Olympus Tough-8000 is tougher than Tarzan
The Olympus Stylus Tough-8000 is the latest addition to the abuse-resistant camera range of Olympus. It shares the same ruggedness as the previous 1030SW but, improvement, will now go down to 33 feet (previously 10), will work in as cold as 14°F, has a 3.6x zoom and will arrive in the United States in February for US $400 in plenty of time for the summer.
It already exists in Australia. This came up at dinner in a Chinese restaurant near Bondi and a friend, who is also an expert photographer, said he had been involved in the testing of this model for Olympus. He had done most of it underwater in Noumea, a piece of France which is close to Australia.
Most American publication wrote on the basis of an extended test drive on the floor of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Results are much the same.
The Olympus Tough-8000 is as tough as it looks as it is built into a metal casing which looks as if it will last forever. One minor problem is that the lens is in the top right hand corner which means you have to be sure not to block it with your finger. But it is the sort of camera that Susan Silverman would use to beat off the baddies when they attack Spenser.
All of the controls are tough if small. More for Cheetah or Jane rather than Tarzan although my friend said he had little trouble with them.
As always with Olympus the menu system is a bit of a mess — non intuitive — but you soon get used to it.
The camera has a microphone, and a seriously needed large lanyard loop. This is a waterproof camera and you can use it down to 33 feet which is as much almost anyone can dive without equipment. But, because it is waterproof, that does not mean it floats. Let is go and it drops like a stone to the bottom of the oggin. So you need the lanyard.
The 2.7-inch screen, with 230,000-pixel resolution, can be set to five levels of brightness. Which is fine for most things but, harping on an old theme, simply does not work at high noon in the bright sunshine of Australian beaches. The LCD may be a bit on the small side but, to compensate, is extremely bright.
The lens offers a 3.6x zoom (5.0mm-18.2mm, equivalent to 28-102mm in 35mm photography) which is enough.It has an aperture range of f/3.5 to f/5. It could be improved by a srew-on lens for ultra-close macro work underwater.
Olympus supports only the company’s proprietary memory format, the XD card, in its compact cameras. These cards are only available to a maximum of 2GB, and are significantly more expensive than SDHC cards. Which is dashed silly and one hopes one day Olympus see the light and goes to an universal system.
This is, as the title, suggests, a tough camera. It works underwater and can handle six feet of falling, and 220 pounds of crushing force. This should be taken on trust rather than tested in real life.
It has, amazingly, a built in manometer that tells you how far under water you are, or your height above sea level. It can also tag your photos with EXIF data for later reference.
The Tough-8000 has a wide-ranging 19 scene modes, a number of which are designed for use underwater. There is: portrait, landscape, night scene, night+portrait, sport, indoor, candle, self portrait, sunset, fireworks, cuisine, documents, beach and snow, snow, pre-capture movie, underwater snapshot, underwater wide1, underwater wide2 and underwater macro.
You can use them or not use them as you think fit.
All in all this is the definitive camera if you are going to use it outside where life is real, life is earnest and you need, on occasion to work underwater.
My friend used it to make a still/move composite bringing together images from land and sea, moving and still. It was amazingly effective. So yes, it has a slowish lens and, yes, it is not handy to use by a klutz with big fingers. But it takes amazing pictures on land and underwater. And it is tougher than rent.
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January 12th, 2009
you are in correct, the 1030 sw went to 33 feet (10 meters). the 1050 sw we only to 10 feet (3 meters). The 1030 also went to 14 degrees F.
the 8000 takes the tap controls from the 1050.
January 12th, 2009
Thanks for that. I stand corrected. It is always useful to get feedback that corrects specific points.
January 12th, 2009
Already in australia? where can I buy it?
January 13th, 2009
The STYLUS TOUGH-8000 will be available in February 2009, and the STYLUS TOUGH-6000 will be available in January 2009. As soon as I have a store listed I will contact you.
February 20th, 2009
I just discovered the Tough-8000 on Olympus’ website, and came across your review in my hunt for more information… would you happen to know what the practical differences are between the 1030SW and Tough-8000? I had been planning on purchasing the 1030SW, but now am wondering if the Tough-8000 is worth a little extra cash… Thanks!
February 23rd, 2009
According to Olympus’ website, both the Stylus Tough 6000 and 8000 are Micro-SDHC compatible, and even come with the standard Micro-SDHC to Xd adapter, that Oly began packaging a year ago.
Looking forward to this camera though! Thanks