Olympus Stylus 1050 SW

 

Front (8.75)
The 1050 SW employs the kind of sliding lens cover we associate with Sony's Cyber-shot line. It slides down easily, with a convincing snap, to both turn on the camera and reveal the lens and flash below. The lens is positioned on the top right side of the camera body, the flash in the top center, with the dual-purpose LED auto focus assist / self-timer lamp perched between the two. To the left of the lamp is a small opening for a mono microphone.
 

The body of the camera is colored in a matte finish, framed by silver edges left and right. The Olympus name appears in raised silver lettering on the lens cover, the lens specs (OLYMPUS LENS AF ZOOM 6.7-20.1mm 1:3.5-5.0) are printed in white below the flash. At the bottom right of the camera are the camera name and its school of hard knocks promises: 1.5m/5ft SHOCKPROOF, 3m/10ft WATERPROOF. At the lower left you can see the side of the door protecting the battery and memory card compartment on the camera bottom.

A full-width lens cover that slides vertically
is both good-looking and practical.

Back (7.00)
The back of the camera is mostly screen, a 2.7-inch LCD with the typical 230,000-dot resolution. The OLYMPUS name and 'HyperCrystal LCD' are printed in white below the screen. 

Camera controls are arrayed along a 1-inch strip down the right side. Starting at the top, these include the zoom control, mode dial, and a four-way controller with additional buttons nestled between its pivoting arms. The mode dial has eight positions: Auto, Program, Anti-shake, Scene, Guide, Movie, Favorite and Playback. The arms of the four-controller handle (clockwise from the top) exposure compensation, flash mode, self-timer and macro mode. In the center is the OK/FUNC button.

The four additional buttons around the four-way are (clockwise from the northeast) Playback/Print, Shadow Adjustment/Erase, Information Display/Menu Guide/LED illuminator and MENU.
 

As long as your thumbnails haven't been chewed down to a nub
you should be able to manage the 1050 SW controls.

Visible screws are clues to the camera's
solid construction.

Right Side (8.00)
At the top is a convincingly waterproof door, with a design that shows no signs of ever popping open accidentally and a substantial waterproof gasket within to protect the combination USB/video out port. In the middle is a substantial connecting point for the wrist strap, with a hole large enough to make threading simple. The lower right is home to a small speaker. 

The shutter has a good tactile feel.

Bottom (6.75)
The camera bottom is most notable for it's industrial-grade door shielding the battery and memory card compartment. The sliding latch is nicely recessed to avoid accidental opening but yields easily enough to a well-placed fingernail, springing open to reveal its contents. The edges of the chamber are not as tightly sealed as the 1030 SW (makes sense, given their very different waterproofing ranges), but still impressively secure.

It seems strange that, with a camera body built of sturdy metal, the tripod socket is made of plastic. Maybe this is seen as a low-importance feature for an outdoorsy camera, but we feel this was an unfortunate cost-cutting decision.

The battery is held in place with a small red tab to keep it from falling out while the door is open, and the xD card slides easily into place. One ongoing problem we had involves that battery: it's completely symmetrical and practically begs to be inserted upside down, which we did frequently. Ultimately you figure out that the word OLYMPUS printed on the battery faces toward the front of the camera, but we were slow learners in this regard.

The battery/memory compartment door feels rugged and secure.