Olympus Breaks the Ultra-Zoom Compact Camera Barrier
U.S. camera maker Olympus has announced the SP-810UZ, a compact camera with a 36x optical zoom. That means no changing lenses, no bulky camera equipment and no big price tag. The new ultra-zoom camera will retail for $330.
Ultra-zoom compact cameras are also known as long zoom cameras with lenses starting at 12x. The new Olympus camera's zoom capability edged out its nearest competitor, the Nikon Powershot SX30 with a 35x optical zoom lens, but beat Nikon's price by around $70.
Like its predecessor the SP-800UZ, the SP-810UZ shoots 720p HD video and has a 14-megapixel sensor, 3-D mode for stills, in-camera panorama and a deeper menu of creative filters, including the new Reflection that adds a glassy, pool-like effect to photos.
It can be used with standard memory cards as well Eye-Fi cards to add wireless sharing and transfer to a computer. This ultra-zoom can shoot around 350 pictures on a single charge, that's 75 percent more than its predecessor.
The SP-810UZ has HDMI support, so you can connect the camera to an HDTV and use the TV's remote to navigate through your photos.
This new model is a bit slimmer, lighter and $20 less than the SP-800UZ.
The Olympus SP-810UZ will be available in black, starting in September 2011.
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