Olympus SP-550 UZ

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First announced in late January, the SP-550UZ comes with a dreamy set of features: 18x optical zoom with 28mm wide-angle lens, dual image stabilization and maximum ISO 5,000 at 3-megapixel resolution--all that in a compact size that won't break your back. But is it all marketing speak? At S$849 (US$615.35), the SP-550UZ rivals the Fujifilm FinePix S9600, Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H5 and Canon PowerShot S3 IS in the league of megazooms.

Design
The SP-550UZ feels surprisingly comfortable in our hands. Our first finger rests just where it's supposed to be--at the shutter button with zoom lever--and the rubber wraps on the front side of the hand grip and thumb rest area provide non-slip handling. Unlike cameras that have their lens off-center (this Olympus, too), the SP-550UZ compensates for the uneven weight distribution with the mass of four AA-sized batteries. We could get away with one-handed shooting most of the time, though at the maximum telephoto end, it's always better to use two hands for increased stability.

On the front, this Olympus looks like the Canon PowerShot S3 IS. A button to the right pops up the flash with a solid "tok", raising it 2cm above the body. Unfortunately, there's no manual zoom ring on the lens and no hotshoe adapter for external flash units. This Olympus uses a removable lens cap that fits snugly onto the glass, but irritatingly pops out when we power up the camera. The only solution is to attach the cap to the ring hole on the side of the unit with the supplied string so you won't lose the cover.

The rear estate of the SP-550UZ is dominated by a 2.5-inch, decent 230K-pixel LCD and dedicated function buttons common to most cameras. The four-way directional control lets us adjust exposure compensation, cycle flash options, set a 2- or 12-second timer, and shoot in macro as close as 1cm. There are also individual keys within reach of our thumb for easy access to call up the camera's menu, switch to picture review, delete photos and change display preferences for the LCD panel and electronic viewfinder (with diopter adjuster).

On the bottom edge is where we find the battery compartment with a sliding lock for added security. Just next to it is a plastic tripod receptacle which may wear out faster than if it had been metallic.

Features
The 18x optical zoom begins at a wide 28mm-angle F2.8, stopping down to F4.5 at the telephoto end. This Olympus uses the CCD shift-type stabilization system to compensate for camera shake at longer focal lengths. During our tests, the IS allowed us to shoot up to three stops slower than required and still get away with an acceptably sharp image.

However, no amount of image stabilization will help if you have fidgety subjects, so the SP-550UZ touts a high-sensitivity setting of up to ISO 5,000 (at 3-megapixel resolution), letting us to shoot at a faster shutter speed to freeze subject movements. Image quality at ISO 3,200 and ISO 5,000 setting isn't what we'd use readily, but it's always good to know there's such an option, especially when quality isn't on our mind.

Other features of the SP-550UZ include full manual shooting with the LCD showing in real-time how your shot will turn out when changing the aperture or shutter speed; a 15 frames-per-second burst mode for 20 shots at a lower 1.2-megapixel resolution; and a guide on the mode dial that will automatically adjust the camera settings for shooting in various scenarios. There's also an option for users to shoot in RAW, but that's restricted to single shots.

What we really didn't like was that half-pressing the shutter button didn't bring us out of the camera's menu. Instead, we had to hit the Menu button again to exit the pages. It's a bummer, really, especially when we have changed a particular setting and wish to shoot right away, only to find we have to hit another button (twice) before we can take our shot.