CES: Three more new Olympus cameras

With just three new compacts last week, Olympus was struggling to keep up with the dozen new models unveiled by Sony at the CES.  The manufacturer has picked up the pace, though, with three additions to its µ range.

SD Takes Over

Now that Olympus has finally given up on xD cards, and Sony has included an SD card slot alongside room for Memory Stick cards on its own new cameras, SD/SDHC is becoming the standard format for digital cameras.  Samsung, meanwhile, is ahead of the game with cameras that are only compatible with microSD cards.

But let's get back to Olympus' new models: the µ 5010, µ 7040 and µ 9010, all three of which will share the same 14 Megapixel sensor and dual stabilisation that uses both digital and mechanical systems to stabilise the image.  All three will be able to record 720p video with mono sound, and send it to a TV using a mini HDMI output.

It's the zoom that distinguishes the three models: it's 10x for the µ 9010 (28-280 mm, f/3.2-5.9); 7x for the µ 7040 (28-196 mm, f/3-5.9) and 5x for the µ 5010 (23-130 mm, f/2.8-6.5).  The LCD screen also changes from one model to the other, with the µ 7040 enjoying a 3'', 230 000 pixel display, while the other two cram the same number of pixels into 2.7''.  All the usual features like automatic scene detection, subject-tracking autofocus and face-detection are there, along with filters and effects.

Olympus µ 9010 Find the best price	Olympus µ 7040 MARCHANDS €     Amazon.co.uk  12.99  Amazon.co.uk  16.99  Amazon mark...  42.76  Compare prices	Olympus µ 5010 Find the best price

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