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Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review

Daniel Bell reviews the Olympus VG-130, a super-slim compact digital camera with a 5x optical zoom lens and 14 megapixel sensor.

Features
Handling
Performance
Verdict
Specification

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The Olympus VG-130 was released in January 2011 and is a budget digital compact available in silver, black, red and pink with prices started from around £70.

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Olympus VG-130 Front

Olympus VG-130 Features

The VG-130 has a 14 megapixel sensor and 5x optical zoom lens which is a 35mm equivalent of 26-130mm. The camera also has Digital Image Stabilisation to help take blur free photos.

As are commonly found on most Olympus compacts, the VG-130 has a range of magic filters, including: Punk, Pop Art, Pin Hole, Drawing, Fish Eye, Soft Focus and Sparkle. Other features include AF tracking, Intelligent Auto Mode (i-Auto), Shadow Adjustment Technology and Advanced Face Detection.

Movies are recorded in 720p HD with a dedicated button which starts shooting straight away.

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Olympus VG-130 Top

Key Features

  • 5x optical zoom lens (35mm equiv: 26-130mm)
  • 720p HD movie recording
  • 14 megapixel sensor
  • 3.0 inch 230,000 dot colour LCD screen
  • AF-Tracking
  • Magic filters
  • Digital Image Stabilisation
  • Intelligent Auto Mode
  • Advanced Face Detection
  • Battery charging via USB-cable

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Olympus VG-130 Screen

Olympus VG-130 Handling

Rather impressively for a budget compact, the VG-130 has a full metal body and is a very small camera which will fit comfortably in your pocket. The buttons are all easy to press, with dedicated ones for movie recording and the zoom control on the back of the camera rather than around the shutter button.

If you've used an Olympus compact recently, you'll be familiar with their menu layout. As soon as you switch the camera on you can switch between the shooting menus by cycling left or right. When you are in your desired mode you can changed the settings available in that mode by pressing up or down. The menus are easy to use and well labelled, although if you move round the menus too quickly the camera can take a second to catch up on occasions.

The camera is ready to take pictures within a couple of seconds of switching on and is quick to focus. Although there is no CIPA rating provided for the battery, during testing it was capable of around 220 shots. There are three continuous shooting modes available, sequential (full resolution), high-speed 1 (3 megapixel) and high-speed 2 (3 megapixel), capable of 0.8 fps, 2.3 fps and 10 fps respectively.

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Olympus VG-130 Battery

Olympus VG-130 Performance

When viewing the wide-angle image at full size there is plenty of purple fringing in the trees but the images do have an impressive amount of detail given that we are looking at a budget digital compact, which is also true for images taken using the lens at its longest length. The VG-130 takes well exposed images with good colour reproduction. Despite a minimum focusing distance of 7cm it is possible to get close enough to take a pleasing, well detailed, macro picture.

Olympus VG-130 Lens test images

At ISO 80, noise is very minimal, which is also the same for ISO 100. Noise does increase steadily through ISO 200 and ISO 400 but it is only ISO 800 where detail and sharpness is effected. Images produced at ISO 1600 do have a significant amount of noise and are best for small sized web use.

Olympus VG-130 ISO test images

Landscape images look great with a good boost to the blues and greens. Portrait images look a bit flat with a touch of red-eye present, but the skin tones are accurately reproduced. Sport mode has been used to capture the water droplets coming from the water fountain.

Olympus VG-130 Sample Photos

Under our studio lights, the white-balance performance is quite inconsistent. The AWB preset produces an image with an orange cast, with the incandescent preset giving the better image. The fluorescent lights causes the VG-130 to take images with a magenta cast although the AWB has less of a cast than when the fluorescent preset is used.

Olympus VG-130 White-balance test images

The following images are all examples taken using the seven magic filters available on the VG-130.

 

Video Mode

Videos can be recorded at 720p HD at 30 and 15 fps as well as VGA and QVGA. Optical zoom is also available during recording but not at the same time as sound recording. An example using the zoom during video recording can be found on the ePHOTOzine YouTube page.



Value For Money

The Olympus VG-130 is currently available for around £70.00. There are plenty of cameras to consider with a similar price and features such as the: Canon PowerShot A3200 IS at £104.99, Fujifilm FinePix Z90 at £89.95, Nikon Coolpix S3100 at £74.99, Sony Cybershot W520 at £84.95, Pentax Optio S1 at £79.00 and Samsung ST90 at £89.99.

Olympus VG-130 Verdict

With the VG-130 having been available since the start of the year, the price has dropped to a point where this camera can be considered quite a bargain. It has a full metal body and is capable of taking pictures with both good colour reproduction and detail. It is let down by some purple fringing, inconsistent white-balance performance and, if you like taking close-up macro images, you may find the 7cm minimum focusing distance quite restrictive. Overall, the Olympus VG-130 is an ideal choice for those on a budget and/or looking for their first digital camera.

View Full Product Details

Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Wide-angle | 1/800 sec | f/2.8 | 4.7 mm | ISO 100 | high res
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Full optical zoom | 1/400 sec | f/6.5 | 23.5 mm | ISO 100 | high res
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Digital zoom | 1/160 sec | f/6.5 | 23.5 mm | ISO 100 | high res
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Macro | 1/400 sec | f/3.4 | 8.3 mm | ISO 100 | high res
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
ISO 80 | 1/10 sec | f/3.4 | 8.3 mm | high res
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
ISO 100 | 1/13 sec | f/3.4 | 8.3 mm | high res
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
ISO 200 | 1/25 sec | f/3.4 | 8.3 mm | high res
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
ISO 400 | 1/50 sec | f/3.4 | 8.3 mm | high res
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
ISO 800 | 1/100 sec | f/3.4 | 8.3 mm | high res
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
ISO 1600 | 1/200 sec | f/3.4 | 8.3 mm | high res
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Landscape | 1/200 sec | f/8.0 | 4.7 mm | ISO 80 | high res
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Landscape with building | 1/250 sec | f/8.0 | 4.7 mm | ISO 80 | high res
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Portrait | 1/50 sec | f/4.4 | 13.0 mm | ISO 125 | high res
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Sport | 1/500 sec | f/4.9 | 15.4 mm | ISO 250 | high res
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
AWB preset - incandescent lighting | 1/20 sec | f/3.1 | 6.4 mm | ISO 100 | high res
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Incandescent preset - incandescent lighting | 1/20 sec | f/3.1 | 6.4 mm | ISO 100 | high res
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
AWB preset - fluorescent preset | 1/6 sec | f/3.1 | 6.4 mm | ISO 100 | high res
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Fluorescent preset - fluorescent lighting | 1/8 sec | f/3.1 | 6.4 mm | ISO 100 | high res
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Pop art | 0.3 sec | f/5.8 | 19.6 mm | ISO 125 | high res
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Pin hole | 0.3 sec | f/5.8 | 19.6 mm | ISO 125 | high res
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Fish eye | 0.3 sec | f/5.8 | 19.6 mm | ISO 125 | high res
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Drawing | 0.3 sec | f/5.8 | 19.6 mm | ISO 125 | high res
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Soft focus | 0.3 sec | f/5.8 | 19.6 mm | ISO 125 | high res
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Punk | 0.3 sec | f/5.8 | 19.6 mm | ISO 125 | high res
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Sparkle | 1/5 sec | f/5.8 | 19.6 mm | ISO 125 | high res
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review
Olympus VG-130 Compact Digital Camera Review

Olympus VG-130 Specifications

Manufacturer
Olympus
Lens
Max Aperture
f/2.8 - f/6.5
35mm equivalent
26mm - 130mm
Optical Zoom
5x
Image Sensor
Pixels
14Mp (Megapixels)
Pixels (W)
4288
Pixels (H)
3216
Sensor Type
CCD
Sensor Size
1/2.3 inch
Sensor Size (width)
6.16mm
Sensor Size (height)
4.62mm
Aspect Ratio
4:3
16:9
LCD Monitor
LCD Monitor
3in
Screen resolution
230,000 dots
Touch Screen
No
Focusing
Min Focus
7cm
Focusing modes
Autofocus
Face Detection
Spot
Exposure Control
Shutter speeds shortest
1/2000sec
Shutter speeds longest
4sec
Bulb mode
No Data
Exp modes
Program
Scene modes
Metering
Multi Pattern
ISO sensitivity
80 - 1600
White balance
Auto
Exposure Comp
+/-2
Shooting Options
Continuous shooting
10fps
Video
Movie mode
Yes
Video Resolution
1280x720 HD 720p
640x480 VGA
320x240 QVGA
Video FPS
30
Stereo Sound
No
Optical Zoom with Video
Yes
Other Features
Image Stabilisation
Yes
Interface
HDMI
No
USB
USB 2
Wi-Fi
No
Storage
Card Type
SD
SDHC
File Type
JPG
Power Source
Battery Type
LI-70B
Battery Life (CIPA rating)
No Data
Box Contents
Box Contents
LI-70B Lithium-Ion Battery, F-2AC AC Adapter, CB-USB7 USB Cable, CB-AVC5 Audio/Video cable, Hand Strap, World Wide Warranty Card, Instruction Manual, [ib] Image Management Software
Dimensions
Weight
125g
Width
96mm
Height
56.5mm
Depth
19.3mm

Olympus VG-130 Verdict

Pros
  • Excellent value for money
  • Full metal body
  • Good colour reproduction
  • Well detailed images
Cons
  • Purple fringing quite common
  • Inconsistent white-balance performance
  • Close focusing distance is 7cm