First Look: Olympus SP-610UZ

Olympus has announced that the new SP-610UZ will be available next month. This 14 Megapixel camera is the latest to join Olympus’s versatile ultra zoom compact SP series.

The camera is ideal for casual photographers looking to take great every day shots. It comes with an optical zoom of 22x, the 35mm equivalent of 28mm-616mm. Similar to some of the other cameras that Olympus has released this year, it is Eye-Fi compatible, so that you can automatically upload pictures and movies wirelessly to your computer or website, and comes with one touch HD movie recording and eight Magic Filters. Olympus seems to be putting a lot of emphasis on these filters, and while I am not sold on them, I recognize that they can be a bit of fun. It also comes with a panorama mode and a beauty mode, which will make skin appear brighter, smoother and more youthful… goodbye photoshop.
Another interesting feature of the camera is the optional 3D shooting mode for still images. By capturing two shots (automatically or manually) of a scene from two different angles, the camera will create an image that can be viewed in 3D.

The Olympus SP-610UZ will be out February 2011 and will retail for £170.