Great Ultra Zoom Camera
Pros:
Lots of great features.
Cons:
Slow rest in normal shot mode. Long learning curve.
The Bottom Line:
If you want a point and shoot with lots of power and flexibility, check out this camera.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
I wanted more zoom on my camera and looked at several before trying the <b>Olympus SP-570 UZ </b> Digital Camera. It features 10 Megapixels and an amazing 20X Optical Zoom with Dual Image Stabilization.
In addition to this it has thirty-one shooting modes: 31
Auto, Program Auto, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual, My Mode, Sensor-Shift Image Stabilization, Scene Modes (1. PORTRAIT, 2. LANDSCAPE, 3. LANDSCAPE+PORTRAIT, 4. SPORT, 5. NIGHT SCENE, 6. NIGHT+PORTRAIT, 7. INDOOR, 8. CANDLE, 9. SELF PORTRAIT, 10. AVAILABLE LIGHT PORTRAIT, 11. SUNSET, 12. FIREWORKS, 13. MULTI-FIREWORK, 14. CUISINE, 15. BEHIND GLASS, 16. DOCUMENTS, 17.AUCTION, 18.SHOOT & SELECT1, 19. SHOOT & SELECT2, 20. SMILE SHOT, 21. BEACH, 22.SNOW, 23. QUICK SHUTTER), Movie.
It features three panorama modes: Two with on camera stitching. The first returns a bracket and dot, and you must get the dot inside the bracket then the camera automatically takes the shot. The second shows a small splice of the precious shot, you line up the next scene and snap the shots. Both with on camera stitching only allow for three frames, the third allows up to ten frames must be stitched with the software on your computer. They still require the Olympus Picture xD card.
You can also line up your picture by using the frame feature that shows you either a three by three grid, or the X through your frame.
The unit weighs just 15.7 ounces. After looking at the size of the SLR, I realized I needed a souped up Point and Shoot, because I probably wouldn't be able to hold the camera for long periods of time.
It comes with a pop-up flash, and an hot shoe for adding an external flash. I've invested in the Olympus FL-50R external flash, and discovered that the wireless flash will only work in P and A modes, and you must pop-up the camera flash to enter wireless mode. I haven't been able to figure out a way to disable the pop-up flash without disabling the external flash. The camera can control up to three compatible wireless flashes!
While it does a lot of things my old Olympus Stylus 800 did and much more, it does not do the two in one shot.
It also boasts of rapid fire shots of 13.7 frames per second in 3 MP.
In addition to this, it has face detection and smile scene (which will catch a smile and take three fast frames). Smile mode is hard to deal with because it takes a long time for the camera to detect a smile. So unless you have a tripod, and some very patient subjects, I'd suggest snapping the picture the old fashioned way. However, if you can get your subject to smile, you it takes three rapid pictures!
Ultra Zoom is hard to line up the shot, and several tests shows have shown up blurry. Slow reset in normal shot mode.
I really like the shadow adjust feature, because it really brings the subject out!
Be sure to keep an eye on the megapixel setting, it's switched to 3 MP automatically and I took 100 pictures before I noticed I no longer had 10 MP.
This is a complicated camera, so be sure to keep the user manual handy.
