Olympus Mju Tough 3000

Don't buy - very bad battery life – This camera has ok quality however very bad battery life, which i've now also seen on other review websites. I tried a new battery as well as a new charger and still could only take about 40photos before it died. Also has a very slow reaction speed after pressing the button to take the photo. On the plus side Olympus were helpful when i rang about the battery and send me a new charger for free (however that made now difference) Bright colours, good customer service Bad battery life, slow speed

First, and last, Olympus – Already owning a Nikon DSLR and Sony point-and-shoot, I was always keen to buy an Olympus purely for their waterproof features and as a knock about camera. Prior to this Olympus Toughs, every other waterproof camera I'd looked at was around $450 - $600. So when this came on sale at $420, I snapped it up. My first reaction was the very poor quality images, grainy, hardly focused and with low megapixel output. This is the default camera shot, and I'm still yet to figure out how to maintain a consistent image on the camera without spending 5 minutes changing all the settings. Although once you switch the camera off, it always reverts back anyway, so what's the point.

I'm really not happy with this camera, and it's true, I might just have a dud camera(or one built on a Friday), but it doesn't meet my expectations. The shots are okay, and very similar in and out of water and isn't bad for something to throw in the tacklebox, dive bag or any water based sport, but there are many, many, many better cameras out there. At $420, I got ripped, as you can now buy them for around $250 and they've dropped consistently since I bought it (whereas the other Olympus cameras all still hold their price). The guy at the store offered me an extended warranty for an extra $80, which I declined. If this camera dies, of which the battery with its fickle battery life due to the large LCD, seems to do quite often, I think I'll let it go and buy another camera. Waterproof, compact. Poor, grainy photos; slow shutter delay; hard to achieve maximum megapixels; menu doesn't remember previous picture choices and has too many automatic functions, and not enough manual functions; battery life is random and unreliable

Good – Was originally looking at the cheaper Fujifilm XP10 which is very similar in specifications but the retailer was out of stock and "upsold" me to the Olympus uTough 3000 which was on sale. The main feature which got my attention was that it had dual image stabilisation, both digital AND mechanical whereas the Fujifilm XP10 only had digital image stabilisation. Furthermore, Olympus has had some more experience with the element-proof compact cameras so I am quite happy with this purchase.

Have not had any opportunity to test it in freezing conditions or how shockproof it is (nor do I intend to try!). But I have had the opportunity to use it at the beach and a swimming pool for underwater shots and video. Using flash underwater was very limiting - I needed to shoot very close to the subject to be able to see any detail. The fact that we were in an indoor pool on an overcast day may not have helped. However, video was surprisingly bright and clear compared to a flash photo.

Even though I keep it in a camera bag, there were already a couple of light scratch / scuff marks on the LCD screen, so you need to keep in mind that whilst the camera is shock and waterproof, it's not indestructible and is still a sensitive piece of electronic equipment.

Face detection seems slower than other cameras with such a feature, and there are many automatic features which are semi-reliable. For the advanced user who likes to control the manual functions, they are all there but it takes awkward navigation through several menu levels to get to the function you want to change. This camera seems intended more for the novice automatic user but with manual functions included in case you want to tweak the settings yourself.

Overall, a good compact for the price if you're not expecting top quality photos and ease of advanced user controls. The 12 megapixels is more than enough for it's capability. Macro is quite good too from experimenting with shooting bugs up close!

This camera was chosen for it's durability, for kids to use occasionally without fear of it being too fragile (or too expensive should it be damaged) and to be used in wet conditions as a convenient point and shoot and it serves this purpose well. Had fun taking it down a waterslide! Large clear LCD screen, water and shock-proof, good video even underwater, uses SD card (not xD), international warranty, low pricing, many automatic and manual funcitons and features very limited battery life, awkward menu, no zoom whilst filming video, delay before video starts filming, face detection slow and unreliable, finish not scratch-resistant, flimsy compartment door needs careful handling whilst charging and connecting cable