Olympus 1050 SW Camera Review

The new Olympus 1050 SW is a point and shoot with a few interesting features, one of them being something called "tap control" that allows you to take a picture by tapping any side of the camera. It's also waterproof, freeze-proof, and drop-proof up to realistic thresholds.

What You Need to Know

• The camera fits nicely in your pocket even with the shutter cover
• The problem is, the cover is loose, so it slides open and closed turning it on and off and this isn't good for an active camera
• We do like the new paint job too, but when you drop it, the paint scratches off
• They've also added tap control, which basically lets you control certain things like playback mode and the flash by hitting the camera
• The tap control totally works like it should
• Just tap the top two times to turn tap control on and you're set
• Keep tapping to select different modes for the flash, shadow adjustment or go into playback mode
• You can then cycle through your photos by hitting either side
• This works really well and it could be a big help if you had gloves on or something else hindering button pushing
• As far as image quality goes, any low light at all and you've got a lot of noise and grain
• The flash helps, but then it blows out your subjects
• Outdoor shots look better, but colors are muted and things aren't that sharp
• It's definitely waterproof, freeze-proof, and shock-proof, but the Olympus 1030 SW can withstand more in all aspects
• The sub-par image quality is the main problem though

Price

• $240
• The camera is not quite worth the price tag

Overall Rating

• 77% (2.5 Seals of Approval) (How do we rate gadgets?)