Olympus Mju 9000

Olympus Mju 9000 Review

Need a small camera with a lot of zoom power? Then you’re talking about the Olympus Mju 9000 (aka Stylus 9000), which is a compact-sized camera with a generous 10X optical zoom lens built into it.

Since the time Olympus divided the Stylus line into rugged and regular class, their regular Stylus/Mju snappers have been boasting bigger and better zoom lenses to distinguish themselves from their more rugged siblings and their tough rivals as well.

The Olympus Mju 9000 comes with 12 megapixels, a stabilized 10X zoom lens, a 2.7-inch LCD display and a variety of shooting modes. If these specs don’t sound like your typical description for a regular compact camera, then you’re right. This is because the Mju 9000 is entering the arena of big zoom compact cameras. Which means the Mju 9000 is going to be in for a tough fight.

In the US, the camera’s name is the Olympus Stylus 9000. Elsewhere in the globe, it is known as the Olympus Mju 9000.

The Olympus Mju 9000 has a dimension of 96 x 60 x 31mm and weighs a mere 185 g (empty and without battery or memory card). Based on size and weight, the Olympus Mju 9000 is the lightest and smallest super-zoom compact camera in the market today. It’s the size of a regular compact camera (maybe a little thicker than most) and could easily fit into any pocket.

Like most Olympus cameras, the Olympus Mju 9000 comes with a built-in 45 MB of internal memory so you’ll need to get a bigger-capacity memory card for the camera right away. The Mju 9000 supports both microSD cards as well as xD-Picture cards via the included adapter. Get at least 2 gigabytes of memory for the camera and stick to the more popular microSD cards.

At the back of the Olympus Mju 9000 is a 2.7 inch screen with a 230,000 pixels Hyper-Crystal 3 LCD display which boasts of better image visibility compared to the previous versions of Hyper-Crystal II LCDs. Indoor and low light conditions are brilliantly displayed and outdoor scenes are pleasingly viewable. You can also adjust brightness level up to 5 steps through the camera menu.

One of the finer additions Olympus put on the Mju 9000 are back-illuminated buttons. All of the buttons at the back of the device are backlighted, so you can adjust your settings even in the dark.

The Olympus Mju 9000 has bundled an Olympus LI-50B lithium-Ion rechargeable battery as well as a battery charger in its box. The LI-50B lithium-Ion battery is capable of 250 shots per battery charge and passes the CIPA standard.

The Olympus Mju 9000 comes with the standard bundled accessories which include LI-50B rechargeable lithium-ion battery, battery charger, wrist strap, microSD to xD-Picture card adapter, USB and A/V cables, camera software CD (Olympus Master) and a User’s manual.

The Olympus Mju 9000 has its key advantage of being smaller and lighter than competitors in its class, and you won’t get disappointed how such a small camera can take on the big jobs.