Olympus megapixel camera due

Olympus will slash prices on existing digital camera models in concert with the April release of a new, higher-resolution product.

Olympus today announced the D-340L, the third generation of its 300 line of digital cameras, for an estimated street price of $799.

Users can view images from the D-340L without attaching the camera to a PC, part of a growing trend in digital photography. Olympus and other digital camera makers like Canon, whose new line offers a similar feature, believe this will widen the market for digital cameras to include photography enthusiasts who do not yet own PCs.

Images from the D-340L can be downloaded straight to a floppy disk, or television or video-recorder via video-out, or the camera can be connected directly to a digital printer.

The D-340L offers adjustable resolution controls. Standard setting offers 307,200 pixels per image, while a higher setting offers 1.2-megapixel resolution. The Super High Quality option also offers 1.2-megapixel resolution, but with low compression, which improves the picture quality.

The D-340L weighs nine ounces and comes with either 4MB or 8MB of SmartMedia removable memory, to store the images. Depending on the resolution chosen and the amount of memory, the D-340L can store 9 to 120 images.

The camera maker also announced discounts on its existing line of digital cameras to make room, price-wise, for the D-340L. The D-220L, released last July, is being reduced from $499 to $399. It offers 640-by-480 pixels per image.

The D-320L, which offers 1024-by-768 resolution, is being reduced from $699 to $599. The D-500L will be reduced from $899 to $799.

All new prices are effective April 1, coinciding with the release of the D-340L.