Pocket Rockets - From Olympus

Don't worry if the title of this blog seems to mention another manufacturer's product - the term " Pocket Rocket " appears in conjunction with many items - and I first encountered it as a child when reading about the Montreal Canadiens hockey team. The Richard brothers - Maurice and Henri were star players. Maurice was Rocket Richard and as Henri was younger and shorter he was Pocket Rocket Richard. I often wondered if they had any of their natural teeth left in their mouths after so many seasons of professional hockey, but that is another story...

The trio of cameras that you see in this blog are the little fun ones from Olympus. They are small and stylish - hence the arty photographic treatment with the props and the million dollar lighting* - but they may be just exactly what you need for your camera bag - or your pocket.

The purple one is the VR 350. It is the elegant equivalent of a stack of post-it notes and a pen. You see something memorable on holiday, you pop it out of your purse, point and shoot. Even extreme close-up, no problem. See a passing parade? Push the movie button and take HD 720 videos of it as much as you like - sound and all. Wideangle? - 24mm in filmspeak**. Telephoto? 240mm in filmspeak. Wow. Even does automatic 3D anaglyph photos and the Olympus people have included a pair of red/blue 3D glasses in the package, so you can take pictures of dinosaurs looming out of the frame. As one does on holiday.

The silver camera next to the EASY button is the VG 160. We sell a bundle of these to schools be cause they are so easy to use - and so cheap. They still have a 26mm lens in filmspeak and this goes out to 130mm. Movies, macro, and a 3" screen on the back. Silver, black, and bright hot colours. Fits in any pocket. Easy.

The elegant grey camera with the noticeable grip is the SZ -14. This is a step up in the Olympus world as it has a lens range of 25mm filmspeak to 625mm filmspeak. Movies, macro, 3" LCD screen, and a pop-up flash tube just above the lens assembly  - for attractive shadowing on flash exposures. The larger grip is a help when holding the camera out to see the screen, and means that a one-handed use is much more secure. The longer lens extension means that this camera could go on a safari trip with you and bring back pictures of things you don't want to get near to. Lions, bears, politicians...

Remember that while we want you to buy a full DSLR kit with extra lenses and three tripods for every trip you take, you may wish to travel a little lighter. These cameras are your chance to do so, and to bring back some pretty darn good images.

* Two fluorescent tubes stuck on the ceiling. Million dollar might have been a little high...

** Filmspeak. The mathematical expression that equates a digital camera's lens and sensor combination to what it might have been able to do in the GOD if it was a 35mm camera shooting film. It clears it all up, eh?

Uncle Dick