Olympus SP-570 UZ
Digital Camera Review
Jan 31, 2008
- By Emily Raymond
2.2
The megapixel war may be raging onward elsewhere, but the Olympus SP-570UZ is claiming a victory among the competition in the ultra-zoom digital camera market. Its 20x optical zoom lens is the longest on a compact digital camera. The resolution isn’t a slouch either at 10 megapixels. The new SP-570 is redesigned to look more like a DSLR and less like a compact camera with its retro zoom ring, more designated buttons, and sturdier body. The Olympus SP-570UZ will retail for $499, the same initial price of its predecessor, the SP-560UZ.
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Picture Quality / Size Options
Increased resolution of 10 megapixels is available on the 1/2.33-inch CCD. Compare this to Olympus’ SP-560, which has 8 megapixels. The new Olympus SP-570UZ can shoot RAW and JPEG image files. Image sizes include 3648 x 2736, 3648 x 2432 (3:2), 2560 x 1920, 2304 x 1728, 2048 x 1536, 1920 x 1080 (16:9), 1600 x 1200, 1280 x 960, 640 x 480. Fine and normal compression is available. Images can be cropped and resized to 640 x 480 or 320 x 240 pixels in the Playback menu.
Picture Effects Mode
There are plenty of picture effects on the Olympus SP-570UZ, but most of them are located in the Playback menu. There is one exception: a “Picture mode” option in the Recording menu that switches from natural colors to vivid colors. There are also sharpness, contrast, and saturation adjustments. The Playback mode hosts the most picture effects. You can create scrapbook pages, calendars, and cards with different frames and labels like “Happy Birthday” and “Congratulations.” There is also a color editing option in the Playback mode that shows previews of black & white, sepia, vivid, and muted colors all next to each other so you can pick just the right one. Perhaps the coolest picture effect is a Scene mode. The Multi-Firework mode doesn’t sound like anything special, but it can take multiple exposures and merge them into a single image file – something that has much cooler potential than just fireworks.
