Unbiased digital camera reviews, advice, and prices
Note: this camera was first sold in Jan 2008. There may be newer versions available.
Olympus Stylus 850SW
Olympus Stylus 850SW
B-
HQ Grade: B-
A is outstanding and exceptional, rated in the top 10% of digital cameras.
B means they are good, with some standout features.
C means they are mediocre, and probably more trouble than they are worth.
D & F mean they are absolutely awful or old. Avoid at all costs.
  • 3 out of 5
"Ok, but not the best"
  • 4 out of 5
"easy camera"
See rating based on 243 user reviews
Submit your own Olympus 850SW review!
This camera is ranked
Ask

Have a question about the 850SW?
Enter it here: (You can enter more details in the next step)

Back to List
Question Answered!
Wendy N (wendyn) 3 pts
July 14, 2008 5:34 PM
2 people rated this question helpful, 1 people rated this question not helpful Subscribe for Email Updates for this Question

What does it mean when the battery charger light blinks (as opposed to being on during charging, or off when completed)?

While trying to charging the battery in Australia, and after it had successfully done so through several recharges, the red light began blinking slowly. After about 8 hours of this, I realized that the battery had not in fact recharged at all. Could it be that the battery and charger could not deal with the higher voltage?
Report Abuse Did you find this question helpful or not helpful?
Answers This question has been answered!
by James DeRuvo (byjamesderuvo) 58448 pts
July 15, 2008 5:22 PM
1 people rated this answer helpful, 2 people rated this answer not helpful
 
It's very possible that you bricked it, burned it out. When traveling overseas, you should always bring along a voltage converter to handle the fluctuation and differences in electrical current. I'm betting you'll need to replace that battery and charger.
Best Answer
Report Abuse Did you find this answer helpful or not helpful?
Wendy N (wendyn) 3 pts
July 15, 2008 5:47 PM
0 people rated this answer helpful, 0 people rated this answer not helpful
 
Thanks for your advice. I suspected there was a burnout, although for most of the time I did use a voltage converter. And, the salesperson assured me that the system was able to work at 240V.
Report Abuse Did you find this answer helpful or not helpful?
by James DeRuvo (byjamesderuvo) 58448 pts
July 16, 2008 12:53 PM
0 people rated this answer helpful, 0 people rated this answer not helpful
 
As a recovering salesman (I sold cameras in college) I can say that a salesman would've told you the camera could walk on water to get the sale.
Report Abuse Did you find this answer helpful or not helpful?
Wendy N (wendyn) 3 pts
July 16, 2008 4:27 PM
1 people rated this answer helpful, 0 people rated this answer not helpful
 
You are probably right, even though the manufacturer paperwork says the recharging can happen at the higher voltage in Oceania. And, I'm still wondering what the blinking light means.
Report Abuse Did you find this answer helpful or not helpful?
John in Maui 0 pts
October 15, 2008 2:20 PM
0 people rated this answer helpful, 0 people rated this answer not helpful
 
I don't think the battery is necessarily tanked. I tried to charge mine last night and the same thing happened. I tried re-inserting the battery etc. Nothing helped. So I left it on (flashing) for a few hours. In the middle of the night I took the battery out and put it in again, and everything worked fine. The battery charged as it should. So what is really going on?
Report Abuse Did you find this answer helpful or not helpful?
mememememe 0 pts
November 26, 2008 3:38 AM
0 people rated this answer helpful, 0 people rated this answer not helpful
 
mine is doing the same thing but only with one of my batteries (the original olympus one) but when i put my aftermarket batteries in the charger it works fine
Report Abuse Did you find this answer helpful or not helpful?
Frode S. 4 pts
December 19, 2008 12:04 AM
4 people rated this answer helpful, 0 people rated this answer not helpful
 
Try first to clean all contact surfaces on battery and charger.
I had a problem on my Sony DSC-T300 charger and i did just that and now it is working fine.
After a while dirt and other stuff can stick on the contact surfaces and cause bad contact and so the charger thinks the battery is bad.
Report Abuse Did you find this answer helpful or not helpful?
Carly 2 pts
June 14, 2009 2:14 AM
1 people rated this answer helpful, 1 people rated this answer not helpful
 
I have an Olympus 850 SW, and I am having the same problem. I tried cleaning the contact surfaces, but that did not help.
Report Abuse Did you find this answer helpful or not helpful?
Domy 4 pts
June 28, 2009 7:56 AM
4 people rated this answer helpful, 0 people rated this answer not helpful
 
Had the blinking light with LI-40c charger and original batery, just a litle wipe of the contacts did the trick. I really cant belive this is so sensitive! as there was no dirt or greese visible on the bat contacts!

And it is really not ok from Olimpus not to have in the manual the meaning of the blinking light!!!!!!!!!!
Report Abuse Did you find this answer helpful or not helpful?
kris 0 pts
July 11, 2009 6:29 PM
0 people rated this answer helpful, 0 people rated this answer not helpful
 
thanks everyone, i just blew on in a bit and now it's working (knock on wood, i don't want to have to replace it!). so thanks again!
Report Abuse Did you find this answer helpful or not helpful?
Ashley 0 pts
July 20, 2009 3:52 PM
0 people rated this answer helpful, 0 people rated this answer not helpful
 
I followed Domy's instructions about wiping the contacts (which look absolutely spotless) and sure enough, it worked when I put the battery back in the LI-40c charger. The light stayed a solid red. How simple.

Thanks Domy!
Report Abuse Did you find this answer helpful or not helpful?
kyle 0 pts
July 29, 2009 10:52 AM
0 people rated this answer helpful, 0 people rated this answer not helpful
 
just worked wonders on mine... right as I was getting seriously worried
Report Abuse Did you find this answer helpful or not helpful?
jul 0 pts
July 30, 2009 12:28 PM
0 people rated this answer helpful, 0 people rated this answer not helpful
 
thank you Domy! i cleaned out the surface of the charger and it works fine! Thank Goodness it was just "dirty"! I wasn't prepared to buy another charger cos it's hardly 2 years old.
Report Abuse Did you find this answer helpful or not helpful?
Kav. 0 pts
August 3, 2009 10:58 PM
0 people rated this answer helpful, 0 people rated this answer not helpful
 
I can't believe it worked....had the same problem with the LI-50c.......thanks.
Report Abuse Did you find this answer helpful or not helpful?
Billy Ko 0 pts
August 8, 2009 5:40 PM
0 people rated this answer helpful, 0 people rated this answer not helpful
 
I had to replace the charger.
Report Abuse Did you find this answer helpful or not helpful?
Erick 0 pts
August 16, 2009 3:54 PM
0 people rated this answer helpful, 0 people rated this answer not helpful
 
wow! I've had the blinking light problem for the past 6 months, and would let it charge for 8hrs then try to get the battery to work, it would, but would only hold charge for about 15min! Thanks for the tip, i cleaned the connections and now the light stays on and the battery is accepting charge!
Report Abuse Did you find this answer helpful or not helpful?
isaac 1 pts
October 4, 2009 9:20 PM
1 people rated this answer helpful, 0 people rated this answer not helpful
 
if the cleaning doesnt work ....try smacking it a little bit (the charger not the battery) i dont know why ...but after months of not working...i did it and it worked....so try it....
Report Abuse Did you find this answer helpful or not helpful?
schaefer 0 pts
October 16, 2009 10:11 AM
0 people rated this answer helpful, 0 people rated this answer not helpful
 
the cleaning thing didnt work in mine..the only option left is the smacking thing...ahaha..i might destroy the charger by smacking it..ahaha..are there more options that i can try? this blinking red light really pissed me off,im still hesitating to change the battery and charger,i just wanted to make sure if this thing are already faulty or not..help please
Report Abuse Did you find this answer helpful or not helpful?
crystal 0 pts
November 14, 2009 12:08 PM
0 people rated this answer helpful, 0 people rated this answer not helpful
 
(cleaning the contact surfaces worked for my blinking light)

I read in another forum that if you push the battery into the charger to the point that the light will come on. Then when it starts flashing, slide it back off and then on again. According to this person, do that a few times and the light will stay on when you put the battery in (like the battery is totally dead - fully discharged, and this charges it a bit at a time).
Report Abuse Did you find this answer helpful or not helpful?

This Question is Answered. If you have further information you may add it here.

Need to add formatting or links? Use BBCode.
Spell-check
Start Here!
Most Popular
  1. Panasonic FZ35
  2. Canon SD1200 IS
  3. Canon 500D
  4. Canon A1000 IS
  5. Canon SX20 IS
  6. Panasonic FS15
  7. Samsung SL30
  8. Canon 50D
  9. Nikon D90
  10. Canon SX120
Camera Brand
Price Range
Camera Type
Camera Line
Megapixels
Hands-On Reviews
Latest Cameras
Top Searches
Our Other Sites

Close
Loading