Digital Camera Review

First Impressions Review

Sep 26, 2008 - By Richard Baguley
The Olympus Stylus 1050SW lives for moderate danger; it is water, shock and freezeproof, so it can stand up to the rigors of a trip to the beach or an adventure in the snowy wastelands. And we found the camera to be easy to use, with the new tap control (where you tap the sides, top and back of the camera to control it) to be an interesting and useful addition.
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The 1030SW looks and feels very physically robust, which makes sense as it was built to be waterproof and shockproof. However, the 1050SW is not as water and shockproof as some of the other cameras in the Olympus range; it's guaranteed waterproof down to 9.8 feet, while the older 1030SW (see review here) can go further down to 33 feet. The 1050SW is shock-proof for a drop of up to 5 feet, while the 1030SW can survive much higher drops. However, the 1050SW certainly feels tough enough to survive the abuse of daily shock and water hazards; typical swimming pools don't hit 33-foot depths. 


Front
On the front of the camera are the major elements; the lens, the LED illuminator and the flash. There is also a sliding panel that covers these when not in use, and which also doubles as an on/off switch. You can also see the edge of the battery and memory card cover at the bottom.

 


The large metal bar slides up to cover the front of the camera
and protect the lens and flash


Back
The back of the 1050SW is mostly taken up by the sizable 2.7-inch LCD. To the right of this are the controls; from the top we have the zoom control, the mode dial and the 4-way control which is surrounded by 4 control buttons. You can also glimpse the shutter button at the top of the camera. Patience; we'll get to that soon.

 


Most of the back is taken up by the large 2.7-inch LCD

Sides
The left side of the 1050SW is a fairly boring place, except for a couple of screws and two small holes that cover the speaker.

The left side of the camera  is mostly harmless,
unless you have a small hole phobia

The right side is far more exciting, boasting the cover for the USB and A/V port and another speaker. A large wrist strap loop is positioned in the middle of this side as well. The foreboding metal loop is not the standard strap provided by Olympus: that's a special one to stop people at the Photokina show where we looked at the camera from walking off with it.


The right side of the 1050SW is home to the
USB and AV outputs, under a protective cover

Top
There are two buttons on the top of the camera; the power button and the shutter. There is also a third lump that looks a bit like a button, but it is not; the raised ridge by the shutter is there to give your index finger something to rest on while it isn't on the shutter.



Buttons are gasketed inside to keep water out.

Bottom
The bottom left side is taken up by the cover that protects the battery and memory card cavities. This large cover  has to be waterproof, so it has a number of rubber seals around the edge that keep the outside world out and the electricity in. The catch requires quite a lot of movement to release, but that's a good thing.  If the door accidentally opened while scuba diving, a passing electric eel might develop an emotional attachment to your battery.


The cover for the battery and memory card compartment is on the left

 
Intro Page 2 of 7 Components
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