Olympus Stylus 1030 SW

great to begin with, took it to the local pool, great, no probs underwater, then took it to the coast, began ok, then after a couple of days it says that the memory card cover is not seated correctly, then that the battery compartment is open?? i immediately get out the water, dry off, open the back cover and .....bloody water everywhere. not happy one bit. camera ruined, the black paint peels off very easily and the lense 'surround' just fell off after a short while.

This camera is OK. It seems to me that it always uses the lowest aperture even when set to landscape mode which is not ideal. Although it blows for large landscapes compared to other cheaper cameras it does have underwater capabilities and is sealed much better than your typical tiny Point n Shoot.

I did use it's under water capabilities in Hawaii.

I'm not afraid to get dust in the lens when I go Riding my ATV in the dusty Glamis Sand Dunes.

I expected a bit more for the price I paid but I still use it when hiking or on bike rides and I don't want to lug around the SLR.


I'm going to give it a 4 star rating because of it being waterproof and sealed, but not because it is a huge value or has amazing picture quality.

Waterproof, shockproof preezeproof etc. Compact size.
When paired with the M+ XD Cards you can stream video until the card fills up 640x480 30fps!
The streaming video excellent when compared to many other cameras.
Sealed well (no more getting dust under the lens).
Stylish.

while using it under water, after a while the lens got a bit foggy (cleared out fairly quick.

They make the front shiny which is not idea for a "rugged" camera IMO... The anodized finish scratches easy.

Large landscape photography is not sharp.

Lens Location is easy to cover with a finger (Even if you can avoid it, when handing it to someone else to take a picture they often get their finger in the picture).

Limited Memory card choice (XD card), and small M+ XD Card sizes (2GB)

Canon S410 (not exactly similar but compact).

I've had this camera for over 6months now and have been rather disappointed with my purchase and the quality offered by Olympus. I run a web based adventure advisory. The job takes me outdoors to mild cold areas and the hot tropics, hence, the reason to have a point & shoot camera that can take some beating and wet conditions. There aren't many choices out there (short of using some sort of casing) so i settled on 1030sw after researching reviews here and other web locations. As soon as i brought it home, i realised the true quality and have continued to be disappointed with it until now. I do take care of all my equipment and no less for this camera. What prompted me to write this review was the recent event (last week) where the paint came off the the front face!
I do not have super high expectations for point and shoots but this camera is sub par and isnt worth the money paid for brand new unit. The number of wasted images i have with this camera is surprising! I have used sony, canon and panasonic cameras, and i am confident to mention the better image quality comes from this 3 manufacturers in the point-shoot category. Panasonic has now a rugged camera co-built with olympus - i hope the quality is better than this.
No reviews out there will mention what i have to say about the following. Buyer beware.

*waterproof
*shockproof (although not meant to thrown like a doll)
*digital stabilization good when on anti handshake
*solid built
*macro is ok
*light with macro feature - good for underwater shots
*good multi shot/sports mode

*heavy - will sink fast!!! must attach a float if you are boating. A friend learnt the hard way in a murky river while kayaking
*paint comes off! - just buy the chrome version to save the unpleasant truth
*image quality is absolutely terrible without anti-handshake. Its almost impossible to take a sharp picture on other modes without super steady hand under sunlight or tripod especially low light situations. If taking picture with naked hand, you will need to use the timer since the camera will shake when pressing the button.
*single timer mode - 2 choices would have been better
*when using anti handshake, you cannot set ISO. The auto ISO gives terrible noise for night shots. Indoor shots isn't great either. If using not using anti handshake, expect blur images.
*battery life isnt great - buy extra battery
*should be careful of sand on camera lens. When you close lens cover (when switching off), you may end up scratching the outer lens.
*reduction in resolution when selecting different features in the camera. 10.1 doesnt mean all images or video's can be shot in that high resolution

Pretty upset that this thing is not waterproof. Takes fantastic pictures, and does work underwater a little, have some great action shots of friends surfing, but this is the third olympus camera that has broken on me underwater and am getting tired and fed up....

Excellent photos, compact

not waterproof, or at least has some flaws in the system.

No view finder

difficult to take macro shots

the earlier waterproof version 850 sw

was pretty good, got the 850 sw fixed twice almost immediately by olympus, had to pay the outgoing post both times... but they then sent me the 1030 sw to africa for free so was stoked... unfortunately though, it has broken now!

I bought SW1030 for outdoor adventrue shots where i didnt have to worry about water damage.. i finally gota chance to use it in water... in less than a 50cm of water the camera got water in it and I've lost a week of photo's.. the battery cover didnt open in the water and there didnt appear to be anthing around the rubber seal..

I thought it was strong

Isnt actually water proof