Photo gallery: Olympus Mju Tough 6010The Mju Tough 6010 is an incremental update to the Mju Tough 6000, with the addition of features such as Magic Filters to apply special effects to photos, and an increased megapixel count to 12. Olympus is no longer the only name in the tough camera market — Canon and Panasonic have made their mark with the PowerShot D10 and the Lumix FT1 respectively. So does this little camera still have what it takes, even with a price drop to AU$399?
Design and features
When we first clapped eyes on the 6010's predecessor, the Mju Tough 6000, we were particularly impressed with its stylish looks and sleek physique. The 6010 is almost identical and again wins the thumbs up in the looks department. Its front panel is a nice metal finish that's coloured with your choice of cherry red, black or silver, surrounded by grey metal.
The lens is covered by a sliding cover, with the flash unit located close by. As this is a tough camera, all openings and areas where water, dust or sand might get in are neatly concealed with panels that lock away and click into place. Buttons at the back are dainty, with just a smidgen of surface area to each one. They are pleasingly resistive though which makes them easier to use in underwater situations. The whole camera is built very well and feels solid when you're using it.
Just like the 6000, the 6010 shares the same tough credentials: it's waterproof to 3 metres, shockproof to 1.5 metres and freeze proof to -10 degrees Celsius. It's not as tough as the 8000 which is for much more extreme conditions. With a 3.6x optical zoom you're not going to be getting too close to your subjects, but to make up for that somewhat, the 6010 is equipped with a 28mm wide-angle lens. Like previous iterations of the Tough series, the 6010 also has tap control which lets you tap the top, back and sides of the camera in lieu of pressing buttons, for those using the camera with bulky snow gloves.
In terms of shooting modes, the dial at the back gives you the usual options: scene modes, the Olympus beauty mode, video (not HD), intelligent auto, and playback. Magic filters are the same as on the Mju 7020: Pop Art, fish-eye, pinhole and black and white cut-out. The 2.7-inch LCD screen is incredibly bright which is good news for high-contrast situations, such as beach- or snow-side.
The buttons on the back of the 6010 are small and quite resistive. (Credit: Olympus)
One downside of the package is that there's no dedicated battery charger included — you'll need to connect the camera to the AC adapter to charge the battery.
Performance
As with other tough cameras, the performance of the 6010 is pretty slow: it takes 2.1 seconds from start-up to first shot and the shutter lag is very pronounced at 0.9 second. Burst mode is particularly impressive though, capturing an almost unlimited number of frames (we managed over 100 before we got bored) at a reduced 3-megapixel resolution.
There's no AF assist light on the front of the camera which means that the 6010 has a lot of trouble determining focus in low light situations. We weren't able to take the camera underwater in a dark situation but this might be an issue if you're looking for a camera to go diving with.
Image quality
As there's been no actual update to the image processing components or the lens of the 6010 from its predecessor, the 6000, image quality is pretty consistent between the two. Both cameras have a tendency to overexpose and clip highlights in bright situations. Noise control is fairly poor at anything over ISO 400 just like the other camera, though ISO 100 and 200 produces images that are almost noise-free.
Click image for a larger version. (Credit: CBSi)
Chromatic aberration is noticeable, and at full magnification details begin to appear smeary in areas that are not in focus, particularly over to the left side of the frame (which is a common complaint in compact cameras, not exclusively in underwater or rugged ones). That said, at a reduced magnification this camera will give you perfectly acceptable prints in good lighting.
At reduced magnification this photo looks great, but looking at the 100 per cent crop shows the smeary detail and clipped highlights. (Credit: CBSi)
Conclusion
As this is an underwater camera first and foremost, it's difficult to judge the Olympus too harshly on its faults. It does exactly what it says on the tin — takes pictures in extreme circumstances. However, for a little more money there are other options available that will give you a better result both in and out of the water.
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