Olympus creates the Stylus 7000 and Stylus 9000

CES 2009: Olympus has announced three new 12 megapixel Stylus compact digital cameras. The Stylus 9000 (mju 9000 in Europe) is the smallest 12MP 10X zoom digital camera on the market, the company says. There's also a 7X version, the Stylus 7000 (mju 7000 in Europe) and, in Europe only, so far as we can tell, the mju 5000. All three feature 'Beauty Mode' that aims to smooth people's complexions in portraits.

Pentax announces K2000 in white

Pentax has announced a limited edition of the K2000 (K-m in Europe) in white, bundled as a double zoom kit with the camera body and two kit lenses. Both Pentax DA L 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 AL and Pentax DA L 50-200mm F4-5.6 AL lenses and the K2000 body sport a white finish with a black trim. The kit will be made available on a limited basis in February 2009 at a price to be announced. In addition, Pentax has also released an online game for K2000 users to learn more about the camera and have a little fun.

Vivitar Europe makes staff redundant

Vivitar's European arm has gone into administration, making its 26 staff in France and the UK redundant after its parent company in US sold the brand name. Vivitar's parent company, Syntax Brillian, entered Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection in July and sold the Vivitar brand name to Sakar, a consumer electronics manufacturer in August. Under the sale agreement the name, along with intellectual property and goodwill was sold, leaving Vivitar France S.A. unable to continue to trade under the Vivitar name.