Olympus Press Release 15/08/04

OLYMPUS C-8080 WZ CROWNED “EUROPEAN DIGITAL CAMERA OF THE YEAR” IN 2004 EISA AWARDS

15th August 2004 Olympus announce today that their popular C-8080 WIDE ZOOM has been awarded the prestigious title of ‘European Digital Camera of the Year’ in the annual European Imaging & Sound Association (EISA) awards.

Comprising of nearly fifty leading photo, video, audio, home theatre and mobile electronics publications from over eighteen European countries the EISA awards are respected by consumers and valued by retailers alike. Highly coveted by manufacturers, Olympus hare proud to receive one of these highly valued industry commendations.

The winning camera delivers an outstanding performance and confidently measures up to any digital SLR in its class.  Packed with features and offering a wide angle, 5x zoom lens, sunshine LCD technology and a short shutter release lag time, the C-8080 WIDE ZOOM is capable of even the most demanding of creative photography.

Andy Parker, Marketing Communications Manager, Olympus UK said: ?We?re delighted to receive this EISA award for the C-8080 WIDE ZOOM, a camera that has been well received by both consumers and dealers since its launch vindicating Olympus? technical expertise and innovation.  We?re looking forward to unveiling our new models to the public at Photokina next month so watch this space.?

The EISA award represents the crowning achievement for this Olympus model that has already chalked up an impressive list of test wins.  Summarising their reasons for choosing the C-8080 WIDE ZOOM, the jury commented:  ?The Olympus C-8080 WIDE ZOOM was developed to utilise the maximum performance potential of the CCD sensor to enable fascinating results of the utmost quality. It offers eight million pixels and a precision optical system ? the focal range corresponds to 28-140mm on a 35mm camera.  Special glass has been used for the construction of the lens to minimise chromatic aberration.  Finally, the robust magnesium-alloy body also houses an innovative, tilting ?sunshine monitor? that proves especially practical for macro shooting.?

The C-8080 WIDE ZOOM ? main features:
- 8.0 mega pixels
- Magnesium alloy body
- 5x optical zoom (equiv. 28 ? 140mm on 35mm camera), f2.4-3.5
- Very short shutter release time lag of 0.3 sec. and extremely fast startup time
- Sunshine LCD monitor (may be tilted down 20 and up 90 degrees)
- High speed sequence shooting: 1.6 frames per second (except TIFF)
- Auto bracketing: up to 5 images (except TIFF)
- Electronic viewfinder with 240,000 pixels
- Programme, Shutter Priority, Aperture Priority and Full Manual modes
- Numerous focusing control options: iESP, spot (manual positioning of metering spot in frame), full time AF, manual focus
- Dual AF system
- Hot shoe
- Movie recording function with sound
- USB 2.0
- A variety of newly-developed accessories are available, including a direct filter mount and bayonet mount conversion lens system
- CAMEDIA Master 4.2 software