Olympus µ TOUGH-6020 review

The tough camera body is only the beginning

Olympus is among the top contenders in the rugged compact market and over time have honed what works well. Unfortunately the lessons learnt are not applied to the whole range of cameras, case in point – the Olympus Tough 6020.

The overall design of the camera is lacking the stylish finish of other models, looking tough but tacky. The body itself though is still tough as nails with its water, freeze and shock proofing protecting it. It feels a comfortable weight and small enough to fit into a pocket.

From start up the camera is simple to setup and start shooting with although the icons on the buttons are hard to read and not totally self-explanatory for first time users. Switching off the welcome screen will improve the frustratingly slow start up times. The 2.7” lcd anti glare screen is perfect for this type of camera allowing you to view compose and view images in bright light from all angles and when the screen is wet.

The shooting menus revolve around 6 different main settings including iauto, program, beauty, panorama, scene and magic mode.

iauto will shoot in a full automatic mode but seems to ignore using the macro function and uses the flash in almost all situations resulting in average images. This camera works best when told what to do and using the scene or program mode often makes it easier to operate.

The lens is right at the top where you naturally rest your finger so holding the camera wrong means it will sometimes end up in shot. The 5x optical zoom is responsive and perfect for portrait and group shots but you will find yourself moving to compose landscape photos.

Being able to take wide panoramic shots is a welcome addition but the auto mode will only work in consistent good light. Shooting portrait photos in beauty mode will touch up a duplicate image on the fly smoothing skin tones and giving you the choice of the two. The Magic mode is a bit of gimmick but some of the filters are actually pretty effective, the pinhole and fisheye filters are especially fun to use.

There are plenty of useful features but the absence of a menu dial leaves you changing shot settings with the dpad. It works but is a chore to use and can be clunky having all the shooting controls in one place. The tap control can remove some of this and is almost essential when wearing gloves.

Image quality has never been a strong point of rugged compacts especially in low light and unfortunately this compact is no exception. In good light using the program settings you can capture some decent images. But in lower light images lack definition, look patchy and colours are dull. The flash lacks a softer function and can often drown out colour from images. One redeeming feature is when shooting light in pitch-black conditions, with a steady hand impressive photos can be achieved.

The fixed lens gives macro shots a sharp, natural, colourful look when the appropriate focus settings are applied. The super macro led is a nice feature and lights macro shots when in poorer lighting conditions.

One touch video recording at 720p is a good additional feature. The microphone is very poor but the video is quality is fairly decent if lacking in options.

Battery life is good, lasting around 200 shots with panoramic shots and a short amount of video taken. Charging works within the camera rather than in a battery cradle prolonging the life of the camera’s waterproof seals. This does take away the opportunity to have a spare battery charging for more demanding photographers.

The Olympus 6020’s build specs and tap controls make it a perfect camera for active sports like climbing, snorkelling, kayaking and snowboarding. Unfortunately it alienates beginners with poor automatic features and a cumbersome control system. Yet it doesn’t offer intermediate photographers enough manual settings and control over shots.