Olympus mju Tough-6020 and Tough-8010: Hard shell, long memory

The Olympus mju Tough-6020 and Tough-8010 are secure enough in their masculinity to wear pink, and who can blame them when they're waterproof, shockproof, freezeproof and even crushproof

Richard Trenholm

Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.

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Richard Trenholm

Feb. 2, 2010 4:57 a.m. PT

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If wearing candy pink is a sign that a chap is secure in his masculinity, then the new Olympus mju Tough-6020 is very secure indeed. The 6020, pictured above, and its mucker, the mju Tough-8010, are the latest cameras inured to the elements. If that's not enough, they also feature high-definition video-recording capability and capacious memory in the pockets of their snowsuits.

Both cameras are 14-megapixel snappers, packing a 5x wide optical zoom lens, with a 28mm wide angle equivalent to a 35mm camera. Olympus has gone back to SD and SDHC cards after some messing about with xD-Picture Cards and microSD adaptors. Even better, the new models contain a decent amount of internal memory. The 6020 has 1GB, and the 8010 holds 2GB.

The 6020 is waterproof to 5m, shockproof to 1.5m and freezeproof to -10C. Brrr. The 8010 is waterproof to 10m, shockproof to 2m, freezeproof to -10C, and crushproof to 100kg (16 stones). That means a post-Christmas portly Craver could jump on the 8010, underwater, in the Arctic, and it wouldn't break.

The 6020 and 8010 shoot 720p video. They'll film up to 4GB, or 29 minutes, of high-definition video in the MPEG-4 format. Their burst modes fire off 5 frames per second.

On reflection, that's more purple than pink, no matter what Olympus says. For more pictures of these tough guys in action, and to find out the prices, click 'Continue'.