Olympus Mju 1010

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By Leonard Goh
Apr 28, 2008

The 10.1-megapixel Olympus Mju 1010 was first seen at PMA earlier this year, and since its features was touted by the Japanese firm as the "ultimate in modern compact photography", we couldn't wait to see how this shooter would hold up against the other powerful point-and-shoots in the mid-range digicam market. We weren't disappointed with the 7x optical zoom in a stylish, compact form. Other features like face detection and image stabilization worked well, but we wished this compact would keep up with the trend and give us a wide-angle lens and HD video recording.

The Mju 1010 has a tougher sibling--the Mju 1030--which is one of the hardiest cameras we've come across. So if you are the sporty kind, the Mju 1030 is a good alternative.

Design

Encased in a slim, arc-shaped metallic casing, the Mju 1010 was sturdy to hold. But what really struck us was the translucent ring around the Power button that lit a cool blue when the camera was turned on. While fiddling with the controls, we realized the buttons would light up when pressed, too. This was especially useful when we were shooting in a dimly-lit surrounding.

The buttons light up when pressed so you won't have to fumble with the controls in a dimly-lit surrounding.
(click for larger image)

The ridged wheel to switch between modes was easy to turn and gave sufficient resistance so we won't accidentally turn it to another mode. The button layout was self-explanatory with the functions printed on the button itself.

The cover for the USB/ AV/ DC-in port is held by a strip of rubber, which we felt could break easily over repeated use. We would have preferred a hinge instead.

The flash is positioned toward the left edge of the camera and we had the tendency to cover it with our finger while shooting. While this may look like a design flaw, we have to understand that a large lens barrel (accommodating a 7x optical zoom lens) already takes up much of the space on the front.

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