Introduction

Ease of Use

The Olympus VG-130 is a neat little digicam that's about the same size as a typical smartphone. Surprisingly for a camera of this class, the outer shell is made of metal, which lends an air of sophistication to what is essentially an entry-level product offered at an entry-level price.

The design of the camera is simple, almost minimalistic. The lens, which sits fully retracted into the body when the camera is not in use, occupies almost the entire right half of the face plate. Spanning a 35mm equivalent focal range of 26-130mm, it goes wider than most compact camera lenses, which again is a nice touch at this price point. Its maximum aperture is a fast f/2.8 at the wide end but a disappointingly slow f/6.5 at full telephoto. The rest of the front plate features two pinpricks indicating a built-in microphone bottom left of the lens surround, a sliver of a window for the on-board flash and AF assist lamp. The top panel offers even less in the way of controls, featuring only a small on/off button and a well-placed and adequately sized shutter release.

The back of the camera is dominated by the three-inch rear screen, whose resolution of 230,400 dots is a bit on the low side for a display of this size. To the right of this monitor, we find a cluster of controls that include a pair of zoom rockers, a red Movie Record button that enables you to start capturing a video clip anytime you see something worth being filmed, a Playback button that can be configured to act as a secondary power button when all you want to do is review the pics and videos stored on the memory card, a standard four-way navigation pad, plus a Menu and a Camera Guide button.