The holidays are drawing to an end. The lucky individuals have already used up their vacation days and travelled to their favourite tourist destinations. Some are largely preparing for an off-season summer holiday, whereas some won’t be able to go anywhere this year. What does it take to have a good summer vacation? Most often, only good mood and good company. Everything else somehow falls into place by itself. Yet there is a thingy that isn’t to be omitted unless you want your holiday to fade into oblivion quickly… You’ve guessed it, your camera - that magical device that serves to digitally capture all those unrepeatable moments so that you can afterwards remind yourself of them all. As there’s a plethora of models out there on the market, in all possible price ranges, the decision as to which camera to buy is far from a simple one. We’ve opted to have a look at the cross-section of the market in the 100-250 Euro price range. Expensive cameras were out of the question… After all, some money has to be spared for going out, doesn’t it? We’ve sorted the test according to the price sub-range, and we’re starting with the cheapest (or as marketing sections would put it, “most accessible”) model.
Olympus VG-130 (VG-120)
This camera looks a lot like Canon’s popular IXUS models, both visually and in dimensions, but falls behind a little in terms of design. With its regular and rounded edges, it fits the hand nicely, enabling the user to shoot with one (careful) hand if needed. We also have to commend the fact that Olympus used metal in manufacturing the casing even with its cheapest model (the only difference between VG-130 and VG-120 being that VG-130 is entirely made of metal and has a plastic cover over the display). The casing is robust and high-quality, but the buttons are (as is the case with most Olympus camera) somehow unconvincing, being plastic and of lower quality. The integrated sensor has a resolution of 14 MP, which seems to be the standard nowadays (although the author of this text believes it’s simply too much considering the size of the sensor itself). A 3” display is most welcome in this price range, although its resolution is merely 230,400 pixels. As for connectivity, the camera only has a combined USB/AV connector. The detailed specifications of this and other cameras are available in the charts.
The camera is very fast in general, focuses quickly, and menu navigation is kept swift. We didn’t like the somewhat imprecise zooming, caused by two buttons regulating this function, instead of the zoom ring present in most compact models. What we commend, however, is the presence of P-mode, in which the user is able to set the most basic of image parameters manually (such as ISO, WB, measuring, exposure compensation etc.), although the shutter speed and exposure length itself can’t be regulated. Another interesting feature for a camera this cheap is the option of continuous shooting of 10 fps (with a resolution of 3 MP).
As far as image quality, VG-130 is a rather average experience. It’s neither among the best nor among the worst of the tested. Chromatic aberrations are quite pronounced. An upside is that sharpness is good around the edges, even better than some of the more expensive products in this roundup. Noise is visible even at lowest ISO settings, in spite of the very noticeable reduction that reduces detail levels. White balance also leaves a lot to be desired. Flash performance is one of the worst features of this particular camera, as the image is constantly underexposed, as you can see from the sample pictures. The video just doesn’t seem to have been shot in HD Ready resolution, and is one of the worst when compared to other cameras. Digital zooming is the only option during video shooting.
The overall impression is that Olympus VG-130 delivers exactly what it costs. The price of around 100€ gives you a metal-body camera with solid image quality and a large display which is fairly simple to use; more than one would expect for this amount of money, so if you’re on a particularly restricted budget, feel free to get this one.
