Olympus SP-560 UZ Expert Reviews

We have analyzed the reviews for the Olympus SP-560 UZ using our BETA review analysis. These are our findings: The Olympus SP-560 UZ is good. Users compliment the zoom, video mode, and design despite concerns over the focus and photo noise. If you're comfortable with the focus and photo noise, consider this digital camera as an option.

brilliant battery life, brilliant design, exceptional lens, extraordinary overall, extraordinary user manual, exceptional value, exceptional video mode, excellent viewfinder, extraordinary zoom.

terrible color, terrible focus, terrible noise, really bad photo color quality, lousy photo noise.

Please note: The ratings above are generated using our BETA automatic review analysis and may contain errors.

Photo gallery:Olympus SP-560 UZLast year, Olympus released the SP-550UZ, a 7-megapixel digital camera with an impressive 18x zoom lens. We loved its lens' long reach and wide angle, and appreciated its great body design. Unfortunately, the camera was plag...

Superlong, yet wide lens; manual exposure controls; good body design; supports wireless flash.

Softness and noise hurt picture quality; middling performance.

Olympus' 8-megapixel ultrazoom generally improves over the SP-550UZ, but suffers from many of the same problems.

The SP-560UZ updates Olympus' ultra-zoom series with a higher megapixel count and a few new features. The SP-560UZ has 8 megapixels, up from the older SP-550's 7.1 megapixels. Both have 18x optical zoom lenses and mechanical sensor-shift image stabilizati...

-Sturdy body - High ISO sensitivity - 18x optical zoom - Optical image stabilization - Simultaneous RAW and JPEG shooting - LCD's smooth refresh rate - Great LCD - Perfect Fix technology - In-camera editing -Low noise and excellent dynamic range...

-Long menus - Optical zoom doesn't function with audio in Movie mode - Expensive -Slow autofocus system -Long processing time -Undersaturated and inaccurate colors -Disappointing resolution -Soft focus in videos -Obvious barrel distortion -Blue c...

The Olympus SP-560 UZ arrived in my mailbox on a chilly Montana winter day. After a cursory skim of the manual, I took the camera out of its box and was pleased to find it was about the same size as my regular camera - a popular, but less-expensive brand...

Powerful 18x optical zoom lens, Dual image stabilization, Very good image quality, Full range of exposure options - from manual to auto and everything in between, Lightweight and compact - bigger than a point-and-shoot, smaller than a digital SLR, Pop-up...

Power button is difficult to engage quickly, Noticeable shutter lag, especially with flash, Multitude of mode and menu options may overwhelm beginners

I thoroughly enjoyed playing with the Olympus SP-560 UZ - enough that it's going to be hard to go back to my own compact digital camera. I've been spoiled by the fantastically long zoom lens, which makes it super-easy to grab great shots with hardly any e...

After just a few minutes of shooting, the key difference between the FZ18 and the SP-560 UZ is pretty obvious; it's much slower?.

8MP 18x zoom digicam with sensor shift stabilization

Much slower response than the competition

Olympus was one of the first manufacturers to realize that building digicams around small sensors allows much longer zooms to be offered without the bulk of the camera becoming unmanageable. With its "Ultra zoom" range, starting back in 2000 with the 2.1M...

Phenomenal zoom range that includes real wide-angle to long telephoto capability, Huge range of features, Reliable exposure, Good ergonomics, RAW mode (though very slow), Bright, immediate 'consumer friendly' output, Good detail and color at lowest ISO se...

More features than you will know what to do with (many of them gimmicky), Unwieldy menu system, Corner softness at shorter focal lengths, High contrast tone curve tends to clip shadows or highlights, RAW mode so terribly slow, Limited AA battery life, Evi...

We described the Fuji S8000fd as trying to be all things to all people, but that was before we really got to grips with the Olympus SP-560UZ.

The Olympus SP-560 UZ is the latest in Olympus's UZ line of ultra zoom cameras, boasting a class-leading 18x optical zoom. Out of the gate, the SP-560 has a cost, convenience, bulk, and weight advantage over most SLR alternatives. The key question is whet...

See how the Olympus SP-560UZ fared in our 18x superzoom shootout, with certified test results from the PopPhoto Lab and image quality shots.

The latest Olympus ultra-zoom camera comes with great components and its 18x optical zoom lens tops most ultra-zoom models. The Olympus SP-560UZ packs in 8.1 megapixels, optical image stabilization, and a TruePic Turbo III image processor with face detect...

The Olympus SP-560UZ has a lot of great features, exposure modes, and components packed into a comfortable body, but its pictures don't turn out as well as they should. The autofocus system is slow, so fleeting moments are missed. Many captured images are...