Digital Trends

Olympus SP-560 UZ

December 19th, 2007 | by David Elrich

Testing and Use

After just a few minutes of shooting, the key difference between the FZ18 and the SP-560 UZ is pretty obvious; it’s much slower especially when it comes to saving files—and this was in JPEG (best compression)—not RAW. When you’re in that mode be prepared to wait—about 10 seconds—as the image is saved to the card. I’ve noticed this delay in other Olympus point-and-shoots before and it really shows what happens when companies do not beef up their processing power as they boost resolution. Bummer. Yet the company’s D-SLRs are pretty responsive.

Also Canon has nothing to worry about as the leader (in my view) of Face Detection quality. The Panasonic FZ18’s FD was O.K. and the same holds true for the SP-560 UZ. However, when you use the Olympus with the flash, shot-to-shot time drops precipitously (the FZ18 slows down as well). At least this gives you the time to ask your friends and family to regroup while you say “look at the camera.” And if you’re shooting in RAW, they can take a bathroom break before the camera is good to go again. This is an exaggeration but the SP-560 UZ is s-l-o-w (around 10 seconds for a RAW image). Olympus claims this camera captures 15 frames per second and this is true if you want a dozen 1.3 megapixel images. What a joke—but I have to give the marketing department high grades for taking lemons and turning it into lemonade.

I did my usual collection of subjects—indoors with low light, groups of people and outdoor scenes using the many manual and scene mode options available but began in straight Auto. Folks, I have to tell you I really like the incredible focal range of this camera and others of its ilk. Moving from wide angle to a very tight telephoto with one camera is very enjoyable. Definitely try this out when you visit your retailer.

Once done I made a pile of 8.5x11 prints with no tweaking in either JPEG or RAW. And the results were very underwhelming. Images taken side-by-side with the FZ18 were decidedly less crisp and did not have the “pop” of the Panasonic. That Leica lens was just better and combined with the overall processing speed put it decidedly ahead. The Shadow Adjustment feature, however, did a good job bringing out the details in a room taken in available light (no flash). Unfortunately my still life in very dim light was filled with noise but at least the camera did not grab for focus. Give this one to Panasonic as well with the Sony DSC-H3 doing an even better job. The SP-560 UZ uses two types of image stabilization (sensor shift and digital) and it worked O.K. but again the OIS of competitors is a notch ahead. On a more positive note, macro close-ups were very sharp and give you an added tool for your shooting arsenal.

Conclusion

The Olympus SP-560 UZ mega zoom camera has a lot of things going for it but in the end, its picture quality and performance that matter the most. My advice would be to buy the Panasonic if you’re looking for an 18x zoom since they’re similarly priced. I just wish Olympus would beef up its point-and-shoots to the level of its D-SLRs. Until then, they’ll continue to be also-rans.

Pros:

• Decent photos in good light
• Dual Image Stabilization
• Runs on AAs

Cons:

• Images don’t really “pop”
• Slow response compared to competition
• Too much digital noise with high ISOs