Olympus Stylus / mju · announced January 2006 · a retrospective

The Olympus Stylus 710 (mju 700): the weatherproof pocket camera that bet on ISO

Sold in Europe as the Olympus mju 700, and written µ 700 on the camera itself.

In early 2006 Olympus announced a 7.1-megapixel metal compact with a rubber-sealed body, a 2.5-inch screen and a $350 price. It had no optical stabiliser, so a mode that raises the sensitivity did the job, and reviewers split over how good the pictures were.

Compiled from 2006 reviews by DigitalCameraReview, PC Magazine and LetsGoDigital, plus launch coverage and a CNET summary · we have not tested a unit yet

Release date and launch price: launched January 2006; launch price $349.99 US · about £230 UK²¹.

The camera in this photo is marked µ 700, the name used outside North America. The Stylus 710 is the same camera.⁹

Meet the camera

It is a small metal compact with a fixed 3x zoom that covers 37 to 111 millimetres in 35 mm terms, at f/3.4 to f/5.7.¹³ DigitalCameraReview found it tinier than it looks in pictures and easy to carry in a shirt or trouser pocket.⁵ Imaging Resource lists it at 95 by 56 by 20 millimetres and 103 grams.³ The weights conflict: DPReview gives 103 g without the battery,¹ PC Magazine printed 3.7 by 2.1 by 0.7 inches and 4.9 ounces without saying what that includes,⁶ and LetsGoDigital said about 140 grams.⁷

The names differ by region. Olympus announced it in London on 26 January 2006 as the µ (mju) 700, available in March at about £230.¹ Imaging Resource covered the same announcement as the Stylus 710, with availability in February and an estimated street price of $349.99.²³ PC Magazine's list price was also $349.99.⁶ It came in four colours: moonlight silver, sunset orange, midnight black and twilight blue.¹

Why this one was interesting

A rubber-sealed body without the bulk

Olympus described the body as weatherproof to a standard it called equivalent to IEC 529 IPX4, and sold optional cases for it: a water-resistant one rated to 3 metres and an underwater one to 40 metres.¹⁵ DigitalCameraReview found rubber O-rings on the battery door and the USB door, and said it would survive a rain shower but could not be submerged.⁵ LetsGoDigital also said it was not for underwater use without the case.⁷ Olympus announced it alongside the 810 and the shockproof, waterproof 720 SW.⁵

Light, and bright on the back

Olympus's headline feature was BrightCapture, which it said allowed pictures in dim light without flash and made the screen up to four times brighter.¹ The headline sensitivity came with a catch: ISO 2500 was only available at 3 megapixels in the Candle and Available Light Portrait modes.¹⁷ Olympus also claimed a start-up time of under one second, a manufacturer claim; the reviewers below timed longer starts.²

A guide, not a manual

PC Magazine liked the Guide setting, which lets you pick a goal such as reducing red-eye and sets the camera for you, although it wished for the step-by-step screens of the Stylus 800.⁶ DigitalCameraReview called the menus easy to get around and suggested Guide mode for people who do not want to dig for settings.⁵ LetsGoDigital said it seldom needed the manual and singled out the built-in help.⁷

A later weatherproof compact in our archive is the Olympus Stylus 1030 SW.

What was lost

There was no optical stabiliser, which Imaging Resource lists plainly,³ and no manual exposure mode. DigitalCameraReview counted full auto, program auto, scene modes, the stabilisation mode and movie, and nothing manual,⁵ and CNET's summary listed no manual controls as a weakness too.⁸ LetsGoDigital added that there was no autofocus assist lamp, which it missed in dim rooms.⁷

The dark: its weak point

The camera's answer to blur was to raise the ISO. Olympus called it Digital Image Stabilization; Imaging Resource explained that it raises the sensitivity to get faster shutter speeds at some cost to noise and detail.⁴ DigitalCameraReview agreed that the mode just bumps up the ISO.⁵ LetsGoDigital called it a cheap alternative to optical stabilisation and said that optical systems had a big advantage.⁷

The reviewers' noise verdicts differed in detail. DigitalCameraReview found noise good at ISO 64 and 100, probably tolerable at 200 for decent-sized prints, and very high from 400.⁵ LetsGoDigital was happy to ISO 400 and said that noise became more visible above it; it judged ISO 800 printable at 10 by 15 centimetres but ISO 1600 and 2500 not good enough for a decent print.⁷ PC Magazine saw more colourless noise than expected at the lowest settings, in a daylight shot at ISO 64 and a flash shot at ISO 100.⁶

Real photographs taken with this camera (the Stylus 710 or µ 700). The sensitivity shown is recorded in each file's own EXIF data. Compare them with the verdicts above.

Like that look? See recent eBay sold listings for this camera ↗

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The little wins

How it drew the picture

This is where the reviewers disagreed most. DigitalCameraReview said image quality and performance were good, with accurate colour, good exposure and no trouble with auto white balance.⁵ LetsGoDigital found the pictures good but not razor sharp, with sharpness falling off to the corners of wide-angle shots.⁷ PC Magazine measured an average resolution of 1,675 lines, which it called great for a 7.1-megapixel camera,⁶ but found its daylight shot weaker than the Canon SD550's in colour, saturation and sharpness and noisier.⁶ CNET's summary went furthest, calling image quality poor and the pictures overprocessed.⁸

Photos taken with this camera, from Wikimedia Commons, credited under each picture.

Where it let you down

Handling split the reviewers. DigitalCameraReview found it hard to hold and said it never felt at rest, with nothing to grip.⁵ PC Magazine felt it would slip out of the hand because of the sharp angles and found some controls cramped.⁶ The PhotographyBLOG pointer to Steve's Digicams quotes that review: "The 710's ergonomics are excellent."⁹ Video was 640 by 480 at 15 frames per second; DigitalCameraReview called that disappointing and PC Magazine found the result choppy.⁵⁶ Speed was another disagreement. Olympus claimed a start-up under one second,² DigitalCameraReview put it at under two seconds,⁵ LetsGoDigital at about two seconds,⁷ and PC Magazine at 2.8 seconds against 1.6 for the Canon SD550, with a 3.7-second flash recycle against the Canon's 2.5.⁶ Shutter lag is another conflict: PC Magazine noted noticeable lag, DigitalCameraReview called it just OK, and LetsGoDigital found virtually no delay.⁶⁵⁷ Battery life was modest: DigitalCameraReview got about 170 shots under moderate to heavy use,⁵ and LetsGoDigital 160 to 180, and it said a full charge took about 5 hours, or about 3 with the optional LI-40C charger.⁷

What the reviewers said in 2006

The timeline

• 26 January 2006Olympus announces the µ (mju) 700 in London, ahead of the PMA show; Imaging Resource covers the same announcement as the Stylus 710.¹²
• February 2006Imaging Resource lists US availability.²
• March 2006The UK announcement says it will be available.¹ DigitalCameraReview publishes its review on the 16th.⁵
• 4 April 2006PC Magazine publishes its review.⁶
• 31 May 2006CNET posts its review summary.⁸

Should you buy one now?

Buy one if you want a small, solid, weatherproof 2006 CCD compact and are happy with daylight snapshots at low ISO. Skip it if you want stabilisation, manual control or smooth video. It launched at about $349.99;² what it sells for now is a question for the sold listings, not for us. We have not tested a unit yet, and the reviews we have are split on picture quality, so look closely at sample photos from the exact camera you plan to buy. Before you bid, check these:

• The name. It is the Stylus 710 in the US and the mju 700 (written µ 700) in Europe, so search both.¹²
• The battery. It uses an LI-42B, and Imaging Resource also lists the LI-40B;¹³ a fresh one is on Amazon ↗.
• The card. It takes xD-Picture Cards only; LetsGoDigital lists sizes from 16 MB to 1 GB.⁷ Check that the seller includes one, and see our memory card guide.
• The seals. DigitalCameraReview pointed to rubber O-rings on the battery and USB doors as the weatherproofing, so check that they are present and undamaged.⁵
• The screen. CNET's summary said the LCD washes out in bright light, and PC Magazine saw a solarised look at extreme viewing angles; DigitalCameraReview found it visible in direct sunlight.⁸⁶⁵

If you are wondering why cameras like this are being hunted down again, we tell that story once, in Pictures that never left the card.

See recent sold prices on eBay ↗Shop on eBay ↗LI-42B battery ↗

Sources

1. DPReview, Pre-PMA 2006: Olympus 810 and 700 (UK announcement dated 26 Jan 2006)
2. Imaging Resource, PMA Spring 2006 show coverage (announced 26 Jan 2006; $349.99 estimated street price)
3. Imaging Resource, Olympus Stylus 710 specification table (a preview entry, no test results)
4. Imaging Resource, Olympus Stylus 710 preview (not a full review)
5. DigitalCameraReview.com, Olympus Stylus 710 review by Ben Stafford (16 Mar 2006; read in the Internet Archive copy of 7 Dec 2006)
6. PC Magazine, Olympus Stylus 710 review by Terry Sullivan (4 Apr 2006; Internet Archive copy of 17 Dec 2006)
7. LetsGoDigital, Olympus mju 700 review (undated; Internet Archive copies of 2008-09)
8. CNET review summary of the Olympus Stylus 710, 31 May 2006 (only the short summary, mirrored by ABC News, could be read)
9. PhotographyBLOG news item pointing to Steve's Digicams' review of the Stylus 710 (we could not open the full review)

Camera photo by Morn (CC BY-SA 3.0); other photographs are credited under each one, all via Wikimedia Commons. Links to eBay and Amazon are affiliate links. We read the PC Magazine, DigitalCameraReview and LetsGoDigital reviews in Internet Archive copies; the Steve's Digicams review itself and most of CNET's text could not be opened.