Olympus Stylus 790SW Digital Camera Review

Likes

- Swanky colors - Noise low through ISO 400 - Lots of Scene modes - Guide mode - Effects preview - Incredibly durable - Compact

Dislikes

- Inaccurate colors - Poor white balance - Awful in low light - Choppy or short movies - Poor resolution - Weak and spotty flash - Slow autofocus - Unimpressive 1 fps burst

Conclusion
The Olympus Stylus 790SW has a lot of interesting features packed into an extremely durable body. It can survive falls, water, sandstorms, and toddlers. The 7.1-megapixel digital camera is unique in that it can go underwater without a separate housing. However, if we came back from an expensive snorkeling trip with an album full of pictures from this camera, we’d be pretty disappointed.

The 790SW is lacking in terms of quality. Its resolution isn’t effective, its components are low-quality, and the resulting pictures don’t look that good. Expect to see blur, noise, moiré, and other artifacts in pictures and videos. Consumers would be better off purchasing a point-and-shoot camera and a separate underwater housing.

The waterproof, freezeproof, dustproof, and shockproof Stylus 790SW may be the best camera on the market in terms of durability, but it ranks among the worst in terms of image quality.