Anyone have the Olympus Stylus Tough 6000- Update

[Swimalie]

Long story short- our wonderful Cannon Power Shot got a speck of dust under the lens a few weeks ago. We took it to a repair shop to get it cleaned out. They told us 1 week, 2 at the most. We are going on 2 weeks tomorrow and now they are telling us they had to order a part. Um, it was a speck of dust- just needed cleaning out. They even told us that when we dropped it off. Should have been a simple repair. We leave for Disney next Friday and now we're looking at buying a new camera because we might not have our Cannon back in time (the technicians don't work on Sat and rarely work on Mondays so we're looking at Tues at the earliest).

So, I would love a water proof camera that I can take to swim meets and can take under water for swimming shots. Does anyone have this camera and what do you think of it? Costco has it for $199.99 right now.

**Update ** We bought it yesterday and I took it to a meet today. The camera takes horrible pictures inside. We are not happy at all. We're going to return it. I think we'd be better off with a disposable camera instead of this one. Or even our old Sony that is 9 years old. It takes better inside pictures than this camera. They take too much time to find the right setting to get a good shot. When something is happening, you can't say "wait, I need to find the right setting" in order to get the right shot. So not worth the money. Although it did survive a soaking by a friend of mine when he did a flip turn and soaked me today.

 

[Mickeypooh99]

I have the 8000. I think the only difference is the mega pixels. I love it. The pictures turn out great. We got it before our last Disney trip. It was great to use it on splash mountain. I took a video of us going down the big drop. It was so funny. We also used it at the water parks. Its a great camera. I also love that you can drop it, and it doesn't break. I let my 8 year old use it, and I don't worry about it. Now it did get a little marked up from being dropped on cement, but it still works great.

I wish I could figure out how to post a picture for you. I've never figured that out.

 

[Swimalie]

My sister has the 8000, too. She uses it mountain biking and skiing. Her pictures are pretty good. Although I think my Cannon takes better action shots. Well, it did before it was torn apart. If I don't laugh now, I think I'll cry.

 

[Avonlady1001]

Well, I have the Olympus Stylus 800 Weatherproof. LOVED IT. It recently bit the dust (my DS1 killed it. The lens no longer opens & they want $133 to fix it.) & I'm on the hunt for a new camera. I ordered the Stylus 9000, took some pics & sent it back. On every setting I tried, the indoor pics were dark & grainy - even on bright sunny days w/ the blinds open & lights on. Backyard action shots were ok, at best.

Still hunting...

 

[Swimalie]

Well, I have the Olympus Stylus 800 Weatherproof. LOVED IT. It recently bit the dust (my DS1 killed it. The lens no longer opens & they want $133 to fix it.) & I'm on the hunt for a new camera. I ordered the Stylus 9000, took some pics & sent it back. On every setting I tried, the indoor pics were dark & grainy - even on bright sunny days w/ the blinds open & lights on. Backyard action shots were ok, at best.

Still hunting...

Are those "tough" models?

On top of us having to buy a new camera for the trip, the old one will cost $155 to fix

 

[mousefan1972]

I also have the Stylus Tough 8000. When we were at Disney at Christmas, the fastpass line for Test Track was long and my kids were getting bored. So they asked if they could take pictures. I KNEW they were going to drop the camera (they are 4 and 6) and they promptly did... and it still works fine. As PP said the exterior is a bit dinged up, but hey, I really don't care how it looks as long as it still works.

As a side note, I ended up getting this camera after our previous camera, a Sony Cyber Shot, stopped working while on our last WDW vacation after it fell out of my pocket on the bus from AKL to MK. We had no camera for 5 days out of our week long trip because of that. So I didn't mind paying a little more for a virtually indestructbile camera.

 

[tzolkin]

I have the Olympus Stylus 850 SW.

It looks like the exact same camera with the same features, but the older model.

We bought last year right before our Disney trip. I was a bit terrified to take it into the pool, but there was another woman in the pool with one who assured me it was fine. The waterproof feature was great that trip because we were there for 12 days of near constant rain.


We also have an older Olympus camera and we love both of them. The pictures in poor lighting using the flash are not great (I usually don't have time to bother with the settings), but pictures outside are fabulous. I'll try to find a few for you. My parents, in-laws, and siblings all have cheaper cameras of various brands and their pictures cannot compare. I've used them side-by-side in photo books and everyone notices the difference.

One thing to keep in mind is that Olympus cameras use x-D cards, not the standard SD ones. They're not too expensive, but cannot be found in every store.

 

[nick262]

My DH and I have two of these. We scuba dive together and don't like to share, LOL.

We recently bought the second one from Olympus on their ebay store. You can get them a lot less expensive that in the stores. Here is the link: http://stores.ebay.com/Olympus-Auctions?_rdc=1

Good luck and have fun on your trip.

 

[Avonlady1001]

Are those "tough" models?

On top of us having to buy a new camera for the trip, the old one will cost $155 to fix

Sorry, no. My experience is w/ the regular stylus. The 800 was weatherproof, but not "tough". Just not all that happy w/ the new Olympus. Loved loved loved the 800, thought the 9000 should be 1000x better...& it just wasn't the case.

If you go for the tough, come back & let us know what you think. If it's great, I might give it a go. I love that it can be abused!! LOL

 

[tzolkin]

Here are some sample shots in different conditions/lighting/movement...


DS and grandma in the pool

Action shot on the slide

Underwater

Shade/bright sunlight combo

Regular outside shot

Indoors

At night in the rain

From quickly moving train

 

[Swimalie]

Thanks all. I think we're going to buy the camera tomorrow from Costco. The Olympus auction site is neat!

Tzolkin, thanks for the sample shots. They are good ones and your kids are adorable.

If we get our Cannon back in time, we might take both, I don't know now. The other one takes such good pictures and yet it's so much bigger and we'd worry about it in the rain.

I am in a swim meet on Sunday so we might be trying this new one out soon

 

[Swimalie]

Updated.