The 760's ergonomics are excellent. It is very compact, yet its wedge shape makes it easy to hold. The controls are well placed and functional, allowing your thumb to fall over them naturally. A simple mode dial lets you switch between automatic still shots, scene modes, the Guide, Movie mode, and playback and is controlled by your thumb. The FUNCtion button allows you to quickly change settings for Auto or Program, White balance, ISO sensitivity, Drive mode etc., without having to enter the camera menu. The Built-in Help Guide conveniently displays brief descriptions of camera settings and features at the push of a button.

The 760 uses a large 2.5-inch "HyperCrystal" LCD, which I found worked well in most lighting condition except for bright sunlight. Because the display has a shiny surface, there are still many angles that reflect the sun. For indoor shooting, or anytime you're in low- ambient lighting, it "gains up" to help brighten your subject. As with all Stylus series cameras, the 760 features a durable metal exterior and is made water tight by rubber gaskets on the inside to seal gaps and prevent moisture from entering the body. This allows it to be used in a gentle sprinkle or even a torrential downpour, however it can not be submerged. If your going to the beach and into the water, then the optional PT-032 Underwater Housing is required.

Shooting performance was impressive. From power up to first image captured measured approx. 2.2 seconds, this includes the time it takes to extend the lens and boot up. Shutter lag was 1/10 of a second when pre-focused and 2/10 of a second including autofocus. Using single exposure mode, the shot to shot delay averaged about 1.6 seconds without the use of the flash and about 2.6 - 3.8 seconds with the flash, depending on subject distance and battery power. The Stylus 760 offers two sequential (burst) modes (Continuous, and High Speed Continuous.) Using the standard mode, I was able to capture 4 frames in about 2.7 seconds. With High Speed mode, the image size is reduced to SQ1, and even then, I captured 24 frames in about 6.3 seconds. When using both modes, the LCD briefly displays the last image captured, making it somewhat difficult to follow a moving subject; too bad it doesn't also have an optical viewfinder. Our tests were done using a standard (not High Speed) Olympus 512MB xD-picture card, SHQ quality, preview off, flash off, and all other settings at default (unless otherwise noted.) Times may vary depending on lighting conditions, camera settings, media, etc.

The overall image quality for this Stylus when using the SHQ mode is good for an 7.1- megapixel model. The majority of our samples showed good overall exposure and nice color saturation. I did notice a bit of edge softness, and average amounts of image noise were present in high and low contrast areas. The flower shots in our samples page were taken in overcast but still had little noise. Outdoor pictures captured nice sharp images in sunshine, with beautiful sky detail.

Indoor shooting will have to work within the limits of the flash. Olympus claims the flash has a maximum range of 11.8 feet at wide angle (ISO auto.), so long range shots are limited. My best indoor portrait shots were from about 6 feet away, using the mid telephoto end of the zoom range. The creative photographer can use "Bright Capture" to clearly preview your shot on the LCD and capture brighter, more vivid images without a flash. Bright Capture boosts ISO up to 1600 when needed but noise levels will start at ISO's over 400 so be careful of overusing this feature.

The Stylus 760 also has the ability to record high-quality video at resolutions of 640x480, 320x240 or 160x120, with a fixed frame rate of 15fps and in AVI format. There is a built-in microphone so audio is recorded. Some of the past models did not feature this, forcing users to capture silent movies. However the zoom feature will not work during videos so be sure to frame your video before shooting. Overall it captured good movies with little noticeable compression noise. Just be sure you purchase a large xD card, as it consumes about 1MB per second.

The Stylus 760 is powered by a small 3.7v 740mAh LI-42B rechargeable lithium battery, which is charged by the handy LI-40C charger. Because it charges the batteries out of the camera, it's easy to charge a second battery so you always have a fully charged one ready. You can't power the camera with any other battery type so we strongly recommend the purchase of a second battery. Olympus does not specify the battery life but our testing revealed it to be quite good. I was able to capture a large majority of our sample images (approx 110 pictures and 25 short movie clips) and conduct some of our other tests before the camera posted a low battery warning. Exactly how many pictures you can capture is going to vary depending on how many are taken with flash, how often the lens is zoomed in or out and how frequently you review images. Lithium batteries hold a charge much longer than NiMH type batteries when sitting idle and can be "topped off" whenever desired without shortening their life span.

Bottom line - the Olympus Stylus 760 continues the tradition of the Stylus line by offering good image quality, great performance, and sleek design all packed in a weather resistant shell. This model rose to the top of our list in this series. The image quality could be better and unfortunately it uses the incredibly slow xD memory cards that Olympus and Fujifilm designed (we hope someday they'll switch to SD). If you're in the market for a versatile little pocket-digicam that you can take out into the rain, look no further. With an MSRP of about $249.99, we feel it offers an outstanding value and should be a very popular model this year.