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OLYMPUS PMA 2005 ANNOUCEMENTS
 
STYLUS VERVE S
 

STYLISH, ALL-WEATHER OLYMPUS STYLUS VERVE S PACKS MORE OPTIONS IN AN ULTRA-COMPACT DESIGN

5-Megapixel CCD, New Calendar and Album Features and Optimized Battery Technology Enhance the New Verve S Digital Camera

Melville, New York, February 17, 2005 - With the announcement of the new 5.0-megapixel Stylus Verve S, Olympus adds more choices to its line-up of sleek, ultra-compact digital cameras in the Stylus Verve series. The new Stylus Verve S packs 5 million pixels of image resolution into its compact, durable, all-weather designer body, along with new features such as a calendar, album function and a histogram for enhanced usability.

"The original Stylus Verve series was created to inspire creativity and self-expression, redefining the design of digital cameras," said Tomoko Matsunaga, product manager, Olympus Imaging America Inc. "The new Stylus Verve S builds upon that great design to offer more options while continuing the tradition of power, performance, all-weather durability, and exquisite style synonymous with the Olympus Stylus Digital series."

Designed to Do More
The Stylus Verve S combines a 5.0-megapixel CCD image sensor with Olympus' exclusive image processor, TruePic TURBO™, which significantly enhances image quality and delivers faster overall processing speeds for rapid startup, shutter release and playback. TruePic TURBO uses pixel "micro-smoothing" to deliver clearer, more color-accurate photos, even at lower resolutions. The result is high quality prints that can be cropped and printed to 11 x 14 inches and larger. And with a fast startup of less than one second and nearly instant shutter release time, you're always ready to take great pictures.

The bright, clear 1.8-inch HyperCrystal™ LCD delivers a high contrast image and 160-degree angle of view. So gather your friends around - your photos are viewable from above, from the side, and from below. And while conventional LCD screens appear dim against bright light, the HyperCrystal™ LCD provides excellent visibility in any light condition - on the beach, under the stars, in the rain, or on the slopes.

The Stylus line of digital cameras is renowned for all-weather durability. The body of the Stylus Verve S is constructed of durable, lightweight metal with rubber gaskets throughout the interior to ensure that rain, sleet, snow or sand won't get in the way of great photos. Designed for active digital photographers always on the go, the Stylus Verve S also features optimized battery technology that enables users to get more shots between battery charges.

Delivering Style
Modeled after the shape of a falling water droplet, the Stylus Verve S maintains the unique body design of its predecessor, the Stylus Verve. With its smooth contoured lines and ultra-compact size of just 3.7 x 2.2 x 1.1 inches and weight of only 4.1 ounces, the Stylus Verve S fits snugly in a hip pocket or in the palm of the hand.

A new finger grip on the front of the camera further enhances the ergonomics, making it easy to snap pictures when holding the camera with one hand. The black camera body has a new high-gloss finish and is constructed of metal for all-weather durability, with a circular lens barrier that tucks away inside the camera body when on, and protects the lens from the elements with an impermeable seal when closed. The camera also delivers pizzazz in the form of programmable sound effects, such as the rev of a sports car engine or a pleasing chime upon start-up as well as three catchy shutter sounds to choose from.

Designed for Excitement
The Stylus Verve S will change the way you think about your digital camera. Now instead of simply capturing images, you can think of your camera as a portable photo album that goes wherever you go. The new Album Function makes it easy to organize photos into photo albums stored on the camera's xD-Picture Card™. You can create up to 12 individual albums of 100 images each, in the order you want to show them, and take your photos everywhere - your photo album will no longer be confined to your coffee table. And with the new built-in Calendar Function, images are automatically organized and recalled by date.

Intelligent Design
Olympus photos are known worldwide for sharp, vibrant image quality. This is achieved through a number of key technologies, such as Olympus' high-quality all-glass lens (with aspherical lens elements), designed specifically for digital cameras. The lens provides the equivalent of 35 to 70mm, f3.5 - f4.9 in 35mm photography, with 8x combined total zoom (2x optical and 4x digital) to bring the action closer, as well as a Super Macro Mode that captures close-up images of fine details like the wings of a butterfly.

Designed to perform during a variety of occasions, the Stylus Verve S includes 16 shooting modes that can be accessed through the camera's menu to provide fully automatic exposure adjustments for shooting Night Scenes, Landscapes, Fireworks, Cuisine and more. And the inclusion of advanced shooting functions, such as a direct histogram and white balance presets, makes it easy to capture images with perfect exposure every time. With its QuickTime® Movie Mode, the Stylus Verve S can record movies of any length, limited only by the size of the memory card in the camera.

Designed to be Approachable
Connecting the Stylus Verve S to a computer is easy with the USB Auto Connect feature, which connects directly via USB 2.0 cable and requires no software. Or, If you prefer, forget the computer altogether. The power of PictBridge technology enables photos to be printed directly from the Stylus Verve S to any PictBridge-enabled printer, such as the Olympus P-10 Digital Photo Printer, without using a computer. Printing and sharing images has never been easier, and the P-10's photo lab-quality dye-sublimation printing produces archival-quality prints in rich color.

OLYMPUS Master™ software provides the ultimate in digital imaging management. An intuitive user interface makes downloading to your computer quick and simple, and images are searchable by date or keyword in the Calendar View. And with one-click editing tools, such as red-eye reduction, images can be touched up before printing or emailing. Online support, templates, firmware upgrades and other user services are just a mouse-click away.

Availability
The Stylus Verve S will be available in April 2005. It includes a 16MB xD-Picture Card, Wrist Strap, Camera WIN/Mac USB Cable, Audio/Video cable, Li-30B Li-Ion Rechargeable Battery and Charger, Quick Start Guide, Basic Instruction Manual, Warranty Card, CD-ROM with OLYMPUS Master Software, and Camera Advanced Manual.

U.S. Pricing
Stylus Verve S Estimated Street Price: $349.99 (U.S.)

For more information, review units, product specifications and high-resolution images of the Stylus Verve S, contact Michael Bourne, Mullen Public Relations, 650-210-9857 or michael.bourne@mullen.com, or Chris Sluka, senior public relations manager, Olympus Imaging America Inc., Two Corporate Center Dr., P.O Box 9058 Melville, NY 11747-9058, ph: (631) 844-5000 (800) 622-6372, Fax: (631) 844-5262 or the Olympus Web Site: http://www.olympusamerica.com.

ABOUT OLYMPUS IMAGING AMERICA INC.
Olympus Imaging America Inc. is a precision technology leader, designing and delivering award-winning products for consumer and professional markets.

Olympus Imaging America Inc. works collaboratively with its customers and its parent company, Olympus Corporation, to develop breakthrough technologies with revolutionary product design and functionality that enhances peoples lives every day. These include:

· Digital and film cameras
· Professional SLR Imaging Systems
· Digital and Microcassette recorders
· Digital Music Players
· Personal Photo Printers
· Digital Print Kiosks
· Digital Video Projectors
· Digital Media
· Binoculars

Olympus Imaging America Inc. is responsible for sales in United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. For more information, visit www.olympusamerica.com.

Specifications: Stylus Verve S*

Imager - 5.0 megapixel effective, 5.4 megapixel gross, 1/2.5" (1.0cm) CCD
Lens - 5.8 - 11.6mm (35 - 70mm equivalent in 35mm photography), 5 lenses in 3 group
Zoom - Seamless to 8x (2x optical and 4x digital combined)
Aperture Range - f3.5/f4.9 (not adjustable)
LCD - 1.8" (4.6cm) HyperCrystal™ LCD, approx. 134,000 pixels
Focus System - CDD Contrast
Focus Ranges - Normal mode: 19.7" - infinity (0.5m - infinity)Macro mode: 7.9" - infinity (0.2m - infinity)Super Macro Mode: - 3.1" (8cm)
Focus Mode - iESP auto, Spot AF
Shutter Speed - 1/1000 sec -1/2 sec (up to 4 sec. In Night Scene mode)
ISO - Auto, 64, 80, 100, 200, 400 (equivalent)
Metering Mode - Digital ESP multi-pattern, Spot metering
White Balance - iESP2 multi-pattern auto TTL, Pre-set (Daylight, Overcast, Tungsten, Fluorescent1, Fluorescent2, Fluorescent3)
Exposure Compensation - ±2 EV steps in 1/3
Recording Modes - DCF Exif 2.2, JPEG, PIM 3.0 compatible
Adjustment Resolutions - 2560 x 1920, SQH2560 x 1920, HQ2048 x 1536, SQ11600 x 1200, SQ21280 x 960, SQ21024 x 768, SQ2640 x 480, SQ2
Shooting Modes - 16 shooting modes: P, Scene Preset (Portrait, Landscape, Landscape + Portrait, Night Scene, Night + Portrait, Cuisine, Beach & Snow, Self Portrait + Self Timer, Behind Glass, Self Portrait, Indoor, Candle, Sunset, Fireworks), Movie
Panorama - Up to 10 frames automatically stichable with Olympus master software when using Olympus brand xD-Picture card
Sequential Shooting - 1.5 frames per second (4 pictures in HQ mode)
Shooting Assist Function - Histogram
Movie Mode - QuickTime Movie with Sound, HQ: 320 x 240/15 fps, SQ: 160 x 120/15fps
Image Processing - TruePic TURBOTM Image Processor
Pixel Mapping - Automatic Pixel Mapping (APM) available via menu setting
Noise Reduction - Mode available at shutter speeds of 0.5 second or longer set automatically in Night Scene mode
Image Playback - Still Image: Single, Index display (4/9/16/25), Up to 8x enlargement, Slide-show, Rotation, Calendar, Album, HistogramMovie: Normal, Reverse, Frame-by-frame
Playback Edit Effects - Still Image: Black and White, Sepia, Resize, Trimming, Rotation, Soft focus, Fish eyeMovie: Frame Index
Direct Printing Options PictBridge and DPOF
Flash - Built in
Flash Modes - Auto (for low light and back lit conditions)Red-eye ReductionFill-inOff
Flash Working Range - Wide: 9.8ft (3.0m); Tele 7.2ft. ( 2.2M)
Self-Timer - 12 seconds
Settings Memorization On/Off (hold changes/Reset to default settings)
Date/Time Calendar - Simultaneous recording into image data, Automatic up to 2099
Removable Media Card - xD-Picture Card (16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512MB or 1GB)
Outer Connectors - USB connecter & Audio/Video multi-terminal
Auto-Connect USB - 2.0 Full Speed
Weatherproof - Yes
System Requirements - Windows 98/98SE2000PRO/ME/XP, Mac 10.1 and higher
Operating Environment - Operation: 32° - 104°F (0° - 40°C), 30 - 90% humidityStorage: -4° - 140°F (-20° - 60°C), 10 - 90% humidity
Power Supply - Li-Ion rechargeable battery (Li-30B)
Size - 3.7"W x 2.2"H x 1.1" D (95mm x 55.5mm x 27.5mm)
Weight - 4.1oz ( 115g) without battery and media card
*Specifications and design are subject to change without any notice or obligation on the part of the manufacturer.
All trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective holder.
©2005 Olympus Imaging America Inc.

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