H and B Digital Photography Blog & Review: Olympus SZ-31MR IHS Digital Camera Review, Sample Images, Sample Videos and Photos in NYC

If you're interested in purchasing a digital camera that offers a mix of both point-and-shoot and professional grade features then the new Olympus SZ-31R iHS digital camera could be a good choice for you. The SZ-31MR iHS delivers excellent performance and power into a compact and lightweight body.

I found the most desirable feature this camera offers is its Multi-Recording functionality which allows you to capture 16 megapixel stills while you are recording full 1080p HD video. This is a relatively new feature for prosumer grade digital cameras to have and has already started integrating its way into the world of smartphones, like the HTC One X, for example.

Right off the bat, I have to declare I really enjoyed working with the Olympus SZ-31MR iHS. I've worked with nearly all of the new high-grade point-and-shoots released in last few months and I found this camera to be one of my top picks. It was easy to handle and I immediately felt comfortable browsing through the cameras options and menus. Plus the cameras overall functionality and image/video quality was even better than expected.

Externally, the camera body comes in an attractive and modern design in your choice of two classic colors - black or silver. Additionally, the right hand side of the Olympus SZ-31MR body has a curvature which gives you a cozy and secure grip while shooting.

The SZ-31MR iHS is considered a "long zoom range" compact camera because of its 24x Wide-Angle Optical Zoom Lens (25-600 mm zoom equivalent in 35mm format). This lens allows you the take versatile shots, from landscape to portrait to close-up. Other features you might enjoy include a 3.0" touch panel LCD display - but it also offers the option of using external buttons, for those of you who don't want to use touch, the iHS technology which is an abbreviation for Intelligent, High-Sensitivity, High-Speed technology, the Multi-Recording feature that allows you to record videos and snap shots simultaneously (as I mentioned earlier), and a medley of the sought after Magic Art Filters for that added dash of creativity in your images and videos.

To give you a better idea of the kind of shots the Olympus SZ-31MR is capable of, I provided a variety of stills taken from my roll below.

Sample images taken with the Olympus SZ-31MR iHS using the Magic Art Filters, iA mode and Program mode:

Program Mode

Intelligent Auto Mode

Super Macro Mode

Macro Mode

Intelligent Auto Mode

Macro Mode

Super Macro Mode

Dramatic Filter

Pinhole Filter

Pop Art Filter

Program Mode

Fisheye Filter

Intelligent Auto Mode

Watercolor Filter

Fragmented Filter

Reflection Filter

Intelligent Auto Mode

More Olympus SZ-31MR iHS highlights include its high-speed shooting capability at up to 7 frames per second at full resolution, Smart Panorama and 3D Photo modes to provide even more ways to express yourself creatively and it is compatible with Eye-Fi wireless memory cards.

If the sample photos above did not convince you of the excellent and high quality images that this camera can produce then view even more of our sample images taken with the Olympus SZ-31MR iHS below.