4. Olympus Point and Shoot Digital Cameras

Olympus presented nine new cameras at PMA 2008, but one stood out from the others as the major point and shoot attraction: the SP-570 UZ.

• Olympus SP-570 UZ

The Olympus SP-570 UZ offersm 10 megapixels of resolution and an amazing 20x wide angle optical zoom. It includes a “hot shoe” for connecting an external flash, and for the true image editing fan, it can capture images using the RAW file format (RAW is considered to offer the best possible image capture, with the caveat that all RAW images require at least a minimal level of processing in a photo editor).

The Olympus SP-570 UZ includes all of the options you’d expect, such as image stabilization, face detection, red eye removal, and the use of “AA” batteries. It also features a 2.7” LCD display with “Perfect Shot Preview”, which enables previewing various effects (such as zoom, exposure compensation, and white balance), before taking the shot. There’s also full manual control in Manual, Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority modes, high speed sequential shooting, Panorama Mode, in-camera editing (features available include resizing, trimming, frames, text options, grayscale, and sepia), and a remarkable 31 shooting modes (including portrait, landscape, sports, night portrait, candle, self portrait, fireworks, multi-fireworks, cuisine, behind glass, documents, smile shot, beach, snow, and more).

The SP-570 UZ will be available in March for $499. In comparing the Fujifilm FinePix S8100fd at $399 to the Olympus SP-570 UZ at $499, I have to look beyond the 18x versus 20x zoom. However, the Olympus includes many other powerful features: the RAW image capture, and the ability to switch between full manual control and 31 shooting modes certainly gets my attention. Yes, at $499, the Olympus SP-570 UZ is an expensive point and shoot camera. In my opinion, if the price is within your budget, the extra features are well worth the added cost.

Stay tuned to Tom’s Guide for more coverage of PMA 2008.