1. 14-megapixel resolution for high-quality, poster-size prints
2. 30x wide-angle dual image stabilized zoom
3. HD Movie 720p; one-touch button allows you to record movies in high-definition
4. 3-inch LCD features an extra-wide viewing angle and anti-glare technology
5. 2 GB internal memory; capture images and video to SD/SDHC memory (not included)

Editorial Review :

OLYMPUS 227665 14.0 Megapixel SP-800UZ Digital Camera

Customer Review :

Great camera if you are not looking for a SLR

I bought this camera a few days ago and so far I really like it. It takes very clear pictures and is easy to navigate through he menus. Here are a few pictures I took with the camera.
[...]


I figure a picture is worth 1000 words..

Rating :

Olympus SP 800-uz

Picture quality is excellent with great resolution. The original battery that came with the camera ran very low after 100 pictures and a 2 minute video so a 2nd or 3rd battery will be necessary. It is very easy to use with its user friendly menu. The quality lacks on videos and you cannot use the zoom feature while the video is recording. It's an excellent camera for the money spent.

Rating :

I really wanted to like this camera....

Let me start this review by saying I REALLY wanted to love this camera. I haven't bought myself a new camera in years, and I have an old Olympus C740UZ that I just love (it has taken a beating and still takes awesome pictures). In December 2006 I had bought a new Olympus SP-510 and returned it, but I read some good reviews on the SP800-UZ so I figured I'd give Olympus another chance.

I am definitely not a professional photographer, but I am certainly an above average amateur. I have gigs of pictures and everyone is always complementing me on my shots.

I will say that yes, you can take amazing pictures with this camera...IF you have everything set exactly right and the time to fiddle with it between shots. Not practical if you are shooting your kid or pet doing something cute right now! As far as snap and shoot forget it.

Pros:
-Very nice design, fits well in my hand and controls were easy to use and accessible.
-Beautiful large display screen.
-Amazing zoom (see also cons).

Cons:
-Focuses slowly and often not on the desired target.
-Pictures were often over/underexposed and colors tended to be off.
-You DEFINITELY need a tripod if you go over about 15x optical zoom.

I took almost 500 pictures with this camera over the period of about two weeks under many different light conditions. On the iAuto mode (their snap and shoot setting) even on a bright sunny day, many of the pictures of my daughter playing in the pool were blurry. I couldn't believe it! Pictures of her playing at a playground at dusk were underexposed on almost every scene setting, and the pink of her skirt was not right in any of the shots.

Menu choices are often odd too. For example, on the iAuto mode, you cannot set the rapid shutter settings. Attempting to allow digital zoom for shooting video always gave me an error message that I had incompatible settings.

Reflections (especially bright sun on yellow) completely wash out to white. I tried changing the shadow setting, the white balance and just about every mode, but couldn't get the shots of black-eyed Susan's not to have white spots on them. My old Olympus and my daughter's little Kodak did not have this issue, they correctly captured the light yellow my eye saw.

If you max the optical zoom, even if you stabilize the camera, clicking the shutter is often enough to blur the shot. I did get one good shot of a bluebird fairly far away, but I reviewed the shot, went to take another and the camera was locked up! By the time I remedied the situation, he was gone. This is ultimately why I returned the camera (like I said I REALLY wanted to like it). I returned the camera because about 50% of the time when I went from reviewing a shot to try to take another picture it would lock up. It locked so badly that it would only reset by popping out the battery!

Needless to say, I was extremely disappointed in this camera, and am definitely NOT buying another Olympus!


Rating :

A big step up for a small price

the Oly SP800UZ is a great example of the current ultra zoom trend! I am amazed at how much intense technology and capability is packed into this small, light, inexpensive camera. I've used a DSLR (Canon EOS Digital Rebel) and loved the image quality but learned that I'm not willing to carry the big rig along with lenses, etc. The point-and-shoot cameras I've used have been handy (and the old Oly 3.1 mp i've got still takes great pics), but can't even come close to the lens on this new Olympus.
After using this camera for four days I must say that the zoom is EPIC. Try the "birdwatching" setting and stand way back...
you might put someone's eye out! Colors (especially outdoors) are very true. The resolution has been great at any length, at least in good lighting conditions - i did manage to get some noise in low light, though, in the automatic mode. Still need to play with the WB options...
Great lcd for shooting/viewing, even in bright light. The menu for settings is not the fastest access, but it is an impressive array of choices/options. I really dislike the ib software for importing images. It suffers from what i would call "overachiever's syndrome" - do i really need to tag every photo by event, gps location/map, persons in photo etc? No thank you! What matters is the camera, which i'm pretty sure i will be keeping; it is almost as easy to carry as a basic compact digital but with a lens which really is the big step up.

Rating :

Olympus SP-800UZ

I love this camera great for quick shot and lots of new set that are cool. It very easy to run. I am a camera nut I have lots of them. Amazon is the best!

Rating :

More reviews...

1. 14.0 megapixel CCD
2. Attention adventure-seekers: this is the go-anywhere, do-anything camera you?ve been waiting for
3. A simple, one-touch button allows you to record movies with amazing clarity in high-definition, right from your camera
4. Life can be tough, this camera is tougher. Rugged metal body and innovative shock-absorbing construction
5. A revolutionary system of waterproof seals and gaskets keeps water out so you can take pictures as deep as 33 feet underwater

Editorial Review :

OLYMPUS 227655 14.0 Megapixel STYLUS TOUGH-8010 Digital Camera (Black)

Customer Review :

Tough little camera! Works on all the water rides.

I've never owned a Digital point & shoot. This one is great around kids. It can take getting bounced around and soaked by water rides at an amusement park. I would recommend buying a second battery though, the camera died after 4 hours of video shooting and pictures.

Rating :

Alternatives then?

For the people giving low ratings could you please suggest a point and click camera in the same price range that is a better choice, one that can go underwater without a special housing?

We have two of these cameras , we live near the ocean and we Kayak and snorkel allot so we wanted a camera we can take to the beach and underwater and just let it hang around our kayaks.

This camera is awesome! handles the water, sand and heat like nothing. the pictures and video look great. I am sure I can buy a more expensive camera and a water proof housing but I don't want to and for the price I don't think this camera can be beat.Granted when I'm not at the beach, kayaking or water-parks I will take my Sony or Nikon cameras along but for water and beach activity the Olympus Tough is the only one for the job.

Rating :

Great but slow...

I bought this camera to replace my Canon D10 Powershot, which failed the very first time I took it into the water. I'm happy with my purchase, but this camera is terribly slow between pictures, which has caused me to miss a fair amount of shots.
Other than the speed issue, this is a good, tough camera for all my adventures.

Rating :

it wasnt all that

I ordered this camera for our 4th of july 2010 beach trip. It took great quality pictures while we were there. the camera itself was extremely slow it took 30 seconds to a minute for it to turn on completely to take a picture. Changing the settings took forever too. The charger connection was extremely loose and had to push it in on a flat surface so the cable would not fall out. The flash is in a horrible spot so when you try to take a picture your finger covers the flash and it takes half of the picture away as if you are covering the lens. the side lock doesnt work very well outside of water and the battery cover will fly open at random.

when we got back from the beach i took it to a pool party to show off and it stopped working. it would turn on with "Olympus" on the screen and then shut off, leaving the lens cover open. after the camera shut itself off the shutter would make grinding noises as if it was trying to focus on something but couldnt.

i was really disappointed with this purchase.

Rating :

Good Adventure Camera

I got this camera specifically for taking pictures and videos in and around water. For this it is awesome, the videos come out clear with good sound. The picture quality is good when taking pictures, not great but almost. It seems to take much better pictures outside than inside, but for what the camera is, and for what it was built for I am very impressed. I would not purchase this as your primary camera, my biggest complaint is that there is a LONG delay when taking a picture or starting to take a video. I carry around a Casio Exilim in my purse and the speed at which it takes pictures and recovers is like lightening compared to the Olympus Stylus 8010.

Other than the delay in between shots, I don't have a single complaint. I took this thing rafting down class IV and V rapids in which it was repeatedly submerged in water and banged around by rocks and paddles... I also took it diving with me at the Denver Aquarium, everyone was extremely impressed with it, it took fantastic video and I got some great shots, the other divers and instructors were all asking how much it cost and where they could get one. The water resistance has been great, I went diving around 25 feet for about an hour and it did just fine.

If you are avid about water sports or are going diving on vacation or something this camera is totally worth it, but I would not purchase this as my primary camera.

If you want to see how great the quality is you can check out my scuba video which was taken with this Olympus Stylus-tough 8010 at

[...]

There are also just still pictures at the very end that were taken underwater.

Hope this helps good luck!

Rating :

More reviews...

1. 14.0 megapixel CCD
2. he Stylus Tough-8010 is engineered to thrive in any conditions
3. A revolutionary system of waterproof seals and gaskets keeps water out so you can take pictures as deep as 33 feet underwater
4. A simple, one-touch button allows you to record movies with amazing clarity in high-definition, right from your camera
5. With a rugged body and reinforced LCD, the Stylus Tough-8000 withstands up to 220 pounds of pressure so your camera and images are protected

Editorial Review :

OLYMPUS 227660 14.0 Megapixel STYLUS TOUGH-8010 Digital Camera (Silver)

Customer Review :

Bit disappointed

I'm a long time Olympus fan and owner of a Olympus DSLR. The great thing about Olympus cameras is that the pictures need little or no editing. I have seen pictures taken by older Olympus Tough series cameras and hence decided to buy the latest model. What I liked about this camera: It is tough, bit heavy, but really tough. You can give to the kids and not worry about them breaking it. What I didn't like:
1.Picture quality. The camera says 14.1MP. The file size may be big, but the quality is lost.
2. Extremely slow. Even with the smallest file setting, time between two clicks is few seconds.
3. Hard to operate. I had a hard time navigating between the controls.
I had bought this to use as an everyday camera and also for scuba diving. I had ordered Ikelite casing for this camera. I'm cancelling that as I returned this to amazon.


Rating :

Could be better

I have to say upon opening the package I had high expectations of this product. As many people have already said the camera tends to be slow in all it's operations. As a regular user of ruggedized products this tends to be the norm. It did seem to be a little slower than I expected though. Taking pictures was a real challenge at first. One definitely has to be in tune with the various menu options to get a good picture. The first few days I started snapping photos I was very unhappy with the quality and graininess of all my images. It took a few days to get use to the controls and having to change the setting for each situation. Which you will have to do for a good picture. The only reason I kept this was for it's water proof abilities. We have a few of these at work for fish work and they work great underwater for close shots. The video also seems to work fairly well. But I spend most of my time in the rain and water so naturally I need my camera to handle that.

Battery life is well average. The main issue if if you have to swap batteries and you're in a wet environment you SOL if you get moisture in the battery/SD Card area.

Documentation with this is a joke. The camera has an attempted built in help library witch seems to irritate more than help. No real paper manual comes with it. You can download it or get it off the internal memory on the camera. It did have about 1.5G free on the internal memory for images, with the rest for the camera OS.

All in all if you're looking to use this as an every day shooter look elsewhere. For someone who needs a camera for there kayak or light duty water sports this may suit your needs.

Rating :

Don't buy the hype

I have been an Olympus customer for a long time, but would think twice about popping over $300 for this camera and its "ad ons". The camera is slow to start up, you have to check the mode each photo or the photo will likely be blurry. I am also having a ton of problems with the software, called 'ib', for uploading photos to my laptop. The ib software basically doesn't seem to work. It installed successfully, but when you connect the camera to the computer via the USB cable, the ib software starts and either turns the laptop screen black and freezes, or says immediately that "ib has encountered a problem and must close". I am going back to my reliable 5 mb Olympus and Olympus Master software. It never failed. The other irritating thing is that this camera does not come with a manual. Registering, downloading from Olympus, and seeking out resolutions to problems via the net is just a pain in the a$$ and time consuming. At least they could have included a manual.

Rating :

Completely Disappointed with Functionality

Do not assume that I am biased or jaded, my score is based upon real-world usage of this camera. I own the Olympus Stylus 1030SW and have been very happy with its performance as a all-around point-and-shoot as well as an underwater camera, so I was thrilled to see the 8010 come out as the upgrade with higher resolution, better zoom and deeper capabilities. I pre-ordered the 8010 and it arrived just days before we left on our cruise which enabled me to do some real-world validation. I was sorely wishing I had brought my 1030SW as I was trying to capture images on the trip.

The Good:
The overall exterior design is great on the 8010. I really liked the new double-lock on the battery / memory compartment. Kudos for moving to the standard SD format as well. The new 720 video resolution is nice as well. It still feels like it drops a frame or two every so often at 720, but it is very good quality for the optics. The camera performs well underwater with good vibrant images.

The Bad:
The software running this camera is the complete downfall. The menu and selections are very sluggish, going from option to option you have to deliberately think 'go slow' or you will find yourself very frustrated. I am not sure what Olympus did with the white-balance of this camera but its functionality lies somewhere between 'completely broken' and 'completely frustrated'. I could take several pictures of individuals on the beach and one image would be completely blown out like a whiteout and the next image would look like it was a completely dark overcast day. I tried several times to change the settings to compensate for this, and I found that if I angled the camera around enough I could almost get the picture I wanted. The trouble was that for nearly every shot I was taking a picture, then tweaking the settings several times and have to adjust where I am pointing to try and get the image to come out partially descent. I have never had to manipulate a camera so much - EVER. All the while my daughter standing next to me would snap the same shot with her $95 Nikon and it would look great. It also appears that the flash is much less powerful, typically when the individual in the image is too dark, with a lighter background, I would change the settings to force the flash, but with this camera it hardly made a dent. Also on several of the videos take at the beach it was almost as though the sensor was overloaded as I would get a bright white / pink streak on the video as we were shooting on a bright day.

When I returned from my trip, I saw the great reviews here on Amazon and figured i must have bought a defective one so I called Olympus. I received no satisfaction from them, so I ultimately returned it to Amazon. I then purchased a 2nd one to see if truly my original was defective and found the exact same results and as such I have returned the 2nd camera as well. Thank goodness for Amazon's fantastic return policy. I am now using my 1030SW and looking to see what is the real solution for the next upgrade from that camera.

Rating :

EXCELENTE CÁMARA DIGITAL

Esta es mi 3er cámara Olympus. Al inicio estaba indeciso de comprarla porque al ser muy nueva, no tenía muchas referencias previas de otros usuarios. Pero realmente estoy FELIZ con la compra realizada. Es una cámara que funciona muy bien. Videos de excelente calidad, al igual que las fotos en diferentes ambientes. Tengo dos hijos pequeños que les gusta tomar fotografías, necesitaba una cámara que fuera durable y resistente a golpes....para mi tranquilidad encontré una de las mejores en el mercado... adicional de poder usarla en los viajes a la playa y a las piscinas ... sin importar que se mojara... excelente !!! La recomiendo al 100%

Rating :

More reviews...

1. A revolutionary system of waterproof seals and gaskets keeps water out so you can take pictures as deep as 16 feet underwater
2. An amazing 14 million pixels in the high-resolution CCD create superior image quality. Create poster-sized prints without losing a single detail
3. With One-Touch HD Movie you can record widescreen, crystal clear HD movies right from your camera.
4. Store more photos and videos than ever before, right in your camera with 1GB of internal memory
5. Durable metal body with an innovative shock-absorbing technology protects it from drops of up to 5 feet

Editorial Review :

OLYMPUS 227640 14.0 Megapixel STYLUS TOUGH-6020 Digital Camera (Blue)

Customer Review :

Star camera

This camera has been an excellent buy. We needed a reliable point and shoot for our teen daughter that could be used by everyone else. The internal memory holds loads of images and they are a great quality. The camera has been dropped from a top bunk onto a tile floor and thrown across a playground into sand and performed perfectly afterwards!! Haven't submerged it (yet) but have used it in a rainstorm with no problems.

Rating :

Good for eye squinting bright sunshine only

My previous camera was a Canon Powershot SD800is. It was a perfect pocket
camera. While I was on vacation in Bermuda I had it in my pocket.
Unfortunately it was my swim trunk pocket (was sightseeing all day). I jumped
into the ocean at Horseshoe Bay. It took me 10 minutes before I realize that the
camera was still in my pocket. If the salt water didn't ruin it, it was probably fried when I tried to turn it on.

At the urging of my Wife, I shopped around for a waterproof camera as a
replacement. Went to the DPreview website (owned by Amazon) and did a
feature search. I checked the following features: Waterproof, wide-angle, HD
video, less than 7oz, Image Stabilized. The search returned about a dozen
cameras, mostly Olympus, Sony and Panasonics, and chose the Olympus Tough 6020.

After playing around with for a weekend I decided to return it as I couldn't live
with it's shortcomings.

The main problem is it's horrible performance in low light, not candle light low
but regular indoor shots with either a few lamps on or daylight through the
windows.

The reason for the low light performance was the relatively small aperture of
the lens. The maximum aperture was F3.9 compared to the Canon's F2.8.
Indoors the camera would shoot at high ISO, (at least 800), autoflash triggered
and at slow shutter speed of 1/30th of a second,. Resulting images were dark,
noisy and full of jpeg artifacts. I doesn't help cramming 14 Megapixels in such a
tiny sensor either. Another reason for the small aperture was to achieve the 5x
zoom.

Another problem was the flash, and it's triggers all the time. The flash reach is
limited due to the inability of the lens to gather light. Also, no matter what White balance I chose, it would cast a blue tint around light areas such as walls.

The computer interface was also problematic. When you first plug in the
camera to a usb port, it automatically install the software. From then on it
launches the software everytime the camera is plugged in. I would like the
computer to recognize the camera as another drive instead. Not only that, from
that point on plugging any SD card into the computer's card reader would also
launch the Olympus Software. Very frustrating, ultimately I uninstalled the
software.

There a few pluses:
It looks nice.
Can take pictures underwater, but I've never seen a good underwater photo using a point & shoot.
It's shock proof so you can bang it around while doing outdoor activities.
That's about it.

In conclusion, this camera performs best only in bright sunshine. Then again
bright sunshine is probably not the most flattering shots with its harsh lighting,
dark shadows and squinting subjects.

I will be shopping for another Canon SD series camera.


Rating :

Great camera for vacation

I bought this camera to take on vacation. I had planned on using it primarily as a video camera because I have a good Canon DSLR. The quality of the video and photos was much better than expected...we ended up leaving the DSLR in our room most of the trip.

The good:
- Camera fits easily into your pocket
- The HD video quality is outstanding
- Underwater photos are good in ocean and exceptional in pool
- Takes exceptional sunset and food pictures using built-in modes
- Battery life is good...only charged once during 6-day vacation
- 5x optical zoom is nice

The bad:
- Takes a long time to power on
- Takes a second or two to take photos (I'm spoiled to the DSLR)

Recommendations:
- Use a table-top tripod for sharpest photos, especially for night shots
- Experiment with the shooting modes for best color

This camera (even used as a video camera only) is exceptional for the price.


Rating :

Olympus Stylus Review

This camera is amazing. It totally works as described and it really is as good as the commercials. I'm definitely going to take this camera snowboarding, boating, hiking, and everywhere else that is EXTREME!

Rating :

Great Camera, Perfect for High Quality Vacation Snapshots

I am surprised by some of the negative reviews of this camera. I have a suggestion to those reviewers: READ THE MANUAL! One common complaint - slow start-up time - can be easily fixed by following directions in the manual: Turn "PW on Start-up" to off, this will keep the camera from loading the logo and the camera is immediately ready for use. Another common complaint is the time it takes in order to shoot the next picture. Some people incorrectly refer to this is "excessive shutter lag." This is not the case: The default setting for this camera is to display the photo just taken for about four seconds after pressing the shutter button so the user can view the image. This is a handy feature I appreciate, but if I am taking fast moving action shots, this feature can be turned off in Shooting menu 2, "REC VIEW." Once performed in accordance with the manual, photos can be taken immediately after one another. All of my photos taken with the 6020 are perfect, unless I do something wrong. I am amazed by the number of people who do not comprehend the basic concept of digital focusing: Press the shutter button halfway to focus the subject (focus box turns green to confirm proper focus,) compose your shot while continuing to hold the focus halfway, then complete the photo taking process by pressing the button fully. Read the directions and anyone who buys this great little camera will love it and have great success with sharp, clean, well colored photos! By the way, I have successfully used the 6020 in my community pool for testing underwater and I am looking forward to my upcoming vacation to Aruba this month.

Rating :

More reviews...

1. 12.0 megapixel CCD
2. 3.6x wide optical zoom
3. Waterproof up to 10 ft
4. Shockproof up to 5 ft

Editorial Review :

OLYMPUS 227635 14.0 Megapixel STYLUS TOUGH-6020 Digital Camera (Black)

Customer Review :

tough lil camera

the camera does what its suppose to do, i really like this camera, it is a great camera, the only thing i do not like is that you have to charge the battery while its inside the camera, which would be a problem for people with more than one battery like me since i like to take a lot of pictures and video, the video quality is amazing, picture quality outdoors, underwater, in a well lit room are amazing, picture quality in low light rooms are good, overall it is a good investment specially if you like to be outdoors and underwater

Rating :

Returned! Way too slow

I've been looking at getting this camera for a while. I finally decided to get it and ended up being very disappointed. The response was way too slow. When I push the button to take a picture I don't want a delay. I'm used to the quality of my Canon Elph and this camera did not compare. Despite the fact that I was very attracted by the water-proof and shock-proof capabilities I decided to return it.

Rating :

Excellent camera

I bought this camera because I went to a trip to Cancun, and I wanted to get underwater pictures. These pictures, if taken under fair conditions (sufficient light, clear water), the quality is very good. My surprise was that, when taking outdoor pictures, the image quality is excellent. The wide angle allows you to take great scenic photos. The video is also great, 720 p. image quality, and great sound too. The only con is that the panoramic mode under if used as automatic is not very good. Manual or computer panoramic mode are better. If someone is interested, I could send some pictures (outdoor or underwater). Please only let me know.

Rating :

Buy the camera and not the package

I bought one of the Tough cameras a few years ago. I like it very much and got this one as a gift for my fiancee. We use them for video half the time. We use them skiing, surfing, sailing as well as the usual activities. Since it was a gift, I bought the bundled memory and case with it. The memory is the wrong memory. It is the memory for the older model. The memory was so cheap that it wasn't worth trying to return it. The bundle gets four stars while the camera gets five.

Rating :

Found the perfect camera (for me atleast)

There were some very specific things that I was looking for in a new camera.
-- Drop proof (dropped my old one which lead to its offical breakage)
-- Waterproof (I want to be able to take it in a pool)
-- Able to withstand heat (I live in the desert, triple digits are not uncommon)
-- The lens must not go out/expand from the camera (a part of the lens on my old camera broke off due to this)

With those criteria, I went on a hunt. Luckily, this hunt was during a sale or I might not have been so lucky. The main purpose for my camera is to take quick pictures (friends, pets, random places I go). I am not going to be going on an amazing vacation and need amazing, stellar pictures that sell themself.

Come to find out, I am pleased. Maybe that is because prior to this, for the last 6 months, I have only had my Blackerry (2.0 megapixels) camera. The quality is really good but does take a considerable amount of time to get used to the menu settings (I still don't think I am). I have played around with it a bit and have realized the difference between some of the most common settings. I am thankful for the pet feature (though I use sport more often for this as I have a kitten) and firework setting.

It does not really come with an instruction manuel to speak of, so be prepared to play around a lot and have things not make sense at first.

Rating :

More reviews...