Olympus has today unveiled the SP-800UZ, a digital compact camera boasting a 30x zoom lens.

The 14-million-pixel SP-800UZ will cost £369.99 when it goes on sale in March.

The lens is built to deliver the 35mm viewing angle equivalent of a ’28-840mm’ zoom, according to Olympus.

Features include 2GB of internal memory and a 3in [16:9 format] LCD screen (230,000 pixel resolution), plus HD movie recording (720 pixels).

Also on board is built-in image stabilisation and 10 frames per second shooting.

The Olympus model is set to do battle with the Fujifilm FinePix HS10 which also has a 30x zoom lens (24-720mm equivalent in this case) and was announced today.

Olympus has also unveiled the SP-600UZ, a 12MP model carrying a 15x optical zoom, 2.7in monitor and 1GB of memory.

Both Olympus models are compatible with SD memory cards.

Meanwhile, Olympus has bolstered its ‘Tough’ compact line-up with the addition of the Mju Tough-8010 (£399.99) and Mju Tough-6020 (£319.99), each featuring a 14MP imaging sensor.

The Mju Tough-8010 is claimed to be shockproof to 2m and waterproof to 10m.

These newcomers are also due to go on sale in March.

Pictures: The Olympus SP-800UZ and Fujifilm FinePix HS10 are set to go into battle in the ’30x’ zoom compact arena

Olympus SP-800UZFujifilm FinePix HS10SP-800UZ – Main features, as supplied by Olympus UK

Main information ? 30x wide optical zoom (28-840mm*) ? Dual Image Stabilisation ? 10fps sequence shooting** ? HD Movie and HDMI Control ? 7.6cm/3.0″ LCD in 16:9 format ? 2GB digital photo album ? 14 Megapixels ? In-Camera Panorama ? iAuto mode ? Advanced Face Detection incl. Shadow Adjustment ? In-camera Manual ? AF-Tracking ? Magic Filters ? LED Illuminator ? Beauty Mode ? USB-Battery Charge ? TruePic III image processor

Specifications, as supplied by Olympus UK

Image Sensor

Effective pixels 14 Megapixels

Filter array Primary colour filter (RGB)

Full resolution 14.7 Megapixels

Type 1/2.33 ” CCD sensor

Lens

Optical zoom 30 x (WIDE)

Focal length 5.0 – 150 mm

Focal length (equiv. 35mm) 28 – 840 mm

Maximum aperture 2.8 – 5.6

Structure 15 lenses / 10 groups

Aspherical glass elements 1

ED glass elements 3

Digital Zoom

Enlargement factor 5 x / 150 x combined with optical zoom

LCD

Resolution 230,000 dots

Monitor size 7.6 cm / 3.0 ” (16:9)

LCD type TFT

Frame assistance Yes

Brightness adjustment +/- 2 levels

Focusing System

Method TTL iESP auto focus with contrast detection

Modes

Spot focusing Yes , 143 AF areas selectable

Standard mode 0.1m – ? (wide) / 1.8m – ? (tele)

Makro mode 0.1m – ? (wide) / 1.8m – ? (tele)

Product status: kickoff

OPR: 02.02.2010

Super Macro mode Closest focusing distance: 1 cm

AF illuminator Yes

Light Metering

Modes

Histogram in shooting mode Yes

Exposure System

Modes

Shutter speed 1/2 – 1/2000 s /

Exposure compensation+/- 2 EV / 1/3 steps

Exposure bracketing 5 frames / +/- 1/3, 2/3, 1 EV steps

Enhancement function Mechanical Image Stabilizer

Shadow Adjustment Technology

Advanced Face Detection Technology

Sensitivity

Auto AUTO / High AUTO Automatically selected

Manual ISO 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400*, 10000* * In reduced pixel mode

* In reduced pixel mode

Sequence Shooting

Sequential shooting mode (high speed) 10 fps / 25 frames (in 3MP mode)

6 fps / 25 frames (in 5MP mode)

Interval shooting Yes

Scene Modes

Number of scene modes 17

Modes

White Balance

AUTO WB system Yes

Preset values

Internal Flash

Working range (wide) 0.3 – 3.1 m (ISO 100) 12.5 m (ISO 1600)

Working range (tele) 1.8 – 2.2 m (ISO 200) 6.2 m (ISO 1600)

Memory

Removable Media SD / SDHC

Internal memory 2 GB

Image Processing

Noise reduction Yes

Pixel mapping Yes

TruePic III Yes

Shading compensation Yes

Function Processing

Panorama Yes

Image Editing

Black & White Yes

Sepia Yes

Center Focus Yes

Resize Yes

Trimming Yes

Attach a calendar Yes

Correction of brightness Yes

Correction of saturation Yes

Beauty Fix Yes

Red-eye reduction Yes

Shadow Adjustment Yes

Product status: kickoff

OPR: 02.02.2010

View Images

Modes

Index 4×3 / 6×5 frames

Zoom 1.1 – 10 x

Auto rotation Yes

Image protect mode Yes

Histogram in playback mode Yes

View Movie

Frame by frame Yes

Fast forward Yes

Reverse playback Yes

Index jump Yes

Still Image Recording

DCF Yes

RAW No

EXIF 2.21

PIM III

DPS PictBridge

DPOF Yes

Movie Recording System

Image Stabilisation Mode Yes Sensor shift (with sound off)

Recording format MPEG-4

Movie quality 720P Recording time: 29min.

VGA Recording time: no limit

QVGA Recording time: no limit

Note: maximum file size 4GB

Image Size

12M 3968 x 2976

8M 3264 x 2448

5M 2560 x 1920

3M 2048 x 1536

2M 1600 x 1200

1M 1280 x 960

VGA 640 x 480

16:9 3968 x 2232

1920 x 1080

Other Features

Self timer 2 / 12 s

Menu guide Yes

In-camera Manual Yes

Photo Surfing Yes

LED Illuminator

Interface

DC input Yes (CB-MA3 required)

Combined A/V & USB output Yes

USB 2.0 High Speed Yes

HDMI? Yes Type D

Menu

Menu languages in camera 39

Customisation Options

My Mode 4 settings storable

Programmable button Yes

Power Supply

Battery LI-50B Lithium-Ion Battery

Internal Charging Yes

Product status: kickoff

OPR: 02.02.2010

Size

Dimensions (W x H x D) 110.1 x 89.7 x 91 mm

Weight 435 g (without battery and card)