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Introduction
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01.Physical Tour
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02.Components
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03.Design / Layout
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04.Modes
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05.Control Options
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06.Conclusion
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07.Specs / Ratings
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08.Comments
Olympus SP-565 UZ
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ComponentsThe Olympus SP-565 UZ (Ultra Zoom), an advanced point-and-shoot with an impressive zoom lens, takes its design cues from traditional SLRs. It features a wide grip on the right side, a pop-up flash and an SLR-style control setup. It does retain a few point-and-shoot features, however, such as the zoom control located by the shutter button and, of course, a non-removable lens.
Front
The front of the SP-565 UZ borrows a lot from the design of digital SLRs. This particular shot lets you see the lens pretty well, but the auto focus assist is slightly hidden in shadows. Above the grip you can also spy a few controls, like the shutter button and control dial, but we'll cover those more in-depth in the Top section.
The face of the SP-565 UZ looks rather inconspicuous when
its lens isn't protruding about 4 inches.
Back
The back of the camera follows the familiar arrangement of LCD in the bottom left, electronic viewfinder above, and the majority of controls towards the right. The button next to the electronic viewfinder switches the display between the eye-level viewfinder and the LCD. The next button down can be customized, but its default function activates auto exposure lock. The 4-way control pad is encircled by four different buttons: Menu, Playback / Print, Shadow Adjust / Erase, and Display / '?'. The Help button (identified by the question mark) is especially useful for newcomers; highlighting a menu item and pressing it will offer a tool tip explaining what that item does.
The 4-way controller has a separate set of functions during capture mode. Up will bring up exposure compensation, Left is macro, Right toggles flash functions and the Down brings up the self-timer controls..
Again, the physical design of the SP-565 UZ
is quite similar to an SLR.
The lens has a great knurled grip.
The right side has just one feature, which was unfortunately hard to see in the available lighting: the memory card slot, which wraps around the bottom left.
We don't understand why trade shows never have
lighting for proper memory card door photography.
The built-in flash, festooned here with a festive blue sticker, pops up when needed. The control dial, to the right of the flash, creates a small triangle with the shutter and power buttons. Like most point-and-shoot cameras, the shutter button is ringed with a zoom control.
In addition to helping you choose your shooting mode, the
control dial will also let you enable Scene and Guide modes.
The bottom of the SP-565 UZ is 60% battery cover, 5% tripod socket, 7% speaker (the little 3x3 array of holes at the bottom), and 28% wasted space. Examining the plastic tripod socket, we foresee durability problems for anyone who tries using it frequently.
The plastic tripod socket looks
like it won't survive frequent use.
Shop for the Olympus SP-565 UZ
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