If you're gearing up for your summer roadtrip, don't leave home without the Olympus μ720sw waterproof and shockproof digital camera. The 7-megapixel camera is only 0.78-inch thick but can withstand any form of abuse when you go frolicking in the water. You can drop it from 1.5m (5ft.) and it wouldn't budge. Submerge it in water from 3m (10ft.) and it will still work.

The 720sw features a bright wide-view 2.5-inch color LCD, making it easier to see your images clearly both when shooting and sharing photos with friends, without the need to download to a computer. It also features the Olympus-exclusive Bright Capture Technology, which provides improved shooting in low-light conditions - indoor, sunset, night time, and underwater. Aside from capturing crisp and high quality image, it comes with 28 shooting modes that offer maximum versatility for shooting in any situation. And with its QuickTime Movie Mode, recording VGA-quality videos with sound is a cinch. It's only limited by the size of the internal memory or xD-Picture Card in the camera.

The Olympus μ720sw comes in aqua blue, shiny silver and rose pink and is available for $449.

A few months back, we have given you a review of the Olympus Stylus 810. If you are still shopping for a new camera and the review still has left you undecided, here's a few more things to consider before you dish out the $330 or so to own this camera.

The 810's sleek, 6-ounce, less than an inch thick stainless steel body makes it easy to store in your pocket. It is also great for one-hand shooting as its controls can be easily manipulated with your right thumb.

You'll surely love the high ISO settings and the electronic image stabilization in this Olympus camera. However, the ISO settings (1,600 and 3,200 for extreme low-light or high-speed shots) are done via Bright Capture "which uses clusters of sensor pixels to capture a each single image pixel, rather than individual ones (a process known as supersampling), effectively creating bigger pixels, each of which is more sensitive to light". This means that your final image will result to fewer pixels, where ISO 3,200 shots are taken at only 3 megapixel resolution.

The burst mode best displays the Olympus Stylus 810's performance with 12 shots in about 2.6 seconds. However, continuous shooting works at only 3 megapixels resolution. Although this Olympus baby result to solid image quality, its LCD washes out in bright light limiting its use in sunlight. Another problem of the Stylus 810 is noise.

So all-in-all, if you can stand a bit of noise and you're not going to use it much under the sun, let this Olympus camera take care of your low-light and high-speed shots. Otherwise, you might want to shop around for other cameras (you might want to try the 810's brother, Olympus Stylus 710).

Since no one's put-in to my 'review fund', I'll point you all to Trusted Reviews who got their hands on the Olympus E-500 dSLR.  The exciting news about the E-500 is that it's the first dSLR that wasn't a 35mm film camera in a previous incarnation.  It was designed wholly as a digital shooter from the beginning.

On the smaller end of the scale - as far as dSLRs are concerned - the E-500 competes fairly directly with the Canon Rebel 350D, Nikon D50, and Pentax *ist DL cameras.  The camera uses a 3/4 format sensor and shoots at 8 megapixels.  The kit option includes a 14-45mm lens, and sells for £549 (around $665 US).

Looks like a solid camera for a great price.  If you people would ever ante-up and get my 'review fund' rolling, I might be able to check this baby out!

Olympus has announced that they will be releasing a waterproof protector "PT-E02" for its DSLR E-330 on April 14. The price will be 157,500 JPY ($1334.7 USD).

This protector can keep your camera safe at 60m underwater. You'll need to buy an optional waterproof lens port if you want an add-on lens. The live view function of the E-330 will still be accessible when underwater.

E-330 is a DSLR with 7.5 million pixel LiveMOS sensor and exchangeable lens. It is equipped with the world's first full time live view function.

Olympus has released a new firmware for its DSLR camera "E-500". The new version number is 1.2.

Compared to version 1.1, the new ver1.2 has added a function switching menu for AEL/AFL button and one touch WB button.

Also,  this new version has improved the exposure accuracy of the built-in strobe when using with certain lens, including Sigma "18-50mm F3.5-5.6 DC", "18-125mm F3.5-5.6" and "55-200mm F4-5.6 DC".

E-500 is an entry-purpose DSLR camera product equipped with Four-Thirds System. It uses full frame transfer CCD with 8 million pixels, dust reduction system, double slot for both CF and xD picture cards. Its weight is the lightest among all the DSLR cameras, which is only 435g. The price of the product is less than 90,000 JPY ($762.7 USD).

Download: [Olympus E-500 Firmware Version 1.2]

The Olympus E-330 digital SLR is now available in six different kits for specific applications. Taking a page from Windows Vista, Olympus will sell its E-330 in six different kits with different versions including the "Pro", "Traveling Pro",  "Nature Pro" and others. Some of the packages include useful accessories like the "underwater housing" that comes with the "Underwater Pro Kit" . All these different kits will more than likely confuse customers, specifically those who are interested or upgrading to point and shoot cameras. But nevertheless, the wide variety enhances the diversity of Olympus cameras.

Olympus μ810 is the latest flagship model of the μ digital series. As the same with the earlier model μ 710, μ810 is featured with its high sensitive, 2.5-inch LCD monitor and a "hand shake filter function". The effective pixel is up to 8 million on a 1/1.8 inch CCD. The storage media is xD picture card.

The appearance of μ810 is similar with the μ710, which is thicker on the shutter side and thinner on the lens side. Among the meek curves on the unit, only the lens is in a sharp round shape, which offers a strong impression. It looks a bit thicker than the μ710, but won't really affect the handling or carrying in a pocket.


The classic water splash proof feature is still alive in this model. It is capable of protecting itself from rain drops or splash, but won't be able to handle the situation like submergence.

However, the media cover on the unit is not water-proof. The Lithium-Ion battery is not water-proof too. The battery is a model LI-12B. The CIPA specification suggested that it is capable of taking 250 shots. The unit is weighted as 145g, but the author has weighted it and found it to be 170g when making the review.

Here are some more details of this model:

• Automatic sensitive enhancement corresponding to ISO3200
• Electronic hand shake filter
• Push the shutter half way down to return to photography mode from menu
• Built-in image editing function

Speaking of reviews....
The new E-330 Evolt from Olympus is another dSLR on the market.  If you're familiar with the way a Single Lens Reflex camera works - especially the digital sort - you know that using the LCD to frame your snap-shot isn't an option.  (The mirror that shows what the lens is looking at flips up to expose the image sensor when you click the button.)  Well the E-330 does some fancy stuff with [smoke and] mirrors and makes it possible to use the extendible LCD for viewing the shot as you take it.  Nice!

Read the full and lengthy review from DPreview.  I'm not sure I'd drop my Canon 350D for it, but for those new to the dSLR market, the E-330 may function well as a 'gateway' camera.