By Leonard Goh
02/01/2009
URL: http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/digitalcameras/0,39005881,43910197p,00.htm

The Olympus Mju 1060 is the successor to the long-zoom point-and-shoot, the Mju 1010. The new model shares similar specifications--such as the 7x optical zoom and 10-megapixel sensor--as its predecessor. However, there are minor upgrades to the LCD size as well as the inclusion of a smarter automatic shooting mode. Unfortunately, its image quality could have been better, though we're pretty sure some people will still take to the shooter's good feature set and long lens.

Design

It is pretty easy to differentiate the Mju 1060 from the Mju 1010 since Olympus has tweaked the exterior slightly. The new shooter now sports a sleeker facade, with the large lens barrel taking up most of the front. However, we had the same problem we faced with the Mju 1010. Due to design constraints, the flash is placed too near the left end, and as a result we tended to block it with our fingers while taking pictures.

On the rear, the buttons layout is pretty self-explanatory. The mode dial has ridged sides so turning it is quite easy. Each function is also clearly labeled to facilitate operation. There is backlighting for the buttons, but it came on only when we pressed it. We still found this useful for switching shooting modes or navigating menus in dim environments.

Overall, the Mju 1060 has quite a sturdy build and solid feel. Buttons and dials are ergonomically positioned such that it is possible to operate the camera with one hand.

Features

At last year's Photokina, the maximum resolution for point-and-shoots rose to about 14 megapixels. So we found it odd that Olympus didn't increase the sensor resolution for the Mju 1060, but kept it at 10 megapixels. However, if you don't intend to print large photographs, 10 megapixels is more than enough.

The major selling point for the new shooter is its 7x optical zoom which starts at 37mm to a maximum 260mm. This is quite an impressive focal length range for a point-and-shoot, and we think this feature will appeal to travelers who want a compact snapper. But the lack of wide-angle optics could be a deal-breaker for potential buyers since most consumers today are looking for shooters with at least a 28mm lens.

The LCD on the Mju 1060 has also been bumped up to 3 inches, up from the 2.7-inch display we saw on the Mju 1010. The screen has quite a good viewing angle and it wasn't difficult to frame pictures even under bright sunlight. This is probably due to the HyperCrystal LCD which Olympus has implemented.

For smart automatic shooting modes, Panasonic is one of the first brands to include this function in its shooters. Since then, other manufacturers have been following suite and so has Olympus. The Intelligent Auto Mode (or iAuto on the dial) will remember five of the most commonly used scene modes to use them to adjust exposure settings. We found in our tests that this mode worked best for portraits, while it had some difficulty recognizing landscapes.

There is no optical image stabilizer (IS) on the Mju 1060. In place is a sensor-shift IS system. This worked well and we could easily hold the camera in our hands and take a picture at a shutter speed of 1/20 second.

There is a generous 41.1MB of internal memory in the Olympus, and the storage space can be expanded further with its proprietary xD-Picture Cards. Other than having a maximum capacity of 2GB, using this exclusive format instead of common media such as SD/SDHC cards means you won't be able to use it on most other devices. To soften the blow, Olympus has included a microSD card adapter in the package, so there is one more option for you to choose. Note that the largest capacity microSD card is 2GB only. There is also a catch when you use the adapter--the panorama shooting mode won't work.

Performance

In terms of performance, the Mju 1060 is average. It took slightly less than 2 seconds to start up and shutter lag measured 0.1 second. The normal capture rate is 1.1 frames per second (fps) with a 9fps burst mode, although the resolution has to be reduced to 3 megapixels.

Face detection was speedy enough to recognize profiles, and it worked as well as promised. Olympus said the Mju 1060 can detect up to 16 faces, and it did when we tested this.

One thing we noticed was the laggy menu interface. The transition was jerky and not as smooth as we expected. We encountered the same problem in playback mode: The scrolling effects were not smooth and after using for awhile, we got a bit nauseous.

The lithium-ion battery lasted pretty well, too. We managed to squeeze about 200 shots from the camera before the juice pack went flat.

Image Quality

Picture quality-wise, the Mju 1060 didn't fare as well as other 10-megapixel shooters we pitted it against. As we can see from the comparison on the right, the Olympus' image turned out a bit soft compared to Sony's and Samsung's. Note that these are 100 percent crops and there is no post processing.

The Mju 1060 has a lowest ISO sensitivity of 64 and maxes out at ISO 1,600. By reducing the resolution to 3 megapixels, we could push it to ISO 6,400. But considering how grainy the shots looked at ISO 1,600, we advise users not to go beyond ISO 800.

We found that pictures looked best when we shot them at between ISO 64 and ISO 400. Digital artifacts were spotted in darker regions but they became obvious only when we cranked the ISO sensitivity up to 400. At ISO 800 and ISO 1,600, the images were heavily dotted and we could tell the details were smeary.

White balance was accurate when we shot outdoors, but when we snapped pictures under fluorescent and tungsten lighting, our pictures had a light blue or yellowish tone to it, depending on the light source. This can be corrected by manually choosing the right white balance settings, although we expected the shooter to do it automatically.

Conclusion

Considering that the only new features are a larger display and the iAuto shooting mode, it is difficult to justify the Mju 1060 as an upgrade for current Mju 1010 owners. However, this Olympus is one of the few point-and-shoots on the market which has a long zoom range in a compact form, so those looking for such a camera won't have much choice. However, if you don't mind some bulk, Panasonic's Lumix DMC-TZ15 has a 10x optical zoom lens with 28mm wide-angle lens, and this shooter will be the main threat to the Mju 1060.