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October 4, 2005 – The European subsidiary of Olympus announced the SP-700 today, which has the largest LCD on an Olympus digital camera to date. The Olympus SP-700 has a large 3-inch HyperCrystal Sunshine LCD screen, which combines with its 6 megapixels, 11 MB of internal memory, and 3x optical zoom lens for an impressive feature set. The digital camera will be released around Christmastime in Europe for a price that is yet to be determined.
Olympus is marketing this model as a stylish on-the-go camera that can also be a pocket album with its huge viewing screen. The SP-700 comes in a 3.8 x 2.2 x 1-inch metal housing that weighs a trim 4.9 ounces. The camera is oriented for the more automatic-minded with its built-in guide function and 24 scene modes.
The long list of scenes includes five portrait modes: Portrait, Night and Portrait, Landscape and Portrait, Self Portrait, and Available Light Portrait. The Olympus SP-700 also has basic scenes such as Night Scene and Indoor, and more specialized scenes such as Underwater, Cuisine, Behind Glass, Document, and Auction. The scenes hint that the SP-700 is built for the everyman. For example, the SP-700 is made for businesspeople who want to photograph documents as well as mothers who want to sell their old baby clothes on an online auction.
The Olympus SP-700 has fast response and startup times, as well as an impressive movie mode. It can record in three different movie sizes at 30 frames per second. The movie mode also records audio and uses a digital image stabilization system for smoother video. Users of the SP-700 won’t have to rely on a computer for image editing; this model has built-in editing features such as brightness, saturation, contrast, trimming, and even red-eye fix. Olympus couples this technology with interesting features like a calendar organization function and a Compare and Shoot function for beginners who want to check and recheck their photos.