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Manual Control Options
The Olympus SP-560UZ packs in plenty of manual controls for enthusiasts and others who care to experiment beyond the realm of the Auto mode. Users can change everything from the shutter speed and aperture to the flash compensation and white balance.
Focus
Autofocus (7.75)
The SP-560UZ has a CCD contrast detection system that includes a new face detection system. This finds faces in the frame and automatically focuses on them; this technology is included on many other digital cameras. The SP-560 is one of the first Olympus cameras to include face detection. Some cameras include a button specifically for face detection, such as the Fujifilm FinePix F40fd. The Olympus SP-560UZ instead opts to stash it among other menu items.
In the Recording menu, the Auto Focus modes include Face Detect, iESP, Spot, and Area. The Face Detect mode is quick, but not as quick as systems on Panasonic and Canon digital cameras. Sometimes it finds a face and places a green box around it, but it didn’t track well. It loses contact when heads turn, as well. It recognizes up to three faces when testing. The Standard Auto Focus modes work fairly well, albeit a bit on the slow side. The SP-560 has a Predictive Auto Focus mode, but it doesn’t show significant improvement in focus from the standard mode. Subjects in the Movie mode aren’t focused well. We thought this was a preproduction phenomenon, but the problem of soft subjects still exists on the production model.
The SP-560 can focus from 3.94 inches to infinity when the lens is zoomed out and 47.24 inches to infinity when zoomed in. The Macro mode gets up close and personal and can be found on the left side of the multi-selector. There is also a Super Macro mode that can focus as close as 1 centimeter. In the Recording menu is an option to turn the full-time Auto Focus on and off, along with on and off options for the autofocus assist lamp.
Overall, the SP-560’s Auto Focus system has great specs, but its face detection is behind the competition and is generally slow.
In the Recording menu, the Auto Focus modes include Face Detect, iESP, Spot, and Area. The Face Detect mode is quick, but not as quick as systems on Panasonic and Canon digital cameras. Sometimes it finds a face and places a green box around it, but it didn’t track well. It loses contact when heads turn, as well. It recognizes up to three faces when testing. The Standard Auto Focus modes work fairly well, albeit a bit on the slow side. The SP-560 has a Predictive Auto Focus mode, but it doesn’t show significant improvement in focus from the standard mode. Subjects in the Movie mode aren’t focused well. We thought this was a preproduction phenomenon, but the problem of soft subjects still exists on the production model.
The SP-560 can focus from 3.94 inches to infinity when the lens is zoomed out and 47.24 inches to infinity when zoomed in. The Macro mode gets up close and personal and can be found on the left side of the multi-selector. There is also a Super Macro mode that can focus as close as 1 centimeter. In the Recording menu is an option to turn the full-time Auto Focus on and off, along with on and off options for the autofocus assist lamp.
Overall, the SP-560’s Auto Focus system has great specs, but its face detection is behind the competition and is generally slow.
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