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Bling, Splash, Zoom by Jon Sienkiewicz A look at the Nikon Coolpix S52, Pentax Optio W30 and Olympus SP-570 UZ Article rating: 9.56

About a dozen years ago I described the budding digital camera market by using the following allegory. Imagine a world where seven ambitious teams of scientists were allowed to work in secrecy to develop a super being that would ultimately dominate the planet. In this competition, the super being was to be loosely based on a preexisting life form but had to be otherwise new. Each scientist had to predict what characteristics would be accepted by society and each was required to use a high percentage of off-the-shelf parts.

The results, I imagined, would be seven monsters that were immensely different, just as the initial crop of digital cameras were different. Eventually, however, like any ecosystem, the creatures would slowly evolve to be more and more alike until finally it would be difficult to tell them apart.

If you haven’t guessed, the seven scientists represent the major camera makers. Among the ranks of the early camera models were the Apple QuickTake 100, Casio QV-10, Sony Cyber-Shot, Canon PowerShot 600, Nikon Coolpix 100, Minolta Dimâge V and a few others. That last one in particular was truly unique: the 2.7X zoom lens detached from the camera body and could be aimed independently during image capture while tethered via a 1-meter cable.

Digital photography was in its infancy in 1996, and cameras competed based on their features, not merely on the basis of megapixels. That was exciting. Sadly, as predicted, each species grew to be more and more alike, and camera makers rushed to be the first with the highest resolution. That’s boring.

Which is why it was so refreshing to get my hands on a trio of  cameras that offer much, much more than just a mess of megapixels. The Nikon Coolpix S52, Olympus SP-570 UZ and Pentax Optio W30 take great pictures, on that you can be sure. But far, far beyond that, each has an abundance of special qualities that are so compelling that you may want to own all three.

Bling Bling
The Nikon Coolpix S52 is stunning—like a fashion accessory, actually. The all-metal body comes in Midnight Black,  lustrous Crimson Red and in selected exclusive colors available only through specific retailers (Ecology Green at Ritz Camera, for example).

The Nikon Coolpix S52 has tons of other worthwhile and fascinating features, including an ultra-compact 3x optical zoom (38 - 114mm equivalent) that boasts exclusive ED lens elements and macro focus down to about an inch and a half. This specially designed lens allows the camera to be especially small—small enough to slip into a pocket or purse.

And although it’s not as important as many of the other features, the Coolpix 52C delivers 9-megapixel image resolution.

Splash
Water is the Number Two killer of cameras, second only to impact damage. A single drop of water can wreak havoc on a camera’s innards—and simultaneously void the manufacturer’s warranty. But it’s fun to take pictures in the rain, and even more fun to shoot pictures under water.

Enter the Pentax Optio W30. This beauty has a waterproof design that meets the JIS Class 8 waterproof standard. JIS stands for Japanese Industrial Standard, and Class 8 means that the camera has passed the toughest test that has been defined. There is no Class 9. So if your Optio W30 gets dirty you can wash it off with a garden hose.

The Optio W30 has an auto-tracking AF feature that remains continuously focused on subjects like kids and pets even while they move. The focus frame miraculously follows the movement of the subject inside the photo frame, and you can watch it on the LCD.

Also of particular interest are the built-in  Digital Filters. The set includes a B&W filter, Sepia, Soft Focus and six color filters. Plus there is a Fish-eye filter that dramatically distorts the image so it appears to have been taken with a fisheye lens.

The Optio W30’s 3X zoom lens includes three aspherical lens elements and features a “folded” optical design so the lens never protrudes from the camera while zooming. Resolution is 7-megapixel.

Zoom
You can’t help but love the Olympus SP-570 UZ. It looks like a scaled-down DSLR but weighs only a fraction as much. What’s more, it sports a whopping 20X zoom that begins at 26mm super wideangle and ends way, way out in 520mm telephoto land. It’s potentially very difficult to handhold any 500mm lens, so Olympus has combined Sensor-Shift Image Stabilization and Digital Image Stabilization to assure sharp images. 

The Olympus SP-570 UZ allows you to preview the effects of various levels of camera settings by displaying them side-by-side in the Perfect Shot Preview mode. So if you’re unsure whether or not you want that picture of the old schoolhouse to have a sepia tone you can preview it first, and then select it. It also includes an interesting set of built-in frames, borders and even a calendar template that you can insert after the image has been captured—without using a computer.

Serious amateurs will appreciate the option of using full Manual Exposure settings and the ability to capture RAW files. Those are two serious features that are missing from most amateur cameras. Resolution is 10-megapixel.

It’s about more than megapixels
So there you have the tale of three cameras, one for the ocean, one for the mountains and the other for the big city. Each is as different and as special as it can be. Megapixels do matter, but the importance of that specification should be kept in the right perspective.

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