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S$849
Product Summary
7.4
out of 10View score
The bad: No manual zoom and hotshoe adapter; plastic tripod receptacle; half-pressing the shutter doesn't bring you out of the menus directly into shooting mode; continuous shooting limited to three frames; unusable pictures at ISO 3,200 and ISO 5,000.
The bottom line: The Olympus SP-550UZ would be a great travel camera, or a second camera with a wide focal range, at a competitive price.
Read full review of the Olympus SP-550 UZ »
Average User Rating
from 5 users
7.8
out of 10CNET Asia Review
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.
Rate It Now
User Reviews
Best travel companion
Jun 10, 2008Rating: 9 out of 10 (Spectacular)
Pros: Takes wonderful wide angle photos and also captures sharp images & details in zoom
Cons: A little bulky/heavy but understandable given its great features
Opinion:
An excellent camera, I really love what this camera does. Takes really good photos, with clear images even in dim lighting, this is really one great feature this camera has over other cameras out there. On a night out with some friends, while trying to take night scenery, this camera really stood out with its ability to capture clear crisp images whilst others' produced hazy blurry ones.
If you're a photo enthusiast who also loves to travel, I personally feel this is a great investment. With its wide angle, you can capture amazing scenery photos, whilst its 18x zoom enables you to zoom in onto that little object in the distance. You can even capture a small animal in the valley while in a hot air balloon! Definitely well worth the money, rich in features & high on capability!
Great vacation camera - with great wide angle & macro view
Oct 22, 2007Rating: 8 out of 10 (Excellent)
Pros: Wide angle takes great scenery shots while macro allows zoom in for great closeups
Cons: A little bit bulky
Opinion:
Great camera - would definitely recommend this as your holiday companion. The wide angle allows you to take great shots of scenery and buildings. Images are crisp and sharp. Macro up to 1 cm - great for closeups. Zoom up to 18x allows you to zoom in on distant objects like little animals. Exceptional performance under dim lighting conditions - forgot to turn on the flash & though I thought photo would come out dark, it came out nice & clear - quite amazing. Camera looks really stylish & is very easy to use. Just bought this & brought it on vacation in Perth, didn't take much effort to learn to use it.
Good ideas, bad execution
May 11, 2007Rating: 6 out of 10 (Good)
Pros: 18x zoom, excellent build quality, good ergonomics
Cons: heavy focus-hunting, doesn't focus on the spot you selected, high ISO noise, poor edge sharpness
Opinion:
This camera was a good "me too!" attempt by olympus, and it's major selling point is the huge, impressive 18x zoom lens that starts at 28mm wide-angle.
That being said, having impressive numbers doesn't matter if the lens itself and the rest of the camera is a disappointment. While the ergonomics and the build quality are quite good, the camera suffers from heavy focus-hunting. For some reason it prefers to focus on objects in the edge of the shot rather than in the center, even if you select center-focus. In landscape shots at wide-angle, the whole image looks blurry. Focus speed is slow, I doubt it could keep up with a turtle in the zoo. :P
Nice try, but a poor match for the Sony and Canon ultrazooms.
