Olympus made an announcement today stating that they will start rebranding their Stylus SW/mju SW series of cameras as the Stylus Tough/mju Tough cameras, starting with the new models to be released in January 2009. This move is being made by Olympus to reflect the true nature, or rather give a more accurate description, of their durable line of cameras – which also happen to be waterproof and shockproof (some models are even freezeproof and crush proof). I wonder what other changes, besides the name, Olympus will bring to their line of SW/Tough cameras? I hope image quality will be one of them. And maybe we’ll be seeing heatproof, explosion proof and acid proof cameras too!

Speaking of Olympus Stylus/mju SW cameras, I’ll be posting a review of their solid Stylus/mju 1050SW which has a one-of-a-kind “tap control” feature, this weekend.

Nikon announced their new flagship 24.5 megapixel digital SLR today, which comes as no surprise if you’ve been keeping up with the numerous internet leaks of late last week. The Nikon D3X is a high resolution version of the D3 and will be sold alongside (not replace) the D3 as a studio camera.

The Nikon D3X’s current (and only) competitor is the Canon 1Ds Mark III SLR.

Nikon D3X

• 24.5 effective megapixels (CMOS sensor)
• Nikon F-lens mount (No crop factor); also supports DX lenses with 1.5X crop factor
• 3 inch LCD with 920,000 pixels
• EXPEED imaging processor
• Full manual controls with RAW mode and hotshoe
• Built-in wireless external flash control
• 51 point AF with 3D Tracking (should be the same as the D3)
• Optical viewfinder with 100% coverage and 0.70X magnification
• Live view with virtual horizon (ensures your photos are even and not tilted to one side)
• ISO 100 – 1600 (Expanded mode: 50 – 6400)
• 5:4 aspect ratio mode
• 5 FPS burst mode (FX mode) or 7 FPS (1.5x crop DX mode)
• HDMI out and optional GPS and wireless accessories
• Dual Compact Flash memory card slots (Type I and II)
• Uses EN-EL4/EN-EL4a lithium-ion battery; takes up to 4400 shots with the EN-EL4a battery (CIPA Standard, live view off), yes, over 4000 shots!
• Available this month for $8000 (body only)

Olympus announced a new digital SLR today, the E30 which is placed a notch below their flagship E3 SLR.

Olympus E30

• 12.3 effective megapixels (LiveMOS sensor)
• Four Thirds system lens mount (2x crop factor)
• Sensor shift image stabilization
• SuperSonic Wave Filter dust removal
• 2.7 inch HyperCrystal II rotating LCD
• New TruePic III PLUS imaging processor
• Full manual controls with RAW mode and hotshoe
• Built-in wireless externalflash control
• 11 point AF (Same as E3)
• New Art Filters photo effects
• Large optical viewfinder with 98% coverage and 1.02X magnification
• Live view; with contrast detect AF (no mirror flipping) and face detection
• Multiple Exposure mode combines (superimposes) up to 4 photos together
• 9 different photo aspect ratios to select from
• 5 FPS burst mode up till 12 RAW or unlimited JPEG photos
• Dual memory card slots: CF card (Type I and II) and xD-Picture card
• Uses BLM-1 lithium-ion battery; takes up to 650 shots (CIPA Standard, live view off)
• Available in January 2009 for $1300 (body only)

Olympus also announced a redesigned lens today. The new Zuiko Digital 14-54 mm f2.8-3.5 version II lens now comes with circular aperture and support for contrast detect AF on the latest Four Thirds digital SLR cameras. It will be available for $600 in January 2009.

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