Design
The sleek lines of the Olympus Mju 1020 follow the lead of previous models in the series, featuring the ergonomic "Arc and Wedge" design which aims to balance the weight of the camera so it's easier to hold single-handedly.
The slim, enamel black body makes for a stylish compact but the high-gloss surfaces turn the Mju 1020 into a fingerprint magnet. If you're precious about smudges, you may want to avoid anything with a gloss finish, or keep a cleaning cloth handy.
Weighing in at a scant 135 grams (without battery and media) this compact is neither the heaviest nor the lightest offering around, though Olympus is marketing it as the "world's slimmest and smallest compact camera with 7x optical zoom" at just 25.2mm thick. While we approve of shaving weight off gadgets wherever possible, we don't place much importance on claims of being the thinnest, smallest or lightest because the model in question is often outdone by another manufacturer by the time they finish bragging.
Features
The 10-megapixel compact features a 2.7-inch LCD -- although slightly higher than the average 2.5 inches, it won't stand out among the recent 3- and 3.5-inch offerings we've seen in competing models. Disappointingly, there is no viewfinder, though the rest of the Mju series -- along with more snapshooters than we'd like -- also omits the useful feature.
As mentioned, the Olympus Mju 1020 boasts a 7x optical zoom which is impressive on a compact this size, world's slimmest or not. Besides the high megapixel count and generous zoom, the Mju 1020 offers a broad range of features, though nothing we haven't seen before. The Dual Shakeproof Image Stabilisation translates to sensor-shift image stabilisation combined with digital stabilisation. While we readily disregard digital image stabilisation (it merely boosts the ISO which usually results in grainy, unusable photos), the sensor-shift stabilisation is noteworthy.
Of course, the Mju 1020 includes several of Olympus's famed "almost-everything-proof" features including Nightproof, Shakeproof and Editproof technologies which are seen in most current Olympus compact models. Add to that face detection, shadow adjustment, high speed shooting with flash, Pre-capture movie mode which begins recording two seconds before the shutter is pressed and Perfect Shot Preview which allows users to preview and select various image effects on a live, multi-view screen before shooting, and it's hard to think of anything they've missed, let alone work out when you're going to use all those functions.
One of the newer technologies Olympus has incorporated into the Mju 1020 is an incamera panorma mode which uses guides on the screen to help you align the images and automatically takes the shots before compiling them into a single panoramic photograph. While we think this is a very useful feature, especially capturing wide scenes while travelling, we begrudge Olympus for not only forcing users to use the less-popular, more expensive xD Picture Card format but specifically Olympus-branded xD cards in order to utilise this feature.
Performance
Although the Mju 1020 doesn't improve greatly on previous Mju models in terms of performance, we don't have too many complaints. The menu system is straightforward and easy-to-use, and the wealth of scene modes and situation-specific features ensure a high rate of success while shooting.
We clocked its start-up at approximately 1.5 seconds, along with almost non-existent shutter lag and average shot-to-shot time, again at about 1.5 seconds. Our biggest gripe in terms of performance is the burst mode which comes in at just over one second which isn't very speedy at all.
Image quality
Photographs taken with the Olympus Mju 1020 were acceptable most of the time, producing sharp images with accurate colours and decent white balance, if a little warm. However, we noticed quite a lot of chromatic abberation and haloing in many of our shots. Low-light performance was also disappointing but such is the case with most compacts in this class.
Those after a stylish point-and-shoot with an affordable price tag and more features than you know what to do with, will be happy with the Olympus Mju 1020. If you want to do more than just take happy snaps, we suggest taking a few test shots before purchasing this camera to see if the image concerns are an issue for you.
