TOKYO: Olympus has unveiled the new Air camera, which uses smartphones as the control unit and LCD. Set to go on sale on March 6, the camera will be initially available in Japan for 33,800 yen (body, without lens) or 49,800 yen (with 14-42mm lens kit).
“The Olympus Air is a camera with new concept that provides intuitive controls for shooting, image manipulation, and uploads to social networking services through a linked smartphone. The popularity of posting to social networking services and other uses has increased the frequency of capturing photos to previously incomparable levels, thereby increasing the number of users who feel that photos are an intimate part of their lives,” stated Olympus.
In terms of the specifics, Olympus Air A01 packs a 16MP Micro Four Thirds sensor and a lens mount, which can use any of multiple supported lenses. The camera communicates with smartphones using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. It also includes a physical shutter button, a tripod mount and a slot for a microSD card.
According to Olympus, the Air A01 camera can work with as many as eight apps that it has designed for it, which provide various specific features and functions to play-around right when users are photographing something.
“There are 8 different smartphone apps that can be selected according to how users want to shoot. With these, the interchangeable lens camera quality photos can be captured using simple smartphone controls,” noted Olympus in a press release. The company will also offering a software development kit, which can be used to develop more apps for this camera.
