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Olympus SP-550 UZ

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Average User Rating

from 5 users

Excellent

7.8

out of 10

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5 user reviews

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Jun 10, 2008

Rating: 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!

rosalyncheo...

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Great vacation camera - with great wide angle & macro view

Oct 22, 2007

Rating: 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.

Rashkae

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Good ideas, bad execution

May 11, 2007

Rating: 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.

leeclw

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Top-of-the-class Ultrazoom

Mar 15, 2007

Rating: 8 out of 10 (Excellent)
Pros: 18x Optical Zoom, Rubber Grip, 28mm Lens, Solid Build, Uses AA Batt
Cons: xD card, IS in movie mode only works without sound
Opinion:
This is probably the best ultrazoom in the market today, the build is solid and the shots taken are from good to very good. Noise starts to creep in above ISO100, but even at ISO200 and ISO400, noise level is under control. I love the 28mm and 18x optical zoom lens, which is tops in its class. Image Stabiliser works great for still shots, but in order to use the IS in movie mode, sound has to be turned off. Great camera choice if you don't mind xD card format (max 2GB).

rneustadt

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Excellent point and shot with clear photos!

Mar 14, 2007

Rating: 8 out of 10 (Excellent)
Pros: Camera is great right out of the box.
Cons: Some buttons and menus system is a little confusing until you get use to it!
Opinion:
The SP 550UZ is a much better camera than the FE 200, which I just bought. I had to trade-in the FE 200, for pennies on the dollar, to Olympus when I purchased the above camera. I am very happy with the SP 550UZ compaired to the FE 200. You can even sell that camera. Nobody want them.

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