Olympus Stylus 790 SW (mju 790 SW Digital)

Opinion: kind of a cool camera. one has really play with it in order to get used to it.

Opinion: Great for underwater, takes good quality photos and videos. Also takes pretty good night shots. Love the way it makes people's skin look with flash- in my experience, ltos fo point-and-shoots wash out the skin colour. Great macro.

Opinion: Prone to leaking later in life (like the pentax WP series) and pretty awful image quality doesn`t impress, thankfully we`re not stuck with rubbish like this now that Panasonic and Fuji are FINALLY making waterproof cameras....

Why these cams have to be so bad is a mystery and IQ seems to be at its absolute worst in this model (the 720 was actually BETTER than a 3Mp Mobile phone so what changed in the 770 and 790?) ..

It needs to be VERY rainy to warrant taking one of these, or any pentax W cam previous to the W60 out as almost anything on the market made my a Major manufacturer will take better pics (we`re talking a £49 Fuji A610 blowing it away for IQ) ..

Opinion: I surf alot...so i go to exotic locations alot like south west oz this christmas and so am in to my underwater photography. This camera is soooooooo gooood. Its in a different league.

Opinion: This is a handy camera for underwater shots. Definition and focus underwater is spotty, though.

Opinion: I've been using this for a year without any problems, and no maintenance. In the pool at home, at the beach in Italy and Mexico, in the snow in New York. I've dragged it in the water behind my tube down the Delaware river, and amusement parks across the country. I toss it in the water to my (now) 8 year old daughter and she uses it without blinking. I have an olympus E-3 with pro ( read 5lbs) lenses, E-410, and various other cameras. When the package needs to be small and versatile, nothing beats this. And for a point and shoot, because that's what it is, the images are quite good. Just wish I could put a polarizer in front of it since so many shots are near water and sand.

Opinion: I LOVE this camera. My main camera is a Nikon D300 with all the heavy expensive lenses...its awesome, but very cumbersome. I take this with me everywhere. I work in a zoo and have used it in salt and freshwater pools and have never had any problems. It is a point and shoot, I dont expect miracles and it very often exceeds my expectations. My next trip to africa I will carry both cameras.

Opinion: I bought it for my cruise to the Caribbean and more specifically for snorkelling. It works as advertised, but you have to beware of a few things:

1. The LCD is not that bright and you can’t really see through the viewfinder with a snorkelling mask. I found I was just pointing and hoping because I couldn’t really see the screen. Most pictures were ok like this.
2. Since you can’t see the LCD screen in bright sunlight, half of my pictures had a big water spot since I never noticed it on the lens when I would come out of the water for some pictures.
3. The lens started fogging up about the 2nd time I used it underwater. It seems to clear up eventually, but that means you only had 10 minutes in the water before the fogging occurred.
4. They claim it is waterproof and for the most part it is, but the first extended use underwater I found the battery compartment had some moisture that seeped in. Salt water in the battery compartment cannot be good for it. On the 2nd extended underwater trip, there was no water seepage.
5. The video clips record at 320x240 only goes 15 fps, but then at 640x480 30fps, it only records 10 seconds and stops!
6. The moving lens cap got stuck after my first trip because water surface tension was enough to prevent it from closing all the way. Once I dried it completely the cover closed properly again.
7. Picture quality and shutter lag and general usage was average at best.

It certainly is not a Canon SD700 IS which is my main P&S camera. If they can make a waterproof version with the performance and image quality of the Canon then this would really be successful.

Would I buy it again? Yes simply because there is no other choice for underwater and digital. I was lucky and bought this used, but the owner had never used it since he got it as a gift. I wouldn’t pay full price for it, but then you won’t get warranty should something go wrong.

Opinion: When you first see this camera its hard to believe that it's shock and water resistant, the finish is very nice and it feels solid and well constructed. I purchased mine online and I was quite surprised at how small it is.

Start up is very fast and in general performance is good. Image quality is reasonable but not inspiring, this is not a low light camera, but for general use noise is well controlled, lens distortion and control of fringing is good considering the size of the lens assembly. The 3X zoom is a bit sluggish.
The card/battery and USB compartments are lined with small rubber seals, which must be kept clean if the waterproofing is to be maintained. I found the camera easy and good fun to use, although the controls on the rear are very small and rather fiddly at times. the LCD is clear but has a slow refresh rate.. The case is not scratch resistant, it’s a pity that the special silicon skin that you can get in the US does not seem to be available in Europe
You should consider this camera if ruggedness and water resistant features are high on your list of requirements, there are plenty of other cameras out there in this price range that will give you better looking images straight from the camera but not many you can take in a swimming pool with you !.

I have not tested the camera underwater yet, preferring to refer to it at this stage as water resistant, bear in mind its only waterproof to 9 feet so its not IMO and underwater camera as such.

There are some nice features for beginners such as the very comprehensive scene modes and a very useful "guide" mode which can be used to adjust many camera functions, the menu system in general is reasonably easy to follow.

If you need a strong and water resistant compact Camera that you can take out in a kayak or to the beach that’s easy to use and you are happy to post process the images to get the best out of them, then this is the one to get.