Olympus announced a number of new cameras this week -- at least nine, by our count -- with models that'll attract those with finer tastes, frugal minds, and everything in between, which are all launching before March. First up, for the little espionage in training, we've got the Ultra Zoom SP-590UZ, a 10 megapixel behemoth with a 26x zoom lens and 5x digital zoom for up to 130x zoom in all. It can record RAW files and will shoot 10 frames per second in three megapixel mode. No price mentioned -- for any of these cameras, actually -- and according to the presser, it's set to launch in March. There's also the 10 megapixel Stylus 550WP that's water-resistant up to three meters and is coming February in crystal blue, pure white and midnight black. Olympus is touting the Stylus 9000 as the smallest 10x zoom / 12 megapixel camera on market and is debuting in February along with a similarly-spec'd 7000 (pictured) with 7x zoom, while a 5x zoom variant is due out mid-January. The 10 megapixel TOUGH-6000 and 12 megapixel TOUGH-8000 boast
Tap control and will hit retail mid-January and February, respectively. Finally, we've got three budget-priced cameras, including a (potentially Europe-only) 10 megapixel FE-5000 with 5x optical zoom, a 12 megapixel / 3x zoom FE30-10, and a 10 megapixel / 3x zoom FE-45. All three models feature black or gold paint colors, with the FE-45 having deep blue and FE30-10 magenta options, as well. The latter is coming in March, while the other two will hit late this month.
Read - FE-5000, FE30-10, and FE-45
Read - SP-590UZ
Read - Stylus 550WP
Read - Stylus 5000 / 7000 / 9000
Read - Stylus Tough-6000 / 8000
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
LloydChiro @ Jan 7th 2009 1:07PM
Where is the micro-4/3rds camera? I can't wait to see what Oly comes up with
Plothole @ Jan 7th 2009 4:53PM
Ditto. I hope they keep it compact like the prototype.
Newone @ Jan 7th 2009 6:57PM
Me too. Want a camera that has exchangable lens and fits into a pocket, at least with lens removed.
Erik @ Jan 7th 2009 1:27PM
Errm... If the 9000 is pictured, shouldn't it have 12x zoom? From the picture and the specs, it looks more like the 7000 version. Just sayin'.
belard @ Jan 7th 2009 1:46PM
The SP-590UZ is 12 megapixels, not 10.
sam h @ Jan 7th 2009 2:11PM
No geo-tagging features, I assume?
Gad Get @ Jan 7th 2009 2:20PM
About the SP-590UZ, there is also an optional TCON-17N Teleconverter that one can attach using the CLA-11 Adaptor Ring, resulting in a 130x zoom ratio, and an insane 1149mm maximum focal length!
Of course, I'll be waiting to see what DPReview.com thinks of the image quality provided by the diminutive sensor, and what they have to say about the actual quality of the lens. With a zoom like this, it's pretty much a given that the lens will suffer from some pretty ugly chromatic aberration, and fairly severe distortion, especially at the extremes of the enormous zoom range. Also, I would be surprised if the telephoto end of the range doesn't show an irritating amount of vignetting. Oh, and all these points also apply for the Kodak Z980 (link below).
http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/04/kodak-delivers-z980-24x-megazoom-m380-point-and-shoot-cameras/