Olympus SP-570UZ First Impressions Review

Model Design / Appearance

The Olympus SP-570UZ has been completely redesigned from its predecessors to look more like a DSLR. It has a more traditional-looking hand grip and a wider zoom lens with a manual zoom ring. Olympus lifted a few other features from DSLRs: a power switch instead of a button, more designated buttons on the back of the camera, a function dial to choose exposure settings, and a focus mode switch on the side of the lens barrel.

 

According to Smith Clemens, you can now buy a DSLR for $500 so “you really have to differentiate yourself and the product.” It is designed for photographers who want DSLR-like control but don’t want to haul around a backpack of lenses. The body is very sturdy and well-built. The Olympus SP-570UZ looks like a serious digital camera.

 

Size / Portability

This ultra-zoom digital camera is larger than its predecessor at a time when most digital cameras are getting smaller. The SP-560 measures 4.6 x 3.1 x 3.1 inches, while the SP-570 measures 4.7 x 3.3 x 3.4 inches. The new camera weighs 15.7 ounces without the card and four AA batteries, so it is a substantial chunk of metal. It is still smaller than many DSLRs, but still requires a carrying case of some form to protect it properly. The camera has strap eyelets on both sides for short-term portability.

 

Handling Ability

The Olympus SP-570UZ’s redesigned body has a bigger hand grip coated in smooth rubber. The SP-560’s hand grip has a textured faux leather surface coating it, but the newer model uses a smoother surface. The smoothness doesn’t take away from its actual grip, though: the surface is almost sticky. The rubber wraps around the sizable hand grip, and a separate pad of the same material is placed where the thumb rests. There is a nice curve on the back to prevent slippage, too.

 

 

This ultra-zoom digital camera requires two hands when shooting because its shutter release button is pushed by the right index finger and the lens zooms with help from the left hand. The base of the camera is plenty wide enough for the left hand to support it and turn the zoom ring. The right hand’s grip is comfortable.

 

Top this off with the placement of the controls and the Olympus SP-570 handles like one of the best ultra-zooms on the market. It has a function button in range of the thumb and a row of designated buttons to the left of the LCD that make the left thumb busier than usual. Overall, handling is a success.

 

Many buttons look like they’ve come straight off a DSLR, particularly Olympus’ E-series. The Olympus SP-570UZ has a column of buttons to the left of the LCD screen that are reminiscent of their chunky cousins. The multi-selector looks typical, like it came off a compact digital camera. The power switch, mode dial, and function dial on the top are more evidence of the DSLR look. The function dial is especially handy in quickly selecting exposure settings.

 

The buttons are all labeled properly and are mostly recognizable to loyal Olympus users. The only exception is the jump button at the top of the multi-selector; it took me a few minutes to figure out what it was. The controls are all nicely placed for comfortable handling and easy access.

The menu system looks familiar, but comes on a larger LCD and therefore has a larger and more readable font. It comes with a gray background, but the background color of the menus can be changed to reflect three other color schemes (via the Setup menu). The background prevents most options from having live views. A few, however, like white balance, do work with a live view. There is also the “perfect shot preview” in the Guide mode to provide those live views – although it isn’t as convenient.

 

The OK/Func button doesn’t access any menus, but it does show a full set of selected exposure settings when pushed. The menu button to the left of the LCD makes the menu system come to life. Like previous Olympus digital cameras, an initial menu screen appears, with the “Camera menu” in the center and options like image size, Silent mode, calendar, and Setup menu around the edges. The Recording menu appears as follows.

 

White Balance	Auto, Preset (Daylight, Cloudy, Tungsten, Fluorescent 1, Fluorescent 2, Fluorescent 3), Manual
ISO	Auto, High ISO Auto, 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400
Drive	Single, Continuous, High-speed 1, High-speed 2
Fine Zoom	Off, On
Digital Zoom	Off, On
Metering	ESP, Center, Spot
AF Mode	Face Detection, iESP, Spot, Area
Fulltime AF	Off, On
AF Predict	Off, On
AF Illuminator	Off, On
Image Stabilizer	Off, On
Flash Compensation	-2, -1.7, -1.3, -1, -0.7, -0.3, 0, +0.3, +0.7, +1, +1.3, +1.7, +2
Flash	Int/Ext, Remote, Slave
Voice Recording	Off, On
White Balance Compensation	+/- 7 toward blue and red
Picture Mode	Vivid, Natural
Sharpness	+/- 5
Contrast	+/- 5
Saturation	+/- 5
Noise Reduction	Off, On
Time Lapse	Off, On (Pictures 2-99, Interval 1-99 minutes)
Conversion Lens	Off, On

 

The Recording menu has five pages of menus, and the Setup menu seems to only get longer.

 

Memory Format	Yes, No
Backup	(didn’t work on pre-production camera)
Language	English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese
Power On Setup	Screen (Off, 1, 2, select own startup image), Sound (Off, 1, 2)
Menu Color	Normal, Color 1-3
Sound Setting	Beep, Shutter Sound, Volume, Playback Volume all with off, low and high options
Recording View	Off, On
Menu Display	LCD Only, Current
Control Panel	Off, On
File Name	Reset, Auto
Pixel Mapping	Start
LCD Brightness	-2, -1, 0, +1, +2
Time	Set date and time, YMD
Dual Time	Off, On
Alarm Clock	Off, One Time (Time, Snooze off and on, Alarm Clock with sounds 1-3 and three levels of volume), Daily (Time, Snooze off and on, Alarm Clock with sounds 1-3 and three levels of volume)
Video Out	NTSC, PAL
Frame Assist	Off, rule of thirds, cross
Histogram	Off, On, Direct
My Mode Setup	Current, Reset, Custom
m/ft	M, FT
AEL/AFL Button	AE Lock, AF Lock, AE + AF Lock
Custom Button	Off, Image Stabilizer, Image Quality, Image Size, Compression, Fine Zoom, Digital Zoom, AF Mode, Fulltime AF, AF Predict, Wireless Flash, Voice Memo, Noise Reduction
Manual Focus	Right/left Buttons, Dial, Zoom Ring
Sleep	1, 3, 5, 10 minutes

 

The menu system is navigated using the traditional multi-selector. It isn’t as nice on thumbs as a rotary dial, but gets the job done without too much pain.

 

The Olympus SP-570UZ has an exposure mode for every level of photographer. It has a fully automated mode, a fully manual mode, and everything in between. In Auto mode, the camera is a point-and-shoot. You need only to zoom and push the shutter release button, which is large and can’t be missed. To make it even easier for beginners, Olympus included a function guide on the mode dial. This walks you through a tutorial and ends in a picture taken. The function guide lists desired traits of images like “blurring background.” When that is selected it leads to more options; in this case, “set to Portrait mode” and “Zoom in.” If you choose “zoom in,” the camera automatically zooms to 20x and the background is definitely blurred. All you have to do is push the shutter release button and your picture is taken. Easy enough. But the DSLR look might scare away anyone who really wants their photos taken that easily.

 

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