The Olympus SP-570 UZ and the Nikon Coolpix P90 both offer extra longs zoom lenses. They also come equipped with a set of features similar to those you would find on a Digital SLR. In fact these two cameras are almost as close to a Digital SLR as you are likely to get.

Olympus SP-570 UZ 10 megapixels 20x Optical Zoom 2.7 inch LCD screen Viewfinder Macro Focus: 1cm Dimensions: 118.5 x 84 x 87.5mm Weight: 445g Conversion lens compatible Hot shoe

Nikon Coolpix P90 12 megapixels 24x wide angle optical zoom 3 inch LCD screen Viewfinder Macro Focus 1cm Dimensions: 114 x 83 x 99mm Weight: 400g Not conversion lens compatible No hot shoe

There are a number of differences in the specification of the two cameras. The Coolpix P90 has the edge both in terms of megapixels and length of zoom. It also has the larger LCD screen at 3cm. Both cameras offer wide angle lens capabilities.

One important feature with this type of camera is the continuous shooting speeds. This is especially true if you are looking to use the long lens for fast moving subjects such as sports or wildlife. The Coolpix P90 is able to fire off 15 frames per second when the resolution is dropped to 3 megapixels. The SP-570 offers 13.5 frames per second at this resolution and 7.2 frames per second at 5 megapixels.

Olympus has built some extra flexibility into the SP-570 with a hot shoe to attach external flash units, plus the ability to attach conversion lenses to further enhance the capabilities of the lens.

Size wise there is not a great deal of difference between the two cameras. The SP-570 is slightly heavier. Both cameras are based around the design of a Digital SLR.

I found the SP-570 UZ tended to be slower for individual shots with or without flash and also for turning on. It was quicker though for firing off three or four shots at a time when the camera was not in continuous shooting mode.

Here there is a clear difference. Nikon has gone for a rechargeable lithium ion battery whereas Olympus has opted to use 4 AA batteries.

Cameras with these long lenses always tend to suffer from purple fringing to a small degree. This occurs when the light source catches the edge of a bright object. With most cameras it is only noticeable if you are really blowing up your print sizes. With the Coolpix P90 I did find this problem was more pronounced than I usually find and could start to show on much smaller prints.

With both cameras offering manual exposure controls and other features for fine tuning your photography it will take time to fully get to grips with the two cameras. I always find the menu system Nikon uses about the best when it comes to finding the setting you are looking for.

As you can see above there are a number of small differences between the specifications of these two cameras. As is often the case there is no outright winner as such and you need to decide which of the differing features is the most important to you. It is also worth taking into account that at the time of writing this comparison the Coolpix P90 is available for around £40 less than the SP-570 UZ.

Front View
Olympus SP-570 UZ



Nikon Coolpix P90


Back View
Olympus SP-570 UZ



Nikon Coolpix P90


Top View
Olympus SP-570 UZ



Nikon Coolpix P90

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Although every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this site, please make sure you double check the feature set and specification at the point of purchase.