Digital Camera News and Reviews

Olympus Stylus Tough 8000

Photographyblog has reviewed the Olympus Stylus Tough 8000 (known as Olympus mju Tough 8000 in Europe) camera. This camera is waterproof down to 10 meters so it will be interesting if it is able to take good pictures at this depth.

Some key features for the Olympus Stylus Tough 8000:
-Waterproof down to 10 meter
-Shockproof to 2m
-Crushproof to 100kg
-Freezeproof to -10°C (14°F)
-12 megapixel sensor

Photographyblog ends up giving the Olympus Stylus Tough 8000 a 4 out 5 stars rating. The camera has very good features when it comes to toughness and is able to produce pictures of pretty good quality, but not the best.
Overall the Olympus camera seems like a good choice for photographers working under rough conditions.
Read the full review of the Olympus Stylus Tough 8000 camera here.

Casio EXILIM EX-FH20

Lets Go Digital has reviewed the Casio EXILIM EX-FH20 compact digital camera. This high speed camera is a cheaper cousin of the EX-F1 model also from Casio.

Some key features for the Casio EXILIM EX-FH20:
-9.1 megapixel sensor
-20x optical zoom (26-520mm equivalent)
-3″ LCD screen
-sensor-shift image stabilization
-30fps at a resolution of 8 megapixels and 40fps at 7 megapixels
-high speed movie recording at up to 1,000 fps
-HD movie recording 1280 x 720 pixels, at 30 fps
-ISO sensitivity 100-1600

Lets Go Digital ends up giving the Casio EXILIM EX-FH20 a “Good” 72% rating. The website likes the specifications of the camera but doesn’t give it a top score because there is visible noise at low ISO levels, some chromatic aberrations and low dynamic range.
Nevertheless it will be interesting to see how Casio continue to develop such high speed cameras.
Read the full review of the Casio EXILIM EX-FH20 camera here.

Pentax Optio P70

Digital Camera Review has reviewed the Pentax Optio P70 compact camera. This Pentax camera features a 12 megapixel sensor in a small and light body.

Some key features for the Pentax Optio P70:
-12 megapixel sensor
-4x optical zoom starting at 28mm
-shake reduction
-2.7 LCD screen
-ISO sensitivity up to 6400
-HD video recording

Digital Camera Review ends up giving the Pentax Optio P70 a pretty good review as the camera is able to produce pictures of good quality. The lens quality is high and the camera is good at getting the right exposure.
The only downside is no “true” image stabilization.
Read the full review of the Pentax Optio P70 camera here.

Olympus SP-565 UZ

DxOMark has released Raw data analyses for the Olympus SP-565 UZ camera. This Olympus camera has a very long zoom (20x) and a 10 megapixel image sensor.

Some key features for the Olympus SP-565 UZ:
-20x optical zoom lens (26-520mm, f/2.8-4.5)
-10 megapixel sensor (1/2.33″ CCD)
-2.5″ LCD screen
-image stabilization
-33 shooting modes including manual controls

Read all the Raw data analyzes Olympus SP-565 UZ camera here.

Press release:
dxomark.com Publishes RAW Sensor Performance Data On A Set Of High-End Bridge Cameras

DxO Labs adds detailed measurements for the Fujifilm FinePix S100fs, the Olympus SP-565 UZ and the Panasonic Lumix DMC FX150 to its RAW-based Image Quality Database

Paris, France – April 15, 2009 –DxO Labs announces today the addition of RAW-based image quality data and DxOMark Sensor rankings on its popular www.dxomark.com website for the Fujifilm FinePix S100fs, the Panasonic Lumix DMC FX150 and the Olympus SP 565 UZ.

The Fujifilm FinePix S100fs takes the lead of the set of bridge models that are currently analyzed and published on dxomark.com.

Visitors to the dxomark.com website will also find a newly-published review of the Olympus SP-565 UZ which details findings about the camera’s internal RAW processing implementation.

About dxomark.com
Sponsored by DxO Labs, a company focusing on image processing technologies, www.dxomark.com is a free online resource that delivers key objective sensor performance metrics measured directly on the RAW image for a variety of cameras. As a result, dxomark.com makes it possible for the first time to assess the intrinsic quality of a camera before the impact of any RAW conversion and independent of its optics.

The site also features a simple scale, DxOMark Sensor, for analyzing and comparing RAW image quality. The DxOMark Sensor scale is mapped to real-world photographic scenarios such as portrait, landscape, and action photography, ensuring that the scale is relevant to photographers.

dxomark.com’s goal is to serve the imaging community, particularly the photo press. Photography journalists and experts can now complement their analyses and reviews with an objective evaluation of intrinsic camera performance, regardless of optics or processing considerations.

For more information, visit www.dxomark.com.

About DxO Labs
DDxO Labs offers products and solutions ensuring excellence in digital imaging. The company develops and licenses patented intellectual property serving the entire digital imaging chain:

For consumer electronics OEM/ODM (such as digital camera and camera phone vendors): embedded software and silicon architectures for real time still and video image processing;

For imaging component suppliers (camera module manufacturers, sensor vendors, and processor vendors) as well as photography journalists and imaging experts: image quality evaluation and measurement tools;

For serious and demanding photographers: PC and Mac solutions to enhance camera image quality.

For more information, visit the DxO Labs website at www.dxo.com