Olympus SP-810UZ Pro Reviews

Olympus have produced a really nice camera in the SP-810UZ. The user interface is easy to understand and navigate, the LCD screen is clear and bright and the menu system isn't too exhausting. On the build side, it's not sparkling - it looks nice and has a lot of shiny plastic but that soon starts to wear. The Olympus SP-810UZ's biggest selling point is obviously its zoom range - 36x is simply mind boggling. Take a look at the zoom sample on Page 2, it's difficult to see the church spire in the wide angle shot. We're also impressed with how sharp the pictures are, even with noise in them. We zoomed fully out to get a shot of the moon and got a sharp image hand-held on a late January afternoon. Where the moon starts to go dark, all the craters on its pitted surface can be made out. At 14 megapixels, the SP-810UZ doesn't sport the highest resolution but it's certainly high enough for most people's needs. Even at the highest setting, we still found that images are relatively small and on a 1Gb card, we had plenty of space, enough for a day out with the family.

If you are in the market for a compact camera with a large amount of zoom, the SP-810UZ is one of only a few options available. Where this camera beats the competition is its price. Yes, it means that you aren't going to get the same image quality as you will from the more expensive options, but even so, the SP-810UZ does take a pretty decent shot. Overall, the Olympus SP-810UZ is a versatile camera, easy to carry and is a good choice for those on a budget.

Limited control and poor quality in low light, but for outdoor telephoto photography on a tight budget, it's a reasonable choice