Olympus Stylus 720 SW

While consumers love that digital cameras are getting increasingly smaller, when one of those sleek little models slips out of their hands and hits the ground, it’s usually history. By creating a camera that’s both shockproof and waterproof while maintaining a svelte, stylish design, Olympus seems to have addressed those concerns with the Stylus 720 SW. This 7.1-megapixel shooter can survive a five-foot drop and ten-foot dip underwater. Add in a 3X optical zoom, a 2.5-inch LCD, and a couple of interesting new features for low-light shots, and this camera has serious potential.

 

The 720 SW is one tough device. Along with a rugged, reinforced metal alloy exterior, this digicam features a circuit board that’s wrapped in memory foam and separated from the body with silicon to help prevent impact damage. To further absorb impact, the 720 SW’s CCD and lens are constructed as a single unit and encased in memory foam, so they stay aligned in the event of a drop.

 

These details all sound impressive, so we put them to the test on the hardest substance we know—a New York City street corner. Passersby gasped as we dropped the 720 SW onto the city sidewalk again and again, only to pick it up each time, turn it on, and take a picture. After about a dozen drops from as high as five feet, the camera powered on immediately and was ready to fire like it had just come out of the box. Though the body did show some nicks and scratches, damage was pretty minor considering what the camera had been through.

 

Next up was the water test. Though Olympus says the camera is submergible up to ten feet, we decided against lowering it into the East River and instead put it at the bottom of a very large punch bowl filled with tap water for about 30 minutes. After we pulled the 720 SW from the bowl and dried it off with a towel, sure enough, it was ready to go again. Pretty impressive.

 

We only wish we could be as enthusiastic about the 720 SW’s image quality. Photos shot with the camera’s 3X optical zoom lens were generally soft. Even though it boasts a 7.1-MP sensor, 8.5 x 11-inch prints revealed chromatic aberrations in the details of daylight shots.

 

In low-light, which is supposed to be the 720 SW’s strong suit because of Olympus’ new Bright Capture Technology, this camera also struggled. Though it has a broad ISO range (64 to 1600) for a camera its size, images shot above 400 showed substantial noise. The 720 SW’s Digital Image Stabilization mode, which quickens the shutter speed while boosting ISO, did a great job of reducing blur in low-light but increased noise so much that shots had a speckled look.

 

The 720 SW has a huge 2.5-inch LCD but the screen has only 115,000 pixels of resolution, which poorly rendered images on the back of the camera. Overall, handling was decent, but because of the large screen size, buttons are tiny and difficult to use. The camera powers on in about a second and is pretty quick from shot to shot when you prefocus. Switching among modes, which is done with one small button on the back, is a bit sluggish and can be frustrating if you’re in a hurry.

 

One major plus is the wide selection of scene modes, including four Underwater modes, plus Candlelight, Behind Glass, and Museum mode, which automatically turns off the flash and sound. The camera’s Movie mode captures QuickTime clips at up to 640 x 480 pixels of resolution but at a maximum speed of only 15 fps.

 

If you’re on the go and looking for a small, decent digital camera that can take a beating, the Olympus Stylus 720 SW is right for you. However, if picture quality is more important than durability, you’ll probably want to look elsewhere.