It’s been awhile since we’ve seen Olympus tackle the more affordable side of its rugged camera lineup, which makes its latest entry feel overdue. The Stylus TG-625 Tough effectively replaces the TG-620 by adding something that’s been commonplace in the camera world: an autofocus illuminator light to improve focusing at night or, more likely with this camera, when it’s plunged 16 feet underwater. Outside of a new double-lock system, though, you’re looking at the hardware that has defined most of Olympus’ rugged line this year, including a 12-megapixel backside-illuminated CMOS sensor, a 28-140mm equivalent lens, 1080p movie making and a 3-inch LCD. The Japanese should get the TG-625 the soonest, on August 31st. There’s no word on whether or not there’s an upgrade on the way for the US, although we can picture it slotting into the American lineup without much trouble.
Visitors to Olympus’ UK Facebook page were met with some “BREAKING NEWS!!” on Friday. According to the post, the camera maker is developing a new DSLR that would theoretically offer focusing performance on par with the OM-D, while providing native compatibility with the company’s high-end Zuiko Digital ED lenses, such as the 90-250mm f/2.8. We reached out to Olympus reps in the US, who added the following:
“A new camera body is currently under study to complement our line of Zuiko Digital Specific Four Thirds lenses. However, Olympus has NOT issued a press release on this new camera body.”
With Photokina just a month away, it’s unclear whether or not this new mystery DSLR will make its debut there, but it’s certainly a possibility. As for looks — that’s anyone’s guess, though the company’s social media arm opted to include a picture of the E-5, which serves as Olympus’ current full-size flagship. You’ll find the full Facebook post at the source link below.
If you make your living through photography, or if it’s simply a passionate hobby of yours and you have several Olympus “Top Pro” lenses lying around, you might be interested to learn that Olympus has confirmed that they are working on a new camera body to be used with its range of “Top Pro” lenses. This was revealed by Olympus’ Akira Watanabe who believes that even though the OM-D cameras were successful, he acknowledges that “it did not deliver with the legacy high end lenses from the E-System.” Details of this new camera body were naturally not revealed, but Watanabe stated that the company was working on a solution and that further details regarding this new camera body would be revealed in due time. Anyone have any ideas as to what they might be able to expect, or what sort of features are you looking forward to?
Welcome to Engadget’s back to school guide! The end of summer vacation isn’t nearly as much fun as the weeks that come before, but a chance to update your tech tools likely helps to ease the pain.Today, we’ve got our optical viewfinders set firmly on digital cameras — and you can head to the back to school hub to see the rest of the product guides as they’re added throughout the month. Be sure to keep checking back — at the end of the month we’ll be giving away a ton of the gear featured in our guides — and hit up the hub page right here!
Your smartphone can take pictures, you say? Well, sure it can, but try snapping away at a frat party — you’re likely to walk away with a blurry mess. Your Facebook friends and future employers deserve an accurate account of those glory days, and you’ll need a proper snapper to get the job done. College is as good a time as any to learn responsibility, but don’t expect to walk out of the experience with all your gear unscathed. To that end, freshmen should look long and hard at our point-and-shoot picks, which include models that you won’t be afraid to toss around, or drop in the jungle juice. After that come the mirrorless ILCs, which should satisfy the more advanced photogs in the bunch, followed by our digital SLR picks, which, sadly, may be out of reach of all but photography majors and deep-pocketed private school types. Finally, you’ll have yet another opportunity to enter our fantastic giveaway at the bottom of the page, just after the break.
Olympus is reporting a $56.7 million loss for its first quarter of 2012. While its coveted medical imaging arm remains profitable, its life-science and industrial unit suffered thanks to corporate belt-tightening. Unsurprisingly, its low-end compact camera market is shrinking, but sales of its OM-D E-M5 ILC increased by 50 percent, offsetting some of the losses and reducing operating losses from $89 million last quarter to $19 million in this one. Like many of its Japanese rivals, it’s also found a strongyen has stifled its return to productivity, a trend that isn’t likely to change soon.
It’s time to take a peek at a sound recorder the likes of which we don’t see very often around these parts, the Olympus LS-100, fully equipped to be your mobile recording studio on the go. What you’ve got here is a sound recorder that can act on its own completely independent of add-on accessories, or it can be the hub that brings your sound recording game up to professional level in a snap. Inside the box you’ve got the device, a strap to ring it around your wrist if you like, a simple manual, and a lovely Olympus carrying case – and that’s all you’ll need.
Hardware
This device is made for sound recording with either its two built-in microphones or via inputs for 3rd party devices. The two built-in stereo condenser microphones are angled at 90 degrees away from one another and support 140 dBspl of sound pressure. With your built-in microphones you’ll be able to record dual-track sound clips and monitor left and right recordings independently.
You’ve got two XLR inputs for your whole collection of line-out sources using a 1/4 inch RCA jack – like your electric guitar, for example, and you’ve got 48V-24V of phantom power to keep you rocking and rolling with devices that require power through their cords as well. This will reduce the amount of power you’ve got on the LS-100 quicker than if you were only working with the devices’ built-in microphones, but you’ll have plenty of time to record tracks galore no matter what.
You’ve got a two channel recording system here with eight channel playback. You can record, edit, and mix your tracks onboard – in a relatively simple manner, of course, you don’t want to be making massive changes on a small screen like this – and you can burn a CD from this device without a PC at all if you like! We don’t recommend doing this as it’s such a strange situation – might as well push the track to your PC for safekeeping anyway – but it’s fun to know that you’re able!
Onboard you’ve got 4GB of storage, which is a fabulous amount, but you’ve also got a full-size SD card slot (SD, SDHC, or SDXC) as well to expand by up to 64GB. You’ll be able to store all your files on that card and transfer them that way or you can work with the device’s built-in USB port if you wish.
This device supports remote controls through its tiny remote port – Olympus has a massive collection of accessories for this device (we haven’t had the chance to mess with them yet, mind you, but we can say that the price is right) – see them listed over at [OlympusAmerica]. The remote they’ve got in stock works with start/stop/pause functions and that’s it. The LED light lets you know you’re in business and that’s it – good to go!
Of course you’ve also got an earphone jack so you can see how your recording is going as you’re working with it, and you’ve got the ability to switch your left and right inputs on the fly with two physical switches between 48/24V. The left side of the device is where you’ll be working with most of your ports and switches, with the power switch being there near the volume for playback as well.
The massive knob you see in the right of the device is marked by a red rectangle with “REC LEVEL” on it so you know not to mess with it unless you mean to. Both left and right built-in microphones sit up top near “PEAK” LED lights that let you know when you’re maxing out, and the front of the device shows you everything else on a 2-inch LCD color display. This display is no match for a high-end smartphone in that it’s certainly not high definition, but the amount of color and detail that you DO get is extremely helpful in identifying variations in tracks and editing.
The display has a user interface that’s easy to learn and rather simple to use. There are a few points at which even I had trouble figuring out how to move backward or forward due to the massive amount of physical buttons controlling the interface at any one given time – but that’s probably just my modern brain being used to a touchscreen-only UI. This device’s display is NOT a touchscreen, I should mention, and we’re thankful for that. At this size, even my relatively small fingers would have trouble being accurate.
The battery inside this device is 925 mAh, certainly not giant when you compare it to the beasts that modern smartphones and tablets have, but when you’re only powering sound recording and a tiny display, that power goes a LONG way. One of the sound samples you’re about to hear comes from the press junket for the film Total Recall where I recorded several hours worth of material in all – the battery went strong through the whole event and was STILL at 2/3 full – believe it or not!
The whole unit measures in at 3.25 x 2.75 x 1.31 inches, aka 159.0 x 70.0 x 33.5mm, and weighs in at 280g aka 9.8 oz. You get an AC adapter with the package to charge up your battery as it sits inside the device (though it is removable, we should mention), but you’ll need to pick up all other cords on your own.
Sound Quality
Though we’ve done our fair share of audio device reviews at this point and do consider ourselves fairly sound-sensitive, this device did require a step back and a humbling to realize what we were hearing. Speaking with some audiophile friends of ours as well as checking with some associates from 3rd party groups also reviewing the device, we confirmed the same thing, time and time again. This device records sound just as well as Olympus says it does. “Better than CD quality” is what we’re hearing both from the device and from our associates testing the device around the world.
You’re able to capture audio at up to 96kHz/24 bit – that’s massive – CD quality you can measure at 44.1 kHz/16 bit. You of course also have the ability to drop your recording quality down to that point if you want normal-sized files, of course, but the idea that you’re able to record at fabulous high-quality such as you’re able here – it’s certainly nice to know you’re getting what you payed for.
You’ll find that the pre-amps in devices such as these – the LS-100 being no exception to the rule – are far more high-quality than any DSLR camera we’ve had on hand. One would hope so for the cost of this device, of course, but there it is: high quality from a sound recording device made specifically for sound recording.
We’ve got a couple example clips of sound here for your listening pleasure, each of them recorded with the built-in microphones right out of the box.
This beast works to record sound like a superstar, but it’s also got tools you can use to your advantage for pre-recording supremacy as well. You’ve got a metronome here as well as a tuner and you’ve got a pre-recording buffer built in to make sure you’re not missing anything you need in a quick recording.
Lissajou – if you’ve never heard of this before, you’re in for a bit of a treat. This feature takes readings from both of its two built-in microphones first. Then it adjusts polar paterns according to its readings. The result is a perfectly timed recording between the two inputs – without this, there’s always a chance that you’ll have a minuscule delay between two mics – here there’s none!
Wrap-Up
When you move to a sound recording device like this with a full color display and more recording options than you’d ever have thought possible on a single hand-held machine, you wont be able to go back to your simpler one-trick-pony recorder. You’ll feel terrible using anything less fabulous than the LS-100 once you’ve got it in the field.
The cost of this device at $399.99 is going to be prohibitive for most of your average hobby users, but should you save up your lunch money for several months to buy it, you will not be disappointed.
Adapters to fit Canon’s EF lenses on Micro Four Thirds and NEX camera bodies most definitely aren’t new. Without any electronic link, though, that Lumix GX1 or NEX-F3 owner has had to focus by hand, sometimes without any aperture control — what year is it, 1930? Kipon wants to make sure you’ll never have to stoop to that level again through a pair of new adapters that keep the electronic controls working. As always with these parts, there’s likely to be catches: we don’t know the prices and ship dates, for one, and lens conversion can still hurt the autofocus speed. Even so, anyone who’s been hoarding (or simply envious of) Canon glass now doesn’t have to eye an EOS-M just to get a mirrorless camera with the lens adapter they crave.
With the Olympus OM-D E-M5 you’ve got the manufacturer taking what was great about the original OM line of SLR units with a collection of fabulous add-ons that work perfectly well in the digital world. In this 4.8 x 3.5 x 1.69-inch beast that weighs in at just under a pound (supposing you’ve not added on tons of accessories), you’ve got a great combo. It’s a device that’s set out to bring you awesome image and video quality in a tiny package that’s as powerful as it is cute.
Hardware
Looking down on the camera you’ll see a “main dial” to the right of the main hump, then another sub-dial to the right of that around the shutter release. On the left of the hump you’ve got an exposure mode dial as well. The right-side dials are made to be accessed by your thumb and your index finger, while the one on the left is made to be accessed by your thumb on your left hand. Each of these dials are extremely easy to work with.
The three buttons up top of the device are also easy to use, one for your shutter, one for video recording, and a third labeled Fn2. This third button is programmable and can be tied to a set of operations such as auto exposure lock, ISO, and white balance.
As far as that big hump in the middle; you’ll be using it if you’re not interested in working with the giant display on the back for a viewfinder, but the main bulk of the bump is made to house your accessories to attach to. So it’s an Electronic Viewfinder (EVF), accessory port, and hot shoe all in one. You can plug in a bluetooth module, a microphone adapter, or a lovely gigantic lamp, all of which will fit snug.
There’s a rubbery thumb-grip up on the back right and of the device, otherwise you’re working with hard plastic. Olympus does offer a HLD-6 grip and battery extender, this accessory made not only for those of you who plan on being in the filed for an extended time, but for a better grip for the large-handed and sweaty-palmed. Those of you that’ve got giant hands or trouble gripping small cameras, you’ll want to seriously consider this $300 accessory. This could be a bit of a bummer for those of you looking to stay in the $1300 range (that being the price of the kit that includes the lens we’ve tested as well,) but it’ll be worth it in the end.
The lens we’ve got is the M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-50mm 1:3.5-6.3 zoom lens, and it’s a fabulous little number other than the quick-release for the mechanical zoom. You can either set it to auto or manual zoom by loosening the ring in the center – it’s a bit too easy to do for my taste. That said, it is nice to be able to do this on the fly, just so long as you’re not tossing the thing around and getting sand in the gears (never a good idea anyway!)
Another item that this reviewer isn’t that fond of is the sensor that detects when you raise the camera to your eye. This sensor works fine for those that are willing to take the time to get used to it, but if you’re switching from camera to camera when those other cameras don’t have the sensor in place, you’ll be just a bit annoyed when your screen is flipping on and off. I’ve had similar feelings about recent Android phones that do similar things as well – I’m certainly more of a manual sort of guy.
You can also decide to use the display or the EVF interchangeably outdoors – with the display being OK in the shade but not so perfect for the brightest of brights in the middle of the day.
You’ve got multiple exposure capabilities in this device, Art Filters and effects that you might never use, and the ability to preview these effects before you shoot. When you’ve gotten past the fun bits, you’ll find that the Olympus OM-D E-M5 is one heck of a high quality photo shooter. Compared to other micro four thirds cameras we’ve seen and tested, this device is right near the top if not the best overall.
You can shoot photos at 9fps, you’ve got 5-axis stabilization (that’s the sound you’re hearing when you’re focusing in), and the ability to shoot photos with your shutter release or by tapping the touch-screen right up front and center. As you may have realized already; this camera may look retro, but its abilities are anything but.
The software you’ll be able to use with this camera for processing Raw files is just a bit more limited than some might like. Though Adobe Lightroom and Corel AfterShot Pro, and of course Photoshop will work fine, Apple’s products are less lucky. Both iPhoto and Aperture have no ability to support this camera’s Raw files. Don’t worry though, the JPEG shots this device shoots are more than high quality enough for everyone other than the most hardcore photographer.
Photo and Video Quality
Have a peek at an example of some shots taken with the camera to get an idea of how powerful this shooter is. Below the gallery you’ll also see an example of some basic video footage taken with the camera as well.
The video below is taken at full resolution on a bright, sunny day. Pay special attention to the on-the-spot focusing and light changes as well as the subtle sounds of summer.
Wrap-Up
With such knock-out features like 5-axis stabilization in such a tiny body as this, you’ve got one heck of a mobile-minded shooter on your hands. This device is great for those of you out there looking to amp up your game with your old OM, and with Olympus dedicated to the future of this line, as they always are, you can rest easy knowing you’ll be able to pick up accessories galore along the way. This camera certainly isn’t made for rough-and-tumble photographers as its display on the back being on hinges, but you’re a careful shooter, right – go for it!
You can pick this device up for $1000 with the body only or for $1300 as a kit with the 12-50mm 1:3.5-6.3 zoom lens, that being the setup you’re seeing above (with all photos being taken with that lens as well. Grab if from your favorite retailer today!
As is often the case with nearly every itty-bitty software update, the goal’s usually to alleviate any problem regardless of how minor it is, and sometimes even bring a couple of enhancements with it. Well, such is the fact behind Olympus’ latest firmware refresh for that sleek E-M5 Micro Four Thirds shooter. That’s not to belittle the goods, however, as v1.2 does pack a couple of welcomed changes, including an improved “sleep recovery operation” and the addition of an autofocus tracking point to use while in the camera’s Sequential L setting. The firmware bundle is up for download now, which you can get at the source link below along with the full instructions on how to install it on your precious OM-D.
Olympus has just announced that they will be offering new firmware for the OM-D E-M5, and with each new firmware update, you can more or less be sure that there will be improvements made to the hardware in terms of performance and stability. Some of the improvements include an improved sleep recovery operation, AF target indication when using C-AF+TR while shooting sequential images using Sequential L setting, added function that automatically moves focus to the following zoom positions when underwater macro mode or underwater wide mode is selected – this happens only when the M. ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 12-50 mm F3.5-6.3 EZ is attached. Not only that, there is an Olympus Viewer 2 application update that will arrive for both Windows and Mac platforms, letting you edit movies that are shot the camera in MOV and MP4 file formats. Have you updated your Olympus OM-D E-M5 camera already?
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If you make your living through photography, or if it’s simply a passionate hobby of yours and you have several Olympus “Top Pro” lenses lying around, you might be interested to learn that Olympus has confirmed that they are working on a new camera body to be used with its range of “Top Pro” lenses. This was revealed by Olympus’ Akira Watanabe who believes that even though the OM-D cameras were successful, he acknowledges that “it did not deliver with the legacy high end lenses from the E-System.” Details of this new camera body were naturally not revealed, but Watanabe stated that the company was working on a solution and that further details regarding this new camera body would be revealed in due time. Anyone have any ideas as to what they might be able to expect, or what sort of features are you looking forward to?
Olympus has just announced that they will be offering new firmware for the OM-D E-M5, and with each new firmware update, you can more or less be sure that there will be improvements made to the hardware in terms of performance and stability. Some of the improvements include an improved sleep recovery operation, AF target indication when using C-AF+TR while shooting sequential images using Sequential L setting, added function that automatically moves focus to the following zoom positions when underwater macro mode or underwater wide mode is selected – this happens only when the M. ZUIKO DIGITAL ED 12-50 mm F3.5-6.3 EZ is attached. Not only that, there is an Olympus Viewer 2 application update that will arrive for both Windows and Mac platforms, letting you edit movies that are shot the camera in MOV and MP4 file formats. Have you updated your Olympus OM-D E-M5 camera already?