In addition to revealing its new Stylus 770 SW, today Olympus announced its new 7.1-megapixel Olympus SP-550 UZ. UZ stands for "Ultra Zoom," and in this case, they ain't lying. The UZ features a 18X optical zoom lens (28-504mm equivalent in 35mm photography), which gives users the ability to shoot telephoto, wide-angle and macro all in one. The camera also features a 2.5-Inch LCD; Dual Image Stabilization to ensure blur-free images; High-Speed Sequential Shooting; and Full Manual and Automatic Control. The camera is compatible with the Olympus-made PT-037 underwater housing, depth-rated to 130 feet.

The SP-550 UZ will be available in March 2007 for $500. If you're looking for more details, check out Imaging-Resource's hands-on preview of the nifty little camera.

Today, Olympus announced the new Stylus 770 SW, a 7.1-megapixel, 0.8-inch wide camera that you can as deep as 33 feet -- without a housing. Want to dive deeper than 33 feet? Grab a (soon-to-be-released) PT-035 underwater housing and descend to 130 feet. The 770 SW also boasts a 2.5-inch LCD, four custom underwater scene modes, and a built-in manometer. No, a manometer doesn't measure how "manly" you are. Rather, it measures and records water and air pressure when each image is taken, and stores the information within each picture's digital file, so you can easily recall exactly how deep you were when you saw that pair of nudibranchs.

Available in sporty red and blue, expect to pay $380 for a 770 SW in March. For more specs, check out the always excellent DPReview.

Recently, SeaLife announced their new 6.1 megapixel digital camera, the DC600. Featuring a 2.5" LCD; 12 land modes; a "Color Booster" Sea Mode; a Shark Mode with "virtually no shutter lag"; and a 12X zoom, the tiny camera -- which uses a rechargeable lithium battery and an SD memory card -- takes some pretty good pictures.

The camera's rubberized, shock-resistant housing is depth-rated to 200 feet. Expect to pay somewhere between $500 for the basic rig (just the camera and housing) and $1300 for the Maxx set (which includes two external flashes, a wide angle lens, and a carrying case).

[Via UwP 34]

Not every underwater shot that the pros squeeze off is spectacular, of course. We only see the best ones. If you're aching to create shots like the pros, then maybe you should check out Jack Connick's Digicam Tips. Purveyor of Fantasea housings and a fine shooter himself, Jack has compiled a digicam Q&A from his mailbag.

Providing tips from how to light a wreck, to how to achieve those cool black-background effect, Jack explains things clearly yet concisely. If you're brand new to shooting underwater, you might not understand all the jargon Jack uses, but if you're gunning to take the best pictures you can, I'm guessing you'll read carefully.

Personally, I hope he makes digicam tips a regular feature on Optical Ocean. I can't get too much photo advice.

Made from a shock-proof, waterproof polycarbonate casing, Go Pro's Digital Hero Camera shoots photos and video while strapped to your wrist. Locked flat during activity, James Bond -- or you! -- simply flips the camera up when ready to capture that perfect shot. Held on by a sturdy Velcro strap, the Digital Hero is waterproof to 100 feet, although it's functional only to 30 feet.

Though tiny, the unit sports 32MB of on-board memory, which'll hold up to 250 photos or 32x10-second video clips. Both PC- and Mac-compatible, the $80 Digital Hero might be the adventure-seekers geekiest, yet coolest, toy yet. Once they figure out how to put a depth-gauge or an MP3 player in the Hero, they've hit pay-dirt.

[Via X-Ray Mag]

This week, Sea & Sea announced the release of their new DX-860G underwater camera system. Depth-rated to 150 feet, the 860G boasts a 2.5-inch TFT liquid crystal monitor and 6.2 megapixel effective resolution. Additionally, the polycarbonate-constructed 860G sports an optical 3x zoom lens with a focal length ranging from 35 to 105mm. (An optional Wide-Angle Conversion Lens is also available.) Other cool features of this entry-level camera include:

• Adjustable white balance;
• A continuous shooting function;
• A built-in memory of 32MB;
• A built-in flash diffuser;
• A macro mode on the zoom lens that lets the camera focus on a subject only 2 inches away;
• Adjustable ISO sensitivity (Auto, 100, 200, 400) that sets CCD capture sensitivity for added exposure control;
• A motion picture function that captures video of up to 640x480 pixel (VGA) resolution at a rate of 24fps.

Big brother to the 750G, the 860G is available now. Price has not been announced.

One of my New Year's Resolutions for 2007 is to take more photos. I'm going to do this with the small point-and-shoot I own currently, but I'm very seriously considering an upgrade. This weekend, in fact, I was at Best Buy, checking out camera systems. One of the cameras I saw was Casio's EX-Z1000, a minuscule camera with a gigantic LCD screen. As I was handling the camera, two hippies came up to me and started looking, too. "It's small," I said. "It's gotten good reviews online," one of the hippies replied. If nothing else, Casio seems to be getting their name out there. Don't have much faith in hippies? Calvin Tang just posted a lengthy review of the EX-Z1000 used in conjunction with an EWC-80 housing. As with all of Calvin's reviews and how-to's, this one is well-written, thorough, and engaging.

According to Calvin, the EX-Z1000 offers long battery life, a shutter lag time of only .002 seconds, a simple interface, and excellent macro capabilities. Meanwhile, the EWC-80 housing is "simple and thoughtfully designed." Although he finds the housing's shutter button and button cluster a bit tricky, overall Calvin declares the rig to be "the best, most powerful compact camera/housing pair on the market right now." Since the entire rig is priced around $500, the EX-Z1000 sounds like an excellent entry-level camera. Alternatively, if you're a big dSLR shooter, this package might make a nice back-up to your pre-existing rig. Check out Calvin's review and see for yourself whether this camera'll suit your needs.

When I was thinking about what kind of DEMA show coverage I wanted to provide, I decided to focus on dive gear and interesting equipment that was NOT related to underwater imaging. Though I briefly covered some of the Sea & Sea housings, Top Dawg housings, and, of course, Light & Motion's sleek, sexy housings, when it came time to spotlight imaging products, I decided to defer to the professionals. And by "professionals," of course, I mean the geniuses at Wetpixel.

Providing in-depth, detailed analysis, Eric Cheng and Drew Wong covered camera and video camera equipment (respectively) like crazy. Each time I passed them on the show floor, they were scribbling furiously, snapping pictures, grilling vendors, and inspecting equipment. (Well...at least Eric was.) If you want the lowdown on Fisheye, L&M, Seacam, SeaLife, Patima, Ultralight, Sea & Sea, Aquatica... -- Whew! You get the idea! -- then check out Eric Cheng's exhaustive DEMA Show coverage. More interested in video? Check out Drew's video products round-up. In either case, you'll get the low-down on all the newest underwater imaging equipment.

(If you think imaging equipment is boring, then at least check out Eric's fun people-at-DEMA photo galleries. Pay particular attention to my favorite shots.)