10X Optical Zoom SP-500 UZ

With the release of its eagerly awaited new ultra zoom digital camera, the SP-500 UZ, Olympus pleases advanced and amateur-level camera aficionados alike.

The powerful 10x optical zoom provides users with the focal range to capture stunning close-up shots. Designed with a large, easy-to-view 2.5-inch premium size LCD, both manual and automatic settings and optional add-on accessory lenses, the SP-500 UZ is a highly versatile camera, powerful enough to satisfy the creative needs of the advanced user, and expansive enough to grow as users develop their talent.

The SP-500 UZ makes it easy to capture great images in a variety of lighting situations with 21 pre-programmed scene modes, such as Night Scene, Indoor Portrait or Cuisine Mode. And with its QuickTime Movie Mode, the SP-500 UZ can record movies of any length, limited only by the size of the internal memory or xD-Picture C ard in the camera.


The SP-500 UZ features a threaded barrel, which enables easy attachment of add-on wide angle or telephoto conversion lenses for even more creative control. Compatible accessory lenses include the WCON-07 and WCON-08 wide angle lenses, which enable a wider field of view for shooting skylines, landscapes or group shots, and the TCON-17 telephoto conversion lens, which extends the camera's magnification capability to a 17x optical zoom for bringing subjects dramatically closer, great for shooting sports events, concerts or wildlife.

The lens provides the equivalent of 38 to 114 mm focal length, f2.8 - f 4.9 in 35mm photography, with 15x combined total zoom (3x optical and 5x digital) to bring the action closer, and a Super Macro Mode that captures details as nuanced as the iridescent petals of a flower, from as close as 2 cm .

The SP-500 UZ will be available in October 2005 for an estimated price of $379.99. It includes: Wrist Strap, Camera WIN/Mac USB Cable, Video cable, 4 AA batteries, Quick Start Guide, Basic Instruction Manual, Warranty Card, CD-ROM with OLYMPUS Master Software, and Camera Advanced manual.