Olympus SZ-20
Olympus SZ-30MR
Olympus TG-810
Having launched seven cameras on 6 January and four on 8 February, Olympus has announced another 3 new models on 2 March. The three models are: TG-810, SZ-20, SZ-30MR.
The TG-810 will be available in Singapore in March but availability of the two new SZ series models have yet to be ascertained.
The three models and their main highlights are listed below:
| Model Date available Estimated price Colours |
Highlights |
| TG-810 March 2011 S$540 Colours:
Black Silver Blue Red |
– 14 megapixels CCD. – 5x optical zoom from 28 to 140 mm (35mm equiv). – 3” 920k dots TFT LCD display. – HD movie (MPEG-4 AVC/H.264) at 1280 x 720 pixels with dedicated REC button. Battle-hardened for the rugged adventurer, this jock is: – waterproof to a depth of 10m |
| SZ-20 Avail: TBD Price: TBD Colours:
Black Silver
|
– 16 megapixels backlit CMOS. – 12.5x optical zoom from 24 to 300 mm (35mm equiv). – 3” 460k dots LCD display. – HD movie (MPEG-4 AVC/H.264) at 1920 x 1080 pixels with dedicated REC button. For the avid traveller and sports fan, this compact has large zoom, high sensitivity sensor and good for high-speed continuous shooting. Additional features include: – Hand-held starlight mode combines 4 exposures to eliminate blur and noise in low light. |
| SZ-30MR Avail: TBD Price: TBD Colours:
Black Silver
|
– 16 megapixels backlit CMOS. – 24x optical zoom lens from wide angle of 25 to 600 mm (35mm equiv). – 3” 460k dots LCD display. – HD movie (MPEG-4 AVC/H.264) at 1920 x 1080 pixels with dedicated REC button. Has everything the SZ-20 has, and more. Zooms twice as far. Multi recording shoots 1080p HD movies and full resolution photos simultaneously. |
| Common features | Features that the 3 new cameras share (and together with many other recent Olympus models) include:
– 8 Magic Filters for in-camera special effects for stills. |
The XZ-1 is a 10-megapixel high-end compact with 4x optical zoom from 28mm to 112mm (35mm equivalent). It records HD movies, has a 610k dots OLED display and features 6 Art Filters that can be applied to movies recorded. The camera comes in black or white and retails at S$748 (incl GST).
For complete beginners, there is the usual everything-automatic mode (iAuto) that takes care of all shooting settings for you. There are also 18 scene modes with pre-canned settings catered for specific photographic situations from the usual portrait and landscape modes to more unusual modes like e-Portrait, Underwater (Macro or Wide), Multi-Exposure, Cuisine, Pet etc.
Together with its relatively large 1/1.63” sensor, it provides image quality and depth of field that I found comparable to some entry-level DSLRs that I’ve used in the past. The image processing engine – TruePic V – is the same one used in the Pen series of cameras.
Shooting HD video is a cinch with a dedicated record button. No need to fumble through complicated on-screen menus. Recording movies using Diorama mode is pretty cool, like a video on fast-forward.
The control ring around the lens is a pleasure to use. It is tactile and responsive and provides immediate adjustments to the main setting for each shooting mode (eg. aperture setting in Aperture Priority mode).
Areas to improve? I wished there is a more direct way to access ISO and White Balance settings, rather than using the menu. I also found the wheel controller (around the arrow navigation keys on the rear panel) too slow when making large adjustments, say of the shutter speed. But this is highly subjective and I suspect it’s because I’m spoilt by the more tactile lens ring.
