The Olympus MJU 5000 is a stylish digital camera. At just under 25mm wide it will fit into larger pockets or a small bag. In terms of the design Olympus has rounded off one of the corners. Although this might not sound much of a difference it does help to distinguish this camera from the mass of strictly rectangular models out there on the market. It is available in blue and black. I was quite taken with the blue version that I had for review.
This is a step up from a more basic camera. There may not be any major differences, but there are a number of small enhancements to features. To start with there is a 5x zoom lens. I have noticed over the past year that lenses are getting longer and even this fairly small amount of extra zoom can help you to get in that bit closer for your shots. Next up is the 2.7 inch LCD screen. This is another area where cameras are advancing with a number of models offering this size as opposed to the smaller 2.5 inch screens. Image stabilization is included too. This feature is available on more and more cameras as well. Just how important this is can depend on how steady you can hold a camera and whether or not you take a lot of photos in less than perfect light. I would not describe it as a necessity on a camera with a 5x lens as opposed to say one with 15x zoom, but every little helps when it comes to taking sharp photos.
After a photo has been taken you have the chance to change it to be in black and white or sepia. There is also a tool that can automatically remove red eye. You can also add short voice clips to a photo to help jog your memory at a later date. These are limited to 4 seconds, so you are going to have to speak pretty quickly if you want to say much! Other cameras allow 30 seconds of commentary for a photo.
When it comes to picture quality the MJU 5000 delivers inline with what I have come to expect from a typical point and shoot digital camera. There are no major issues. Pictures could have been a shade sharper, but this is unlikely to be noticeable unless you are planning to make king sized prints. So I would say the MJU 5000 handles most snapshot situations well.
For storing photos Olympus has provided three options. The first is a small amount of internal memory. This will get full after about a dozen shots. This is enough to test the camera out, but not much more. It can also be used as an emergency back up if a card fails or you suddenly find your card is full. The MJU 5000 is compatible with both xD cards and micro SD cards.
There may be plenty of alternative cameras you can consider. These include smaller, ultra compact models or others around the same size such as the Canon IXUS 990 IS. That is another camera launched in the Spring of 2009 and one I plan to review shortly. If you would consider a camera that has been a round a little longer and may therefore offer a bit of extra value for money than the Fuji Finepix F60fd is a very good choice. In the same range Olympus also produce what they now call Tough cameras. These are waterproof, shockproof and freezeproof. So cameras such as the Tough 6000 and Tough 8000 are also options you may wish to consider, especially of you have a young family and your camera might come in for some wear and tear.
