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Fun in the Sun: Olympus Stylus Tough 8000

Seven waterproof digital cameras

Select a topic --------------------------------- 1. Overview 2. Pentax W60 3. Canon D10 4. Panasonic TS1 5. Olympus Stylus Tough 8000 6. Olympus Stylus Tough 6000 7. Olympus Stylus 550WP 8. Fujifilm Z33WP 9. Conclusion --------------------------------- Reader Comments on Review --------------------------------- Digital Camera Comparometer (TM) --------------------------------- <-- Digital Cameras (Home) <-- Digital Camera Reviews Index

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Olympus Tough 8000

Olympus poured all the good stuff into the Tough 8000, a waterproof digital camera with a whole lot more. It also behaves better than its brothers. Besting all the others in this roundup in more than one rugged aspect, the Tough 8000 can withstand a drop from 6.6 feet, dive to a depth of 33 feet, shrug off up to 220 pounds of crushing force, and work in 14 degrees Fahrenheit (-10C).

A 3.6x optical zoom ranges from 28-102mm and is image stabilized, a nice feature to have in a rugged camera. The 12-megapixel sensor also matches its main rivals in resolution, and the 2.7-inch LCD performs like a dream in the brightest sunlight.

Waterproof:	33 feet
Shockproof:	6.6 feet
Freezeproof:	14°F (-10°C)
Crushproof:	to 220 pounds
Resolution:	12.0 Megapixels
Lens:	3.60x zoom (28-102mm eq.)
LCD size:	2.7 inch
ISO:	64-1600
Shutter:	4-1/1000
Max Aperture:	3.5
Mem Type:	xD/Mini SD
Battery:	Custom LiIon
Dimensions:	3.7x2.4x0.8in (95x62x22mm)
Weight:	7.1 oz (201 g)
MSRP:	$400
Availability:	02/2009

Look and feel. Well, the Tough 8000 looks and feels like a piece of metal, and that's just what it is. Okay, it's more than one piece of metal, screwed together into one solid chunk of digital camera.

I like that not only can you drop it, you can sit on it and not worry about it. Be honest, how many times have you slipped your pocket camera or cell phone into a back pocket and sat down? You have. Worse, you don't even know what's happened to your sensitive electronics when you've put them into your backpack or purse. They get smashed and crushed all day long. You don't have to think about that with this hunk of metal, the Olympus Tough 8000. It can take it.

A good finger grip graces the front of the Olympus 8000, and a solid metal guard surrounds the lens opening, as a stainless steel door moves out of the way to reveal the lens when you power on the camera. Available in silver with black accents and black with silver accents, the Stylus Tough 8000 isn't looking to attract you with fashion, but with no-nonsense, cold, hard utility. You can tell I like it.

Though I love the look of the silver one, I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't mention that the polished mirror surface of the silver model could introduce reflections into your shots; but then again, it could serve as an SOS mirror while you're out in the wilds, so consider that too.

Controls. The Tough 8000's controls are very similar to the Tough 6000's. The shutter button is excellent, with clear tactile definition between half-press and full-press; the mode dial is a little vexing because it can slip into in-between settings; and the rest of the buttons are of good quality, but small.

Tap Control is also present on the Tough 8000, activated with a double-tap on the top of the camera, intended for easier adjustment of basic settings while you're wearing gloves in the snow. It's an interesting experience, but also annoying when it pops up accidentally with a simple jostling of the camera.

Pressing the DISP button also brings up a clock, and holding the button down can be made to activate the LED AF illuminator next to the flash to serve as a quick flashlight or Macro light.

Shooting. The Tough 8000 works about how I expect any camera to work, regardless of ruggedness. It should fire up fairly fast, focus quickly, and get the shot. Despite the longer AF test results in the Imaging-Resource.com lab, the Tough 8000 focuses as fast as I need it to, and can be relied upon to get most of the shots I need.

The Tough 8000's autofocus shutter lag at wide angle is 0.85 second, and at telephoto it's 0.9 second. Not great, almost twice the best number of the TS1, but not noticeably slow, either. Prefocused, the Tough 8000 turns in a respectable 0.05 second shutter lag. Not bad at all.

Even powerup and shutdown times are better, at 2.6 seconds and 1.5 seconds respectively.

All camera functions on the Olympus 8000 are fast, including the menu items and Playback mode. When you have Tap Control on, you can even tap the camera on the left and right sides to move between images. Tap on the right to move forward and left to move backward among images. A neat trick.

The HyperCrystal LCD makes using the Tough 8000 a pleasure, too, especially after using so many cameras with washed out screens. This LCD design really is excellent.

Optical quality, save for the lower left corner, is not bad; about the same as the Tough 6000. Noise suppression is more active in the Tough 8000's shots, however, blurring some of the advantage the 12-megapixel sensor offers. But our printed results were pretty decent, allowing slightly soft prints at 13x19 inches, easily fixed with Photoshop's Unsharp mask over most of the frame.

White balance is a little warm by default indoors, but indoor performance is otherwise good, so the Tough 8000 actually does look like an okay performer for some indoor shots. Flash range is reasonable too.

Overall, the Olympus Stylus Tough 8000 competes well against the other ~$400 cameras in this roundup. It's a little slower than the TS1 and D10 at autofocus, but not so bad that I considered it an inconvenience.

How the Olympus Tough 8000 fared:

Your intended use

• Purpose: The Olympus 8000's autofocus is fast enough for daily shooting, both indoors and out. Its 33-foot submersion rating makes it excellent for diving use, and combined with its crushproof rating offers that much more security in more pressurized water sports, like surfing, rafting, and waterskiing.
• Kids: The Olympus 8000 is pretty easy to use for anyone; the only caution I'd give is that the mode dial turns too easily, so kids can accidentally switch modes without knowing it. The excellent HyperCrystal LCD on the Tough 8000 makes short work of framing your images, even in bright sunlight. It's pretty amazing.
• Ruggedness: The Olympus Tough 8000 is shockproof from 6.6 feet, so it'll take more punishment, even from some of the taller basketball players. And you can sit on it without worrying.
• Cold: Tap Control mode combined with freezability down to 14F (-10C) makes the Tough 8000 uniquely prepared for snow skiing and other cold-weather sports where gloves are just a part of the uniform.

Your expected output size

• Print sizes: The Olympus 8000 offers good 12-megapixel performance. It's not up to par with most other non-waterproof 12-megapixel digital cameras, but it's better than Canon's D10 across most of the frame. Printable at 13x19 inches with only some softness due to noise suppression, the Tough 8000 does very well. ISO 800 shots are better at 4x6.
• Landscape: The lower than average barrel distortion and reasonable sharpness across the frame make the Olympus Tough 8000 a good choice for the occasional landscape shot, as does the 28mm lens.

Versatility

• The Olympus 8000 does produce some fairly yellow incandescent shots indoors, but its autofocus and image quality make the Tough 8000 one of the few digital cameras in this roundup that are potential candidates as everyday shooters, regardless of weather conditions. Price is the only impediment, still listing at above $300 as of this writing. But you sure get a lot for that $300.

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