Olympus Stylus 1050 SW Camera Experience
Most of the winter, the Olympus Stylus 1050 SW was my go-to camera for photos on the ski lift or any other time I wanted a point-and-shoot camera. The 1050 SW is small enough to easily carry in a pocket. I usually carried it in a small pouch on the shoulder strap of my backpack where it was easy to get to. If you spend a lot of time playing outdoors, you can imagine how nice it is to have a point-and-shoot that you don’t have to worry about dropping or getting wet. On powder days my little shoulder pouch would be packed with snow but I never worried about the 1050 SW – at least not getting it wet. I made sure to always use the wrist strap because Olympus has yet to design a camera that will survive (or be findable) if you drop it off the ski lift.
Tap Control is a cool feature. It sets the Olympus Stylus 1050 SW apart from other point-and-shoot cameras. And best of all – it really works. Tap the left side of the camera to access the Shadow Adjust feature; tap the right side of the camera to bring up the flash controls; tap the back of the camera to switch to playback mode; tap the left or right side of the camera in playback mode to scroll through saved images. It’s very cool to be able to scroll through photos saved on the camera by simply tapping on the side. However, the controls I use the most – shutter release, exposure compensation, and ISO – aren’t accessible with the Tap Controls. So when I’m skiing or mountain biking, I still have to take my gloves off to change settings. Maybe in later versions Olympus can make Tap Control programmable so that the user can choose which functions it controls. This would make it more useful to a wider range of people. For now, Tap Control is fun to show off, but – at least for me – it’s not actually a useful feature… Yet.
I didn’t actually use this camera underwater. But my experience with the Olympus Stylus 720 SW, 1030 SW, and 850 SW cameras has been very good. I have seen reports of these cameras failing, but it hasn’t happened to me yet. And until it does, I’ll feel very confident taking them in the water. I just took the 1030 SW on vacation to Glenwood Springs in Colorado and took a ton of photos in the hot springs pool. The camera performed like a champ and I would expect the 1050 SW to do the same.
There are a few design issues with the camera, although none of them make it a bad camera. The 1050 SW’s sliding lens cover looks nice and seems like a good idea, but it ended up being a problem. It’s supposed to protect the lens as well as operating as an on/off switch. Unfortunately, it’s too easy to accidentally slide it open when the camera is in a pocket or case. I’d put the camera back in my shoulder pouch and a little audio alarm would go off, alerting me to the fact that the cover had opened when I was putting it away. In the end I pretty much just ignored the cover. If the camera opened when I put it away, then so be it. It turns itself off automatically, anyway.
Although Olympus calls the camera “freezeproof,” don’t think that means you’ll be able to take tons of photos when it’s below freezing. The 1050 SW and other Olympus Stylus SW cameras I’ve used all have battery problems when it gets really cold. When the temperature gets much below 30F I can only get one or two shots off before I get a low battery warning. Putting the camera away for a while allows the battery to recharge a bit so you can shoot again. But forget about taking 10 or 20 shots in a row if it’s really cold. Keeping the camera in a pocket to preserve the battery isn’t a solution either. When you take it out and expose it to the cold the lens will fog up. In the end, I just had to face up to the reality that I’d only get one or two shots at a time when it was really cold. That’s too bad because the average winter temperature at the Utah ski resorts is probably in the low to mid twenties (F). It’s also worthwhile to note that I’ve used other P&S cameras that aren’t “freezeproof” but worked just fine in temperatures below 20F.
I would like to see some version of the Olympus Stylus / Tough line with an optical viewfinder. The Olympus Stylus 1050 SW was made for outdoor action and it’s really hard to take great action photos without an optical viewfinder. I’ve been trying for years and it’s impossible to pan accurately without one. I know I’m going against the current on this – LCDs are cheaper to make than optical viewfinders and most point-and-shoot camera buyers would prefer a bigger LCD. But part of my job is to educate, and an optical viewfinder would make this a better camera for mountain bikers, skiers, snowboarders and anyone else who wants to get good action photos in wet, nasty environments.
My final issue with the 1050 SW is the not-so-wide, 38mm wide-angle end of the zoom range. The Olympus Stylus 1030 SW has a 28mm wide-angle zoom and I like it a lot better. One of the things I end up using a point-and-shoot camera for is arm’s-length self-portraits. A 35mm wide-angle makes it hard to include any background in an arm’s-length shot of two people. Ski lift self-portraits of me and my girlfriend (see photo at top of page) were pretty much just the two of us. I like to get some of the scenery in the background and I find the 38mm zoom just doesn’t cut it.
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