Olympus Stylus Tough 8010 (mju Tough 8010) review
The 8010 is my 4th waterproof camera. I have a Pentax WP33, Pentax 720SW, Olympus 1030. I bought the 8010 to replace the 1030 which looks like it’s been dragged behind a truck – but that’s ok, it’s not meant to be a fashion statement. I need a tough camera and the 8010 has a better waterproof door & lock. I’ll be happy if I get two years from the 8010. There will always be a better camera released after you’ve just purchased one. The 14mp resolution gives acceptable images. A4’s come out ok and 6 x 4’s are great. If I need a bigger or better quality image I’ll use my canon DSLR. Colours are accurate & battery life is ok. Movies are great & you can now use the zoom button when filming (you do get a bit of mech noise when zooming). Using SD cards instead of the 2gb limited XD cards is also great.
Problems:
The ib software on the camera crashes on my computer when I try to run it. Haven’t heard back from Olympus yet about a fix. So I down loaded the Olympus Master 2 software but this loads up automatically when I plug in the camera even though this option is off in Olympus Master 2 options. If I don’t hear from Olympus soon I’ll remove the program & continue to use my existing software. There is a user manual on the camera’s internal memory which you can access buy pushing the “?” button. The manual is useless & a waste of memory.
Compared to the 1030 the 8010 takes longer to startup & longer to save to memory when a shot is taken. The button to take the photos is really hard to push. The multiple shot option is also a lot slower than on the 1030. Some operation selections have been moved from the joystick on the back & you have to choose them from the right side of the screen menu. E.g. macro, flash on/off, exposure comp. These are the ones you use the most so they should be easy to get to. The menu system doesn’t do it for me. Why would Olympus change a perfectly good menu system. I find the TAP control is to sensitive. There is a calibration process you should use but it’s still too sensitive. If I pass the camera to one of my kids there’s a good chance that a setting will be disturbed. Just don’t use the TAP control.
STOP THE PRESSES!! 30th May 2010. I've decided to give this camera to my kids. I've bought a Sony TX5, read my review.