Olympus D-580 Zoom Review

Typical still image record mode screen showing icons for "P"rogram AE, SHQ quality, image size of 2288x1712, flash on and there's space on the xD-Picture Card for another 181 pictures. The zoom bar also shows up momentarily whenever the zoom is changed.

When Macro or Supermacro focus mode is enabled the color LCD automatically turns on so you can use it as the viewfinder. The color LCD is the only information display so whenever you change flash modes or enable macro mode or self timer the screen will come on for a few seconds.

Movie recording: there are 23 minutes 58 seconds of recording time remaining, maximum length of each clip is limited only by available memory capacity. Sound recording is enabled or disabled by a menu setting. The zoom may be used during movie recording if sound recording is disabled.

The OK/MENU button accesses the CAMERA CONTROLS:

DRIVE - Selects single frame or sequential shooting.

Image Size/Quality - Sets file size/resolution(SHQ 2288x1712, HQ 2288x1712, SQ1 1600x1200, SQ2 640x480)

MONITOR OFF - Turns off the LCD monitor.

MODE MENU - leads to four sub-menus for CAMera, PICture, CARD and SETUP:


CAMera options:

Metering - Select ESP or Center Metering.
Exposure Compensation - +/- 2
Digital Zoom - Enable/disable digital zoom
Sound - Enables sound recording for still pictures
Super Macro - Enables Super Macro mode
Panorama - With OM brand SM card: allows pan. photography
2 in 1 - Combines two sequential images into one new image,

PICture options:
White Balance - Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent

CARD:

Format - Format the xD-Picture card: Yes or No

SETUP options:

All Reset - If ON it resets all settings to default at power down
Language - Selects language for on-screen display.
PW On/Off SETUP - Sets the picture to be displayed during power on/off
Sounds - Enable or disable camera beeps
Rec View - If ON then immediately view image after capture
File Name - Changes how the file numbers are assigned: Reset or Auto(sequential)
Pixel Mapping - Checks the CCD and image processing functions.
LCD Brightness - a sliding scale for adjustment
Time/Date - Set the internal clock
Video Out - Selects NTSC or PAL








Touching the 4-way controller's left button in recording mode calls-up the shooting mode virtual dial. Touch the left or right buttons of the 4-way controller to rotate the virtual dial, selecting a shooting mode; touch the OK button to activate it. Shooting modes are:

• Program Auto
• Portrait
• Landscape + Portrait
• Landscape
• Night Scene
• Self Portrait
• Movie








Menu options for movie recording

Image Size/Quality - Sets resolution(HQ 320x240, SQ 160x120)

Sound - Turns off/on sound recording

CAMera options:


Metering - Select ESP or Center Metering.
Exposure Compensation - +/- 2
Digital Zoom - Enable/disable digital zoom

PICture options:
White Balance - Auto, Sunny, Cloudy, Incandescent, Fluorescent

CARD:

Format - Format the xD-Picture card: Yes or No