- Reviews
- Canon PowerShot S90 Point and Shoot
- Panasonic Lumix GF1 Digital SLR
- Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3 Point and Shoot
- Kodak EasyShare Z950 Point and Shoot
- Canon PowerShot SX120 IS Point and Shoot
- Nikon Coolpix L100 Point and Shoot
- Nikon D3000 Digital SLR
- Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-HX1 Point and Shoot
- Nikon Coolpix P90 Point and Shoot
- Canon SX1 IS Point and Shoot
- More...
- Ratings
- Brands
- Types
- DSLR Video
- Prices
- News
- Ethics
- How We Test
-
| Top Point & Shoot Cameras | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Max Price: $1020
Filters
|
 |
|
|
| SP-570 UZ Prices |
|---|
| Latest Camera Reviews | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| External Reviews |
|---|
InfoSync Olympus SP-570UZ Imaging Resource Olympus SP-570 UZRegister Hardware Olympus SP-570 UZTrusted Reviews Olympus SP-570 UZSteve's Digicams Olympus SP-570 UZ |
Connectivity
Software (6.50)
The 570UZ comes bundled with versions of the Olympus Master 2 suite for both Windows and Mac, and a measly 15-day trial of Muvee, an automated movie editing program for Windows (try to control your jealousy, Mac mavens). We don't usually think much of the software tossed into camera boxes, but Olympus Master 2 will be worth installing for many people. The image organizing and viewing functions look good and work well. There's support for automated photo email creation and YouTube uploading, along with wide-ranging photo editing options including automated and manual adjustment of brightness and contrast, color balance, hue and saturation, image sharpening, and even lens distortion correction (particularly useful in this case, since the ultra-zoom lens does cause noticeable pincushion and barrel distortion at the extremes of its range). Panoramic image stitching is also available in the program. Olympus Master 2 still won't let you handle the kind of pixel-by-pixel and area-by-area corrections available through more sophisticated image editing programs, but on the whole-photo-fixing level, we like this program.
Jacks, ports, plugs (1.5)
Both I/O ports are located under a tight-fitting rubber door on the left side of the camera. There's a DC in connection for using an optional adapter, and a single proprietary jack for the included USB and video out cables.
The 570UZ provides a surprisingly sophisticated implementation of PictBridge technology, which allows direct, computer-free printing from the camera to a compatible USB-connected printer. In fact, there are two in-camera printing utilities, Easy Print and Custom Print. Easy Print outputs a single copy of the photo currently displayed in playback mode, using the printer default settings. Custom Print lets you choose multiple images for printing, set image size, border or borderless output, and the number of copies of each. Photos can include the time and date taken and/or the filename printed as overlays. Cropping is available through the printing system (you can also crop through the Edit menu in playback mode). Finally, you can also combine several images on a single sheet of printer paper, and ask for an index print with small thumbnails of all the images on your memory card.
The other popular hassle-free printing option is handing your memory card to an output service and letting them crank out the prints. DPOF (Digital Print Order Form) capability provides a paper-free way to indicate your printing preferences, and the 570UZ handles this feature reasonably well, allowing cropping, number of copy selection and printing overlay option settings on an image-by-image basis, though print size and index sheet printing aren't available.
Battery (3.00)
The 570UZ is powered by four AA batteries. Good news: no battery charger to remember while traveling, and a power supply available pretty much anywhere you wander. Bad news: you have to keep buying more batteries, though we found AA rechargeables worked just fine. Olympus figures you'll get 390 shots on a fresh set of alkalines, based on CIPA testing standards. and our testing experience roughly bears this out.
While we figure it's simpler to keep a spare set of rechargeable AAs handy, the camera does have a DC input jack if you want to spring for an optional external power adapter.
Olympus stubbornly clings to the xD-Picture Card memory format the company pioneered. The maximum xD capacity is a meager 2 gigabytes and, while that didn't seem meager when the format was introduced, you can easily find fast 16-gigabyte SDHC cards selling today for less than $40, making a 2-gigabyte xD card for $25 seems kind of sad.
Of course, the manual does describe the xD card purchase as "optional," since the camera comes with 45 megabytes of built-in RAM, enough for roughly 10 or 12 high-res pictures. Right.
It's time for Olympus to put the xD card format out of its misery.
Audio recording – You can set the camera to record a 4-second clip each time you take a photo. This capability can prove useful for grabbing embarrassing wisecracks from your subjects, but there's a practical side as well, allowing you to record information about the photo verbally when taking written notes would be impractical. It's also possible to record a voice annotation for an existing photo, through the playback menu.
Shadow adjustment technology – Olympus must be pretty proud of this feature, since they dedicated a prominently placed control button to it. When you turn Shadow adjustment on, it kicks in the face detection feature. If the camera finds a subject with excessive backlighting, it automatically brightens the face to produce a more balanced exposure.
Alarm clock – No, the first question you ask when shopping for a digital camera probably isn't "Does it have a built-in alarm clock?" but, if you're traveling with your camera in tow, it's not a bad feature to have on hand, particularly given the utter incomprehensibility of so many hotel-room clocks.
Page 11 of 15
Overall Impressions