Olympus uTough 3000

Recently, an Olympus uTough 3000 arrived at my house via a courier. I'd been warned that it was on the way and was looking forward to trying out this little toughey...

Now, I am not a big user of small point and shoot cameras - I use DSLR's - not used to the small stuff - my hands normally fumble with them - and drop them. However, one of the big advantages of the uTough is in the name.

TOUGH!

On the box it claims to be SHOCKPROOF, WATERPROOF and FREEZEPROOF.

I must admit I didn't try any of those options - I could not bring myself to dropping it on the floor, use it in the pool and luckily, it doesn't get freezing cold in Durban. So I will have to take the manufacturers claims as dinkum.

The camera can be used up to 3m deep (in water) - nice for those kiddy shots of the kids in the pool. You can use it when you go on that skiing trip - it will work in up to (or is that down to) -10 deg C. It has a 3.6X optical zoom. It is 12 Mpixels - pretty good for a little camera. Oh, and it also takes HD movies.

I did some test shots and was impressed with the quality. There was no manual in the box so I had to figure out just how it works. It is a very easy camera to work with. The controls are fairly self explanatory and I was quickly able to work it out.

This is a very nice, compact camera, perfect for those who are active, mountain bikers, skiing, runners - in fact any sport. It can take the knocks handed out and keep on working. It comes in zany colours so loosing the camera is not easy.

Some specs on the uTough 3000:

Shockproof to 1.5m**, waterproof to 3m***, freezeproof to -10°C and scratchproof
• 3.6x wide optical zoom (28-102mm*)
• Dual Image Stabilisation (combines mechanical and digital image stabilisation)
• HD movie recording and HDMI technology
• 12 Megapixels
• 1GB internal memory and SD**** Card compatible
• Photo Surfing and [ib] software
• 6.9cm/2.7” HyperCrystal III LCD (230,000 dots)
• Advanced Face Detection and Shadow Adjustment Technology
• Intelligent Auto Mode (i-Auto) and AF Tracking
• Magic Filters
• In-Camera Manual
• USB charging

Some test shots:

These two shots show the zoom capabilities - first one zoomed out and the other zoomed in.

Two closeup shots - the resolution and sharpness is good