Olympus UltraZoom SP-500 User's Manual
Contents
1. mju cameras the OM series the Pen EE half frames Olympus has always been slightly odd too Cameras such as the O product and Ecru displayed a forward thinking design ethos while in 1991 Olympus in troduced the idea of the bridge camera halfway between compact and SLR which has defined the design ethos for most of the modern digital Super zoom So what does Olympus do now It designs a superzoom camera that looks more like a traditional compact SPECIFICATIONS The SP 500 is well specified for such a small camera with an impressive 38 380mm lens and large 2 5in LCD on the back Like other cameras in the genre the camera offers much for the enthusiast including RAW recording and the full set of exposure controls Program Aperture priority Shutter priority and full Manual For less experienced photographers or those who prefer the easy life the SP 500 still allows au tomatic mode as well as 21 scene modes Technology has also filtered down from the recent C 7070 model including that camera s impressive Predictive AF system for tracking moving subjects not to mention the company s IESP metering system and 143 individual focus points which can be linked to the spot metering function Many cameras of this size have forgone the view finder altogether but Olympus has still managed to maintain an electronic version with 201 600 pixels that manages to be sharp and detailed with the added benefit of electronic readou2. PRICE 38 380mm 28 37 15 1 1000sec M A AP SP P 21 Scene 0 3m 4 5m W 1 2m 34T GN9 Auto 80 100 200 400 320x240 30fps Video 10Mb int xD Ax MA Adjacent to the front Investing in an TCON 17 adaptor enables conversion lens to be used with the SP 500 UZ The USB and AV point is protected by a rubber cover adjacent to the strap eyelet 1 2 5inch CCD Total 6 37MP Effective 6 0MP 105 5x74 5x71mm 285 EVF 201 600 piel 2 5inch 115 000 pixel TFT pop upflashon the top plate of the camera sit the mode dial AEL shutter and Power On buttons TAKE THE 360 VIRTUAL TOUR SONY CYBER SHOT DSC H1 KONICA MINOLTA DIMAGE Z6 u YAN buying guide E TURN TO PAGE 128 AND USE OUR EXTENSIVE BUYING GUIDE WE WILL HELP YOU CHOOSE THE RIGHT CAMERA AT THE RIGHT PRICE 38 What Digital Camera 6ng pixels Olympus Jamie Harrison tests a Superzoom camera that looks like it s a compact ost Superzoom cameras are quite bulky compared to compact cameras Some are even approaching the size of an SLR albeit including a 10x or 12x zoom lens Olympus though has taken a slightly different although predictably Olympian route The new SP 500UZ is small yet still manages to squeeze an awful lot into its diminutive stature Why is this predictably Olympian though The company has always made a point of producing small but perfectly formed cameras Look at the original
3. odes GN9 Single burst high speed burst Digital ESP spot centre weighted A 7preset custom Spot iESP autofocus Predictive AF AF selectable from 143 points Manual Electronic 201 600 pixels 25 inch TFT LCD 115 000 pixels USB 2 0 DC Jpeg RAW QuickTime Motion Jpeg Pictbridge Pictbridge EasyPrint Print Image Matching Ill Exif 2 21 DPS and DPOF support Pal AxAA xD 320x 240 at 30fps movie mode panorama function 3cm super macro 105 5x74 5x 71mm 285g Scores Good functionality RAW LCD and EVF Bland looks some fringing some oversharpening and image noise features ease of use image quality What Digital Camera 39
4. romises to fit the price and the plastic body isn t as tough as I d like It s not bad but it isn t the same as last year s metal bodied C 770 and C 765 cameras It s also just a little bit bland to look at and lacks the style of some other cameras at that price December 2005 LCD The 2 5inch LCD monitor is a very useful size and is bright and clear The menu follows Olympus usual rotary style front page with nested sub menus However the traditional looks may well work as an ad vantage particularly in appealing to first time digital buyers transferring from film or for those who don t want a style statement but a good functional camera and there are plenty of those people about VERDICT The SP 500 is competent and a truly useful camera It acts like a compact with the features of a superzoom and is the ideal camera to chuck in your bag when you don t want to carry an SLR or other bigger camera You won t be able to use it as a complete alternative to an SLR but it s not a bad back up Similarly at the price if you want to try out digital and all it has to offer then you could do worse while students could benefit from its budget price and traditional controls I really like it Olympus SP 500 Ultra Zoom 300 1 2 5 inch 6 0MP eff 6 37MP total 14 08x 10 56 inch at 200dpi 6 3 63mm f2 8 3 7 35mm equ 38 380mm 15 1 1000sec Auto 80 100 200 400 Auto AP M P SP 21 scene m
5. ts such as live his December 2005 image quality www whatdigitalcamera com EVF The SP 500 uses an electronic viewfinder which is reasonably clear and bright and shows all of the scene via a video feed from the CCD OLYMPUS Exposure is one area I ve never been able to criticise Olympus for the company knows how to meter Time after time despite the varying September condi tions the SP 500 produced perfectly exposed pictures Image sharpness is a good point too and despite worries that the lens could be overstretching itself was impressed with the results At times images look a tad over sharpened espe cially JPEGs though not with RAW There s also the odd case of purple fringing es pecially in high contrast conditions Like pretty much every camera we test with small sensors image noise is a problem though lower ISO settings prove to be well controlled Colour is good though a little too saturated for my taste and an Adobe RGB option would have been nice see more on the web Download our SP 500 UZ test images on our website togram and AF metering frames In many respects this is a camera that people have been crying out for The price is good at 300 the resolution at 6MP allows for reasonable A4 prints In many respects this is a it s got plenty of photographic control and it easily fits into a pocket Plus it s got that long lens But it s not perfect There has to be comp
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