The Olympus SP-500UZ
By Ryan Block 
posted August 29th 2005 11:20AM
posted August 29th 2005 11:20AM
10x optical zoom: check. 2.5-inch screen: check. 6 megapixel CCD: check. RAW support, 10MB internal memory, VGA movie recording, yup, the Olympus SP-500UZ has all that—too bad they insist on continuing to use those XD cards. The £300 (about $540 US) pricetag sounds about right though; expect it in October.
10MB of internal memory with raw support? why bother?
"10MB of internal memory with raw support? why bother?"
Not sure from your wording what part of this you're questioning. But all digital cameras have to have some level of buffer and this one's apparently is 10MB, which sounds about right.
DSLR's usually have something more on the order of 32MB or higher, but that's because part of the reason you buy a DSLR is for quick shooting. With a larger buffer, you're going to get more shots in burst mode than with a smaller buffer.
For $540 or so, you can't expect DSLR-like performance. But still, a 10MB buffer will probably get you around 1fps even in RAW mode, which is not bad for a non-SLR. (It should be faster in jpg mode.)
it has a high speed of 2.5fps for 3 seconds in HQ mode (medium quality). i don't think the 10MB is for a buffer, on DSLR's, that is determined by the memory card.
Still no contender for the Best super-zoom of the year 2005 (the Lumix FZ20) with it's 12x optical zoom, manual focus, 7fps, Leica lens with a f2.8 brightness the whole way along.
I may be wrong but I didn't see it while skimming over the specs... if this doesn't have any sort of image stabelization with that 10x zoom it won't make much of a dent in the ultra zoom market.
This is the smallest "super" zoom on the market, like the C-770 before it. Adding image stabilization increases the cam size.
As to the FZ20, I'd prefer the Oly's 640x480 30fps VGA movie recording over the Panasonic's features.
I.S. is overrated anyway; this new Oly, like the C-770, is the smallest ultra zoom cam around. I'd take a smaller size over I.S.
The FZ20 is nice but it lacks 640x480 30fps VGA movie recording that the Oly has.
What good is a small camera size going to do you if your fully zoomed photos come out blurry? I guess to each his own but I briefly owned an Oly C-7xx model and sold it for this very reason. I'll stick with the Panasonic ultra zoom cams.
well I just bought one. haven't had the time to check to pics out on screen yet. as i've said, just bought it, like 4 hrs ago.
the menus are easy to navigate. lots of diff pict modes (21 in all, from portrait to snow).
i was tempted with the lumix, but i wasn't ready to pay an extra 10,000 yen for it. also, i liked a fine pix i saw, cant remember which one exactly, but i didnt like the hold on the camera.
i'm kinda of a novice at cameras, especially digital. i'll try and come back to let you know more about it once i've tested it more. i should have plenty of occasions over the weekend.
Bought it, Love it.
When making a zoomed shot, I always use a monopod or tripod anyway, so I havent had any blurred photos yet. The 10MB cannot be used at the same time as your memory card, but it will store photos you can use for startup/shutdown screens or for shots without a card.