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We clicked with:
Fast to power up
Smooth video at 30fps
Good grip and build
Extensive ISO range
Powerful telephoto lens
Shots in the dark:
Soft pictures
Hit and miss focusing
High ISO settings aren't that useful
Noisy images
Desaturated colour
Price Comparison:
Olympus SP-560UZ
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Following closely on the heels of the SP-550UZ, comes another Ultra Zoom SP-560UZ model from Olympus, who seems to be jamming its own ranges with compacts at the moment. Quite as to why the company has chosen to release two very similar models so close together is a mystery that can only be answered by checking out the features of the SP-560UZ.
(Editor's note: The mystery only deepens because six months after announcing the SP-560UZ, and having only just released samples for review, the company announced its replacement... the SP-570UZ. We decided to continue to run the test because the existing product will be in the shops for a couple of months at least, presumably at a hefty discount. However, releasing the replacement to the replacement of a product all in a year is, er, bonkers).
The big change on the blink-and-you'll-miss-it Olympus SP-560UZ is that the wide-angle view has been further widened to 27mm from 28mm, meaning that the telephoto end offers 486mm against a former 504mm. The seven megapixel resolution of the predecessor has been cranked up to eight, and a few other features have been thrown in such as a face detection focus mode and shadow adjustment. Olympus has also been more generous with the onboard memory here, too, offering some 27Mb more storage space in-camera (to total 47MB) that'll pack in about a dozen extra hi-res JPEGs, should you run out of room on an Olympus, all-too-exclusive x-D Picture Card.
Launching the Olympus SP-560UZ at the £285 price mark (it can be found for as little as £224 online right now; that price may drop still further in the light of its impending replacement), Olympus has packed a lot in. That shadow adjustment has its own dedicated button on the rear of the unit and can be quickly accessed to brighten shaded areas, which comes in useful on sunny, high contrast days.
The ISO range now goes from ISO50 all the way up to ISO6400, although if you choose to use the highest settings the resolution gets reduced down to a meagre 3.1 megapixels. However that's still acceptable if all you want to print are postcards or 7 x 5in pictures, for example.
The good-looking black compact features a shooting mode dial top right that offers the usual P/A/S/M modes; a shooting guide for beginners who prefer textual instruction to pictorial ones; then you've got 24 Scene modes; a customized settings mode, Auto and Playback. The giant 18x optical zoom is controlled by the rocker switch and is backed up by Image Stabilisation that can be turned on and off with a quick press of a well-placed neighbouring button. As far as the layout goes, it's very comfortable to use and the provision of a dual menu helps to locate most commonly used tools quite fast.
You do have to delve into the Olympus SP-560UZ's main menu system to set up your focusing system and the choices here include a depth-tracking focus mode as well as the more usual Spot, Area and multi-fielded iESP. Unusually the Noise Reduction mode defaults to the On position, which is surprising given how unusually noisy I found some images to be.
Performance
The Olympus SP-560UZ is fast to power-up and the chunky long range lens extends in an instant. We left it in standby mode and can't fault it for readiness for use. A burst of standard mode shots captured a dozen shots, which was quite impressive, too. The video mode that records 640 x 480 footage at 30fps and we were rewarded with a clip that not only panned smoothly, but was also steady and free of wild exposure jumps.
Returning to stills, when it same to focusing there was some problem in getting the camera to lock on to the subject and not what the Olympus SP-560UZ chose to focus on - a power struggle ensued. Consequently, people in landscapes often looked soft, while incidental objects behind than were much sharper.
The big LCD screen gives a generous display and being able to add a live histogram is handy if you like to analyse how much light is entering the lens.
Colour performance to be disappointing on the Olympus SP-560UZ, which by default tends to drain the hue out of everything. In particular, skintones look pale, and if you try and capture the subtleties of a salmon pink light reflected against some buildings at sunset, you'll be frustrated by the desaturated results. There is a saturation adjuster on the cam's main menu, but this is something you won't want to delve into very often.
We also found the general sharpness of the pictures to be wanting. This could stem from the fact that the camera uses Noise Reduction by default and that therefore tends to oversmooth the images and loses clarity in so doing.
The vast ISO range is worth having if only to keep the all-pervasive noise (in evidence at every setting) under control.
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ISO: 50
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100
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200
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400
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800
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1600
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3200
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6400
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An 'anchor' shot is wide enough to locate the ship in the dock.
Medium zoomed out shows the ship clearly
Zoomed full out reveals the full detail of signage on the vessel.
Conclusion
An upgrade from the predecessor to the Olympus SP-560UZ wouldn't be worthwhile in terms of the extras it affords, but the slightly wider 27mm lens can only be regarded as an asset for anyone in the post-Christmas market for a digital camera who contemplates doing a lot of landscape work. Presumably the same conclusion will be made with the model that replaces it. Regardless, a major plus is the powerful and clear telephoto lens that should appeal to twitchers and nosey snappers who like to be right into the action without having to stir themselves too much.
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