The Olympus T-100 ($89.99 list) is the most affordably priced point-and-shoot camera from the company, but it cuts corners to hit its sub-$100 price point. The camera’s lens features a very modest 3x zoom range, and images captured by its 12-megapixel sensor are quite noisy, even at low ISO settings. There are better options out there, even at this price, including the Samsung ES80 ($99.99, 3 stars), which is only $10 more.

Design and Features

Available in silver, black, blue, or red, the The T-100 is one of the smaller cameras you can buy, measuring 2.4 by 3.7 by 0.9 inches (HWD) and weighing about 4.3 ounces without its battery installed. Our Editors’ Choice in this category, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-S3 ($129.99, 4 stars), is similar in size and weight, measuring 2.4 by 3.9 by 0.8 inches and weighing 4.1 ounces. Its 3x zoom lens covers a 36-108mm (35mm equivalent) field of view, which is not that far off from the 3.3x range covered by 37-122mm range covered by the same-price Canon PowerShot A800 ($89.99, 3 stars).

The camera’s control layout is similar to many others in its class, including the Samsung ES80. The Power button and shutter release are located on the top of the camera, with all other controls positioned to the right of its rear LCD, including the zoom rocker, Play button, and a standard 4-way controller. Olympus opted for square controls for the T-100, rather than the rounded buttons found on most cameras.  The 2.4-inch LCD is smaller than those found on pricier cameras and has a rather low resolution of 112,320 dots. It’s difficult to use in direct sunlight, even at its brightest setting.

The menu system, on the other hand, is solid. An always-on overlay adorns the right side of the LCD, showing you the various options that can be controlled during shooting. From here you can change the shooting mode, activate the macro focus function, and control the self timer. You can also dial in exposure compensation, fine-tune white balance, adjust the ISO, and change the photo resolution. A more detailed full-screen menu is also available, but you’ll be able to control commonly-accessed functions directly from the overlay.

Performance and Conclusions

Calling the T-100 "sluggish" is an understatement. The camera is just plain slow. It takes a full 4.4 seconds to boot and capture an image, and pauses 3.8 seconds between shots, both of which can be attributed partially to its 1.1-second shutter lag. We considered the Nikon Coolpix L24 ($119.95, 2 stars) to be pretty slow with its 2.3-second boot, 2.6-second recycle, and 0.4-second shutter lag, but the T-100 is even pokier. Our Editors’ Choice budget camera, the $130 Panasonic Lumix S3, features a 1.75-second boot time, a 1.84-second recycle time, and a 0.4-second shutter lag.

We tested the camera’s image quality and noise performance using the Imatest software suite. A score of 1,800 lines per picture height is considered to be acceptably sharp, and the T-100 just edges that mark out with 1,851 lines. The same-price Canon A800 betters its score, recording an excellent 2,176 lines. Noise is a major issue with the T-100, as it produced images with unacceptable noise levels (above 1.5 percent) at all of its ISO settings. One can attribute it sharpness in part to a lack of in-camera noise reduction, but a better balance could have been struck here. The Panasonic S3 performed well on this test, delivering low-noise images through ISO 800, which is eight times more sensitive to light than the T-100’s base ISO 100.

Video is recorded at VGA resolution in the standard AVI file format. Quality is not that great, as it doesn’t look nearly as good as the same quality video captured by the Nikon L24. The T-100 uses the same digital zoom mechanism when recording video as the L24, but the mechanism is poorly integrated. Rather than a smooth zoom in or out, the camera choppily magnifies the image. Where the digital zoom on the L24 did not noticeably harm video quality, that of the T-100 does. Video almost instantly becomes grainy and blurry, an effect which is magnified as you zoom in further. A proprietary USB port is present to charge the camera’s battery and connect it to a computer. There’s no dedicated battery charger, so you’ll need to leave the battery in the camera to recharge it. Images are recorded to SD and SDHC memory cards.

To call the T-100 a disappointment is not entirely appropriate. Its low price point lowered expectations in kind, and if you’re looking for a digital camera for occasional use or as a first camera for a child, you may be happy with it. However, there are better options available in the same price range, like the $100-dollar 5x-zooming Samsung ES80 and the $90 Canon PowerShot A800. If your budget isn’t completely shoestring, you should definitely take a closer look at the Editors’ Choice Panasonic S3, although bear in mind that camera will set you back $40 more than the T-100.

More Digital Camera reviews:
•   Canon EOS M50
•   Snapchat Spectacles 2
•   Phase One IQ3 100MP Trichromatic
•   Google Clips
•   Sony a7 III
•  more