Olympus Mju Tough 6020 Digital Camera Review

Features
Handling
Performance
ePHOTOzine Verdict and ratings
Specification

Olympus Mju Tough 6020: Click on the thumbnail for the larger image

Released in March 2010, the Olympus Mju Tough 6020 is designed to withstand being dropped, frozen and soaked. Aimed at the user who has an extremely active social life, it would be ideal for those who like to ski, surf and anything else which involves danger and water. The Olympus Mju Tough 6020 has 14 megapixels, a 5x optical zoom, 2GB of internal memory as well as an SD memory card slot and is available now for £199.

Olympus Mju Tough 6020: Features

• 14 megapixels
• 2.7in LCD Screen
• Waterproof to 5m
• Shockproof to 1.5m
• Freezeproof to -10°C
• 5x wide zoom equivalent to a 28-140mm lens
• Dual Image Stabilisation
• HD movie function
• 2GB of internal memory
• SD card slot

Olympus Mju Tough 6020 key features: Click on the thumbnails for larger images
The back of the camera is mostly filled by the 2.7in LCD screen.	Most of the controls are placed on the back of the camera.
The on/off switch and shutter release are on top of the camera and are unlikely to be pressed accidently.	As well as being tough, at 25.8mm thick the Mju 6020 is also small enough to fit in your pocket.

Olympus Mju Tough 6020: Handling
The Olympus Mju Tough 6020 feels very comfortable to hold and you can certainly feel the weight of the camera which increases my confidence in the camera's abilitiy to stand up to some rough treatment. On the down side, the camera takes six seconds from switching on to being ready to take pictures.

The Olympus Mju Tough 6020 is easy to use, to access the basic settings of the camera, such as function mode, flash, self-timer, ISO and white-balance you just use the D-pad, cycling up and down to move between them. To change the setting, you simply move left or right and press OK. If you move too quickly the camera struggled to keep up so I was having to press buttons more than I would like. This issue wasn't caused by the buttons themselves, but the camera itself being slow to react to my fast fingers.

The Olympus Mju Tough 6020 has a dedicated movie button which is becoming common amongst digital compact cameras. It is placed on the back of the camera, one press of this automatically switches the camera into movie mode and starts recording. Press the button again and the camera stops recording and saves the video.

Olympus have abandoned the XD format memory card and this camera will have a wider appeal for camera users who already have SD memory cards and don't want to buy new ones.

Olympus Mju Tough 6020: Performance
The image quality of the camera is perfectly acceptable for a compact camera in this price range. The colours are accurate and the Olympus Mju Tough 6020 takes a well exposed picture. However, when blown up to 100% on screen, the detail in the pictures aren't particularly brilliant. At the lens' widest angle it is hard to read the writing on the lock, although not impossible. At the telephoto end, the signs on the lock can be read with ease and the detail on the roof of the house comes through well. At both ends of the lens, there isn't as much detail in the trees and at its widest the trees look very dark.

Olympus Mju Tough 6020: Lens performance
At it's widest, the Olympus Mju Tough 6020 produces a good scenic image of the canal.	Zoomed in, there is a fair amount of detail throughout the image.

ISO noise performance
There is some noise starting from ISO80, but doesn't worsen much at all until you get to ISO800, where the noise is clearly more evident. At ISO1600 there is plenty of noise on show and the blacks are almost grey but overall the colours still come through at an acceptable level.

Olympus Mju Tough 6020 Test chart ISO speed test: Click on the thumbnails for larger images.
ISO80	ISO100	ISO200
ISO400	ISO800	ISO1600

White-balance
The white-balance performance of the Olympus Mju Tough 6020 is a touch wayward. Under incandescent lighting the auto white-balance does a great job, using the incandescent setting, the image is a little cold, but overall a fine job. Under the fluorescent lights in our studio, again the auto white-balance gives a good, if a little warm, image, but the fluorescent setting doesn't do a great job at all, giving an orange tint to my picture.

Olympus Mju Tough 6020: White-balance
Auto white-balance in incandescent lighting.	Incandescent preset in incandescent lighting.
Auto white-balance in fluorescent lighting.	Fluorescent preset in fluorescent lighting.

Olympus Mju Tough 6020: Verdict
Overall, the Olympus Mju Tough 6020 is a good compact camera for the money. It is well built and will stand up to some extreme conditions. The image quality is of an acceptable quality for a camera selling for under £200 and features such as the 2Gb internal memory and HD movie mode will appeal to many buyers.

Olympus Mju Tough 6020: Pros
Extremely tough
Easy to use
2Gb internal memory
SD card format

Olympus Mju Tough 6020: Cons
Slow start-up
Menu system can be slow to react

FEATURES
HANDLING
PERFORMANCE
VALUE
OVERALL

Olympus Mju Tough 6020: Specification

Price	£199.00
What comes in the box	Lithium-Ion Battery (LI-50B), AC Adapter USB Cable, AV cable, Handstrap, World Wide Warranty Card, Instruction Manual.
Contact	www.olympus.co.uk
Resolution (Effective megapixels)	14 Megapixels
Optical zoom	5x
LCD size	2.7in HyperCrystal III LCD
Lens	11 lenses in 8 groups
Movie mode	Yes
Size	96.7 x 64.4 x 25.8mm (W x H x D)
Weight (with battery)	178g

The Olympus Mju Tough 6020 is priced at £199 and is available from Warehouse Express here:

Olympus Mju Tough 6020