Olympus SP-500 is a 10X optical zoom camera, meaning it is an ultra zoom camera, way above the average zoom of other cameras; it provides 6 Megapixel CCD, large 2.5 inch LCD display, full manual controls (including white balance and focus), and plenty of scene modes plus shortcuts and custom button. The size of the camera is bigger than a compact but smaller than a SLR (one of the smaller ultra zooms and the lightest camera in its class) ; it has a pop-up flash and a lens cap on the plastic black body. The buttons are intuitively placed and the hand grip is perfect.
The power-up and shooting times are about average. Noise reduction, panorama mode and panorama stitch software, histogram, build-in red eye removal and frame assist are the main features that would make me choose this ultra zoom digital camera. There is a possibility to shoot in RAW format with camera and that also pleases me a lot. The only thing it misses is image stabilization.
Another advantage of buying this camera is the possibility of adding accessories such as filters and lenses thru the Conversion lens adapter CLA-4 : Wide-angle lens WCON-07 and Telephoto lens TCON-17. However, you cannot attach an external flash to this camera.
The images are sharp, slight brownish and a bit noisy - anyway, quite decent. Some unexplainable thing is that if you are recording a movie with sound you can’t use the zoom, but without sound you can.
Olympus SP-500 Ultra Zoom Specifications
Olympus SP-500 Ultra Zoom
Olympus SP-500 Ultra Zoom
Olympus SP-500 Ultra Zoom
Tags: Olympus SP-500 Ultra Zoom, Olympus digital camera, Olympus SP-500, Ultra Zoom Digital Camera, 10x optical zoom, image stabilization, noise reduction, panorama mode, 6mp, manual settings
