Olympus Stylus 790SW 7.1MP Waterproof Digital Camera with Dual Image Stabilized 3x Optical Zoom (Orange) - Stylus 790SW Orange

I've spent 27 months with this camera...

3/5/2010

and this camera is my buddy... I have the lime version and we've been almost everywhere together since December 2007. Just last week, I took it with me to a rock concert and got some great photos (more on that a little later). Even though I'm not much of a drinker since leaving college, I still refer to this as my "drunk proof" camera, because I think it would be absolutely perfect for a bar-hopping college student... you don't have to worry too much about getting it wet or dropping it. I don't worry about it when I leave it out in my truck in freezing temperatures. I've had it out taking pictures when it's really dusty and the wind is blowing dirt around, etc and I just don't worry about it at all.

The one time I did worry was when we were in Maui last May (2009) and my wife (who bought it for me in 2007) wanted to take it with us snorkeling. Well, what the heck right? The first time we took it out, it performed beautifully in the shallow water... no problems at all! Later that day, however, we tried using it in the hotel swimming pool. No problems with the few pictures we took, but soon after that, the camera ceased working. I don't know if it had something to do with the chlorine in the pool or what. No worries - aloha spirit and all that, so I just left it open, took out the battery and card and let it all dry out. It wasn't soaked or anything, but I had the feeling there was some moisture inside. This was unfortunate because while I had my Canon PowerShot with me, I wasn't about to take that down by the water and the cheapo disposable camera we bought on the beach for body boarding pictures ended up getting ruined before we could develop them. A day or two later, the battery still wouldn't work... the light on the charger would just flash like I was crazy for trying. Well, I was a boyscout back in the day, so I had a brand new extra battery with me. After charging that battery (and again, the camera had sat with the door open for a day or two to dry out completely), everything worked just fine... the XD card was fine - just the battery went bad. I've been using the camera ever since. Would I be worried to take it in an ocean or lake with me again? Yes, I would. Honestly, I'd probably just buy a high-quality disposable camera. I can tell you that I would NOT take it in a swimming pool again, that's for sure!

Now that the water issue is out of the way, I wanted to address photo quality. Have I got some grainy pictures with this camera? Yes, I have. Did I try to change the setting to get better pictures? You bet! I feel that you definitely sacrifice a little bit of photo quality with this camera in exchange for some very cool features. However, if you're willing to play with it a little bit and learn some of the settings, you can usually get it figured out and take some really good pictures. For instance, it's very easy and fast to turn the flash on and off (just push right on the control pad) or push the flower button on the left side if you're shooting stuff super close. The top button on the control pad for exposure is awesome... it will show you 4 different possibilities at a time, then press left to see darker settings or right to make it brighter... that's a BIG help and is super fast and easy to do! Also, when I was taking pictures at the concert last week for instance, it was low light (at times) and I was not about to use a flash, so I turned the knob to the little shaky hand (between the SCN and the picture of the camera (auto setting)) and it did great! The local newspaper even put some of the pictures I took on their website! Of course you can also play around with the knob on the SCN setting... Sport is another favorite setting of mine when I'm trying to take pictures of moving people/objects. Available Light is another one I use fairly often. WHEN SHOOTING OUTDOORS (especially in bright sun), turn the knob to GUIDE and press down twice (3 - Shooting into backlight), then press OK (1 - Activate Shadow Adj.) and that helps TREMENDOUSLY! Without that setting, I would be in trouble. I use it almost 100% of the time when I'm outside and the sun is out (sometimes even when it's cloudy and kinda bright). On a side note, the the movie mode works just find and is an additional nice feature this camera offers (I believe it shoots in WAV or some type of Microsoft compatible format - it's not the QuickTime kind). I hope that helps a little bit!

In short, this camera is not perfect, but it's still pretty awesome. You don't need to bother buying a case for this camera! The battery seems to last forever, which is I take for granted sometimes. I do try to charge it up before going out if I know I'm going to be using it a lot (note: it does take a few hours to charge completely). My 2 GB XD card is almost full right now and there are 1800 high-resolution pictures AND some long videos on there! The main reason I can't give this camera 5 stars is because, unfortunately, I would agree that it is questionable under water. Others might not give it 5 stars because of picture quality. It might not take the very best pictures, but I have taken a LOT of really good ones! I will admit that there was a lady next to me at the concert last week with a Canon PowerShot SD940IS (the red one) and she was taking, for the most part, a lot more quality pictures than I was. However, if your buddy spilled some beer on that camera at the bar or if you got bumped and dropped it or if it fell out of your pocket in the car and you left it out in the cold or if you took pictures in the pouring rain or maybe a dust storm... would the Canon hold up like this Olympus Stylus? I doubt it! This Olympus is one TOUGH camera! Take it for what it is. I might buy a Canon for a little bit better quality pictures, but this Olympus will always be my go-to tough guy back-up if nothing else.

I love this camera--great especially if you have little kids

2/13/2010

We bought this camera after our (then) two year old got ahold of our other little digital and decimated it....This little camera is tough, can get wet, get dropped and be taken in the snow. While the pictures will never be as good as a heavy duty digital, they are quite good (you do have to master the different settings). The shutter speed can be low and I do advise getting an extra battery. But if you need a hearty little camera with really good picture quality and portability this camera is for you. I would buy it again in a heartbeat.

Terrible photos, holiday memories ruined

2/9/2010

This is the worst camera I have ever owned by far. Every single on of the photos it took on holiday are blurry, over exposed or grainy. I have used cameras for many years and will never buy this brand again. Do not buy into the gimmicks about shock proof, just get a camera and look after it. If it is going to break it is going to break. These strong cameras just muck up picture quality and that's it.

The best camera

1/3/2010

This camera makes the best pictures - in all types of weather and lighting conditions. So portable, fits easily into jeans pocket, purse, shirt pocket.

Just Fine ...

12/5/2009

I bought this in Dec 2007 and still in my use, I wouldnt say its awesome, but its average. in day light, beach, greenery, landscape its good but at evenings, indoor & in nights it doesn't deliver good results, picture becomes very much grainy. The Major drawback is FLASH, it whitens the picture awkwardly and picture loses its originality. During the years of my use, I rarely used the Flash. Now I have just ordered Panasonic FZ35, Lets see how it will work ...
Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ35 12.1MP Digital Camera with 18x POWER Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7 inch LCD