does anyone have this camera or has anyone been able to test it out? it sounds almost too good to be true for a P+S. up to 33ft underwater without the expensive underwater housing required.

after listening to marko's interview with jolene monheim in podcast 17 a few days ago, i've been jonesing to try this myself.


here are the specs. retails for 399.99 cad:

Shockproof MIL-STD-810F Shock Equivalent (6.6ft./2m)

Waterproof Equivalent to IEC6059 IPX8/JISC0920 (33ft./10m)

Freezeproof MIL-STD-810F Low Temp Equivalent (-10oC/14oF)

Crushproof 220lbf./100kgf.

Image Sensor 10.1 Megapixels (effective), 1/2.35” CCD (1.1cm)
Focal Length/Lens Configuration 5.0 – 18.2 mm (28 – 102 mm equivalent in 35mm photography),
10 Lenses in 8 Groups, 4 Aspherical Lenses, 2 ED Lenses
Zoom 3.6x Optical Zoom + 5x Digital Zoom (Seamless to 18x)
Maximum Aperture F3.5 - F5.1

Display 2.7” (6.9cm) HyperCrystal™ II LCD, approx. 230,000 dots 5 Steps
Brightness Adjustment
Viewfinder N/A

Focus System CCD Contrast Detection

Focus Range (from lens surface) Normal mode: 19.7" – infinity (0.5m – infinity)

Macro mode: Wide: 3.9” – infinity (0.1m – infinity),Tele: 11.8” – infinity (0.3m – infinity), Super Macro mode: 0.79" – 19.7” (2cm – 50cm)
Shutter Speed 1/1000 sec. –1/2 sec. (up to 4 sec. in Night Scene mode)
ISO Sensitivity (SOS: Standard Output Sensitivity) Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600

Exposure Metering Digital ESP Metering, Spot Metering, Face Detection AE (when Face Detection AF is selected)

White Balance Control Auto, Presets (Daylight, Overcast, Tungsten, and 3 Fluorescents)

Exposure Compensation ±2 EV steps in 1/3 EV steps

Image File Format Still Image: JPEG

Movie: AVI Motion JPEG

Number of Recorded Pixels 10MP (3,648 x 2,736)
5MP (2,560 x 1,920)
3MP (2,048 x 1,536)
2MP (1,600 x 1,200)
1MP (1,280 x 960)
VGA (640 x 480)
16:9 (1,920 x 1,080)

Shooting Modes 29 Shooting Modes; Auto, Program Auto, Digital Image
Stabilization, Scene Modes (1. PORTRAIT, 2. LANDSCAPE, 3. LANDSCAPE+PORTRAIT, 4. NIGHT SCENE, 5. NIGHT+PORTRAIT, 6. SPORT, 7. INDOOR, 8. CANDLE, 9. SELF PORTRAIT, 10. AVAILABLE LIGHT PORTRAIT, 11. SUNSET, 12. FIREWORKS, 13. CUISINE, 14. BEHIND GLASS, 15. DOCUMENTS, 16.AUCTION, 17.SHOOT & SELECT1, 18. SHOOT & SELECT2, 19. BEACH&SNOW, 20. PRE-CAPTURE MOVIE, 21. UNDERWATER SNAPSHOT, 22. UNDERWATER WIDE1, 23. UNDERWATER WIDE2, 24. UNDERWATER MACRO), Non-Water Movie, Underwater Movie

Panorama Up to 10 frames automatically stitchable with OLYMPUS Master software when using Olympus brand xD-Picture Card™

Continuous Shooting High speed: 5.2 frames per second, 11 frames (3MP)
Normal speed: 0.7 frames per second, 7 frames (10MP)
Shooting Assist Functions Shooting Guide, Perfect Shot Preview, Histogram, Frame Assist, Voice Recording
Movie Mode AVI Movie with Sound;
640x480 (30/15fps)
320x240 (30/15fps)

Image Processing TruePic™ III Image Processor

Noise Reduction Set automatically at shutter speeds of 0.5 second or longer in specific scene modes

Image Playback Still Image: Single, Index Display (4/9/16/25), Up to 10x Enlargement, Slideshow, Rotation, Calendar, My Favorites, Histogram
Movie: Normal, Fast-Forward, Reverse, Frame-by-Frame

Flash Built-in
Flash Modes Auto (for low light and backlit conditions)
Red-Eye Reduction
Fill-in
Off

Flash Working Range Wide: 0.33ft (1.0m) – 13.5ft. (4.1m) at ISO 800
Tele: 0.98ft (0.3m) – 8.9ft. (2.7m) at ISO 800

Self-Timer 12 Seconds

Memory 14.7MB Internal Memory

Removable Media Card xD-Picture Card (TM) (1GB, 2GB), microSD (MASD-1 is required), microSD movie function available (up to 2GB cards)


Outer Connectors Multi-Terminal (USB Connector, Audio/Video Output, DC Input*)
*Optional DC Coupler (CB-MA1) is required.

Auto-Connect USB USB 2.0 High-Speed (USB Mass Storage)

System Requirements Auto-Connect USB: Windows® 2000/XP/VISTA with USB port, Mac OS X 10.3 or later with USB port

Software: Windows® 2000PRO/XP/VISTA, Mac OS X 10.3 or later
Operating Temperature/Humidity Operation: 14° – 104°F (-10° – 40°C), 30% – 100% humidity

Storage: -4° – 140°F (-20° – 60°C), 10% – 90% humidity

Power Source Li-ion Rechargeable Battery (LI-50B), AC Adapter (D-7AC) with the optional DC Coupler (CB-MA1)

Battery Life (CIPA DC-002) Approximately 260 shots per charge (based on CIPA battery life measurement standards)

Dimension 3.7"W x 2.4"H x 0.84" D (93.6mm x 60.9mm x 21.3mm)
Weight 6.3oz (170g) without battery and media card

Jess