So you want your camera to go a bit further with you. You'd like to take a picture while you're outside roaming about during a thunderstorm, or climbing a snowy precipice, or even diving underwater. But digital cameras, while elite gadgets of our times, are mostly fragile things. But wait, there are a few cameras out there that are designed to be high durable like the Stylus 770 SW. This camera is shockproof and waterproof, yet it retains a slim line (it's only 0.78" thick). So is this camera really waterproof, or just water resistant?
Well, Olympus says it be plunged in water up to 33 feet deep, for as long as an hour. You can also freeze the camera down to 14 degrees Fahrenheit (-10C). The camera is also shockproof to the "MIL-STD-810F" standard, meaning that the camera can withstand drops of up to 5 feet from any angle without harm. This means you can take this camera into extreme conditions, including freezing weather on backpack trips, and you can even put it into your back pocket without fear of damaging it when you sit down (it can withstand up to 300 pounds of pressure).
In addition to its external ruggedness, Olympus has added a bit of technology aimed to please the extreme sports lover. They've built a manometer into the Stylus 770, which measures water and air pressure, enabling depth and altitude to be recorded with each image. Now you can reinforce your bragging rights with photographic and measured evidence.
Another key part that makes this a good sports camera is the image stabilization. If you are running, riding or falling it will help keep the pictures you take sharp.
Also, this camera is under an inch thick and takes 7.1 megapixel images which gives you pretty high quality photos in a pretty small package.
The Olympus Stylus 770 SW is expected to ship in March 2007, at an estimated street price of $380.
You can read a detail review of this camera at Imaging Resource.
A older version of this, the Olympus 720 SW, is available here at Amazon
(Meticulously filed under: Cameras) with one eye twitching.