Picture Quality / Size Options (7.5)
There are so many size options available on the SP-500 that it’s almost ridiculous. RAW photos can be taken, and so can nine different sizes of JPEG files – each with a High or Normal compression setting. The following still image sizes are available: 2816 x 2112, 2816 x 1880, 2592 x 1944, 2288 x 1712, 2048 x 1536, 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960, 1024 x 768, and 640 x 480. Most of these sizes are in the standard 4:3 format, but the 2816 x 1880 size is 3:2-formatted for perfect 4 x 6-inch prints. Many of these options are optimized for something: the 640 x 480 size is made for TV, the 1024 x 768 size is made for computer screens, etc. Users may not want to switch the image size setting for every other photo, so there are cropping and resizing options in the playback mode.
Picture Effects (8.0)
The Olympus SP-500 UZ has several picture effects, some of which can be used before grabbing the shot and others added in postproduction in-camera. Contrast, saturation, and sharpness all have a +/- 5 scale in the Picture tab of the recording menu. The more typical black and white and sepia color modes can be accessed from the playback menu. Both color modes look great and images are saved as separate files when the colors are added. Also in the playback mode, users can select the brightness and saturation options for automatic fixes that are also saved separately from the original file. Overall, the SP-500 has plenty of picture effects. More and more digital cameras are including image parameters like contrast within the menu. This streamlines the editing process for photographers who want to snap a shot and print it straight from the camera since no postproduction editing is needed.
