The overall quality of photos
taken with the Olympus SP-560UZ was good. Outdoor shots in
cloudy and sunny weather using the automatic setting were
sharp, had good color fidelity and had a minmum of noise.
Aperture: f4, shutter speed: 1/60, ISO: 100, mode: program
Indoor photos
were a mixed bag. Photos that used the built-flash generally
had good exposures, but images captured inside without the flash
varied.
Aperture: f4, shutter speed: 1/160, ISO: 100, mode:
auto
Aperture: f2.8, shutter speed: 1/30, ISO: 160, mode:
auto
The 560UZ is designed to allow
a shutterbug to get the best shot possible in a variety conditions
with a minimum of fuss. That's not to say a shooter who wants
to fuss with a shot can do so with the camera's manual controls.
With more than 20 scene modes, Olympus has covered a lot of
bases. However, I found myself creating my own settings for
a shot because I was unhappy with what the camera chose for
me. For example, at a children's birthday party, I tried using
sport mode because I expected a bunch of seven-year-olds to
be in constant motion. What I ended up with was lots of blurred
pictures. I had better luck with the camera's burst modes.
Although blurring was still a challenge indoors, outdoor sequences
were frozen in motion.
By trying to cover a wide variety of situations, the camera
can be befuddling. By the time a shooter matches a situation
with a camera setting, the moment that prompted the shot in
the first place can be gone. While that may not affect the
physical attributes of a shot, it can affect the subjective
ones by not allowing you to capture what you wnat when you
want it.
Aperture: f5.6, shutter speed: 1/500, ISO:
800, mode: program
If you like to get close
up and personal with your subjects, you'll really enjoy the
two macro offerings of this camera. Closing in to less than
four inches from a target can produce some real eye-opening
images.
Another joy of this camera is its monster zoom. It lets you
take quality close-ups without having to intrude on your subject's
space.
Aperture: f5.6, shutter speed: 1/60, ISO:
50, mode: auto
Aperture: f4.5, shutter speed: 1/400, ISO:
100, mode: auto
In addition to its many modes for
still pictures, the 560UZ also has a movie mode. I found video
shot with the camera to be disappointing. It was noisy even
in optimal conditions.
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