Outdoors types who want to be able to document themselves on the move, bombing down ski slopes or splashing about on the water's edge, inevitably need a reliable, sturdy camera capable of withstanding a bit of abuse. The reality is, though, that while most compact cameras are small enough to take out without too much of a burden, get a few grains of sand into the body or accidentally lose grip on the device and most will break under the strain.

Sturdy action cameras are nothing new. There are plenty of them on the market from the likes of Panasonic, Pentax and Casio, all giving photographers reassurance from a stronger build. The Olympus mju (or µ) TOUGH-6010 isn't the company's first foray into action compacts as it's an upgrade to its quite recent 6000 model. Earlier in the year we took a look at the 6000, which impressed us so much with its resilient build and decent picture quality that it was granted a Recommended award.

Not much has changed in the way of design in the mju TOUGH-6010. Very portable for an action camera at a mere 95.3 x 63.4 x 22.4mm, it sits nicely in the hand and is easy to operate quickly and effortlessly. It's on the inside that most of the changes have been made, but they're quite subtle. Boasting a higher resolution than the TOUGH-6000, the 12-megapixel TOUGH-6010 is capable of producing images up to 3968 x 2976 pixels.

Designed to withstand more than a few knocks and bumps, the mju TOUGH-6010 is shockproof against drops of up to 1.5 metres, waterproof up to 3 metres and freezeproof to minus 10 degrees centigrade.

Of course, if you're out and about playing in the snow, or splashing about snorkelling, the last thing you will want to do when trying to capture the perfect shot is get stuck with menu options. With a dedicated Scene Mode option on a prominent control dial, you can quickly let the camera do all the hard work, automatically optimising the camera settings to capture the best shots. Although there are the usual scene modes good for snapping up pleasing portraits or landscapes, there are also invaluable settings for photographing pleasing underwater scenes, beach snaps or snow shots.

Just because you want a camera that's good for coping with an outdoors life doesn't mean you should be denied scope for creativity. The mju TOUGH-6010 has introduced a number of “Magic Filters” to the range, giving users without image editing software the chance to get experimental with shots. As well as a Pin Hole option there's scope for Pop Art, Fish-Eye and Sketch effects. But although younger users may have fun with these, you'll be hard pushed to find much use for the results.

A wide lens with a 3.6x optical zoom (equivalent to 28-102mm on a 35mm camera) means it's far easier to photograph larger group shots and with Face Detection the 6010 is able to detect up to 16 faces in a shot. This feature can be used to optimise faces for better quality throughout. Additionally, for improved portraits the camera's dedicated Beauty Mode automatically smooths out skin tones in-camera for a softer, more flattering finish. The results are a bit plasticky, but no worse than effects achieved on competitors' cameras.

In chillier months, when the weather proves a bit too cold for bare hands, operating gadgets outdoors with gloves on can prove a little problematic. Inevitably, whether you're operating your phone, MP3 player or camera, one glove always ends up being taken off. To work around this the µ Tough-6010 includes a Tap Control mode designed to allow you to operate important functions such as flash mode, or activate macro with your gloves on. You can select options by gently tapping the sides of the camera body.

This is a thoughtful idea, but in practice it's a bit of a pain to operate. It doesn't feel natural at all and because the camera is quite small, only holding it with one hand seems awkward, especially if your gloves are quite thick.

If you did accidentally drop the Tough-6010, the large 2.7-inch LCD monitor on the rear of the camera body should remain undamaged. With a special coating it's claimed to be resistant to scratches and moisture and it's not as glossy as some so it's easier to view in sunny conditions.

The mju TOUGH-6010 is designed to excel outdoors, so it comes as no surprise that it performs best in natural light, producing fun, bright and detailed shots. Although there are some dedicated indoors modes too (Candle and Indoor mode) these didn't prove themselves to be too useful. Low light images struggled a little with noise.

Comparing the mju-TOUGH 6010 to the older Mju-TOUGH 6000, the differences are fairly superficial. Other than a slightly larger image size and a few more in-camera filters it's pretty much an identical camera. With that in mind, unless size is of the essence and you are keen to latch on to those extra megapixels, you might be able to save yourself a bit of cash by opting for the older model.

Verdict
This compact camera is easy to operate and looks very stylish considering it's built like a tank. With plenty of helpful scene modes to help you achieve pleasing shots whilst you're on the move, it's a good option for taking on an adventure holiday. There's not been much in the way of development since the TOUGH-6000, though.

Company: Olympus

Contact: 0800 111 4777

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