Olympus Stylus 770 SW

Olympus' latest rugged digital camera, the Stylus 770 SW, almost dares you to try to break it. It's waterproof as deep as 33 feet, resistant to drops of up to five feet, won't freeze in temperatures warmer than 14 degrees Fahrenheit, and can withstand up to 220 pounds of pressure. We put the previous version, the 720 SW, through the ringer last July. One year later, we're pleased to report that the refresh of this digicam is even tougher. Plus, it has a brighter display and improved picture quality.
 
The Stylus 770 SW packs almost identical specs as its predecessor, including 7.1-megapixel resolution, a 3X optical zoom, and a 2.5-inch LCD. Thankfully, Olympus bumped up the brightness and increased the resolution to 230,000 pixels (compared with the 720 SW's 115,000). We were able to view the display in a variety of lighting conditions. Too bad the buttons remain tiny. We didn't mind that the Scene, Review, Menu, and Print buttons are small, but we thought the zoom controls were hard to use.
 
We were impressed with the previous version's stylish, almost indestructible body. When we tested the 720 SW, we dropped it on a New York City street corner and left it submerged in a bowl of water. Afterward, our review unit wasn't any worse for wear. We put the 770 SW through similar trials by repeatedly dropping it, dunking it, and even standing on it. Again, no permanent damage resulted from our tests.
 
Photos taken with the Stylus 770 SW were better than what the Stylus 720 SW produced. Our test shots were only slightly undersaturated, and the colors were accurate. Noise at ISO 200 and 400 wasn't an issue on our tests. When we bumped the ISO up to 800 or 1600, however, quality suffered, and the sharpness dropped considerably.
 
The Stylus 770 SW starts up quickly (taking about a second), and the time between shots is also short. Another plus: With the digital image stabilizer turned on, we were able to capture cars cruising down Broadway without the blur that usually occurs when shooting fast-moving subjects.
 
The camera has no manual exposure controls (you can adjust only the white balance and sensitivity), but Olympus includes 27 shooting modes, which should cover almost any situation. These include all of the standard fare and four separate underwater choices. Unfortunately, one of our favorite modes on the 720 SW--Museum, which automatically turned off the flash and sounds--is not included on this model.
 
Unlike a lot of cameras, the 770 SW doesn't have an exclusive button for shooting video. To film clips, you have to dig through the scene menu, which is the last selection. Our test footage was clear and crisp and saved as AVI files. Although videos are shot at 15 fps (we would have preferred 30), they look good enough to share via e-mail or to post to YouTube.
 
If you're looking for a svelte but tough digital camera that can go everywhere--and we mean everywhere, including underwater and in the snow--the Olympus Stylus 770 SW is definitely worth a look.  

 

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