Here is my new camera. It is an Olympus Stylus Tough 6000 and let me tell you, it is one tough camera. It is designed to withstand the elements as well as the abuse that comes with the territory. It can operate in freezing temperatures (-10°C/14°F), can be dropped onto concrete (1.5m/5ft), and is capable of taking pictures and video underwater (3m/10ft). Oh yeah, it is also 10 mega pixels and has a wide angle lens. The pictures it takes seem to be just as good as any other 10mp digital camera I have used but the ability to handle the abuse is the real selling point here. I have seen reviews if this camera where it was frozen in a block of ice, dropped on the ground and then used to take a picture; it was run over with a truck; it was even strapped to the hood of a car and driven through a wall of ice. I do not intend on testing my camera to those extremes, but it is comforting to know that it can handle the abuse and I wont worry if I accidentally drop it. Even with it's tough exterior, it still has the features you look for in a quality digital camera like 3.6x optical zoom, xD/MicroSD expansion, several macro modes, dual image stabilization, a 2.7" LCD, smile detection, panoramic mode, continuious photo shooting (4.9 fps), a flash and separate LED light, video recording @ 640x480 & 30 fps, and 25 different picture modes. I can't wait to put it to use this summer and expect to see some amazing results.
