Home > Consumer Reviews > Olympus Stylus Tough-8000 12 MP Digital Camera with 3.6x Wide Angle Optical Dual Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD (Silver)

We dropped our other Sony point and shoot into the sand at the beach. That hurt. Completely destroyed but it took great pictures. So we wanted something durable. I think this has been pointed out that the image quality for this camera is lacking. It may have to do with our learning curve because its new but I did alot of tweeking on this thing and the image quality is just not that good. I find that it blows out the highlights and looks a bit grainy. But the main thing is that the sharpness on it is not all that sharp. That may be a personal thing though. I think we may have been better off buying another Sony (which we've had 2 and loved them both) and getting a warranty with it.

I really want to give this camera a positive review, but I just can't bring myself to do it. Over the three weeks of use this camera saw (ranging from backpacking trips to picnics) I took some really awesome shots. However, in the end I just couldn't justify keeping it when it seemed to get all the basics wrong. I am not a photography expert. I don't know what aperture means and if you start talking about spot metering you're likely to lose my attention to something shiny. Of course, those things are the reason that I purchased a point-and-shoot camera in the first place. I read some of the early reviews (this camera premiered in April 09) and thought I had found a camera to fit my very active outdoor lifestyle. A friend has the 790 SW and I really liked it, but it seems they made some mistakes when upgrading.

When I first started taking pictures with it I thought maybe it was my own doing. I, admittedly, don't know what I'm doing so I thought maybe I'd set some funky settings. However, simply putting it on "iAuto" and focusing/shooting resulted in photos that only seemed good if the person(s) in them was standing completely still. I gave it the benefit of the doubt though and tried it a few more times. Unfortunately the result was consistent. I was throwing out 3/4s of the pictures I was taking. Those numbers are unacceptable when some of the places you go take days of hiking to get to. For an example of what I'm talking about please see the photo here. I asked a friend to simply walk across the room while I took a picture with the Intelligent Auto feature on. This is not a cool shot, AT ALL. I repeated the process only using some of the scene settings (action specifically) and the result was a washed out noisy photo that I wouldn't think of posting.

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I decided to give the camera two stars because it does do some things really well. For instance, it survived a couple of drops, my chalky hands while rock climbing, and a river swim in the Smoky Mountains (with complete submersion). However at the end of the day it's supposed to do those things AND take good pictures. I have returned my camera to Amazon (awesome return policy) and will purchase another rugged style point-and-shoot soon. I'm considering the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TS1 or even considering "downgrading" to the Olympus 1030SW. I will post reviews when I have made a decision and tested the cameras out.

I have now had the opportunity to use this camera in a variety of environments. It has gone whitewater rafting, been on several difficult hikes and has been banged around a bit. As for durability, I have found it to be pretty tough. As for underwater use, I haven't fully utilized its capabilities but it seems to operate fine when it gets wet. There are several items to note. 1) If you have large fingers or are wearing gloves, the buttons are pretty small so I found that I was hitting several buttons at the same time and the menus were popping up constantly - this was occuring while rafting & paragliding. 2)Once the lens got drops of water on it, these drops clearly showed in the picture and there were also instances of blurriness until the lens dried completely.

With that said, I would recommend the purchase of the camera. It takes really nice, high-quality pictures for a point & shoot camera. It also provides lots of options for different types of shooting. It seems really durable - I have dropped mine several times and it didn't even scratch the casing! There are many options that I have yet to learn about. In my opinion, it was a good purchase.

I really enjoy this camera, but to recharge the battery you have to insert inside the camera not pratical at all, because it was a very expensive camera, if you have an extra battery you will have to buy a separate charger or wait forever for both batteries to charge...I am really disappointed with Olympus, how could this company be so cheap...This is my second Olympus camera, I have the Stylus 1050 and they included a separate charger with it, I guess this will be the last time I buy a Olympus camera...

I bought the Stylus 8000, underwater housing, olympus UFL1 strobe and strobe adapter. I took the camera to Guanaja, Honduras during a dive trip. The photos are incredible! 12M really helps out and the u/w settings are tremendous!