The Olympus Stylus 770SW is a waterproof 7.1-mega pixel camera with a 2.5-inch LCD, 3x optical, and 38mm- to 114mm-equivalent f/3.5 to f/5.0 zoom lens. Cnet has rated it 6.8 out of 10, saying: “Olympus’ Stylus 770SW might not produce perfect images, but you’d be hard pressed to find a compact camera as tough as this one”.

Additionally they have a review on the 770SW where they write: “There aren’t many waterproof compact cameras out there, let alone one made to survive drops of up to 5 feet. Olympus designed its 7.1-megapixel Stylus 770SW to do just that, providing real competition for Pentax’s waterproof Optio W30. By its tough nature alone, this Olympus makes an ideal choice if you routinely shoot in adverse conditions. I took it skiing with me as part of this review, and it fared better than I did on a couple of falls. In fact, despite three days of chilly temperatures and a lot of bumps, the Stylus 770SW still came out shooting.”

“Performance was somewhat slow in our tests. The Stylus 770SW took 2.1 seconds to start up and capture its first JPEG. Subsequent images took 2.4 seconds between shots with the flash turned off, jumping to 3.2 seconds between shots with the flash turned on. Shutter lag fared slightly better, measuring 0.6 second in our high-contrast test, but falling to 2 seconds in our low-contrast test. Continuous shooting mode yielded 1.1 frames per second when capturing VGA-sized JPEGs and 1.4 fps when capturing 7.1-megapixel JPEGs.

Images from the Stylus 770SW weren’t perfect, but that’s not surprising given this camera is built more for extreme durability than optical purity. For example, our test images looked slightly soft overall and had more image artifacts than we’re used to in a camera in this price range, though you can’t jump into a swimming pool and shoot images underwater with those cameras. Colors were generally accurate, though they seemed a bit undersaturated in places. Olympus keeps noise well under control through ISO 200. At ISO 400 noise due to sensitivity manifests itself as a light covering of off-color pixels (mostly bluish in nature), which robs a slight, but noticeable amount of sharpness from the image. At ISO 800, that off-color covering becomes heavier, reduces sharpness even more, and severely decreases shadow detail. At ISO 1600, all of those same problems become even worse. We suggest you stick to shooting below ISO 800 when possible, though higher ISOs may still yield acceptable 4×6-inch prints.”