Less than 0.8" thick, this versatile, compact digital camera is designed with the signature style and performance for which the Stylus line is renowne
Less than 0.8" thick, this versatile, compact digital camera is designed with the signature style and performance for which the Stylus line is renowned with the added benefits of Shock and Waterproof technology - perfect for any situation, durable enough for shooting in any conditions.
by Photo-John
The Olympus Stylus 720 SW is a super sturdy, compact digital camera designed with the active outdoor photographer in mind. It has a 7.1-megapixel sensor, a 3x optical zoom lens, 2.5-inch LCD display, and it's waterproof and shockproof so you can take it almost anywhere without worrying about dropping or getting it wet.
Introduction Every once in a while a camera comes along that really gets my attention. The Olympus Stylus 720SW is one of those cameras. I had
the opportunity to test a previous Olympus Stylus Digital, the Stylus 800 Digital, and really liked it. So when I got the press release for the Stylus 720SW and saw that it wasn't just weatherproof, but waterproof to ten feet, and shockproof too - I knew I had to get a hold of one.
A lot of my professional work is mountain bike photography so I'm always on the lookout for a compact camera that can deliver high-quality photos and save me the weight and hassle of riding with a digital SLR. With 7-megapixels of resolution, a waterproof chassis, and a drop-worthy build, I can stick the 720 SW in my pocket and not worry about a thing besides riding. On paper this camera looks like the ultimate mountain bike camera (or rock climbing, paddling, canyoneering, hunting, fishing, boating, or skiing).
I've had the 720 SW for a couple of months longer than I was supposed to. That's at least partly because it's been good to me and I don't really want to give it up. Since I've had it so long I've been able to give it a very well rounded test. I've done all the normal point-and-shoot digital camera stuff, local mountain bike rides, a couple of mountain bike trips to Utah, and even a trip to Italy. The only thing I didn't do was take underwater photos with it. However, I did give it a good dunking to make sure that it was really waterproof. Still works!
Olympus Stylus 720 SW Features
The Olympus Stylus 720 SW is a basic point-and-shoot digital camera housed in a waterproof and shockproof body. The durable, waterproof chassis is the 720 SW's most compelling feature. Other features are fairly standard - it's got a 3x optical zoom lens, built-in flash, 2.5-inch LCD, 7-megapixel sensor, etc. Besides the camera construction, the standout feature is the big, bright 2.5-inch LCD. Like most compact digital cameras now, the 720 SW can capture video and sound as well as still images. The 720 SW's movie mode captures 15 frames-per-second at a maximum resolution of 640x480.
As far as exposure goes, the 720 SW is a pretty basic point-and shoot camera. It offers exposure compensation and 25 scene modes, including Portrait, Landscape, Night Scene, Sport, Sunset, Museum, and four underwater scene modes. The camera has a wide sensitivity range for a compact digital camera, offering ISO 64 to ISO 1600.
One of the trends in compact digital cameras right now is image stabilization to help photographers correct for shaky hands. Not to be
left out, Olympus has given the 720 SW an "image stabilization" mode. The 720 SW doesn't have actual optical stabilization, though. The image stabilization mode simply increases the ISO setting and shutter speed to eliminate motion blur caused by camera shake. This isn't the same thing at all as optical image stabilization and the high ISO settings mean that image quality is definitely compromised. I tried it, discovered how noisy it was, and didn't use it again.
The macro ability of the Olympus Stylus Digital 720 SW is very nice. I got really nice close-up photos of wildflowers and mountain bike parts. The camera has two macro modes. One allows you to focus as close as 8-inches (20 cm). The second lets you shoot as close as 2.7 inches (7 cm), but doesn't allow you to change the zoom at all.
Olympus Stylus Digital 720 SW capture mode with Function menu
Olympus Stylus Digital 720 SW playback mode with info
Olympus Stylus Digital 720 SW main menu
Olympus Stylus Digital 720 SW Sport Scene Mode, with description
Olympus Stylus 720 SW Design
Camera design is what makes the Stylus 720 SW special. The body is all metal with big chunky screws holding it together. Upping the ante on previous, weatherproof Stylus Digital cameras, the 720 SW is waterproof to ten feet and shockproof from five feet. Olympus not only made this camera to take a lot of punishment, they made a visual statement with the design. When you look at the 720 SW and pick it up, you know it's designed to last. It's heavy, all the controls are made of metal, and although it fits in your pocket comfortably, it's not a light or tiny camera.
I found the control layout to be pretty standard and straightforward. The controls were all placed comfortably for me and the big LCD is bright and crisp. There's no optical viewfinder, which always disappoints me. I find that panning is next to impossible with only an LCD display. But for a camera of this size, with an LCD this big, no optical viewfinder has become the standard.
Left: The Olympus Stylus 720 SW's metal lens cover and one of the chunky screws that holds it together.
Right: Olympus Stylus 720 SW controls
Camera Experience I was very excited about the Stylus 720 SW. With real waterproofing and a shockproof body, it looks like the ultimate mountain bike point-and-shoot camera. In rain, sand, or any situation where there's a high likelihood of dropping or smacking a camera against something, this camera can't be beat. I took it on rainy mountain bike rides, on sandy desert rides, on scary rocky rides, dropped it on the pavement once, and gave it a good dunking just to make sure it could take it. At no time did it fail to perform as promised.
I have a lot of great photos taken with the Olympus 720 SW. However, I think the camera has a few big problems. Shot-to-shot time is very poor, exposure is on the unpredictable side, and there's no shutter speed information or histogram display to help ensure good exposure. The shot-to-shot time was very frustrating. After pressing the shutter release button, you have to wait about 3 seconds before you can take another picture. If there's any kind of continuous action where you want to get in more than one shot, you're out of luck. With a lot of the cameras I've used in the past year I can squeeze off two shots with one pass of a mountain biker. With the 720 SW, there's no chance of getting more than one. For a camera that appears to be aimed at the active, outdoor market, I think this is a pretty glaring problem. On a positive note, shutter-lag is very minimal and it's no problem at all to get that first shot if you plan a little and prefocus.
Although most of the photos I shot with the 720 SW were useable, I had a hard time getting the exposures perfect. Lack of a histogram display or exposure info on the LCD make it hard to really know what's going in the 720 SW's little electronic brain. I often ended up taking two or three pictures to make sure I'd get one good one. In the woods, where a lot of my mountain bike photography is done, my usual technique is to use the flash and pan the camera so that my subject is sharp. But panning is almost impossible without an optical viewfinder and the Stylus 720 SW's flash is only good for subjects five to ten feet away. I've got a lot of Photoshop experience so I can squeeze a good photo out of all but the worst image files. But this camera doesn't inspire confidence in me when it comes to exposure. And photographers who don't know how to massage a good image out of an underexposed or overexposed file are likely to experience some frustration and disappointment.
The good news is that, even though there are some important features missing and the exposure is less than perfect, I really enjoyed using the Stylus 720 SW. The camera was great at capturing a wide range of tones and composing with the big LCD worked really well. It's funny - with some cameras I just take better pictures and sometimes I have a hard time actually identifying exactly down why. This is one of those cameras. Maybe I was inspired by Moab, Lago di Garda and other cool places I took the 720 SW. Whatever the reasons, I feel like I ended up with some very nice photos from this camera. Even if the exposure was a little spotty, I managed to work around it and when I look back at the pictures I've taken with it I'm very happy.
Image Quality Like a lot of compact digital cameras, the Olympus Stylus 720 SW digital has good image quality at ISO 100 and lower, and average to poor image quality at ISO 200 and higher. It's about on par with most other 6 and 7-megapixel cameras, although I do think that at ISO 100 and 64 it's very, very good. Noise is visible at all ISO settings and becomes very obvious at ISO 200 and above. That's pretty standard for all but a few compact digital cameras. The expanded sensitivity is nice on paper, but I don't think I'd ever be tempted to use the ultra-chunky ISO 1600 setting. However, I do think the wider range has resulted in better than average noise levels at ISO 200 and 400. I made some 8.5x11-inch prints from my 720 SW images and noise was obvious in the sky and other smooth areas. But I didn't find it to be distracting or offensive.
Color from the 720 SW is excellent. I like my photos a little warmer and richer than normal so some tune-up is standard procedure for me. Images from the 720 SW required very little correction, though. The same is true for the Olympus SP-350, the Olympus Stylus Digital 800, and the Olympus E-1 digital SLR - all cameras I've had the pleasure of using in the past year or so. I think Olympus is doing a very, very good job on white balance and in-camera color processing. I did have to do some fairly heavy adjustments for underexposure. As I said earlier, lack of a histogram display made it hard for me to get accurate exposures so I ended up with a lot of underexposed images, which needed to be lightened up in Photoshop. Luckily, the 720 SW files hide a lot of detail in the shadows and they were reasonably easy to lighten up. The dynamic range of the 720 SW seems to be better than most compact cameras I've used. I found that there was a lot of room for adjustment and I could work a lot of magic on my images with Photoshop. Since a lot of Photoshop adjustment is pretty standard for me, the extra latitude makes me happy. It also makes up for the spotty exposure metering.
Click on thumbnails to see photos.
Click on thumbnails to see photos.
Conclusion I was very excited the about Olympus Stylus 720 SW. Being waterproof to ten feet and able to survive a 5-foot drop, it represents a big step forward for outdoorsy people who want a high-quality compact digital camera they can carry anywhere, anytime. I took the 720 SW on all kinds of adventures and didn't worry much about damaging it. It performed as promised regarding water and impacts.
Unfortunately, the camera is missing a few features that I think are basic. I don't understand why there's no histogram and no exposure information display. Sure, most users probably won't notice they're missing. But I did. And since they're standard on most compact digital cameras now, why not include them? A lot of the time I felt like I was guessing on exposures and my image files reflect that. A histogram display would eliminate a lot of overexposed and underexposed photos.
Overall, I've been happy with the 720 SW and wouldn't hesitate to use it again. I took a lot of pictures with it that I'm very, very happy with. I've also recommended it to people who want a camera that they can safely use in all outdoor conditions. In the final analysis, the Olympus Stylus Digital 720 SW seems like an unfinished product to me. It's a good camera. But it could have been a great camera. Maybe the next Olympus Stylus SW digital camera will have all the features that were missing in this one. If so, I'll be first in line to pay full price.
Who Should Buy The Olympus Stylus 720 SW This camera is unbeatable if you need something that can take a lot of abuse and might get dunked or rained on. Mountain bikers, climbers, fisherman, law enforcement workers, paddlers - this is your camera. If I was taking a trip to the Amazon and had to travel light, this would be my camera. I am confident it would last the trip.
The Olympus Stylus 720 SW will also be a good vacation camera for a family that needs a simple, durable camera that can go from the beach to the mountains to the pool, and get dropped a couple of times along the way.
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