Olympus SP-320

• Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 11 reviews
• My rating: 0 stars

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• 8 stars

  Don't overlook RAW and full manual controls

  by carolberry on February 1, 2006

  Pros: Much more than a simple snapshot camera

  Cons: Wish it had wide angle

  Summary: This camera's baby brother (the 310)is already supported by Adobe Camera Raw!
  Here is a inexpensive camera, with full manual controls and can write RAW. Uses AA batteries
  ...

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  Summary: This camera's baby brother (the 310)is already supported by Adobe Camera Raw!
  Here is a inexpensive camera, with full manual controls and can write RAW. Uses AA batteries which is great cause I already invested in an expensive charger. I don't want to get into an SLR system that costs 4X as much cause it will be obsolite in 3 years! Technology today makes for disposible hardware.

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  7 out of 7 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 9 stars

  Great Camera - Great Price

  by zerqman on May 19, 2006

  Pros: Easy to use

  Cons: Wide angle would be nice but there is a wide adapter for it.

  Summary: I am an avid amateur photographer. I like portraits, landscapes, and action shots. I am tired of setting cameras correctly to get the right shot. On the SD320 it is ...

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  Summary: I am an avid amateur photographer. I like portraits, landscapes, and action shots. I am tired of setting cameras correctly to get the right shot. On the SD320 it is all done for you with 25 programmed modes which work beautifully. The add on underwater case is also a brilliant idea. For under 300 bucks, you can't go wrong. At 7.1 megapixels, go ahead and blow up your shot to a 16x20. Loose a litle quality but still a nice picture.

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  4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 9 stars

  Novice photographer . . . love this feature-rich camera!

  by SuprX on July 23, 2006

  Pros: $189 7/23/06 @ Circ. Cty for a camera with pro features!

  Cons: . . . can't find any! Picture quality is Phenomenal!

  Summary: Shopped several cameras in the 7 megapixel range, nothing delivers the functional options and clear images for $189!!
  -Battery life "seemed" to initially be a drawback, but have added to
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  Summary: Shopped several cameras in the 7 megapixel range, nothing delivers the functional options and clear images for $189!!
  -Battery life "seemed" to initially be a drawback, but have added to my accessories rechargeable Mobypower RCV-R3(Lithium-Ion) battery and can shoot stills and video off and on for HOURS now without a battery swap!
  -Reports that the camera resets it's image resolution settings when switched off are only true for the full-auto mode, not settings in program, aperture or shutter priority.
  -personally find the camera(my first digital) easy to operate with an intuitive menu structure. In a month since it's purchase have shot and loaded to my computer a thousand great quality pictures, and am just learning to appreciate the cameras 25 built in scene presets. -Buy a gig of Oly XD- you will be using it, and getting over 400 pictures into the camera at default resolution before needing to reset the memory.
  My final word:
  SP-320(!!)

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  3 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 9 stars

  The best value in it's class

  by SilenceofAzns on September 2, 2006

  Pros: Extensive feature set in an affordable, compact package.

  Cons: Annoying low power management, performance isn't bad but it falls behind competition.

  Summary: First, it's somewhat unfair to compare the Olympus SP-320 to the "similarly priced" Canon A700 since this camera costs over $100 less than it.
  
  As a college student, value
  
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  Summary: First, it's somewhat unfair to compare the Olympus SP-320 to the "similarly priced" Canon A700 since this camera costs over $100 less than it.
  
  As a college student, value is the first thing I look for in a product; something that's affordable but doesn't feel cheap. I've searched the web for weeks trying to look for the ideal replacement for my Canon A75 (it has been very reliable for almost 2 years, but now seems outdated), I found it at my local Circuit City.
  
  For less than $200 at any Circuit City, you don't have to shop online for the best price. I was reluctant to buy this camera at first because of the more expensive xD-media card, but I bought mine when they included a free memory card with the purchase of the camera.
  
  The SP-320 is comfortable to hold with a rubber grip underneath your fingers. It's very light for it's size and takes 1 CR-V3 lithium battery for performance, or 2 standard AA batteries for versatility. The plastic body feels durable enough, but I like the solid-feeling plastic and metal housing of the Canon A-series a little more.
  
  This is one of the cheapest cameras you can get with a 2.5-inch LCD. The LCD performs better than most of the ones on other cameras that I've tried. The lens has a 3x optical zoom, which is typical, but the Canon A-series cameras now have optical zooms of at least 4x. You can buy a lens attachment for greater zoom if it's required. There is an optical viewfinder, but it's much to small to be very useful; it's nothing compared to Canon's which is larger and has framing.
  
  The SP-320 has a huge array of features, but you'd have to go through the CD-manual to find them all. There is a great deal of control on this camera. You can manually adjust the exposure, focus, flash, contrast, saturation, and sharpness. If that's too overwhelming then there are 2 dozen scene modes that will choose the optimal settings for you.
  
  There are advanced features such a bracketing. There are two forms of the live histogram. The camera can show you on the standard graph, or it can show you directly on the subjects which parts might get over or underexposed. If you have trouble going through the menus theres a good in-camera help at the touch of a button. There are in-camera touch-ups such as cropping and red-eye fix. When you zoom all the way out in playback, you get a little calander of when you took your pictures.
  
  Performance was satisfactory to very good in all situations that I've tried. The camera doesn't excel above all others in any area but I say it's near the top. Pictures came out clear and accurate; I am exceptionally pleased with the accuracy of the auto white balance compared to Canon's. ISO goes up to 800 but noise is noticable above ISO 200 Overall I was very pleased with the pictures that I've taken.
  
  There are only a couple of things I didn't like. The self-timer can only be set to 10 seconds; having a 2-second timer can help keep a steady shot. The default shutter speed is 1/30 of a second in Auto and Scene modes, which is a little on the slow side, so it's becomes more important to keep a steady hand. The screen blacks out for many seconds when the batteries are low, and this gets very annoying.
  
  I am very happy with my decision in my new advanced point & shoot camera. With so many much room to grow, I'm sure that I wouldn't be on the market for a long, long time. The Canon A500-series now sure to have some serious competition.

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  2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 9 stars

  Very satisfied with performance

  by Remsen on May 23, 2006

  Pros: Great pictures, optical viewfinder, Uses AA batteries

  Cons: None yet and not expecting any.

  Summary: Varies settings easily made. Not the smallest p and s, but don't let this stop you. My second Olympus digital camera and not disappointed,.

  Summary: Varies settings easily made. Not the smallest p and s, but don't let this stop you. My second Olympus digital camera and not disappointed,.

  2 out of 3 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 7 stars

  Feature-packed small camera for creatives

  by otherself on September 3, 2007

  Pros: Full manual controls. Image quality. Good F range. Macro. Optical viewfinder. Lens thread for conversion lenses/filters.

  Cons: Low-res display. Some frustrating, repetative functions. Minor Image demons at high ISO.

  Summary: As somebody into digital art, or the advanced amateur whom can't budget for - or just doesn't want to haul a heavy, bulky and expensive DSLR around - ...

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  Summary: As somebody into digital art, or the advanced amateur whom can't budget for - or just doesn't want to haul a heavy, bulky and expensive DSLR around - then overall I think this is a very good choice in terms of features and image quality compressed into compactness.
  
  
  THE GOOD:
  
  • Full manual controls for endless creativity - aperture priority (f.2.8 - f.8.0), shutter priority (bulb - 1/2000 sec), manual focus, ISO, brightness, white balance, contrast, saturation, sharpness, B&W/sepia etc etc. These features were once only common on DSLR's.
  
  • Overall great image quality at 64, 100 ISO. As usual good sharpness and colour reproduction by Olympus. Some foliage pictures I've taken are outstanding for the amount of detail they show.
  
  • Optical viewfinder (some cameras exclude them altogether these days - utter, utter lunacy!). It really is an attractive selling point and makes it feel like a 'real' camera.
  
  • 25 scene modes.
  
  • Very good Macro mode 2cm.
  
  • Lens thread for conversion lenses - wide angle, telephoto, fish eye, filters, magnifiers. Another selling point for many.... and ignored by some competitors offerings.
  
  • RAW image format.
  
  • AF (auto focus) assist beam for low-light shooting - behaves better in lowlight than other cameras I've used.
  
  • Uses 2 AA batteries (so no expensive 'specialist' batteries) - the best being NMH 2700 or even better, get CR-V3 rechargeable ones.
  
  • It's a nice designed compact camera with a comfy barrel grip on the right side which tapers to a wedge shape towards the left. It feels well-made and the "gunmetal gray" finish is also a nice touch.
  
  -----------------------------------
  
  THE BAD:
  
  • Low res screen - my older, Olympus c-770's one - although smaller - was better.
  
  • Image quality above 200 ISO starts to get noisy, especially in high contrast areas.
  
  • Some awkward menu selections, these being manual focus and turning the display off for optical viewfinder use only. For instance you have to navigate through several buttons/menu's to get the manual focus working. Would like to see separate buttons for these important functions.
  
  • Some functions reset themselves whilst in the modes "AUTO" and "SCENE" (reverts to auto ISO, flash resets to the default "on", white balance reverts to auto). This happens when you turn the camera off then on again in just these said two modes. It's annoying to keep having to flick through menus to turn things off.
  
  • The "Image stabilizer" mode is ISO-based (reverts to high depending on conditions), so practically useless/too grainy for anything other than fun snaps.
  
  • Olympus' Panorama function is getting a bit long in the tooth - you need official Olympus XD cards and the software included on disc for after-shooting stitching. The Olympus SP-320's nearest rivals, the Canon a500 and a600 series, have a stitch function within a camera mode for panorama's. Come on Olympus get your act together on this.
  
  -----------------------------------
  
  THE UGLY (annoying... but such a big deal):
  
  • No external hot shoe for flash - this seems to have been kept solely for it's higher spec, but much maligned, specialist-battery-eating-brother, the SP-350. I probably would've brought the SP-350 if it was designed to use AA batteries, because it's always nice to have the possibility of an externally powered flash.
  
  • No beveled edge around the large display to protect from accidental surface scratching. Though you can buy adhesives for protection.
  
  • Pinhead-sized power switch.
  
  • Advanced manual computerized - only on disc or website; not printed material.

  Updated
  Didn't mention this camera's poor power management. Whilst it's siblings the sp-310 and sp-350 have updated power management firmware available on the Olympus site, this one doesn't.
  
  The problem is that it's touchy about falling below 3v (even though batteries are fine - can happen to freshly installed batteries), what happens is that the red low power indicator flashes, shortly followed by the screen blacking out, disabling you to take a picture. You can then turn the camera off and then on again and, low and behold.... mysteriously the battery indicator is green. Maybe this happens with high power NiMH rechargeables because they are 1.2v (2 x 1.2v = 2.4v - not 3v).
  
  I have tried a set of the new 'hybrid' or low self-discharge AA rechargeables (Sanyo Eneloop/Uniross Hybrio/GP ReCyko are the most readily available) and they fair much better. Also have one R-CRV3 which works well too.

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  1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.

• 3 stars

  Great features poor craftmanship

  by primetime3d on May 22, 2007

  Pros: Great manual features, large LCD display, uses AA batteries and compact.

  Cons: Both my daughter and my camera LCD displays went bad within months.

  Summary: Great compact camera with manual features. Unfortunately, the craftmanship is lacking. Two different camera LCD displays went bad within months of purchase. Contacted Olympus and was informed that they do ...

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  Summary: Great compact camera with manual features. Unfortunately, the craftmanship is lacking. Two different camera LCD displays went bad within months of purchase. Contacted Olympus and was informed that they do not warranty the LCD because I must have dropped it. Spent weeks with customer support and never reached a resolution.

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• 9 stars

  Fell Through the Cracks At Debut Time

  by barusah on March 26, 2007

  Pros: Lightning Quick Start-up Time

  Cons: Low Battery Attitude

  Summary: Here is a terrific little camera that takes excellent quality pictures. It has all the features the more expensive units have. You can set the camera to be fully automatic, ...

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  Summary: Here is a terrific little camera that takes excellent quality pictures. It has all the features the more expensive units have. You can set the camera to be fully automatic, full manual, or anywhere in between. You can point and shoot, or point and fiddle. As you push the power button on, say 1001, and you are ready to shoot. You shouldn't miss any good pic opportunities due to slow start up. It has some attitude problems (false signal) when the batteries get low, which, in the big picture, is no big deal. I've noticed that most reviews of this camera appear to be quick and dirty. There must have been hundreds of cameras introduced at the same time as this one. In my opinion this camera hasn't received the credit it deserves. Go to YouTube and type in this model for an unbiased review. At $179, or below, you're not going to find a better deal in a digital camera.

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• 9 stars

  Fantastic Camera, Very Proffessional Like, Should i say a Semi Professional Camera.

  by johnson_sam on December 19, 2006

  Pros: Dont know where to start, supports Raw pictures, 25 Scene Mode, In Camera User Guide(Like in olympus Camera's), All manual Features like setting apaeture, shutter speed , ISO (64-800), read more...

  Cons: I recommend a good class Rechargable batteries(AA). Eats a lot of batt., LCD (2.5") has only 1.15 Mil pixels against all the std. camera which have 2 Million pix.s, read more in opnion...

  Summary: I got this camera, and i couldnt be happier. This camera is almost a Semi- Professional camera. this camera is more than just a P&S camera.
  * This camera
  ...

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  Summary: I got this camera, and i couldnt be happier. This camera is almost a Semi- Professional camera. this camera is more than just a P&S camera.
  * This camera lets you set everything, from appature to ISO's to Shutter Speed manualy.
  *If these features dont impress you, there are 25 Different scene mode with explantion.
  * If you havent used a olympus before, the learning period i should say(i.e. gettin fimilar with the butons) should be 2-3 days if used quite frequently.
  * If all these features still dont impress you, this camera has Camera RAW(ORF), and if you are a Photoshop lover, you would love this. The best thing about camera RAW is that you dont loose any data, now hotspot wont matter anymore(that much), and dark pictures wont bother anymore.
  *This is an incredeble feature to support camera raw, you can pull out data which might have been missing in the actually picture that you were seeing.
  *The only drawback(quite significant) is that, it takes a lot of space (abt 7MB for 7 M.P. and so on and so forth), and other really bad thing is that it take a lot of time to store this picture (about 1-3 Sec).
  * I would recommend these picture for landscaping, scenic and non motion beauitiful pictures.
  * One more feature of raw is that, if you take a pic at 7MP you can enhance, whiout loosing any significant data, upto 10-11MP with Adobe Photoshop to the max of 14MP.
  
  CONS: The pros outcast the cons. Like any other camera these camera has its own drawbacks.
  *I hate where the power button is situated. I have no idea what was the purpose of giving the power button next to the viewfinder. It is really irritating.
  
  *Althought the camera supports pictures upto 7.1 MP(CCD - 7.4MP), the LCD screen has only 1.15 mill pixels with isnt that great.
  *The picture that you might take may look ugly but are actually clear if you zoom in or put it on a computer.
  *Another bad feature is the false battery low alarm. dont need to any futher in that.
  
  *Another thing i hate ,personaly, is the big UGLY fonts olympus uses to show things. they are big and UGLY, i hate it.
  
  **In Conclusion i should say that this camera should be rated around 8-9(Excellent - Spectacular), but definatly not just "Good (6.8)"**

  Updated
  Its Great for people who dont have computer, or dont like to work with pc. It has some great in camera editing. you can make titles(like happy b'day, congrats etc.), layouts, frames, heck you can create you own calender.
  Like most of the new camera u have a picture bridge, i.e. u dont need a computer to print picture, provided ur printer supports picture bridge.

  Updated
  This camera take picture even in low light but the bad part is that it has quite significant noise.
  After taking picture at low light when i downloaded the picture in the computer i was disappointed to see the noise. This camera starts produces noise at ISO 200 which is very disappointing. Althought the camera goes upto ISO 800 the noise level at ISO 800 is highly undesirable.
  olympus doesnt have In Camera noise reduction at shutter speed more than 1/2.
  To reduce noise I have used Noiseware Professional(photoshop Plug-in) to reduce noise. It Works very well. Noise Ninja, performed very well too, however the Noiseweare professional is extermely simple to use against noise ninja, which is quite complicated.
  With noise reduction i lost a very small amount of data, which was not really noticable.

  Updated
  Although this camera has a superb performance and excellent features, one of the negitive thing is digital noise. The camera CCD can go upto the sensitivity of ISO 800 equivialent, the noise is really in desirable. the CCD is of a cheap quality, i guess, and that is why there is noise at ISO 64 (I'm not kidding.) For people who have time to fix this in photoshop will be happy. however i feel unconfortable about noise at ISO 64.
  This camera was rated correctly by the staff of CNET.

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• 9 stars

  This is a great camera.

  by karpedmm on December 6, 2006

  Pros: Great picture quality

  Cons: Large Design

  Summary: This camera is amazing. I have a digital Nikon and this camera blows it out of the water. I could not believe the picture quality. I originally bought it for ...

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  Summary: This camera is amazing. I have a digital Nikon and this camera blows it out of the water. I could not believe the picture quality. I originally bought it for my fiancee and ended up using it all the time. This camera is well worth the $199 price tag.

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