Olympus Stylus Tough-8000 12 MP Digital Camera with 3.6x Wide Angle Optical Dual Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Black)
From the Manufacturer
There’s really only one word to describe the new shockproof, waterproof, freezeproof, crushproof and shakeproof Stylus 8000 camera from Olympus: Tough. Built to withstand some of the harshest environments on earth, the Stylus Tough series builds on the impressive specifications of the renowned Stylus SW Series by adding Dual Image Stabilization. Now, when the Stylus Tough-8000 arrives at the windy mountain peak or dive into choppy waves, it stays steady a (further details about this electronic product…)
Emeric said
January 3 2010 @ 2:51 am
Let’s be honest – I bought this camera specifically for the waterproof/dustproof/crushproof/freezeproof features. I anticipated that image quality and ease of operation might be sacrificed – and this is exactly what Olympus delivered. Additional questionable bonus is the “tap” feature, which allows to activate some of the functions by tapping the camera from the sides. This is a nice concept, but would be much more useful if it was reconfigurable and allowed the user to assign which functions are activated by tapping. The most important (at least for me) feature of this camera is that it’s waterproof, and I can honestly admit that it works. I used this camera for a couple of hours while playing around in the swimming pool, and it worked beautifully. No leaks, no bubbles, and color correction for underwater photography is quite decent. The crushproof feature was also tested, since I dropped the camera couple of times, and it kept working. This camera is tough
Unfortunately the image quality is far from perfect, in fact is merely average for a point-and-shooter.
The good:
- waterproof and crushproof (tested!)
- good color representation
- good automatic white balance (AWB)
- built-in panorama mode (only 3 frames)
The bad:
- images lack sharpness, appear very “soft”
- poor low light operation (focusing)
- occasional focusing issues (focuses in center even in “face detect” mode)
- some operation modes (“scenes”) are inconsistent, e.g. “portrait” mode switches focusing to “point” instead of “face detect”
- flash is too strong and there doesn’t seem to be a way to adjust it
- the image stabilization doesn’t seem to help – consider it non-existent
- heavy (but this is kind of expected)
- tap control not reconfigurable
The ugly:
- weird “ghosting” and flaring effects appearing in photos on some occasions when the flash was used (poor or no antireflective coatings on lenses)
- very poor sound quality in movies
Bottom line – if not for the “tough” part, this would have been a pretty average, all-around, point-and-shooter. If you need a true waterproof (not just “splash proof”) camera or something that you can carry in your pocket or a backpack in all weather conditions or any situation that could otherwise damage your camera – this is the one to get. If you don’t need the “tough” part – get another camera with better image quality.
Anonymous said
January 3 2010 @ 10:02 am
One thing you’ll notice w/other reviews is the “Haven’t tried it in water yet, but I’ll let you know” line.
I was totally in love with the Olympus 8000. Compact, sleek looking and had a nice heft to it. The different features & menu were fun and easy to use. It was awesome! Then, my vacation (the main reason I bought it)snorkeling in Aruba. The first in-water try out, off of the resorts beach (not much to see), seemed to go well. Then next day, I was psyched to take it to a “premiere” snorkeling spot. Long story short, It just kind of didn’t work and upon further inspection I could see air bubbles coming from the lens. The incident most definitely “harshed on my mellow”. I wasn’t even angry, just kind of deflated.
So there you go. Water tested…and it took a giant dump.
Kaethe said
January 3 2010 @ 2:09 pm
*update* here are the pictures from the vacation! http://travel.webshots.com/album/570827897OPnAfD?vhost=travel ;
all taken using the olympus tough 8000.
During this vacation I would say it got dropped and knocked around from about 5 feet to the ground on many handoffs and had a few rough spots but still worked wonderfully. As you can see some of the panoroma shots came out amazing! check the ones on top of the mountain from around pictures 100+. I did realize though that using the automated panorama mode did not work too well so alot of the time it had to be done manually using the second panorama option which lets you setup where the pictures end and start. Also I would HIGHLY recomend taking the time to learn how to use the little +/- button when you are in camera mode. Auto works alot but sometimes not how you would like it so that mode lets you decide what you want. Further while I did not use it underwater persay I did jump into a steam vent and the camera still shot amazing afterwards. Had to be around 110+ and the water just condensed on the screen but nothing inside thankfully. Also in terential downpours it took some nice shots, you can see the rain drops!
*end update*
I read the first review which seemed a bit off as I saw it on other sites (maybe they’re registed on a few) so I wanted to post my own.
Well I am going on a vacation of a lifetime to hawaii and I figured why not pull out all the stops and buy a top of the line waterproof camera. Basically also a camera that I could put through the ringer without worrying about dropping it in sand, taking into a waterfall and one that could take some nice pictures.
First off I am using the M+ cards that olympus makes you buy. I read somewhere that to take videos that have a duration longer then 10 seconds or for panorama pictures you need one (can anyone prove me wrong?). Little dissapointed at that so no 5 stars.
Secondly the panorama mode is probally one of the nicest features I have ever had the pleasure of messing around with. I can literally take a picture of my whole backyard and look at it in one picture (three pictures stitched together). Does it all in camera and it is very nice.
I have not tested it in the ocean yet so I will get back to everyone on that. The camera has a beauty mode which I can actually say works very nice. It shows you what the picture looks like before it touches it up and then after the touchup which is quite a difference (and nice).
One problem that I have noticed are night shots which looks slightly grainy. Im taking the picture in 12m mode with fine resolution, so each shots is around 3900×2900 (off the top of my head I know thats not exact) checking in at about 4mb a shot. So it might be that on my 1600×1200 monitor it is zoomed in a bit too much, but still slightly dissapointing. So again no 5 stars.
The LCD screen really is quite nice. I was fiddling around with it outside in direct sunlight and I could see the screen very clearly. No fidgeting to cover it with my hand at all, it all showed up nicely. The auto mode works nice just like any other camera and the P mode works if you want to fiddle with some of the other options. I’ll try tap control out sometime and let you know how that works. Also I do not know of any hosting sites so someone point me to one and I will setup some of the pictures I have taken for your own insights.
Overall I like the camera tremendously so far. Takes amazing panorama pictures, daytime pictures are fantastic. Night shots look a bit grainy but that might be from my ineptitude. Camera is also very nice to hold and just feels sturdy. 4 outta 5 without a doubt.