CES: Today Olympus announced the next generation model in its long-running lineup of all-weather “Tough” compact digital cameras, and a 300mm telephoto lens that they say is the best they’ve ever made.
Olympus Tough TG-870
As the company that basically invented the all-weather camera category, Olympus has been refining its Tough line for many years. The latest version the Olympus Tough TG-870, is slated to be available in March with several key refinements.
Olympus increased the coverage of the 5x optical internal-zoom, so its widest setting covers 180 degrees—the equivalent of a 21mm ultra wide-angle lens on a 35mm camera. Its rugged specs are the same impressive ones as its predecessor: waterproof to 50 feet, shockproof to 7 feet, crushproof to 220 lbf, dustproof, and freezeproof to 14 degrees farenheight. But there are several key new features as well.
Olympus Tough TG-870 New Features:
- 920k-dot LCD monitor with Monitor Boost, which maximizes monitor brightness to 2.6x brighter than normal
- 13 Art filters
- Live composite mode captures light trails
- Nightscape movie mode
- AF lock for capturing moving subjects
Users can flip the LCD up to face forward for selfies or POV action video, and the camera can be synced to a smart phone or tablet for remote camera control and wireless sharing via built-in Wi-Fi. GPS is also built in, and a Sportcam Mode shoots 60p movies, as well as time-lapse and high-speed videos. A super macro and self-portrait mode are also included.
The Olympus Tough TG-870 will be available in March from Adorama Gunmetal Metallic Black, Metallic Green, and Pure White, for $279.99.
Olympus 300mm f/4 IS Pro
Designed for Micro Four Thirds mount cameras, the Olympus 300mm telephoto lens provides an angle of view equivalent to a 600mm lens on a 35mm sensor camera, but is small an light enough to be handheld. Designed especially for sports and wildlife photography, it features 5-axis sync IS for steady shots of subjects moving through the frame and is fully compatible with Olympus mirrorless compact digital cameras’ fast frame rates and short shutter lag times.
According to Olympus, the lens features the world’s most powerful image stabilization when working in tandem with built-in camera body IS, claiming 6 shutter speeds of compensation. The dustproof and splashproof lens is also said to have the highest resolution in Olympus history. With a closest focus distance of 1.4 meters, the maximum image magnification is 0.48x, which is nearly macro. Weighing in at only 1,270 grams, the Olympus 300mm f/4 is less than a third the weight of an equivalent 600mm Canon lens, and a fraction of its size.
The lens consists of 3 super ED lenses, 3 HR (high refractive index) lenses, and one E-HR (extra-high refractive index lens), which collectively reduces color bleeding and chromatic aberrations. Z Coating Nano particles reduces ghosting and flaring. An optional 1.4x teleconverter MC-14 increases the 35mm equivalent focal length to 840mm and is optically matched. You can quickly set the lens from autofocus to a preset focus position by pulling the focus ring towards you. Up to 27 functions can be assigned to the L-Fn button.
The Olympus 300mm f/4 IS Pro will be available from Adorama for $2,499.99.
