I apologize to any readers who haven’t enjoyed my posts about cameras that have CCD sensors. This is a topic I’m fascinated with but let me explain: I’ve always written about photographic topics I was interested in and when I started blogging that focus remained. If you don’t like the topic of a particular post, please hang in there. Chances are that the next day I’ll write about something completely different. I promise.
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, I think that’s for the same reason your local Ford dealer wants to sell you a $98,000 F150 pickup truck—more profit. Olympus, now as OM Systems, sells a tough camera—the TG7±—but once upon a time they also made a CCD powered rugged camera, the Stylus Tough 8010.
The Tough Get Going…
The Olympus Tough series of cameras were known for being shockproof, waterproof, crush-proof and freeze-proof. The Stylus Tough 8010 had a 14-megapixel (6.08 x 4.56 mm) CCD sensor and a built-in 28-140mm f/3.9-5.9 lens. The lens had a water-repellent coating to prevent water droplets from forming. The 8010 can dive 33-feet under water and has four preset underwater scene modes for making color correct photos in the watery realm. The camera could also 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 (or anywhere else,) and not worry about it.
The 8010’s AF Tracking continuously adjusts focus and brightness whether you or your subject are moving or not making it is useful for photographing action. To maximize image sharpness, the 8010 combines mechanical sensor-shift image stabilization and kept images sharp by adjusting the sensor to compensate for camera movement while using higher ISO sensitivities and faster shutter speeds at the same time to prevent blur.
How I Made this Photograph: I’ve often written about making photographs “in your own backyard.” 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 used 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 as low as $45, which shows its steep depreciation from its original 2010 price of four hundred bucks.
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 laround right bucks. No Kindle version is available at this time.