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 (Black)

I almost did not buy this camera because of the reviews of the camera not having sharp images. I wanted an underwater camera really bad, so I bought it anyways.The images are very sharp and the color is great. Because I use this as a quick point and shoot, I leave the camera in iAUTO mode and am very happy with the results. I have had the camera for six weeks now and have used it in swimming pools and in the ocean every day for two weeks. The underwater pictures are great and really fun. The video mode on this camera is decent for a point and shoot. It is not as good as a video camera, but then I am not carrying around another waterproof video camera. The only draw back is the finish of the camera. It is really nice looking, and it also scratches really easily. For a "Tough" camera, I wish the finish was as tough. The one thing I have to remember when being around the water is to keep water drops off the lens (causes blurry images) and mini air bubbles away from the lens while underwater (flip camera upside down to rid the bubbles). I bought the orange float strap and it does float my camera in the ocean and was glad I had it. If you want to see some images go to www.atomicmonkey.us and the pictures and video under Catalina and Mammoth were all taken with the Olympus.

Awesome! Took it to the pool, six flags, etc. and the camera is still in one piece. I remember my old digital cameras who would be ruined just by a whale splash at Seaworld. Great pics at 12 megapixels. A++++ Kids resistant father's approved.
I forgot to close the charging port and the camera flooded and shorted when I jumped into the pool. I saw how it shorted and shutted off. I was sad since my previus Canon got fried just by a splash of keiko at seaworld. Well nevertheless, I let the camera drying for two days, with the ports (latches) open, in the heat (sitting in front of the dash on my windshield, the camera was burning but finally all of the fog was gone) I instered the battery and memory card and voila! The camera is working as new again, unbeliebable. The pictures may not be as good as my canon but oh man this camera is awesome!!!!!

Don't get me wrong. My wife is the light of my life. However, that woman is really tough on gadgets. We have had our hands on this little beauty of a camera for a few weeks now, and it is living up to its "tough" name.

First, if you buy one of these, make sure and get the upgraded memory card as well. With the amount of memory on board the camera, you can take about 14 pictures. Pick up a MicroSD card. The camera comes with the card adapter you need to plug it into the camera, so you don't need to pick one of those up as well. I got the Sandisk 16GB Microsd Card and it works like a champ and kicks that maximum number of pictures into the thousands!

We have used this camera now for two family outings and have found that the image stabilization works very well. Low light performance is average, with the flash you get the usual "over lit foreground, pitch black background" effect, but that is just about standard in an all in one camera like this. You would really have to step up to a full DSLR Nikon or Canon to expect more.

It is a bit heavier than you might expect, judging by its looks and dimensions. However, the ability of this camera to really take abuse and keep working makes it well worth that extra heft. As advertised, it will indeed take pictures under water. Well, okay, so maybe it was just me sticking it under the water in the bathtub - but I was bound and determined to test that underwater claim out and it was pretty much the first thing I did after opening the box.

The extra heft I mention has not put off my wife from the camera. She is a marathon/trail runner and takes it with her on her runs. No complaints so far.

The one complaint I do have is that since the lense is in a slightly non-standard position (upper right hand corner) folks who use it will often put their finger in front of the lense. The usual user has gotten used to the lense being position more in the center of the body of the camera.

Other than that, this camera has far more good to offer than bad and has so far proven to be the tough kid on the block when it comes to pocket cameras.

The camera itself works fine, but there are two CONS you have to know:

- Its charger is awful, absolutely not travel friendly: about 4 ft of cables, like a laptop power supply;

- Underwater photography is complicated due two the screen low brightness under water. Even if you set the brightness to maximum, it is really difficult to see anything on the screen, especially when you are wearing a mask. I had to shoot on blind guess while snorkeling near Dry Tortugas and Key West.

It's not worth buying just for underwater shooting. The rest is OK.

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.