Olympus mju-7000 hands-on

We're unashamed sci-fi nerds here at CNET UK, and one of our favourite things is looking at what the futurists of the past thought the future of today would look like. Which explains why we like the 12-megapixel Olympus mju-7000 camera so much.

It looks gracefully gorgeous, our two-tone silver and black version feeling retro and yet modern at the same type: with its clean lines and light-up plastic buttons it resembles a prop from a 1970s sci-fi show imagining what a camera would look like in the 1990s.

It's not just the styling that's interesting about the 7000's design: it packs in a large 7x zoom lens into its svelte frame. Anyone interested in the long zoom capability of the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ6 but put off by that camera's bulk would do well to give the much more pocket-friendly 7000 a spin. Admittedly, at the wide end its 37mm equivalent focal length isn't much to write home, but if your priority's the line of your trousers it's worth a look.

Our favourite feature so far is the nifty panorama mode, which requires only one press of the shutter release. The camera locks onto a spot at one side of the image, and gives you an onscreen target. When you move the camera to match the target to the spot, the frame is immediately captured. You do it again and you have yourself a peachy three-image panorama.

Slightly less impressive features include a beauty mode, which -- actually, don't get us started. Click through our gallery to see more, including pricing and availability.