I have already had to send my camera back twice! Although they say it is waterproof, mine has leaked twice. I sent it back last in november and have used it once since then. I am going away for new years so I got it out and guess what....it wont turn on! Know someone else with the same camera who has also sent it back twice. Do not buy!

This camera takes awesome underwater pictures, but regular pictures are normally blurry even with the shake setting. I'm not very please with it.

Had to buy this camera in Maui in Feb. because we used my brothers older model of this camera and it leaked and fried the board. Seven months later we did a trip to Vegas and took some poolside pics until the new camera got water in it as well. We are very careful with it and followed the instructions as in the manual. Too bad that it can't keep the water out, as it's a pain getting a warantee replacement.

We bought our camera 11 months ago on a Carnival Cruise trip. It took good pics until we went snorkeling with it last week. Water proof its not. It hasen't worked since our first snorkle trip. Sucky camera and I wouldn't buy another.

I bought this specifically for being able to use it snorkeling/poolside. Didnt test it in water until this week - First try - Camera broke - NOT WATERPROOF ! went through all the proper instructions. Camera is done after 6 months and one attempt. No pictures this year from our Hawaii trip because camera didnt make it through 24 hours. I will never buy again.

Went snorkleing honestly thought the camera was going to die a horrible death but it made it, took some good underwater shots the only gripe was the battery died to soon

We live in Hawaii and used the camera quite a bit. I was careful to follow all the directions expecially in the water and after three months it began to leak. Good pics but as far a durability – it really didn't last long. Bummer!!!

i got this camera a year ago and not once did i regret it! some say that it doesn't take the gr8est pix, but that does not bother me. i think the pix are gr8. anyway i am very clumsy so whenever i drop my camera everyone around me freaks out and i just smile and think what would happen if i didn't have this camera? once i accidently brought it into a hot tub and the screen was black and i was so nervous and the next day i turned it on and it worked! you can also write things on the pix or make calenders or put frames on, so basically this is an awesome camera and u should get it!

i strongly reccomend this camera to everyone! 1st of all i always drop it and it is such a relief to turn it on and it is working! also it takes really cool water movies! once, i accidently brought into a hottub so my screen turned black (i was still able to take pix though) and i was so upset because i love this camera and i turned it on the next morning and it worked again! also it takes really good pictures it has a lot of different settings that it switches to automaticaly like if it is dark it goes on a speacial mode. GET THIS CAMERA TODAY! YOU WON'T REGRET IT!

this camera quite ok to use, it is easy to operate.
For those user that wan to have some other shooting style, this camera also can provide some different style but not much.
the anti-vibration function, it still has some blur if the vibration to very large.... but overall is good....
most impotant things is remember to dry it completely before storing...
enjoy ur time...

I used this camera at pool parties and it held up fine. I took it snorkeling in the virgin islands, After the second day It just wouldn't work. I was able to retrieve pics from my card. But Missed out on a shark sighting as well as some sting rays. And many other good photo ops. BUMMER.....

I have 3 dsl cameras, an Olympus 1010 and a Lumix TZ5. This little 850 is absolutely incredible. The price was amazing. I took this snorkeling in Maui and couldn't believe the quality. I also took pics of different things on the island and had some blown up. I let my grandkids play with it in the pool to take videos of each other underwater. Again - amazing. I carry it in my purse because it's small and it really does do great pictures - easy to use and inexpensive.

This is a great camera. Use it in the rain.

Bought this camera for snorkelling purposes. The first time I got to use it, it worked fine. The second time it leaked into the memory card slot. I was afraid I had lost the pictures of the turtles in the caribbean. After removing the card and trying to dry out the card and slot, three days later I was able to retrieve the previous pictures. However I missed a great snorelling opporunity in Tobaga Cay because the camera was unusuable.

I use this camera to do property inspections, about 100 photos per day. I use the silicone cover over it and take it into crawlspaces where the dust and mud have done in more expensive cameras. It has been dropped a number of times and it just bounces. Would like to use it on vacation, if I ever get one.

I was really looking forward to buying and playing with this camera as the reviews for this camera are great and some of our friends said it was excellent. However, I'm finding it increasingly difficult to take photos that aren't blurred. I have taken some great underwater photos and landscapes, but it's terrible at taking spontaneous shots and shots of moving subjects as they ALWAYS come out blurred! It's so frustrating! I can't seem to work out which setting to put it to... you'd think the auto setting would be good enough! Disappointed. :-(

Bought the 850SW for a trip to Hawaii. I just ain't natural to imerse a camera in water w/o a protective case. Took it snorkeling in the ocean, taking both video and still shots. Camera performed flawlessly. Crystal clear images. So easy to use, the wife took it away from me. With an 8gb card, we shot video and stills for 2 weeks and did not run out of memory. The only drawback is that the battery is used up quickly (2 or so hours) in video mode. Other than that, I highly recommend the camera. My daughter is a semipro photog and she loves it. Great vacation camera.

great camera,great pics and foolproof to use!got it as an early christmas gift and havnt left home without it since,perfect to keep in your pocket!

well its a really durable camera, the only thing i dont really like is the fact that when your taking pictures at night, they come out dark... the flash is not strong... all my other cameras i owned before would light up the whole room even when its completely dark .. the pictures would come out light and perfect. So that is the only thing i dislike, but if your mostly going to use it during the day it is fine!

We just returned from a trip to Saint Lucia. We took well over 600 pictures, many many pictures of fish. I loved that you could take it in the salt water with you and then wash it in the sink with soap and water. The one day I did not take it in the water I saw an Octopus and a Lobster so I never went in the water with out it again. It spent hours and hours in the salt water and then I used it for sunsets and other pictures. I kept it at 5M as I did not want the pictures to be large file size; however the files size was similar to my Sony at 3M pixel so I think it is best to leave it set at 8M pixels. I was extremely pleased with most pictures. I had blur on about 50 pictures. But ouuta 600 that is not bad. Most of those were in the water or on a boat. Below is a link for 150 of my favorite pics from our trip.
picasaweb.google.com/astridwilson/StLuciaBest#

I love the 850SW! It's super easy to use when all you want is a simple point and click that takes great shots, and there are features galore when you feel like diving into the easy to navigate menu. It's hard to take a bad shot with this! I also can't believe why anyone wouldn't choose a waterproof/shockproof camera; why would you get a watch that stops working whenever it rains? It's nice and slim and easily fits into a pocket. It looks really good, and it shoots pretty fast too, not too much camera lag. All in all we're really happy with our purchase and have had zero problems after shooting hundreds of photos already. Downloading with the provided software is a snap too.

Wow I was really interested in this camera the second I found out it was waterproof and shock proof! I love going swimming and I am very clumsy! So it was perfect. I got it for my 14th bday in june and I love it...only problem was the short battery life....I need another battery.... I suggest getting this camera if you like going in the water and if you're like me and you drop stuff...ALOT! Just get another battery. I got the yellow one... it comes in alot of nice colors for guys and girls..the yellow is really bright!

I love the camera. Easy and fun to use. Although they say I can get a camera with a better image quality for the same price, I'm quite happy with the images it produces. However, there was one and only time it was dropped, from my waist down. The corner of the camera had a small dent which prevented the USB cover to close properly which would cause a problem if it would be used underwater. Operation wise, it still worked perfectly. The nice people of Olympus did replace part of the casing which was damaged since it was still under warranty.

This camera is great! I took this camera to Hawaii. And I didn't have to worry about the water because the camera is waterproof. I also used the camera at Hanauma Bay and I took a lot of great video and still photo of the fish. I think the only draw back with the camera is the battery life. Its only good for 2 hours of taking pictures and video will use up more battery life. So you'll need another battery if you plan on taking a lot of pictures. Overall a great camera for its price.

This camera actually exceeds my expectations, which were average based on other reviews. While it's not a high-end SLR, the image quality is quite good. Macro modes are quick and when combined with shake-reduction yield very nice images of close subjects.

I've played with a number of the scene settings, and there are a LOT of scenes available. Navigating these options is easy and quick. Also very useful is an exposure preview function which shows 4-at-a-time previews for over and under exposing the subject. This has proven quite useful in the short time I've owned the camera.

While probably a little heavier than other similar cameras, the durability more than compensates for this. It's easily tucked into a pocket for portability. Buttons are a little small, so if you're ham-handed, you really want to give the camera a test at your local store. It's hard to take pictures one-handed, as its pretty small and the buttons are all pretty close.

I'm happy with the camera, and hope to do some underwater photography soon. I would recommend anyone who purchases this camera to also purchase spare batteries, as they seem to drain relatively quickly, though a power saving function does help.

I bought this camera specifically to take on vacations.. beach, sand, pool, travel.. Boy was I surprised with this camera. I am a Canon guy and while this camera doesn't give me same quality pictures as my DSLR or Powershot.. it goes places I would never think of taking those other camera... The beach pictures were excellent, the underwater pictures and video were outstanding.. all for $299. To top it off, my boys (under 10 years) grabbed the camera and took many pictures and videos themselves... without me worrying about the camera going bust. It was great to see things from their perspective.. from that standpoint the 850SW is worth its weight in gold... add in the great quality pictures above and below the waterline .. and this is a winner all around...

I bought the blue one..

I bought it because it is waterproof and tough. I didn't expect to get great photos, just good snapshots. But it's exceeded my expectations so far. Especially outdoors, the 8mp pix are very clear, and look as if taken with a much larger lens. Does a nice job as an all-around snapshot camera, and a little more than that.

Battery life is also excellent, and I felt no need to get a spare battery. And it comes with an SD-mini adapter, so you don't have to use XD cards if you don't want to.

The underwater snapshots are great, and I use it at the beach and surfing with the kids with no fear. A cool camera.

takes good pics. You cannot embed a time date stamp with this camera. This is why i purchased it not knowing the time date stamp does not embed. You can only print it on the pic you can not file with that feature.