Olympus 1000 Optics

Zoom
A typical 3x optical zoom range, with good performance.

The Olympus Stylus 1000 zooms over the equivalent of a 35-105mm range, which is fairly typical for its class. Overall performance is good, though details are slightly soft and there's some noticeable blurring in the corners at both wide angle and telephoto focal lengths. The 5x digital zoom takes it out to 15x total, with the typical loss of resolution associated with digital zoom.

Macro
A poor macro area in normal mode, and only about average Super Macro mode. Flash throttles down fairly well, though coverage is uneven.

The Olympus Stylus 1000's Super Macro setting captures an average minimum area of 2.34 x 1.76 inches (60 x 45 millimeters). Detail was strong and resolution high, with significant softening in the corners from the lens. (Most cameras have some softening in the corners in macro mode.) Normal Macro mode was below our "poor" benchmark, with a broader soft area than we're used to seeing.

The flash throttles down almost enough, but its light doesn't reach the left corners of the frame. Plan on using external lighting for your closest macro shots with the Olympus Stylus 1000.

Distortion
Lower than average barrel distortion, nearly no pincushion.

This is the tendency for the lens to bend straight lines outward (like a barrel -- usually at wide angle) or inward (like a pincushion -- usually at telephoto). The 1000's 0.47% barrel distortion at wide angle is a very low among the cameras we've tested. At the telephoto end, there was no measurable distortion.

Chromatic aberration
High at wide angle, low at telephoto.

Chromatic aberration is high at wide angle, showing several pixels of very bright coloration on either side of the target lines, but decreases to low levels at telephoto focal lengths. (This distortion is visible as a very slight colored fringe around the objects at the edges of the field of view on the resolution target.)

Corner Sharpness
Some softening in the corners of the frame, strongest effect in the lower right corner.

The 1000 produced soft corners, the upper right corner showing the most visible effect. Overall, not a bad performance for such a small camera.

Coverage
Very good accuracy from the LCD monitor.

The Stylus 1000's LCD monitor showed almost 100% accuracy at both wide (100%) and telephoto (98%). Telephoto was, however, shifted vertically.