I would like to offer my apologies to any readers who were not thrilled with my series on cameras with CCD sensors. Sadly, for you, here’s another one but let me explain. I’ve always written books and magazine articles about photographic topics I was, first, doing and. second, stuff I was interested in. When I started blogging seventeen years ago I continued that focus. As I’ve gotten older. a more important aspect of my blogging became important: To keep my mind alert, I mainly write this blog for mental health reasons with hope it will stave off any of mental problems that can affect some older people. So, if you don’t like a post, hang in there with me, because the next day, I’ll write about something completely different.
Today’s Post by Joe Farace
Advice is like snow—the softer it falls, the longer it dwells upon, and the deeper it sinks into the mind. —Samuel Taylor Coleridge
There was a time when rugged point-and-shoot cameras were all the rage. Nowadays posh compacts rule the roost for the same reason your local Ford Dealer wants to sell you a $98,000 F150—more profit. Olympus, now under OM Systems still sells a tough camera—the TG7 but once upon a time they also made a CCD-powered rugged camera, the Stylus Tough 8010.
O
lympus Tough series cameras were known for being shockproof, waterproof, crush-proof, and freeze-proof. The Stylus Tough 8010 was powered by 14-megapixel (6.08 x 4.56 mm) CCD sensor and had a built-in 28-140mm f/3.9-5.9 lens. The lens features a water-repellent coating to prevent formation of water droplets. The 8010 can dive to 33 feet under water and has four preset underwater scene modes for making color correct photos. The camera can withstand a 6.6-foot drop and 220 pounds of crushing pressure so during a trip you could just toss it into your camera bag and not worry about it.
The 8010’s AF Tracking continuously adjusts focus and brightness whether you or your subject are moving making it is useful for photographing action. To maximize image sharpness, the 8010 combines mechanical Sensor-Shift Image Stabilization and Digital Image Stabilization/ Mechanical Sensor-Shift Image Stabilization keeps images sharp by adjusting the sensor to compensate for camera movement while Digital Image Stabilization uses higher ISO sensitivities and faster shutter speeds to prevent blur. The Stylus Tough 8010 can detect up to 12 faces within the frame and automatically focuses and optimizes exposure to capture sharp portraits and group shots.
How I Made this Photograph: I’ve often written about making photographs “in your own backyard” well, this image was made in the front yard of my former home while it was snowing. That’s what those white dots you see in the image are from; the built-in flash was fired! The camera was the Olympus Stylus Tough 8010 with the built-in lens at 28mm (equivalent.) The Manual exposure was 1/30 sec at f/3.9 and SO 125/ The original color JPEG file was converted to black and white with Silver Efex because I felt the image was mostly monochrome anyway.
I’ve seen used Olympus Stylus Tough 8010 selling on line for around $145, which shows just modest depreciation from its original 2010 price of four hundred bucks. I think that speaks well about the quality of the camera and the image it can produce.
If you enjoyed today’s blog post and would like to treat me to a cup of Earl Grey tea ($2.50), please click here. And if you do, thanks so much.
My book Creative Digital Monochrome Effects is available from Amazon and (I think, anyway) is a fun read. There’s even a chapter on infrared photography. It’s available for $11.46 but bargain shoppers can pick up used copies starting for less than four bucks. No Kindle version is available at this time.