Olympus SP-610UZ Digital Camera Review

Features
Handling
Performance
Verdict
Specification


The Olympus SP-610UZ was launched in January 2011, joining the range of ultra-zoom compacts in the SP series. It can take close-up and group shots with the 22x optical zoom making it ideal for holidays and sports. The SP-610UZ is available in black for £159.

Olympus SP-610UZ: Features

The 22x optical zoom lens is equivalent to a 28-616mm lens on a 35mm sensor, which can be extended to 88x when used with the 4x digital zoom. The camera has Dual Image Stabilisation to aid taking sharp photos with the 14Mp sensor. The SP-610UZ can shoot 720p HD videos which can be played back on a HDTV.

The camera is powered by 4 AA batteries, meaning there is no reason to run out of power when out shooting for the day.

For extra creativity there are a range of magic filters available and other features such as Pet Detection and Beauty Modes. With Pet Detection, you simply point the camera at your cat or dog and the shutter will automatically fire when the animals face is detected. On top of this there is in-camera Panoramas, Intelligent Auto Mode, Advanced Face Detection and AF tracking.

Key features:

• 22x wide optical zoom (35mm equiv: 28-616mm)
• Dual Image Stabilisation
• 3D photo shooting mode
• 720p HD movies & HDMI
• 14 Megapixel sensor
• 3.0in 230,000 dot colour LCD screen
• In-camera panorama function
• Pet Detection Mode
• Intelligent Auto Mode
• Advanced Face Detection
• AF tracking
• Magic Filters
• Beauty Mode

Olympus SP-610UZ: Handling

	Sequence shooting
	17 frames	3Mp	10fps
	15 frames	5Mp	4.8fps
	3 frames	8Mp	0.9fps

Gripping the SP-610UZ is really easy, mainly thanks to the rubber grip where your right hand holds the camera with a rubber grip placed on the rear of the camera for your thumb. Your left hand also has an easy grip of the lens. The 3in LCD screen is easy to see in all lighting conditions. The camera comes with a connector to attach the lens cap to the camera. This is vital as when the camera is switched on the lens cap just falls off and chances are it'll be easily lost.

The menus are quite easy to navigate although on occasion it was a touch over-sensitive, one press of a button skipped along two stages of the menu. The buttons are all well placed and instead of the d-pad that is typical on cameras, it has a wheel that rotates clockwise and anti-clockwise as well as performing the same function as a d-pad.

How many shots you get out of the batteries will very much depend on the quality of battery used. The cameras has been tested using the four Panasonic batteries supplied. After taking over 400 shots during testing the batteries are still showing as full on the camera.

From shot-to-shot the camera takes between four and five seconds and from switching on is ready to take a shot after two to three seconds. There are three modes of sequence shooting, the camera can shoot 3Mp images at 10fps.

Olympus SP-610UZ: Performance

The SP-610UZ produces images which are well exposed with good colour reproduction. Using the camera at large optical zoom ranges proves tricky at times and composition can be difficult as minor movement is exaggerated. Thankfully, the camera is quick at focusing, giving a better chance to capture the image and the dual image stabilisation is there to maintain sharpness. AF tracking allows you to set the camera to focus on a continuously moving target and it's very easy to use by following the on-screen instructions.

ISO and noise performance

ISO80 and ISO100 show very little signs of noise which doesn't get much worse at ISO200. Noise is clearly starting to come in at ISO400 but it is not affecting image quality. ISO800 is where the noise really affects the image quality with some detail being lost. At ISO1600 the noise is at a level where you wouldn't use the images for large prints, with large areas of detail affected, but certainly look good for use on the web.

ISO80		ISO100		ISO200
ISO400		ISO800		ISO1600

Images at both end of the lens retain plenty of detail from edge to edge. Blow the full optical range image below to full size and you can clearly read the sign on the front of the building. There is no sign of any purple fringing or chromatic aberration. The SP-610UZ has two macro modes. Super Macro has a minimum focus distance of 1cm which enables pleasing close-ups to be taken.

Wide-angle, ISO80, 1/640, f/3.3, 5mm (35mm equivalent: 28mm)		Full optical zoom, ISO160, 1/250, f/5.7, 110mm (35mm equivalent: 616mm)
Full digital zoom, ISO125, 1/250, f/5.7, 110mm (35mm equivalent: 616mm)		Super macro, ISO160, 1/50, f/3.5, 6mm (35mm equivalent: 34mm)

Below are a sample of images shot a large optical zoom ranges. The clock was taken using a tripod. Although it's recommended to use a tripod when zooming in at such a large length, it is not always possible. The images of the swan and pigeon have been taken without the use of a tripod with decent results.

22x optical zoom, ISO200, 1/250, f/5.7, 110mm (35mm equivalent: 616mm)		17.8x optical zoom, ISO80, 1/250, f/5.2, 89mm (35mm equivalent: 498mm)

There are a range of scenes available on the SP-610-UZ including Portrait, Beauty, Landscape, Night Scene, Night Portrait, Sport, Indoor, Candle, Self Portrait, Sunset, Fireworks, Cuisine, Documents, Beach & Snow and Pet Detection.

The Landscape mode does a really good job at increasing the blues and greens in the image. Pet Detection mode is a bit hit and miss at times but with some persistence it is possible to take some great pet pictures.

Landscape mode, ISO80, 1/125, f/7.3, 5mm (35mm equivalent: 28mm)		Pet detection, ISO200, 1/640, f/3.3, 5mm (35mm equivalent: 28mm)
Sport mode, ISO125, 1/640, f/4.1, 13mm (35mm equivalent: 73mm)		Text mode, ISO1000, 1/13, f/3.3, 5mm (35mm equivalent: 28mm)

Using the beauty mode produces a mixed bag of results. The indoor portrait with flash below makes the model look like she has had a fake tan applied! Red-eye also appears much worse in one eye than the other. Outdoors without the flash the results are much more pleasing.

Beauty mode with flash indoors, ISO100, 1/125, f/4.3, 16mm (35mm equivalent: 90mm)		Beauty mode with flash outdoors, ISO80, 1/1250, f/4.6, 30mm (35mm equivalent: 168mm)

The Panoramic mode produced excellent results. The images are stitched together in camera and it is impossible to see where they have been joined.

Panoramic mode, ISO640, 1/1250, f/7.7, 6mm (35mm equivalent: 34mm)

White-balance

Generally the auto white-balance does a perfectly acceptable job although under the incandescent lights in our studio the AWB images has a slight magenta tint whereas the incandescent preset performs perfectly. The AWB does the best job over the fluorescent preset under the studio's fluorescent lights.

Auto white-balance in incandescent lighting, ISO100, 1/13, f/3.6, 8mm (35mm equivalent: 45mm)		Incandescent preset in incandescent lighting, ISO100, 1/13, f/3.6, 8mm (35mm equivalent: 45mm)
Auto white-balance in fluorescent lighting, ISO100, 1/2, f/3.6, 8mm (35mm equivalent: 45mm)		Fluorescent preset in fluorescent lighting, ISO100, 1/3, f/3.6, 8mm (35mm equivalent: 45mm)

Magic filters
The SP610-UZ has eight magic filters: Pop Art, Pin Hole, Fisheye, Drawing, Soft Focus, Punk, Sparkle and Watercolour. Below are a few examples.

Fisheye, ISO200, 1/15, f/3.5, 6mm (35mm equivalent: 34mm)		Pin Hole, ISO200, 1/20, f/3.5, 6mm (35mm equivalent: 34mm)		Punk, ISO200, 1/15, f/3.5, 6mm (35mm equivalent: 34mm)		Watercolour, ISO640, 1/60, f/3.5, 6mm (35mm equivalent: 34mm)

Video mode

The SP610-UZ records HD at 720p with a maximum length of 29 minutes. There are no time limits when shooting VGA and QVGA although the maximum file size is 4Gb.

Sample video

Value for money

If you are looking for a compact camera with lots of optical zoom, at £159.00 the SP610-UZ is ideal for those who have a limited budget. The Nikon Coolpix L120 has 21x optical zoom, 14.1Mp sensor and is priced at £203.99. Panasonic have the Lumix DMC-FZ45 with 24x optical zoom, 14.1Mp and costs £269.00. If you require even more zoom, the Olympus SP800-UZ has a 30x optical zoom lens, 14Mp sensor and is priced at £218.99. With a massive 36x optical zoom lens, the Nikon Coolpix P500 will set you back £342.99.

If the SP610-UZ is still a bit out of your price range, the Fujifilm FinePix S1800 has an 18x optical zoom with 12Mp sensor and costs £136.99. There are other 18x optical zoom cameras, such as the Nikon Coolpix S9100 at £244.99 and Olympus SZ-10 at £189.00.

Olympus SP-610UZ: Verdict

A compact camera with this amount of optical zoom takes some practice to get the best results. If it's more than the average amount of zoom you are looking for in a compact camera then the SP-610UZ offers excellent value for money. Although it's not going to fit in your pocket the camera is quite small considering the amount of zoom. The beauty mode used with flash gives bizarre results and some of the magic filters will probably be overlooked by some users, but the camera is armed with Super Macro modes and creates Panoramic images in-cameras, which is extremely good.

Olympus SP-610UZ: Pros

22x optical zoom
Value for money
Good LCD screen
Super Macro mode
In-camera Panoramic stitching

Olympus SP-610UZ: Cons

Beauty mode with flash is poor
Some of the magic filters are a bit strange

FEATURES
HANDLING
PERFORMANCE
VALUE FOR MONEY
OVERALL

Olympus SP-610UZ: Specification

Price	£159
Contact	www.olympus.co.uk
Optical zoom	22x optical zoom, 5-110mm, (35mm equiv: 28-616mm), f/3.3-5.7
Resolution	14Mp
Sensor size	1/2.3in
Sensor type	CCD
Max image size	4288 x 3216
Aspect ratio	4:3
Focusing method	TTL iESP auto focus with contrast detection
Focus modes	iESP, Face Detection AF, Spot, AF Tracking
Focus distance	1cm
File types	JPEG
ISO sensitivity	ISO64 - 1600
Metering modes	ESP light metering, Spot metering, Centre weighted metering
Exposure compensation	+/- 2 EV / 1/3 steps
Shutter speed range	1/2 - 1/2000 s / < 4 s (Night scene)
Frames-per-second	10 fps / 17 frames (in 3MP mode) 4.8 fps / 15 frames (in 5MP mode) 0.92 fps / 3 frames (in 8MP mode)
Image stabilisation	Dual Image Stabilisation
Movie mode	720p HD, VGA & QVGA (Note: maximum file size 4Gb)
Monitor	3in TFT LCD screen, 230,000 dots
Media type	SD / SDHC / SDXC
Interface	USB 2.0, HDMI, A/V Cable
Power	AA batteries Alkaline or Ni-MH (CR-V3 not compliant)
Box Contents	4x AA Batteries Lens Cap Handstrap CB-USB6 USB Cable CB-AVC3 Audio/Video cable Instruction Manual World Wide Warranty Card Image Management Software
Size	107.4 x 72.6 x 73.2mm
Weight	405g (including battery and memory card)

The Olympus SP-610UZ costs £159 and is available from Warehouse Express here:

Olympus SP-610UZ