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Photograph: Rick Rizner
Olympus D-580 Digital Camera
| Overall rating | 79 |
| Image quality: To gauge picture quality, we take a series of shots, with and without flash, at 640 by 480 resolution and at the camera's highest resolution. We photograph a complex still life and a mannequin to see how well each camera captures details and subtle colorings such as skin tones. A panel of judges reviews the on-screen and printed photos and assigns image-quality scores; we then average those scores. | Very good |
| Ease of use | Good |
| Features | Good |
| Maximum effective pixels/resolution | 4 megapixels/2288 by 1712 |
| Bundled media | 16MB XD-Picture Card |
| Focal range (35mm equivalent) | 35mm to 105mm |
| Aperture range (wide/telephoto) | f3.1/f5.2 |
| Shutter speed range (seconds) | 2 seconds to 1/1000 second |
| Viewfinders | Optical viewfinder, 1.8-inch LCD |
| Video/audio recording | 320 by 240 video with audio; clip length limited by size of media |
| Semiautomatic/manual modes | Five scene modes |
| Continuous shooting speed | Up to 1.3 frames per second for a maximum of 8 frames |
| Optional lenses | None |
| Software | Olympus Camedia Master |
| Other features | Audio notes, in-camera image resizing, in-camera movie editing, panorama mode |
| Battery score | Fair |
| Battery life | 127 shots, 69 minutes |
| Battery type | One 3V disposable lithium or two AA |
| Dimensions (width by depth by height), weight | 4.2 by 1.6 by 2.2 inches, 7.6 ounces |
| Support policy score | Good |
| Support policies | One-year parts and labor warranty; 13-hour weekday toll-free support |
Olympus D-580 Zoom
D-580 Digital Camera Review, by Paul Jasper May 27, 2004
Olympus's $299 D-580 Zoom includes few frills, is easy to operate, and has an appealingly low price. To power up the D-580, you slide open its lens cover; its 3X zoom lens pops out, and you're ready to shoot. You won't be taking too many photos, though, unless you purchase more media. You can capture only five or six shots at this 4-megapixel camera's highest quality setting before the included 16MB XD-Picture Card reaches full capacity.
The D-580's simple control buttons place the most common functions at your fingertips. The camera's more complex controls reside in menus that are fairly easy to navigate. Different menus appear depending on what mode you're in, and sometimes we had trouble remembering exactly where to find everything. You can select any of five simple scene modes from a novel graphical carousel displayed in the LCD; the carousel mimics the rotating dial found on many other cameras. Annoyingly, the display often disappeared before we had decided which mode we wanted to use.
After you take a shot, the result flashes on the screen, but you barely have time to review it before it's gone--and there's no way to lengthen the instant review period. If you don't like a shot, you must change to the "quick view" playback mode and use the menu system to delete it. A total of six button presses are necessary to review a shot, delete it, and return to shooting. (Deleting a series of photos takes four steps for each photo.)
The zoom control is an oddly shaped rocker that sits next to the shutter release on top of the camera. We found stretching our finger to use it almost painful. It's all too easy to slide the lens cover accidentally, turning off the camera, as you grip it with your right hand. And the 1.8-inch LCD screen is a little difficult to see in bright sunlight.
You can record voice notes, either while the camera is processing your shot or after the fact. The D-580 can make a variety of beeps, but it has no proper speaker, so you can't review what you have said until you upload the photos to your PC. Similarly, though you can record 320-by-240-pixel or 160-by-120-pixel movies, you'll have to wait until you get home to hear the soundtrack.
The D-580 earned an average overall score in our image quality tests. Outdoor images showed realistic colors and plenty of detail in areas of shadow. Color accuracy and skin tone quality looked good in our still life test. Our flash portrait shot was somewhat overexposed, however, overhighlighting our model's skin tone. The lowest scores the D-580 received were for image sharpness--a deficiency likely to show up in cropped and enlarged images.
We achieved some nice results from our informal tests. Nevertheless, we were puzzled by how many of the shots came out sloping to the right. Perhaps it is difficult to judge when you are holding this model straight, because we noticed nothing obviously wrong with the camera.
Our biggest gripe with the D-580 relates to its battery life--the shortest in our roundup. Running on two AA alkaline cells, the D-580 lasted for only 127 shots, which translates into just over an hour. That's barely more than half the average battery life of competing cameras. The D-580's saving grace is that it also takes CR-V3 lithium batteries that should last much longer.
The printed manual that comes in the box has a paltry 40 pages of content in English, sharing the little booklet with three other languages. The software CD contains a more complete reference manual in PDF format.
Upshot: A capable and reasonably priced point-and-click camera, the D-580 Zoom has a few usability blemishes. Its relatively puny battery life makes it a better choice for a now-and-then photographer than for a passionate snapshooter.
Paul Jasper
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User Reviews
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User Reviews From Around the Web
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Reviewed by: xmascook
Strengths: It used to take good photos
Weaknesses: The biggest weakness is that the lens cover doesn't work after a few months use. The cover won't close and dozens of users have documented this problem on the Internet. Olympus won't fix it for free.
Overall: I can't recommend this or any other Olympus Digital camera after seeing my D-580 break after very little use and NO ABUSE. Search Google and find dozens of complaints about Olympus cameras with the lens cover problem. It is poorly constructed and those who contacted Olympus were told it would be fixed if the buyer paid $120+. The camera uses an xD memory card which is more expensive and less common than that used by other manufacturers. Accessories like the AC adapter are expensive but you won't want to use AA batteries because the camera eats them up too quickly.
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Reviewed by: loganss17
Strengths: Clear LCD display, several picture modes, can record movies w/ sound, feels sturdy, and a looks sleak.
Weaknesses: Doesn't come w/ rechargable batteries, and the 16MB card included doesn't hold many high quality photos. Some night shots taken don't have great quality.
Overall: So far I think the camera's great!!! There are a bunch of options to choose from in the menus. Some people complained about the menus complexity in reviews; all but a couple of the images in the menus are self explanitory if you have ever used a digital camera before. There is also an option of having the lcd screen on/off when taking pictures. When on, it drains the batteries pretty quick. I perfer to turn the monitor off and take pictures the old fashioned way by looking through the viewfiender.
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Reviewed by: hema9481
Strengths: Great, simple to use. Great pics
Weaknesses: is a limited time to add sound to a picture
Overall: I love this camera after trying it. It takes nice pictures and the features are easy to use. The design of the body is good and i like the way this baby looks.
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Reviewed by: dryanbloo
Strengths: Nice looking small camera which is extremely good.
Weaknesses: None noticed so far
Overall: This camera is nice,easy to use, and the quality of pictures is excellent. Batteries run out a bit quickly, but u think thats ok if you get a rechargable battery kit which is a must with most cameras these days.I recommend this camera.
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Reviewed by: Darkonus
Strengths: Sharp images, small, easy to use, great outdoor & indoor shots, built-in flash, nice size LCD monitor works in bright sun.
Weaknesses: xD media is a little more expensive, slightly long start-up to shooting time, when it's batteries are removed only briefly, it loses its settings.
Overall: The camera is a little slow from power-up to actual shooting of images, so some spontaneous shots can be missed. It was very easy to set-up and use right out of the box though, and it looks fairly stylish. The LCD monitor was effective as a viewfinder even in bright sunlight, and I found it easy to use the menu system and review all my images. The 3x optical isn't much for really long shots, but it is adequate for all those family functions and quick vacation shots I wanted to take. I was quite happy with this as a point and shoot camera, the indoor and outdoor auto shots I've taken have come out quite good, even the larger 8x10 prints I've done with my Epson R300. The 4 mega pixel is great to have when you want to print larger than 4x6 prints, and the color it produces is very good. Over-all I like the choice I made, and could easily recommend this camera for a good point and shoot to others. The one thing that is a little bit of a pain is that it loses memory settings when you change batteries, and a couple settings like the time and quality of shots you want to take must always be reset after installing new batteries. The other disadvantage is that xD media is usually more expensive than other memory types.
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