Viewfinder (6.75)
The Olympus SP-560UZ has an electronic viewfinder that protrudes from the back, almost like an extension from the flash in the front. The viewfinder is plastic and there is no cushy eyecup like on Canon’s ultra-zoom digital cameras. The SP-560’s viewfinder doesn’t protrude enough to keep noses off the LCD, either, so expect a bit of grease there (although I must say the LCD does well at repelling grease). Despite the lack of a cushy eyecup, the viewfinder is still nicely shaded and therefore more useful than the LCD in bright lighting.
The view itself is excellent, with proper contrast and a smooth refresh rate. It looks to be about a 60 fps feed, so even very quickly moving subjects appear nice and smooth. If you wear glasses, you can shed them and use the built-in dioptric adjustment, which has 16 steps.
Previewing subjects in the viewfinder is aided by the information and guide lines that can be added. The Info/Disp button can be pushed to add the shooting information, and an option in the Setup menu adds grid and cross lines.
Overall, I preferred the larger LCD screen most of the time simply because of size and convenience, but the electronic viewfinder was the best option in sunny and other bright lighting.
LCD Screen (7.5)
The SP-560UZ has the same LCD screen as its predecessor. It measures 2.5 inches diagonally and is populated with a healthy 230,000 pixels. It has a very wide viewing angle that extends from side to side and even above and below eye-level.
The view can be changed from the viewfinder to the LCD by pushing the button above the upper right corner of the LCD screen. The file information can be hidden with a touch of the info/display button below the multi-selector. The only item that always remains on the screen is the battery indicator in the upper left corner.
The Olympus SP-560UZ has a smooth live feed of about 60 fps, which is about twice as smooth as what most compact digital cameras have. The LCD’s brightness can be adjusted in full steps on a +/- 2 range.
Overall, the SP-560’s LCD screen is one of the best on the market. It is nicely-sized and has excellent resolution. The smooth view and ability to view it in just about any light are nice features, too.
Flash (7.75)
The flash component is placed directly above the lens, which must be manually opened with a button on its left side. Even in Auto mode, the flash remains tightly clasped shut unless the button is pushed. The LCD or viewfinder displays a reminder if the camera thinks it needs it: a green dot next to a blinking red flash icon.
The flash unit is sturdy and looks just like the one on the SP-550. This is a major improvement over earlier SP-series cameras, which had flimsy flashes that had to be wiggled to snap in and pop out.
Once the flash unit is open, the Flash mode can be changed using the right side of the multi-selector. Available choices are Auto, Red-Eye Reduction, Fill-in, Fill-in + Red-Eye Reduction, Slow Synchro, and Off.
There are more manual controls for the flash, too. Flash compensation has the same third-step +/- 2 range the exposure has. The flash sync can be set to one or two to fire at different times during the exposure. There is also an option to sync with 1-10 slave flash units. The Olympus SP-560 doesn’t have a hot shoe, but can supposedly operate with other flashes.
The SP-560’s flash produced even light when the lens was zoomed wide; in Telephoto mode, the flash looked brighter toward the top of the frame. The flash looks great most of the time. Even with portraits, the subjects’ foreheads didn’t look greasy or otherwise nasty, as sometimes happens with other digital cameras. I didn’t get a single red eye from the pre-production model we checked out a few months ago, and was pleasantly surprised that we got the same result this time. I nearly blinded myself and my subjects in attempting to eek out a red eye – and never got one.
Olympus’ specs state the built-in flash can reach from 0.98 to 21 feet when the ISO is set to 400 and the lens is zoomed out. When the lens is zoomed in and the ISO is set the same, the effective range shrinks to 3.9 to 13.1 feet, which, while still respectable, isn’t as impressive as the wide range. Most cameras publish flash range specs at lower ISO settings, too, so the SP-560’s specs probably sound better than what they really are.
Overall, the sturdy flash unit provides a huge amount of control that enthusiasts will appreciate. The light can be dimmed for sultry portraits or brightened to extend the reach. The flash is actually preferable to bumping up the ISO most of the time; the lighting cast didn’t look horrifically unnatural like on many cameras. It just looked like a little extra light in the frame – as it should.
Zoom Lens (9.0)
The SP-560’s 18x lens is almost identical to its predecessor’s, but Olympus is making a big deal about it because it’s 1mm wider. Both SP-series models have an incredible 18x optical zoom that gets you up close and personal with your subject in almost any situation. Back-row seats to your daughter’s band concert? No problem, you can still get a shot of her fingers sliding the trombone.
Both lenses measure 4.7-84.2mm, but their 35mm equivalent ranges differ. The older camera has a 28-504mm range, while the new SP-560 sports a wider 27-486mm equivalent. Olympus claims this is the widest lens on an ultra-zoom digital camera on the market.
Like the Olympus SP-550, the SP-560’s lens has much of the same construction. It is built from 14 lenses in 11 groups that sport four aspherical lenses and two ED lenses to minimize distortion. Unfortunately, the specs didn’t translate to results: the images still show significant barrel distortion.
The Olympus SP-560UZ outdoes the competition with its 27mm wide lens. The closest competitors are the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18, with 8.1 megapixels and 28mm 18x optical zoom lens, and the 8.1-megapixel Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H9’s 31mm 15x optical zoom lens. The SP-560 has an impressive 18x optical zoom lens, but then adds the option for up to 5.6x digital zoom, which should generally be avoided to keep the image quality pristine.
The lens has maximum apertures of f/2.8 when zoomed out and f/4.5 when zoomed in. The aperture on the pre-production model we received got stuck in a continuous rhythm of opening and closing, but that problem seems to be fixed on the production model. Kudos to the Olympus engineers.
The lens is backed up by optical image stabilization, which can be turned on and off in the Recording menu or with the half-moon-shaped button beside the shutter release/zoom control. The image stabilization system on the production model worked wonderfully in reducing blur in images; this was especially helpful when photographing without the flash and using the full 18x zoom.
Unfortunately the image stabilization and optical zoom lens don’t function in the Movie mode when the audio is turned on. You can record silent movies with zoom and stabilization, or you can record bumpy movies with sound.
The enormous 18x lens is controlled by a ring that surrounds the shutter release button. The ring has a small nub on the front that can be pushed to the right and left to zoom in or out. The lens zooms smoothly in, stopping at about 35 focal lengths. Zooming out is not smooth at all: the ride is jerky and the lens stops at only 25 focal lengths. When the lens tries to stop at a focal length while zooming out, it backfires and breathes before settling down. The good news is that it takes the camera three seconds to zoom in and the same back out. This feels just right. The little zoom ring doesn’t do justice to the big zoom lens, though: I kept wanting to rotate the rubber ring around the lens instead.
The very edge of the lens is threaded so conversion lenses can be attached. Olympus sells wide and telephoto conversion lenses for its ultra-zoom series cameras. Olympus’ proprietary lens is wide and can still cover the ball field with its massive 18x optical zoom range.
