If you need a pocketable digi-cam that works in all the extremes you do -- from the aquatic expanse of water jogging class to the frigid wastelands at the ski lodge's heated terrace -- you traditionally haven't had many choices. Olympus is the biggest player with its SW series of non-flimsy
Mju cameras (µ if you dig special chars), and is now extending and re-branding that line to reinforce its durable nature, completely dropping "SW" and instead going for the rather more apt label of "Tough," as in Mju Tough and Stylus Tough (monikers already applied to the lineup elsewhere on this hostile planet). The series will include options at varying levels of durability, with the lightweight ones handling shock and submersion, and the more hardcore models adding the ability to work in freezing temperatures and survive some crushing action. They sound perfect for capturing your next expedition to the park on a cold, rainy day, but sadly there's no mention of improving the one aspect that's been
lacking in these cameras: picture quality. We'll see how well they fare in that department when the new models drop in January.
[Via
PhotographyBLOG]
posted Dec 10th 2008 10:06AM
"Your word is "Mjuier""
"...Could you use it in a sentence?"
"Olympus Mju Tough cameras are tougher, mjuier"
"...Country of origin?"
"Engadget"
"I quit"
That has to be the best comment ever, and first too, oh joy!
You just reminded me of South Park:
Mayor: Now we have Kyle Broflovski. [he takes the platform] Here we go. Krocsyldiphithic.
Kyle: What??
Mayor: Krocsyldiphithic.
Kyle: Definition?
Mayor: Something which has a krocsyldiph-like quality.
Kyle: Uh, could you use it in a sentence?
Mayor: Certainly. "Krocsyldiphithic" is a hard word to spell.
Priceless...
ha ha ha...i like the word mjuier
Will it stand to cookie crumbs in my pocket, or will the lens be OK after my two year old drools on it?
I doubt it...toddler drool is nasty, caustic stuff.
I hope they finally stick a real SD card in one of these instead of that obsolete XD card.
Wonder how they got around the problem of batteries not working in extreme cold weather. Dual purpose hand/battery warmer built into the camera?
I don't really know what benchmark you were using for "picture quality", but my old mju camera can take awesome natural light as well as "flash" pictures. I do admit that sony's competing cameras have more vibrant colours, but that doesn't mean that these pictures are bad, as far as a common person is concerned.
Mine takes beautiful outdoor and natural pictures, but at night or indoors, it is terrible. Absolutely terrible. Having said that, I've taken it camping, rafting and snowboarding and the thing still works like new.
i have an Olympus 1050sw and loving it! this thing is virtually indestructible!!!
just wish i could zoom in n out with doing video recording though. this kind of feature is apparently very rare or something...
Yeah it's one of the universe mysteries why digital cameras cannot zoom while shooting video with 99% of the models, baffling, I'd blame some EU or FCC directive but it's worldwide.
Might have been smarter of them to release this before people's christmas ski holidays rather than after...
this year? what ski holidays?
thats what I was thinking too....Ill probably pick one of these up as it makes for a great camera when skiing....im always afraid to take my DSLR with me while skiing
It's spelled mu.
C'mon - it's not mju, it's mu. This is a greek symbol (µ), and it's pronounced like 'mew'.
Get your editorial acts together or have some adults like Ryan Block or Peter Rojas preview your posts before you embarrass yourselves further.
Sheesh!
Actually, it seems like Olympus used "mju" first. Check out the pic:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/33/Olympus_mju_ii.jpg/800px-Olympus_mju_ii.jpg
Hmm... it wouldn't be the first time a Japanese company butchered something in a foreign language. Maybe this is the German or Spanish phonetic way to write µ. Regardless, there is no reason for Engadget to perpetuate this mistake. µ is mu - Period!
[mju] is the phonetic spelling of "mew" in IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet)
So fix the IPA thing, and be quick about it, you can't have such mistakes messing up everything.
NICE....
OH SHI-
IT MUST BE SUPER PROFESSIONAL
this will come in handy next time I accidentaly leave my camera in a block of ice
Hey its possible, did you not see the scientifically accurate "day after tomorrow" , you never know when your shit will be frozen
your shit be frozen if you live in Canada
I have the older 790sw and it's great. I've left it in the snow, swam with it, and dropped it down a three story marble staircase and it just keeps on going.
I hope that they finally caught up to the rest of the world and allowed more than 10 seconds video recording at a time. Yes, that's *ten* seconds, something that's never mentioned in reviews or specs. Their digicams have been stunted to that absurd limit for a long time, and even the latest 1080sw needed a firmware update and special harder-to-find type "H" xD cards to go beyond that limit. Older models won't even get a firmware update, even though that's all (plus the H cards) that's needed to remove the limit. This is something that 5+ year old digicams could do, but Olympus can't.
Then of course there's the matter of really bad image overall. Basically, if you want something that can take pics underwater, get a better digicam and its relevant housing. If you want rugged, there are other, better brands to look at.
show me these other "brands" you speak of? I've been checking out this series of SW cameras for a while now, hoping to pick one up after Christmas. But since you mentioned that there are other manufacturers making similar camera that can be dropped from 5 feet, go underwater and left in freezing temperatures. Please do us all a favor and show us with a link to this magical website.
If you googled, you'd find them. It's not exactly rocket science, you know. Pentax. Fujifilm. Kodak. Ricoh.
And I did mention the waterproof aspect separately. This is for people considering it for snorkeling. It's pretty much useless, and the flash doesn't work as it should. That's why I say if you're buying it for this (and only this, which is what I only needed it for, not the stupid ruggedness), then you'd be better off with a more capable camera with dedicated housing.
I, like you, did a lot of research on the Olympus SW line, because I was drawn in by the underwater aspect. I put down a lot of money for one. Only to find at home that it took lousy pics and could only take ten second videos. If you're still gunning for one, by all means, go for it. I'm just giving people the information that I wish I had before I made my purchase decision.
Also, Olympus puts out two SW families, one less rugged/waterproof than the other. The 1080SW for example being more "rugged" than the 1050SW.
Thanks for the negative votes, Olympus fanboys.
Solmar,
You should try adding a memory card to the camera.
I get neary about 17min at hi res video and around 50min at normal with a 2Gb card.
Photos pretty much equal my Canon EOS400D. Excellent.
Our mu is awesome... a camera we can use at the beach and take underwater shots and ++++ we can let the 3 yr old take pictures without fear of him breaking it.
I hope they improve the waterproofing and shockproofing in the "Tough" models. I have an older 770sw which is actually MORE waterproof (33ft as opposed to 10) than the newer ones. I've tested mine down to about 25ft and it works like a champ. I think the picture quality is pretty OK for what it is. It's no dSLR, but I still manage in those places where I'm afraid to go with the big guns...
33ft =10.06 m
Yes, I can do math too. However, later models were waterproofed to 10 FEET not meters. Check out the 790sw, if you don't believe me.
you're right , sorry I tought there was a typo somewhere
Please please please add optical image stabilization to this round of upgrades.
Frigging right. I've had an 850 for 8 months or so and it's been great not having to worry about breaking it; I even took it surfing. Only complaints are weak battery life (130-160 pictures) and lack of optical image stabilization. Make the line less retarto expensive and give it optical stabilization and this is the perfect camera for the non-professional user.
January? Ive had one for the last 5 weeks. The very one pictured in the photo, and its fantastic!
These Olympus cameras rock. My wife has the 770SW and we've taken it swimming, dropped it, you name it. The thing is a beast.