The Olympus Tough 6000 the second toughest current digital camera, just being the more expensive Tough 8000. The Tough 6000 can be submerged underwater up to 3 meters for 2 hours and can be dropped from 1.5 meters onto concrete. This is a take-anywhere camera predisposed for outdoor adventure.

As a 0.9" thick ultra-compact, the Tough 6000 is pocket-friendly and turns in an average performance among this category. Image quality is good enough until ISO 200. Its white-balance and color accuracy is actually quite good, with bright print-ready exposure. Distortion and softness are also low for this kind of lens. Speed is on the slow side of average tough, so this one is not suitable for action photography - just an action photographer!

Regardless of the pros and cons, this camera brings a rare feature set among digital cameras at an affordable price. Without the tough waterproof side, an excellent ultra-compact such as the Fuji Finepix F100fd performs much better in nearly every respect. On the other hand, for an even tougher camera, the Olympus Stylus Tough 8000 is the toughest digital camera yet. That one can be submerged up to 10 meters and resists drops of up to 2 meters.