The 570 performs well in almost all circumstances. The 10-megapixel CCD produces highly detailed photos with little noise. The camera excels outdoors so it makes a perfect “vacation” camera. While indoor performance is also good, we found that we needed to tweak a few of the settings to get the photos we wanted.
Taking movies with the 570 was easy and also produced good results. You can zoom in and out while in the movie mode which makes creating movies more fun. One caveat, the mono sound is turned off by default, so you must enable it before you start the movie. It would be better if the sound were enabled by default.
A small door on the side of the camera, shown in Figure 7, has a DC-In for an external power supply on the top and an AV output and USB 2 port which is used to connect the camera to the computer. The camera is also Pictbridge compatible and can be hooked up directly to a Pictbridge printer without using a computer.
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Figure 7: Side of the camera.
The opposite side of the camera, shown in Figure 8, has a door that opens to reveal the memory card slot. The SP570 uses xD-Picture Cards, which currently are available in sizes up to 2GB. We would have liked to see the camera use the SDHC memory which is available in capacities up to 16GB. Also note that in order to use the camera’s built-in Panorama function, you must use an Olympus brand xD card.
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Figure 8: The memory card slot.
When you open the door on the bottom of the camera, you may be surprised to see that this camera uses ordinary AA batteries (Shown in Figure 9). In these days when most cameras of this type use rechargeable batteries, this is an option that some will find useful. The type of batteries is really a matter of choice. Using batteries that can be purchased in many stores in almost all countries can be a big plus for travelers. Many users like the fact that they can have backup batteries available at all times.
We were able to take over 130 shots and 20 short movies on the first set of batteries. That included testing the various settings and keeping the camera on more than usual to do that. Using the viewfinder in a regular SLR will save battery life. In this camera, the electronic viewfinder will still use battery power. Even that, however, gave us enough battery power to be satisfied with the length of time that the batteries lasted.
In Figure 9, you can also see that the bottom of the camera has a tripod mount.
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Figure 9: The bottom of the camera.
The 570 is not the fastest camera in the world. It takes about 3 seconds before you can take your first shot. There is a slight shutter lag, which you won’t find in SLRs, but it didn’t interfere with our use of the camera. The camera comes with the Olympus software which is capable of handling all your editing needs.
