Olympus announced a whole lot of cameras today, included the new Stylus SW series, now rebranded as “Stylus Tough” cameras as promised. And let’s begin with Olympus pushing the “most zoom in a single lens” barrier yet again with their latest SP590 Ultra Zoom which has a whopping 26X optical zoom!

Olympus SP590 Ultra Zoom
(Super zoom camera with a 26X lens)

• 12 effective megapixels
• 26 – 676 mm (f2.8 – f5.0) 26X optical zoom lens
• Sensor shift image stabilization
• 2.7 inch LCD with EVF
• Full manual controls and wireless flash control
• New multi-exposure, soft background focus, birdwatching and beauty fix modes
• VGA 30 FPS movie mode with sound
• Takes xD Picture cards
• Uses 4 AA batteries
• Available in March for $450

Olympus Stylus 5000, Stylus 7000 and Stylus 9000
(Compact cameras with large zoom lenses)

• 12 effective megapixels
• 37 – 260 mm (f3.5 – f5.3) 7X optical zoom lens for Stylus 7000
  28 – 280 mm (f3.2 – f5.9) 10X optical zoom lens for Stylus 9000
• Sensor shift image stabilization
• 3 inch LCD for Stylus 7000, 2.7 inch LCD for Stylus 9000 (I have no idea why)
• No manual controls
• Intelligent Auto mode (camera picks a mode automatically), Beauty Fix mode and OR button (OR stands for Olympus Recommended) brings up panorama, Perfect Shot Preview and Shadow Adjustment functions
• VGA 30 FPS movie mode with sound
• HDMI port
• Takes xD Picture cards
• Uses a lithium-ion battery (LI-42B for Stylus 7000, LI-50B for Stylus 9000)
• Available in February for $300 (Stylus 7000) and $350 (Stylus 9000)
• Stylus 7000 will come in your choice of silver, black or blue
  Stylus 9000 will come in your choice of beige or black

Olympus also announced another camera: the Stylus 5000, a compact with 12 megapixels, a 5X zoom lens equivalent to 36-180 mm and 2.7 inch LCD.

Olympus Stylus Tough 6000 and Stylus Tough 8000
(Rugged compact cameras)

• 10 effective megapixels for Stylus Tough 6000
  12 effective megapixels for Stylus Tough 8000
• 28 – 102 mm (f3.5 – f5.1) 3.6X optical zoom lens
• Rugged design:
  Stylus Tough 6000 is waterproof to 10 feet, drop proof to 5 feet and freezeproof to 14 degrees
  Stylus Tough 8000 is waterproof to 33 feet, drop proof to 6.5 feet, freezeproof to 14 degrees and crushproof up to 220 lbs
• Sensor shift image stabilization
• 2.7 inch LCD
• Tap control and a new LCD backlight boost button like the FE-series
• No manual controls
• Intelligent Auto mode (camera picks a mode automatically), Beauty Fix mode and OR button
• VGA 30 FPS movie mode with sound
• Takes xD Picture cards
• Uses a lithium-ion battery (Stylus Tough 8000 can be charged via AC adapter)
• Available in this month for $300 (Stylus Tough 6000) and in February for $400 (Stylus Tough 8000)
• Stylus Tough 6000 will come in your choice of white, blue, yellow and orange

Olympus Stylus 550WP
(Low cost waterproof camera)

• 10 effective megapixels
• 38 – 114 mm (f3.5 – f5.0) 3X optical zoom lens
• Waterproof to 10 feet
• 2.5 inch LCD
• No manual controls
• Intelligent Auto mode (camera picks a mode automatically)
• VGA 30 FPS movie mode with sound
• Takes xD Picture cards
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Available in February for $200

Olympus FE3000 (aka FE45), FE3010 and FE5010
(Entry level compact cameras)

• 10 effective megapixels for FE3000
  12 effective megapixels for FE3010 and FE5010
• 36 – 108 mm (f3.1 – f5.9) 3X optical zoom lens for FE3000 and FE3010
  36 – 180 mm (f3.5 – f5.6) 5X optical zoom lens for FE5010
• Sensor shift image stabilization for FE5010 only
• 2.7 inch LCD
• No manual controls
• Intelligent Auto mode (camera picks a mode automatically) and usual in-camera help and face detection
• Smile shot and expression edit for FE5010 only (I have explained these two features in reviews of previous Olympus cameras: the first one waits for a person to smile and the camera takes a picture automatically; while the expression edit does just as it sounds)
• VGA 30 FPS movie mode with sound
• Takes xD Picture cards
• Uses a lithium-ion battery
• Availability: FE3000 for $140 this month, FE3010 for $150 in March and FE5010 for $190 this month
• Each camera will come in your choice of three different colors:
  FE3000 in silver, black or pale blue
  FE3010 in silver, black or purplish-pink
  FE5010 in black, deep blue or maroon

Related articles:

• Olympus Stylus Tough 6010 announced
• Olympus rolls out new ultra-zoom and rugged cameras
• Olympus rebranding SW cameras as “TOUGH” cameras in 2009
• Olympus brings out new compact cameras
• Olympus announces four mid-summer 2009 cameras