Olympus TOUGH 8000 Waterproof Camera Review

The heavy-duty build of the Olympus TOUGH 8000 makes it a fine choice for photographers in extreme conditions, but more casual users may not see the benefits. By Joseph Ben Keough

Olympus 8000

from $298.00

Olympus 6000

from $214.95

Olympus TOUGH 8000 Pros

• Extremely solid build
• Attractive, rugged design
• Simplified controls ideal for the intended environment
• Waterproof, shockproof, crushproof, freezeproof

Olympus TOUGH 8000 Cons

• Subpar image quality
• Subpar audio quality in videos
• Image stabilization essentially a non-feature

The Stylus TOUGH 8000 is Olympus's latest top-end entry into the growing weather- and shock-proof compact camera segment. These cameras are built to endure drops and water exposure that would cripple or kill lesser cameras. In short, they're ideal for users who live an active, outdoorsy life, or who simply don't want to worry about being a little butterfingers when using an expensive piece of equipment. The TOUGH 8000 is rated to withstand drops of up to 6.6 feet and to go underwater to depths of 33 feet. Moreover, it's freezeproof to 17 degrees Fahrenheit and crushproof to 220 pounds per foot. Really quite impressive! To test it out, I took this little powerhouse along on my first ever river rafting trip—read on to find out how it performed.

Design and Handling

Finished entirely in bright and shiny chrome, with visible screws and a very sturdy and dense feel, the TOUGH 8000 has a heft and build quality that live up to its name. The rear LCD is large, if not particularly high-res (at 2.7 inches and 230,000 pixels), and the button layout on the rear makes good ergonomic sense. At the top of the rear of the camera, paired buttons control the zoom setting. Below these, a mode selection wheel allows the user to choose between "regular" shooting, Intelligent Automatic, Beauty, Video, Scene, and Playback modes. A four-way directional pad with buttons that double as function selectors surround a central OK/Function menu button. The directional pad's four buttons bring up controls for Exposure Compensation, Flash, Self-Timer, and Macro settings. Along the top edge of the camera there are only two buttons—a small power toggle and the shutter release button.

The TOUGH 8000's waterproof nature is obvious when you examine the battery/memory card and USB compartment, as rubberized seals completely block the passage of moisture. A guide to keeping your camera waterproofed accompanies the camera, and details the necessary steps, including keeping these seals free of lint, dirt, and any other foreign substances that might allow moisture to seep in. The lens and lens housing are similarly thoughtfully designed, with the lens built into the body and securely shielded behind a sealed pane of glass. A chromed plate slides in front of the lens when the camera is not in use.

The density of the camera provides a sort of psychological reassurance of its durability when you hold it in-hand. I felt absolutely no fear when dropping it intentionally, and when carrying it around in normal use I didn't have a care in the world. In fact, my only concern was that the beautiful silver finish might get scuffed and scratched if I tested its capabilities too thoroughly.

Shooting

Operation of the TOUGH 8000 is about as painless as it gets. Both the regular shooting and Intelligent Auto modes are fully automatic, with the regular mode allowing you to adjust a few parameters including ISO, White Balance, and metering mode in addition to the image size and quality. In Intelligent Auto mode, the camera is essentially locked down—you can't even change the flash settings, which I found to be kind of annoying, because let's face it… sometimes, or even most of the time, flash looks bad.

However, this very extreme simplicity of operation becomes a big benefit when you're shooting in the sort of unforgiving conditions the TOUGH 8000 is intended for. When swimming (yes, swimming) through rapids, I was glad that all I had to do was point and, well, shoot. Shutter lag is minimal, focus confirmation time is quite good, and the camera is ready to shoot again almost instantly. Continuous shooting is slightly slow by current standards at just under one frame per second in full resolution and 5 fps at reduced resolution (3 megapixels), but it will probably capture the action quickly enough for most users.

Shooting movies is similarly simple. Just spin the dial to the camera icon, press the shutter once to begin recording, and press it again to end the recording. You cannot zoom or use any advanced image settings while recording video (such as exposure compensation), and the camera autofocuses for you (doing it quite well, I might add). Video is available in QVGA (320 x 240 pixels) or VGA (640 x 480 pixels) resolutions, and 15 or 30 frames per second. This is a far cry from the high-definition video that some cameras in a similar price range are recording these days, but then again… those cameras can't shoot underwater. The audio quality is sub-par, and as usual with cameras of this class (and particularly one meant to go underwater) there is no external mic input.

Speaking of image quality settings, one slightly annoying thing about the TOUGH 8000—and something that is by no means limited to this model, or even to this specific manufacturer—is that the camera is set by default at its lowest quality setting for both video and still image recording. In the rush to get into the raft and onto the water, I neglected to check these settings and ended up shooting the entire trip with "Normal" rather than "Fine" image quality settings and 15fps QVGA rather than 30fps VGA video. While this is certainly user error, it baffles me why manufacturers don't deliver their cameras to users with the best quality settings selected.

One neat but somewhat extraneous feature of the TOUGH 8000 is a unique "tap control system," which lets the user tap on the sides of the camera to open and navigate menu settings. For example, tapping on the back of the camera toggles between recording and playback modes. Tapping on the right side brings up flash settings, while tapping on the left side accesses macro modes. You can then tap the left or right side to toggle your selection to the left or right in the menu, and double-tap the top of the camera to make your selection. Unfortunately, these tap settings are not reconfigurable to handle any other shooting options.

Image Quality

To be blunt, the image quality from the TOUGH 8000 is what one would expect from your average point and shoot—and I say this having shot quite a few images and video at full image quality settings after discovering my little waterborne blunder. The lens, while having a pleasingly wide angle (at 28mm film equivalent), isn't terribly sharp. Images are prone to ghosting and chromatic aberration, and a lot of detail gets lost in shadows, where image noise tends to take over. The dynamic range is subpar, and most images suffer from a lack of contrast. The image stabilization offered by the camera doesn't seem to accomplish too much.

The images are by and large quite serviceable by snapshot standards, but you won't be taking many award-winners with this camera. What the camera does exceptionally well is capture memories that would otherwise be out of reach for traditional cameras, at least without expensive waterproof casings. The confidence of being able to shoot in challenging or frankly impossible conditions is immensely gratifying, and makes the camera an entirely justifiable purchase for the photographer who plans to spend a lot of time in hostile environments. For hikers, divers, adventure sports enthusiasts, and those who like to play in the rain, and who don't want to spend a fortune on an underwater dSLR rig, a camera like the TOUGH 8000 will be absolutely indispensable.

Conclusion

So the result is pretty simple: if you can get by without shooting in the rain, or underwater, or in environments where it's likely you'll drop your $400 machine, you can get a lot more bang for your buck elsewhere. If, on the other hand, you absolutely need waterproofing, shockproofing, crushproofing, and freezeproofing, this may very well be your best affordable choice. The build quality is superb, the functionality gets you from point A to point B, and it seems as reliable as anything out there.