olympus

Olympus skins bring back the '60s

If traditionally stuffy HP can come up with a psychedelic laptop, then certainly Olympus can do the same with its cameras. (Though that doesn't necessarily mean that's a good thing.)

Like it or hate it, Olympus is releasing a limited-edition "Mju 1020" sporting colors and patterns that could be spotted by a one-eyed beggar a mile away. Designed by Romanian artist Matei Apostolescu, 5,000 of the 10.1-megapixel cameras will be produced with skins worthy of a Jefferson Airplane album cover. Aside from the funky threads, it features a 7x optical zoom, 2.7-inch LCD, … Read more

Olympus revs its entry-level dSLR

There isn't a helluva lot new about the E-420, Olympus' minor update to its E-410 bottom-of-the-line dSLR, but that's not unexpected for a model that will only set you back between $500 and $700. The most significant new capability is a built-in wireless flash controller, which Olympus seems to be putting in many of its enthusiast models (including the SP-570 UZ).

Though Olympus makes a big deal about the E-420's size, in truth it's only 0.01 to 0.02 inches smaller in any dimension than its predecessor, and in fact weighs a couple of ounces … Read more

My March vacation: Not all fun and games

I'll be on vacation for all of March, so except for a couple posts timed to pop up later, the activity on this blog is going to be awfully light.

I'll be trying out an Olympus E-3, to see if a weatherproof Four Thirds camera really is better for traveling. And for those of you who helped steer my thinking on my plea for help on how best to store photos while traveling, here's what I settled on.

I know I said I wasn't going to lug a PC, but I am after all. I can … Read more

Fan-funded music

Making a professional-sounding recording can be expensive, particularly for ensembles (like rock bands) who want to capture at least some semblance of a live performance.

Sure, you can get an decent recording with a portable stereo recorder, or a couple of inexpensive mics panned left and right and plugged directly into the mixer, but most artists want their music to sound as good as it possibly can--as good as any other artist played on the radio. That takes an array of microphones and other audio gear and somebody who knows what they're doing. In other words, money.

In the … Read more

Google gives respite from a raw camera deal

I was in a pinch a few weeks ago, and Google's Picasa software saved my skin. But now my warm glow of gratitude has begun wearing off, replaced by a simmering annoyance with camera makers for their profusion of proprietary raw formats.

Let me explain. I was covering the Photo Marketing Association trade show in Las Vegas, toting my Canon EOS Rebel XT camera to photograph products and people. For my personal photography I usually shoot in raw format to maximize the detail and flexibility, but for work purposes I use JPEG because it's faster to process and … Read more

Cameras with built-in geotagging on horizon

Geotagging, in which digital photos are labeled with the location where they were taken, is mostly unfamiliar to photographers today. But new developments are likely going to put the technology on the map.

In interviews at the Photo Marketing Association trade show in Las Vegas recently, several camera executives expressed an interest in geotagging and some companies were demonstrating technology. It's clear that mainstream geotagging is a matter of when, not if.

The strongest evidence I encountered is Air Semiconductor, a start-up building a chip designed to let cameras process GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite signals so latitude and … Read more

Olympus drops perfectly good cameras into the drink

Correction 7:50 a.m. PST: The lower-end model is the Stylus 850 SW.

LAS VEGAS--I can't speak for their optical quality or performance, but I like the idea behind Olympus' shockproof and waterproof compact cameras--and I liked the publicity stunts the Japanese camera maker used to show them off at the Photo Marketing Association trade show here.

In one demonstration, the camera drops down a pegboard, banging off several on the way down before splashing into a tray of water.

On another, a handful of cameras were frozen in a large block of ice.

And several cameras were … Read more

Underexposed blog: Links of the day

VueScan Scanning Software - Software for getting more out of your scanner, including high bit depth DNG images. A useful thing if you want to use your scanner as a camera. Naked Light 1.0 beta due this week - The programmer behind this Mac-only image-editing application seems a little taxed, but he says the 1.0 beta will ship this week. He's on a leave of absense to write it now, though. YouTube - Pentax K20D - A useful video intro to the Pentax K20D from Pentax. I wish my camera had a built-in intervalometer. YouTube - Pentax K200D intro … Read more

Olympus 20x zoom camera for the vox paparazzi

From its inception, Olympus' Ultra Zoom series--simply referred to as "UZ" in recent years--has always led the telephoto field for sheer reach. Once again, the company jumps ahead of the paused-at-18x pack with its 20x lens-equipped SP-570 UZ.

Size matters most in this update to the SP-560 UZ: it's got a higher-resolution CCD, longer (and slightly wider-angle) lens, and slightly larger LCD display. In a nice design tweak, the lens now has a manual zoom ring; on the preproduction unit we toyed with briefly, it still had that odd servo feel that similar controls on camcorders have, … Read more