According to the Olympus press release, the SH-2 ‘delivers the kind of quality you can’t get on a phone, without requiring even a hint of photographic expertise’, and can capture high-quality shots even in low light.
It features a 24x optical zoom and a retro-style casing featuring leather and metal.
The SH-2 borrows a few features from its bigger and more expensive Olympus cousins, most notably the 5-axis optical image stabilisation system that reduces image blur from camera-shake.
All the talk of night-time shooting is centred around the SH-2’s ‘Nightscape Mode’, an auto mode that automatically turns off the flash and allows the camera to ‘focus quickly on a point of light against dark backdrop’.
There is also a Telephoto Macro Mode for extreme close up, and a Live Composite feature which ‘over time tracks the movement of bright objects like stars or a child waving a sparkler, without drowning out other lights’.
The SH-2 is Wi-fi enabled, allowing for transfer of images to a smartphone as well as remote control of settings. It can shoot video in High-Speed Movie Mode to enable super-slow-motion playback, and can also stream a live recording to a Full HD TV.
The Olympus Stylus SH-2 will be on sale from mid-March 2015, priced £249.99.
