Life can be tough, especially for digital cameras, and precision instruments such as these are not commonly built to withstand the abuse they can sometimes be subjected to. Olympus’ solution is the Mju 725SW, built to withstand being dropped from a height of up to one and a half metres, this camera is not only tough, but also waterproof to a depth of five metres. In this review Gary Wolstenholme searches for a chink in this warrior’s armor.

A choice of two autofocus modes are available through the camera’s menu – iESP and Spot. The iESP mode automatically selects an off-centre focusing point depending on your subject. The Spot focusing mode is fixed to one point in the centre, allowing you to focus and recompose for off-centre subjects. The autofocus on the Mju 725SW isn’t the fastest I have used, but it certainly isn’t slow.

In light of this accolade, in October Olympus launched an updated version, the mju 725 SW. It looks almost identical, with the same tough industrial-looking steel body, complete with exposed Allen bolt heads. These struck me as a bit of a cosmetic pretence the first time around, so in a spirit of inquiry I undid the three on the front panel just to make sure they were real bolts. In fact one of them was a fake, but the other two held the front inset panel in place. The camera comes in three colour schemes (the Titanium version you see here, plus Deep Blue and Cherry Red) with only this inset panel being of the different colour.

The similarity between the two models even extends to the retail price. The mju 720 SW is available online for around £220, while the best price for the new 725 SW is £223.

The only real difference between the 720 and its successor is an improvement to its already impressive durability. Where the 720 was waterproof to a depth of three metres, the 725 is waterproof to five metres, a whole extra 1/5th of an atmosphere of pressure, which I’m sure will make a huge difference.

Specifications

• 7.1 megapixels
• 19 MB internal memory. Removable xD-Picture Card.
• 3x optical zoom equivalent to 38mm-114mm in 35mm format
• 2.5” LCD monitor with 115,000 pixels
• 7cm Super macro mode
• 25 scene programs
• Shutter speed range – 1/2s-1/1000s (up to 4sec. in night mode)
• Sensitivity range – ISO 80 – 1600
• Waterproof up to a water pressure equivalent to 5m depth
• Shock-proof from heights of up to 1.5m