Are you the kind of person that hangs out in a lot of cold, wet, and sandy places? Apparently the good folks at Olympus think some of us do. So much so, that they'd like to convince you how much you need to buy the Olympus Stylus 790SW Waterproof Digital Camera. My first reaction upon reading about the waterproof, shockproof, freeze-proof (really?) and sand-proof features of the 790SW, was hey that's a nice idea. My second reaction was what's so special about that, and shouldn't all cameras be built like that to start with?
Shouldn't all cameras be able to take a little abuse? All digital cameras should be able to be dropped from four or five feet without damage. All digital cameras should be sealed well enough that sand or water won't find a way in. It's just a question of good build quality. Olympus however thinks this is a big revelation and a major marketing point for the Stylus 790SW. The bigger question though is, does it take good pictures?
Being a waterproof camera shouldn't just mean you can hold the camera underwater, and it won't leak. It still needs to take good pictures. While the 790SW can be held underwater (up to 33 feet according to Olympus), the pictures it takes are not so great. In fact, if you do take it underwater, plan on taking a lot of pictures. Most will turn out quite distorted and blurry, but the more pictures you take the better your chances of getting a few good ones. In addition, the LCD is pretty much unusable underwater, as it's just too hard to see. You'll have to just point, click and hope for the best.
Meanwhile, back on dry land, it appears the Olympus Stylus 790SW is really out of it's element. If you decide to buy a 790SW, you need to be aware, that your are sacrificing image quality for durability. There are other cameras that will take better pictures for the same price. Lower ISOs are fine, but anything over 200 and your going to see noticeable image noise. Color saturation and sharpness are also below standard when compared to other cameras in this price range.
If your favorite game is "let's bury the camera in the sand", then the Stylus 790SW is the camera for you. If however it's not, here's a few other detracting factors in mind when considering the 790SW:
- non standard XD memory cards
- grainy picture quality
- LCD is hard to read due to overly reflective coating
- automatic setting defaults are calibrated poorly
- menus slow down manual tweaking efforts
