they can add a little fun and give a completely different look to your photos. The effects available include pop art, pin hole, fisheye and sparkle.

A Few Extra Features for When You Need Them

Every now and then the limitations of a simple point and shoot digital cameras can become irritating even to someone looking for true ease of use. The VR-310 gives you three more advanced features in particular you may wish to experiment with from time to time. These are exposure compensation, White Balance and ISO. Exposure compensation can come to your rescue if for some reason the picture you are taking is too light or too dark for your liking. Increasing exposure compensation will lighten your photo while decreasing it will make your shot darker. White balance comes into its own if you are looking to change the colour temperature of your photos. All that means is that if your photos look a bit dull and lifeless they could do with a bit of extra warmth. By selecting a different white balance setting the impact of the colours in your photos will change. ISO is often used to increase brightness in a shot taken in lowlight. It can also be used for freezing motion. Care needs to be taken when using ISO as increasing ISO levels can lead to a reduction in picture quality.

The VR-310 has a smooth, polished finish. This can give the camera a slightly slippery feel. This is not to the level that makes you likely to drop the camera. There is just enough room on the back of the camera to place your thumb. The thumb area contains three raised lines. This helps you to take a better grip when you are taking a photo. This in turn means it is easier to keep the camera still and produce sharper photos.

Watch Your Finger Position

Although it is not a major issue the poisoning of the flash unit on the front of the camera can coincide with where you place your finger when you take a photo. This can lead to some of the flash light being blocked off. This reduces the effectiveness of the flash. Therefore that bit of extra care is required when using flash.

LCD Screen Quality

The quality of the LCD screen is about average. It can become quite reflective in sunny conditions. Better quality screens make it that bit easier for you to view the scene you are photographing.

How Much Shutter Delay is There?

My benchmark for a fast response time is under 0.30 seconds. The VR-310 recorded a time of 0.49 seconds for a single photo. This is slower than I would like to see with this type of digital camera, but would not in itself put me off buying this camera. With flash turned on times slowed further.

Controls on the Top of the Camera

There are three controls on the top of the VR-310. These are the on/off button, shutter button and a ring that controls zoom. The shutter button sits inside the zoom ring. Having this type of zoom control on the top of the camera frees up some extra room on the back of the camera. You may also find it easier to operate this type of zoom control than individual buttons on the back of the camera.

Controls on the Back of the Camera

Near the top is a dedicated button for starting and stopping movie capture. This means you do not have to change the shooting mode first if you want to shoot a quick movie clip. Further down is the button to review photos you have already taken. In the centre of the selector is a button for confirming settings. At the bottom there are two more buttons. The first gives you access to the menu system. The second provides help text for options in the menu system.

Below this is the main control section. It has a typical circular selector. If you press the top of the selector it changes the information displayed on the LCD screen. If you press the bottom of the selector when you are in review mode you can delete an unwanted photo.

Something That Really Makes Operation Easier

Sometimes something that seems relatively minor can make quite a bit of difference. You might find this is the case with the inclusion of menu options running down the right hand side of the LCD screen. This not only makes it easy to see what your current settings are, but makes them a doddle to change as well. Settings you can see on the screen include shooting mode, flash setting, macro mode and the self timer. If you don't like to see the options displayed on the screen it is easy for you to remove them.

What's in the Menu?

The menu can be divided into four sections. The first controls settings related to taking a still image. In this section there are nine options. Next are four options for controlling movie capture. The third section covers picture review, with six options. The final section is general set up with 14 options.

Outdoor Scenic Shot 1

The sharpness of this shot is quite good. Other than that there are a couple of issues the VR-310 has. The first is the loss of detail showing on the boats. This is a difficult shot for some digital cameras owing to the contrast between the light and dark areas of the shot, so it is not a surprise to see some loss of detail. Next up is the change of colour from blue to purple of some of the lines on the boats. This is an age old problem for Olympus with their digital cameras. It tends to occur when the sun catches blue lines.

Outdoor Scenic Shot 2

Compared with a lot of extreme wide angle cameras the VR-310 does a creditable job when it comes to the sharpness of this picture. There is a softening as you move away from the centre, but this happens with almost all digital cameras. Considering the wide ranging focal length of the lens on this camera it is a good effort. There is evidence of purple fringing creeping it to the shot, but this is at such a low level it is unlikely to be an issue for you unless you are planning to make king sized prints.

Outdoor Scenic Shot 3

This is another decent effort. You can see the advantage of the extra zoom on offer. The picture does not achieve the pin sharp definition of some of the more expensive digital cameras, but you should be able to produce pleasing quality shots at distance.

Outdoor Building

A lot of digital cameras are able to lock focus on to the building in this test shot and produce a sharp picture. The VR-310 struggles more and presents a hazy looking picture. This becomes more noticeable with larger prints.

Outdoor Portrait

There are no problems with sharpness in this photo. This is one of the easier tests and there are no real issues for the VR-310.

Indoor Portrait With Flash

Looking at the lighting levels in this shot it appears that the flash unit lacks a bit of power. It is certainly darker than a lot of cameras manage. This gives the shot a somewhat dull look. Areas of the hair are very dark. In addition this camera has cast a very strong shadow. This is an issue that occurs with other Olympus digital cameras too.

Indoor Portrait Without Flash

Viewing this photo alongside the indoor portrait taken using flash this is the brighter looking shot of the two. The colours take on an extra touch of warmth as well.

Macro

With such a short macro focusing distance you should have no problem getting in as close as you want to with the VR-310. When I did get right in close I found I had a problem focusing on the selected area of shot. Although there was plenty of sharp focus around the main point of interest it did not give the ideal result.

Colours

Colours produced by the VR-310 can be quite strong. This may be something you find attractive as it will certainly give your photos plenty of power. This is especially true for some of the blue skies in the test shots. As mentioned above, in sunny conditions blue lines can take on a purple tinge.

Noise

In some instances there is a degree of over exposure to the pictures produced by the VR-310. The down side of this is a loss of detail in some of the lighter areas of a photo. The upside is that areas of lighter shade can exhibit very low noise levels. If you decide to increase ISO levels manually you will see an increase in noise levels quite quickly.

Picture Quality Summary

Taking into account the price of this camera it is hard to complain about the standard of the photos it produces. When it comes to taking pictures it does a fairly solid job.

Single Shot
Five Shots
Single Shot With Flash
Five Shots With Flash
Turn on Time

0.49 seconds
10.45 seconds
1.12 seconds
16.13 seconds
2.67 seconds

Shutter Lag Table

You should find the VR-310 quite straightforward. As mentioned above the inclusion of the menu options running down the right hand side of the screen makes a big difference when it comes to ease of use.

Zoom for size of the camera - menu options on the LCD screen - amount of zoom at this price point

Slower response times - weak flash

Looking at the features the Olympus VR-310 offers it is available at an impressively low price. Taking that low price point into consideration the 10x zoom gives you a lot of value and the flexibility to cover a wide range of different photo opportunities. You may be hard pushed to find better quality at this price point if a longer lens is a big attraction to you.

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Front View

Back View

Top View

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Olympus VR-310 Review Olympus VR-310 Specification Olympus VR-310 Sample Images

May 2011