Digital Home Thoughts: Olympus Announces SZ-31MR Superzoom Camera and TG-820 Rugged Camera

Olympus has two compact cameras for show today as well. First is the SZ-31MR, which Olympus calls a compact superzoom. I am not sure what the difference between a compact superzoom and a travelzoom is now any more, since everyone is going crazy with the zoom ranges, but I digress. The camera has a 16 megapixel backlit CMOS sensor, a 24x 25-600mm equivalent f/3.0-6.9 (!) zoom lens, sensor shift stabilisation, a 3" VGA touchscreen LCD, 1080p video in h.264, 10 FPS continuous shooting mode, and of course, what Olympus camera would be without the Art Filters. Ships in late April for US$400.

Next up is the rugged TG-820. The camera packs a 12 megapixel backlit CMOS sensor, a 5x 28-140mm equivalent f/3.9-5.9 zoom lens, sensor shift stabilisation, a 3" 720x480 LCD screen, 1080p video, a rugged body rated to be waterproof to 33 feet (10 metres), shockproof to 6.6 feet (2 metres), freezeproof to 14F (-10C), and dustproof. Ships in March for US$300. More photos and details of the two cameras at the links below.

DPReview: Olympus SZ-31MR

DPReview: Olympus TG-820