This is o­ne of the longest stretches of using "world's first" I've seen in a while, but Olympus' new "μ-mini Digital" camera looks pretty neat. The way it's been described, it sounds as though o­ne of the key aspects of its design was creating something easy and nice to hold, as well as look at.

It's also water resistant, just in time for Ivan.

Olympus Corporation will release the "μ-mini DIGITAL," the world's first optical zoom camera with a fully flat design, in the middle of October. It is Open Price. The estimated retail price is 38,000 yen.

This is new model in the "μ DIGITAL series" which offers 4th stage JIS standard water resistance. Six body colors will be available: Jewelry Silver, Pure White, Cosmic Black, Crystal Blue, Velvet Red, and Kappa Orange.

While the power is o­n, the lens barrier sinks inside of the body, and the "top shell barrier" can be stored by sliding inside. When the lens is stored, the lens and body become completely flat. Going from "on" to "standby" takes 1.5 seconds.

Also, since the entire body is manufactured from 1 sheet of metal using a 3D curved surface construction process, a "drop like image" body design without seams has been accomplished. At the same time, Olympus says this camera is "very holdable." The five colors other than Pearl White also offer the "Superior Silky Finish Treatment," giving them a smooth to the touch feel that also easily sheds water droplets.

The CCD is the same 1/2.5" 4MP as in the μ-30 DIGITAL, with a maximum recording resolution of 2272 x 1704 dots. It also continues with the usage of the "TruPic TURBO" image processing engine. Also, as was added o­n the μ-30 DIGITAL, this camera can also record movies with voice.

The lens of the camera has been changed to 2x optical from the μ-30 DIGITAL's 3x optical. It uses a 35mm conversion lens with a focus range of 35mm ~ 70mm. The F value is from F3.5 ~ F4.9. The minimum recording distance is normally 50cm, but in macro mode, 20cm, and in super macro mode, 8cm.

The shutter speed is 4 ~ 1/1000 seconds. 14 recording modes, such as program auto, port rate, scenery, and cooking can be used. Light measurements can be done by digital ESP or spot selection. Recording sensetivities can be ISO 64, 100, 200, or 400 (ISO fixed mode).

Power is supplied by an internal lithium ion rechargable battery, and the recording media is xD-Picture Card. A 1.8" 134,000 pixel TFT LCD is used as a monitor.

Connection with a PC is done by USB, and supported operating systems are Windows ME, 2000, XP, Mac OS 9.0 ~ 9.2, and X 10.1 ~ 10.2. The external dimensions are 95 x 27.5 x 55.5mm (W x D x H), and the weight is 115g.

The new "Olympus Master" software is included in the package. Image processing, management, reading, editing, sorting, printing, and RAW developing can be done. A feature to display images taken o­n certain days calendar-style is also included.

This same software can be pay-upgraded to "Olympus Master Plus," which allows for writing to CDs and DVDs, video editing, and the creation of screen savers.

As options, a waterproof case, 3 colors of book leather cases, 3 colors of soft cases, a hand strap, and 2 colors of neck strap will be available.







Inspired by:
http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2004/0914/olympus1.htm

News Release:
http://www.olympus.co.jp/jp/news/2004b/nr040914mminidj.cfm