The Nikon Coolpix P500 hasn't held onto its record-breaking status for long, as Olympus has just announced the second 36x superzoom camera to come to market in 2011. The SP-810 UZ is designed to replace the SP-800 UZ—which was on sale for around a year and a half in the end.
Olympus' new model is nothing revolutionary, as the SP-810 has a very similar design and build to the SP-800. It's therefore the same kind of compact superzoom camera but with the bulk and focal range of a bridge. Note that it has no viewfinder but it does have manual settings.
Not a great deal has changed on the inside of the camera either. Unlike some of the firm's other 2011 models—including the highly original SZ-30 MR—Olympus hasn't chosen to use a BSI CMOS sensor in this particular camera. The 14-Megapixel CCD sensor is therefore still there, as is the large 3-inch screen with its low-grade 230,000-dot definition. Plus, there's still no Full HD video and no sign of stereo sound.
So apart from its monster zoom (24-864 mm), the SP-810 UZ will be counting on its price tag for success, arriving in autumn 2011 for around €299 (approximately £270). For the same money, we'd still rather have the SZ-30 MR though, as the difference between 600 mm and 864 mm zoom settings isn't really all that spectacular in the end.