This is the toughest camera on earth.

Built for those people that have a less than forgiving lifestyle (like having little kids who like to destroy stuff), the Olympus Tough Lite 850S should be able to handle anything you throw at it.

It’s waterproof, shockproof and takes 8 megapixel pictures. It’s basically the Arnold Schwarzenegger of point-and-shoots. CNet definitely enjoyed their tank that can take pictures.

Olympus touts the 850SW as having face detection technology that will automatically adjust the exposure of a shot to give better colour reproduction of scenes automatically. In our tests this worked reasonably well, although we did find leaving it on did lead to some pictures with a slightly washed-out appearance.

The 850SW is a good camera, and at AU$399 (RRP) a very competitively priced one. Our only large caveats with it are physical — the size of the buttons — and technological - the use of expensive xD memory cards where SD cards are cheaper and more readily available. For those with small children, or people who enjoy an active lifestyle and don’t want to destroy a range of compact cameras, the 850SW is just about a perfect match.

Here are some of the key Features

• 8.0 Megapixels
• 3x Optical Zoom
• Waterproof to 3m
• Snowproof to -10°c
• Shockproof to 1.5m
• 2.5″ HyperCrystal LCD Screen
• In-Built Panorama
• Nightproof Technology
• Shakeproof Anti Blur Mode
• Face Detection and Shadow Adjust
• Editproof with Perfect Fix
• Movie mode with sound
• Pre-capture movie mode
• TruePic III Image Processor

Basically it could take a direct hit from a Iraqi tank and still manage to get a scenery shot.  

In an age when camera bags act like bunkers and photographers treat their Mark III’s better than their own children, it’s nice to see a camera that can take some sort of abuse.

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