Olympus's flagship budget VG compact — 14MP CCD, 5x 26-130mm zoom, high-power flash, 720p video
The Olympus VG-170 was announced in January 2012 as the flagship of the budget VG series of slim compacts, aimed squarely at European buyers around the 100-euro mark. Its headline selling point was a flash several times more powerful than rival compacts of its class.
It combined a 14-megapixel 1/2.3-inch CCD with a 5x optical zoom equivalent to 26-130mm, a 3.0-inch 460,000-dot LCD and 720p HD movie recording. The built-in flash carried a guide number of 8.7, roughly double the range of typical compacts. Storage went to SD/SDHC/SDXC cards, power came from a rechargeable LI-50B lithium-ion pack, and stabilisation was digital only, with no optical IS.
It works best as a cheap family and travel snapshot camera: useful wide-angle, easy automation, Magic Filters for casual creativity, and that strong flash genuinely helps indoor group shots. The lack of optical stabilisation shows at the long end of the zoom and in dim light without flash.
Used buyers have an easy time compared with older Olympus compacts, since it takes standard SD cards and the LI-50B battery is shared with many Olympus models and still easy to source. Check the battery holds charge, USB-charging contacts are clean, the flash fires at full power, and the rear screen is scratch-free since it dominates the body.