Olympus TOUGH TG-610 and TG-310 Digital Cameras

Olympus has launched the new TG-610 and TG-310, the latest cameras to join their TOUGH line.

As with their other TOUGH cameras, both the TG-610 and TG-310 are waterproof, shockproof and freezeproof allowing you to take great photos and shoot HD movies in almost any environment. I have yet to personally test out these latest models, however, I personally owned one of the older versions of this camera, and found it perfect for more sporty or adventurous people, looking for good quality point and shoot camera that can keep up with them. Mine has survived a month long canoe trip to the Canadian Arctic, multiple skiing trips, been dropped off a few cliffs and even into a beer stein at Octoberfest, yet despite all this abuse it still works perfectly. So if these new cameras are anything like the older versions, tough is a bit of an understatement.

The 14 Megapixel cameras are Eye-Fi card compatibility and will automatically upload your pictures and movies wirelessly to your computer or website. They can also be charged through USB which is obviously useful when your traveling. Designed to shoot underwater, the cameras feature a sliding double lock mechanism protects the battery, card slots and ports, while an additional lens barrier (metal on the TG-610 and hard glass on the TG-310) safeguards the optical zoom lens for taking pictures underwater; the TG-310 is waterproof to three meters while the TG-610 can shoot images up to five meters. The Olympus TOUGH TG-610 also has an automatic Underwater Snapshot Mode. In addition both cameras are freezeproof to -10°C and shockproof to a height of 1.5 meters.

Similar to their EPL cameras they both feature what Olympus calls Magic Filters. These allow you to add a number of filters to your photos including Pop Art, Soft Focus, Punk ( which transforms your image into contrasting pink and blacks), Sparkle Magic (which adds twinkling lights to objects) and the Beauty Mode (allowing you to smooth away wrinkles and eliminate imperfections and blemishes). The cameras also has Face and Pet Detection. While a lot of these filters are rather gimmicky, for the casual photographer they can be quite fun to play around with.

Both cameras will be available from February, with the TG-610 available in silver, black, blue and red for £250 and the TG-310 available in silver, blue, red, white and orange for £200.