Although it has not had the benefit of the worldwide advertising campaign given the Stylus Verve, Olympus has been marketing the D-590 Zoom concurrently, a camera that shares the Verve's ease of use but at a lower price.
On/Off is controlled by a slider switch on the front of the camera, and pushing the switch to the On position first mechanically retracts the lens barrier disc, and then extends the lens.
Turning Off the camera is the reverse process, with the switch stopping at mid-course to allow the lens to retract, which then allows the lens barrier to be closed.
The only control on top of the camera is the shutter release. The shutter release also acts as the AF (auto focus) and AE (auto exposure) lock when pressed at mid course, releasing the shutter only when depressed fully.
The D590Z has no optical viewfinder, providing instead a 1.8 inch LCD monitor with 134,000 pixels, which in light of the relatively compact size of the camera occupies most of the back.
The remaining space on the back is taken up by the other external controls of the D-590Z.
Control over the zoom is provided by a rocker switch positioned so as to be comfortably under the thumb when the camera is in use. As usual, in Playback mode the zoom buttons serve to view thumbnails of the captured images, or zoom into an image on the screen. The wide angle [W] button can be set in the Setup section of the menu to display 4, 9 or 16 thumbnails per screen; while the Telephoto [T] button is able to magnify an image up to 4X.
Next, two elongated buttons aligned on the right edge of the screen one above the other are to:
switch to the Quick View mode while in one of the shooting modes, making it possible to review recently captured photos.
Or, if the camera is powered off, turn On the camera directly in Playback mode without having to use the front power switch, and turn it Off with a second press.
Calls up the menu, which starts by presenting a screen composed of 4 options, any one of which is selected by pressing the corresponding arrow on the Arrow Pad. (See the Characteristics section of the review for more details on the shortcuts and the contents of the menu.)
The button also serves to confirm some selections, and to exit the menu.
Besides serving to navigate menu options and go back and forth between images when the camera is in Playback mode, each of the arrows of the Arrow Pad offer additional functions when the camera is in capture mode.
The Up arrow serves to select either the default Program Auto mode, or one of the Scene mode:
Program Auto is the primary shooting mode, suitable for most subjects. The camera sets the aperture and shutter speed, but leaves the user the choice of controlling all other available parameters.
Portrait is suitable for taking full-frame portrait shots and is optimized for skin tones.
Indoor sets the flash to slow synch, and forces the image size to 1280 x 960 pixels while allowing the CCD sensitivity climb up to a maximum of 500 ISO if needed.
Beach and Snow mode takes into account the light reflected from either water or snow and makes the appropriate adjustments by slightly increasing exposure compensation in order to correctly capture the subject.
Cuisine mode increases saturation, sharpness and contrast.
Landscape + Portrait mode gives the greatest possible depth of field in order to capture both the subject and the landscape.
Landscape optimizes the image so as to increase the depth of field through the use of a small aperture.
Night Scene mode is suitable for cityscapes that are well illuminated. A tripod should be used as the exposure time can be up to 4 seconds.
Self Portrait is to take a self-portrait while hand holding the camera. Depth of field is not prioritized and the zoom is locked at the widest angle.
Movie mode, records video clips at 15 frames per second with sound that last as long as there is space on the memory card. Focus and zoom are locked at the first frame, but the exposure is dynamically adjusted. Two frame sizes are available:
320 x 240 HQ: records the highest quality image.
160 x 120 SQ: records a smaller and more compressed image.
The right arrow serves to select the Flash modes:
Auto, Auto with Red-eye reduction, Fill-in flash and Off.
The left arrow engages either the Standard Macro mode or the Super Macro mode. The standard macro mode lets the camera focus on a subject as close as 20 cm (7.8 inches). The Super Macro mode forces the zoom to its maximum telephoto setting, allowing the camera to focus on a subject as close as 9 cm (3.5 inches).
Last, the down arrow starts the self-timer, providing a 12 second delay before the shutter is released.
Offering a 4 megapixel resolution and a 3X optical zoom, the D-590Z is clearly intended as a more economical alternative to other Olympus cameras with generally similar capabilities. Moreover, with few external controls, the Olympus D-590 Zoom is simple to operate and can be mastered by anyone in a short time, clearly placing it within the realm of entry-level cameras.
Introduction
button can be set in the Setup section of the menu to display 4, 9 or 16 thumbnails per screen; while the Telephoto [T]
button is able to magnify an image up to 4X.
