Olympus SP-560 UZ December 19th, 2007 | by David Elrich
Full Review
Features and Design The camera measures 4.6 x 3.1 x 3.1 (WHD, in inches) and tips the scales at 13 ounces without the required four AAs and xD Picture card. This is very close in size and weight to the FZ18 so there’s no big difference. However when you extend the zoom, the Olympus protrudes an additional inch compared to the FZ18. Personally I liked its overall looks and heft compared to the Panasonic (other than the Pinocchio-style lens). The front is dominated by the 18x zoom which equals 27-486mm in 35mm terms. The wide angle is very appealing for portraits and landscapes (although there’s a bit of distortion) while the benefits of a built-in 486mm telephoto are pretty straightforward for anyone, especially travelers. Also on the front are a few silver and gold decals touting the lens size, model number and Olympus logo. It’s very tastefully done. Beyond aesthetics are the AF Assist lamp and three-pinhole mic. The top of the camera is fairly clutter-free. There’s a button to engage the image stabilizer, another for power on/off and a knurled mode dial. The shutter with surrounding wide/tele control angles down on the pistol grip that holds the batteries. It has a very comfortable feel but—as always—we urge you to do your own hands-on testing. The mode dial is pretty straight forward. There’s Auto, Program AE, aperture- and shutter-priority, full manual, movie, playback, access to 25 scene modes (with thumbnail images and brief descriptions), My Mode and Guide. With My Mode you can save up to four favorite settings (picking white balance, ISO and metering). The Guide is a smart onboard owner’s manual with answers and solutions to 15 common picture-taking questions. Say if you want a “close up photo” hit the OK key and the camera will be put into macro mode. This is a very helpful feature and, as you can see, this one leans a bit more to the point-and-shoot crowd. Still there are plenty of manual options for those who want that flexibility. The rear of the camera is dominated by the 2.5-inch LCD screen rated a solid 230K pixels. It held up well in direct light which is a good thing since you have to drill pretty deep into the menus to adjust the brightness. Along with the LCD, the SP-560 UZ also has an electronic viewfinder (EVF) to use when you’d like to hold the camera up to your eye. It has a diopter control to adjust the focus. Next to the EVF is a key to let you switch between the LCD and viewfinder. To the right of the screen is a four-way controller with center set button surrounded by four other keys including Display, Shadow Adjustment, Playback and Menu. Display lets you adjust how many items will clutter the screen including icons, histogram, grid lines and so on. At its cleanest you’ll only see the highlighted metering area. Shadow Adjustment is something new from Olympus and is basically backlight compensation which lightens detail in shadows. I tend to like high contrast images but it did a decent job of a subject framed by a bright window. Menu and Playback are self explanatory; Olympus onscreen menus are basic, to the point and easy to read. The right side has a compartment for xD Picture cards. Olympus continues to soldier on with this orphan format in its point-and-shoots while Fujifilm offers consumers multiple formats (xD and SD). We urge Olympus to do the same since the cards have less capacity and cost more than SD/SDHC. For example a 2 gig M-Type (high speed) card costs around $40 USD versus $15 for a similar capacity SD high-speed edition. In its E-series D-SLRs there are dual slots for CompactFlash and xD cards. I can’t understand why Olympus won’t be more “agnostic” in its less expensive cameras. Profits you say? Oh, right, that little thing… Note: the company recommends you use an M-Type card to access some special features including Art, Panorama and 3D. With 3D you can create three-dimensional images when using special glasses. I didn’t try this out (glasses weren’t provided) but I’d bet it’s ridiculous. The SP-560 UZ comes with a good kit (other than memory card). It
The surprisingly compact SP-560 (black only) is a very attractively designed digicam with rounded edges and a slick chrome accent that also has the holes for the camera strap connectors. It has a soft-textured surface that’ll help avoid any slippage—it is very nicely done.
Image Courtesy of Olympus
Image Courtesy of Olympus
Image Courtesy of Olympus
On the left side is a compartment for the optional DC-in and USB-A/V out. The bottom features a tripod mount and compartment for the four AAs and xD card slot.
has a lens cap (with string), strap, A/V and USB cables. Since it runs on four AAs, they’re supplied as well but you should pick up a set of NiMH rechargeables if you choose this one. Olympus also supplies a Getting Started bundle with three individual 100-page manuals (English, Spanish, French) and a CD-ROM with Olympus Master 2 software that’s a more-than-decent basic editing and filing program with the ability to develop RAW files.
After popping in the AAs, a 2 gig M-Type xD card, setting the date/time as well as few basic parameters, it was time to capture some holiday spirit.
by Dan on November 8, 2009:
“The USB connector on the camera broke off and fell into the camera casing. I can see it in there and you can hear it rattling around. I'm hoping Olympus stands behind their product - this is my first Olympus puchase.” More...