Olympus Mju 790 SW

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Performance

In our lab's performance tests, the Stylus 790 SW had decent shot-to-shot times, but otherwise didn't impress. The camera took 1.3 seconds to start up and capture its first JPEG. Thereafter, it took 2.3 seconds between images with the flash turned off. With the flash turned on, that wait increased to 3.2 seconds. Shutter lag measured 0.6 second in our high-contrast test and 1.6 seconds in our low-contrast test, which mimic bright and dim shooting conditions, respectively. In burst mode we were able to capture an average of 1.5 full-resolution frames per second.

For more details on the 790 SW's Guide Mode, click on the image.

Image Quality

This isn't the 790 SW's strong point, but it isn't particularly bad either at lower ISOs. Colors aren't quite as saturated as they can be on some other cameras, but they do look fairly accurate. The images also aren't as sharp as we'd like to see, but the clarity is not terrible, and given that this is a waterproof camera, it's not totally unexpected. The 790 SW's automatic white balance leaves photos shot under incandescent lights to look slightly warm, but it does a good job with fluorescent lighting and, of course, natural sunlight.

Olympus keeps noise down through ISO 200. While you can see the beginnings of noise at ISO 200, it's only visible as a slight mottling of colors and won't mar prints. At ISO 400, this gets a little more pronounced, but you can still make good prints and there's only a slight loss of fine detail. At ISO 800 noise becomes heavy, there's a significant loss of fine detail (the markings on the measuring tape in our test scene became illegible), but only a mild loss of shadow detail. At ISO 1,600 noise is extremely heavy, fine details are obliterated, and a lot of shadow detail is lost. We suggest staying below ISO 800 when using the Mju 790 SW and avoiding ISO 1,600 at all costs.

While the Mju 790 SW is far from perfect, it's one of the few cameras on the market, especially in this price range, that can take a beating and actually operate well under water or at the top of a ski resort. If you need a camera that can face up to those challenges, then the 790 SW makes sense. If not, you're probably better off with a regular compact camera that can perform faster and give you better image quality.

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