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| (Credit: Olympus) |
Consumers must be calling for more zoom on smaller cameras because Olympus announced three new Stylus compacts with 7x and 5x lenses. The Stylus-7040, 7030, and 5010 all come with long lenses, 14-megapixel sensors, and lots of internal memory.
The new Olympus Stylus digital cameras have wide-angle lenses on them. The Stylus-7040 and 7030 have a 7x optical zoom lens that measures 28-196mm and has an f/3 maximum aperture. The Stylus-5010 has a 5x lens that is even wider at 26-130mm and offers more light with its f/2.8 max aperture.
These cameras sound much like the new FH-series recently announced by Panasonic. The Panasonic Lumix FH-series cameras all come with 28mm wide-angle lenses that reach 8x for the FH20 and 5x for the FH3 and FH1. Two of the cameras have 14 megapixels, like the new Olympus cameras.
The Olympus Stylus-7040 has a 3-inch LCD screen and 2GB of internal memory crammed into an inch-thick camera body. It sits below the Stylus-9000 in the lineup; that camera has 12 megapixels and a 2.7-inch LCD, but a longer 10x lens. It sells for $299 while the new 7040 will sell for $249.
The Olympus Stylus-7030 has the same resolution and 7x lens as the 7040, but has a smaller 2.7-inch LCD and one gigabyte less internal memory. It will retail for $199.
The Stylus-5010 will also sell for the same price. It comes with the same amount of internal memory as the 7030 along with the same resolution and LCD screen size.
The three new Stylus digital cameras make a few improvements over older Stylus models. They are compatible with SD/SDHC cards instead of the old xD/microSD compatibility. They also add an HD movie mode with a dedicated button, a new graphic user interface that is supposed to be easier to use, and a new auto focus tracking mode. There are also new “magic filters” that embellish images to look like pop art or cartoon line drawings as well as pictures from pin hole cameras and fish eye lenses.
“These Stylus cameras are the best of all worlds with high-definition video, stunning high-resolution stills and a powerful zoom range,” said Nadine Clark, product manager at Olympus Imaging America Inc. in the Jan. 7 press release. The cameras also come in a variety of colors. The Stylus-7040 and 5010 come in titanium, pink, and light blue while the Stylus-7030 comes in titanium, blue, and purple.
