Olympus D-560 Review

Overall Rating

Decent print quality most of the time.
Looks nice.

Takes picture 1-2 sec after you press shutter button.
Focus is a bit soft sometimes.
Has just the basic options.

While the Olympus D-560 camera is not perfect, it is pretty good. Some complaints that I saw are unjustified.
I read reviews elsewhere and despite what people say, I think that battery life is ok. I took this camera to an event in a dark restaurant and took over 170 pictures with flash, all on one set of NiMH rechargeable batteries. To save power I had LCD off (when you take a picture, camera displays it on a screen for a second), but I looked through pictures several times). Some people probably run LCD screen all the time and constantly delete files, and drain batteries fast.
As to pictures, regular 4X6 size prints come out pretty good if you know what to do. In fact no one can tell they are from a digital camera, even if I tell them. My friend has 4MP Minolta S414 and my camera has comparable picture quality (but Minolta has more options and controls). I work in a photo lab and use my lab printer for prints. I see quite a few prints from other digital cameras so I can compare. Pictures are not perfect, but they look natural, with good colors. Focus is a bit soft sometimes, but it adds something to a photo. This camera produces decent pictures even in bad conditions (my restaurant pictures are better than ones taken with my sister's film camera). Daylight shadow and late afternoon pictures come out perfectly. However, it's a good idea to try to compensate exposure for pictures taken in a bright sunlight or in a dark. Experiment to get to know the camera's capabilities. It is also makes sense to buy a decent photo editing software.
Anyway, I heard that old D-550 was better than this new model (better picture quality), but D-560 looks nicer and is more compact. Controls could be better, but I learned menu fast and don't have problems. I would like to have more options and manual controls like in Canon A-70, but I managed to get Olympus for $80 less than Canon, so I can't complain. Overall this is a great substitute for a film camera, especially for people looking for a basic point-and-shoot camera. I was looking for something compact with decent picture quality and basic functions (like exposure control and spot metering) and this is it.