Olympus SP-590 Features

Olympus SP-590UZ

The Olympus SP-590UZ is a 12 megapixel digital camera with a 26x, wide angle lens. The focal length of the lens is equivalent to 26 - 676mm in 35mm format. You can further increase the capabilities of the lens with a lens adapter. This allows you to attach conversion lenses and filters.

5x digital zoom is also available.

Basics

Self Timer: 2 or 12 seconds
Image Stabilisation
Face Detection focusing
Special resolution for widescreen television playback
Voice Memos: 4 seconds
Panorama Mode
Sensor size: 1/2.33 inches
Menu guide

Focusing

Focusing options include manual focusing and predictive focusing. Spot focusing is also available with 143 AF areas to select from. For close up work there is a super macro mode that allows you to focus from 1cm.

LCD and Viewfinder

The LCD monitor is 2.7 inches in size. The screen is made up of around 230,000 dots. For composing photographs you can also opt to use the electronic viewfinder. This has diopter adjustment available allowing you to set the focusing of the viewfinder to suit your eyesight.

Flash

The flash modes are: on, off, red eye reduction, automatic, slow synchronisation, slow synchronisation with red-eye reduction and slow synchronisation 2nd curtain.

The maximum flash range is 9m at ISO 800. This falls to 5m when the zoom lens is fully extended.

You can adjust the power of the flash. An external wireless flash is also available.

Scene Modes

There are a number of preset scene modes. These are: Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Night Scene, Night Scene with portrait, Indoor, Candle, Sunset, Fireworks, Multi Fireworks, Multi-Exposure, Cuisine, Documents, Smile Shot, Beach and Snow, Bird Watching, Pre-Capturing Movie, Quick Shutter and Soft Background.

Movies

You can shoot movies with a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels. The top recording speed is 30 frames per second. Sound can be recorded and optical zoom can be applied before shooting starts.

Image Editing

After a photo has been taken you can edit your shots to reduce red eye and alter brightness. Photos can also be changed to black and white or sepia. You can also use options for face focus, center focus, shadow adjustment and beauty fix.

Advanced Features

Among the more advanced features are:

White Balance: Automatic, Overcast, Sunlight, Tungsten, Flourescent 1, Flourescent 2, Flourescent 3, Manual White balance (One-Touch), White balance adjustment -7 Red +7 Blue
ISO Sensitivity: 64, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, (3200, 6400 at lower resolutions)
Manual Exposure
Aperture Priority
Shutter Priority
Exposure Bracketing 5 frames / +/- 1/3, 2/3, 1 EV steps
Exposure Compensation: 1/3 EV step, +/-2 EV
Shutter Speed Range: 8 minutes - 1/2000 seconds + bulb setting
Metering: Multiple Point , Spot, Centre weighted
Maximum Aperture: f/2.8 - 5.0
Sequential Shooting: (high speed) 10 fps / 25 frames (in 3MP mode) 6 fps / 25 frames (in 5MP mode)
Interval Shooting
Contrast +/- 5 levels
Saturation +/- 5 levels
Sharpness +/- 5 levels