Olympus announced their new 8-megapixel superzoom digital camera, the SP-560, featuring what Olympus claims is an industry-leading focal range (27mm wide-angle to 18x optical zoom), sensitivity settings up to ISO 3200 and a 2.5 inch, 230,000 pixel LCD screen.
The 18x superzoom comes loaded with now ubiquitous face detection technology, shadow adjustment (which compensates for extreme contrast where the shadow areas are underexposed and lack visible detail) and Perfect Shot Preview, which allows users to select photographic affects on the LCD screen before taking the picture.
The SP-560 UZ uses dual image stabilization, combining a digital image stabilizer with a sensor-shifting one, unfortunately lacking a mechanical optical image stabilizer. Also included is a Pre-Capture mode, which begins working as soon as the focus is locked, and automatically archives five frames in the camera's buffer memory prior to the shutter release, working in conjunction with the camera’s High-Speed Sequential Shooting to counteract slow user reaction times.
The camera is capable extremely high burst capture rates, capturing images at up to 15 frames per second (albeit with a reduced image size). Olympus claims the SP-560 UZ offers the highest burst rate of any compact digital camera.
The SP-560 captures 640x480 video (with sound) at 30fps, and has Manual, Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority modes for users looking for more manual controls from their superzoom point-and-shoot.
Olympus will release the SP-560 UZ in October 2007, packaging it with a neck strap, USB cable, AV Cable, four AA Batteries and the OLYMPUS Master 2 Software CD-ROM. It will retail for $450.
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