First Look Review posted for Olympus SP-500 Ultra Zoom By
Dave Etchells, The Imaging Resource (Wednesday, September 14, 2005 - 16:49 EDT)Modeled after the Olympus's higher-end digicams, the SP-500UZ has a look and feel that Olympus fans will appreciate.
Though it's the flagship of a the new SP model designation, it is fashioned more like some of the earlier Ultra Zoom models, with a big grip, a tall back plate and a nice big lens. This time, the camera includes a 6.0 megapixel imager and a big 2.5 inch LCD in addition to its big 10x optical zoom. The flip up flash is a little close to the lens, but built in red-eye elimination should help with that.
The only feature really missing from this digital camera is something most of its long zoom competition will have: image stabilization. The built in flash overcomes most of that, as it syncs to 1/250, which should be a high enough shutter speed to dampen most camera movement in low light. Though we've only seen a prototype, the SP-500 UZ looks promising.
First Look Review posted for Olympus SP-500 Ultra Zoom