Olympus SP-565 UZ
Digital Camera Review
Sep 26, 2008
- By Mark Brezinski
The Olympus SP-565 UZ boasts an extraordinary zoom range, a full 20x magnification equivalent to a huge 26 - 520mm zoom in 35mm photography, all in a compact 13-ounce body. The camera offers a full range of automatic and manual options, making it appropriate for beginners and advanced users alike. Based on our brief introduction at the Photokina trade show in Germany, this is a $400 camera we'd like to know better.
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Model Design / Appearance
The Olympus SP-565 UZ retains an aesthetic that's very reminiscent of SLRs. It's predominantly black with a matte finish. There's a huge grip on the shutter button side of the camera to provide a solid hold under fast-moving conditions, and the control layout will be immediately familiar to an SLR shooter. The Olympus is smaller and slightly more modern-looking than most SLRs, though.
Size and Handling
The SP-565 SP is a bit bigger than other SLR-style point-and-shoots we saw at Photokina, such as the Casio Exilim EX-FH20. Of course, while this rules it out as a potential pocket companion, it doesn't make it unwieldy. In fact, it's actually quite manageable. The controls are all set up in a logical way and are easy to access. Our one complaint was that using the control dial was slightly awkward: there isn't much for your left hand to grip while your right manipulates the dial.
While we wish our left hand had a little bit more to grab onto,
the overall handling experience was good.
Menu
The menu system on the SP-565 UZ is well laid out for the most part. The initial screen, as shown in this picture from the camera manual, lays out the key areas for user interaction. From here we were able to access everything quickly and easily, in part because the menu structures are intuitive, and in part because of the "Menu Guide" feature (pressing the DISP. button on a menu item will explain what that item does). One interesting feature is the way the current control wheel setting (shooting guide, automatic mode, program mode, scene mode, etc.) will blank out parts of the menu that no longer apply, making the interface more manageable.
