CNET Editor's rating: 6.3 out of 10
Reviewed by
Philip Ryan
Review date: 03/19/07
The good: Great body design; high-quality, fast, wide, 18x optical zoom lens; sensor-shift image stabilization; manual exposure controls; RAW image capture.
The bad: Very slow; high noise above ISO 400; slightly soft images.
The bottom line: Olympus' SP-550UZ has great ergonomics, but disappointingly slow performance and soft, noisy images drag it down.
With one or two exceptions, superzoom cameras have topped out at 12x optical zoom lenses in recent years. However, Olympus is pushing that boundary with its new 7.1-megapixel SP-550UZ, which sports an 18x optical zoom lens. The camera marks a shift back toward the company's older wide-zoom models since, like those, its lens' zoom range starts at a wide 28mm equivalent, which should help when you try to squeeze those last few friends or relatives into a group photo. Not many superzoom cameras can claim such a wide lens, nor can they claim the reach that this camera's 504mm equivalent maximum zoom affords.
Much like last year's SP-510UZ, the 550UZ's body was designed with a lot of attention to detail, making it a very comfortable camera to use. A vast amount of the body, including the lens barrel, is covered in rubber and feels secure in your hand. Plus, since Olympus placed almost all the buttons on the right side of the camera and well within reach of your right thumb and forefinger, one-handed operation is definitely a possibility. Of course, we always recommend using your left hand to steady the camera, especially one with a lens as long as this one.
Just in case your steady hands aren't enough, or in case you end up shooting at shutter speeds slower than the reciprocal of the lens' 35mm-equivalent focal length (slower than 1/500th second at the lens' maximum zoom, for example), Olympus includes sensor-shift (aka mechanical) image stabilization to help steady your shots. While optical image stabilization tends to be more effective than the sensor-shift variety, we found Olympus' method very effective and surprisingly quiet for mechanical stabilization. For example, we were able to capture sharp images while holding the camera in our hands at 1/30 sec. with the lens zoomed to an equivalent of 128mm. That's two stops slower of a shutter speed than we'd normally shoot at that focal length. See our slideshow of image samples for this shot and more. In a fit of marketing hype, Olympus touts a dual image stabilization system in the 550UZ, though the second method, which they call digital image stabilization, just pumps up the ISO and shutter speed to try to keep you from shooting with too slow a shutter speed. Since most of Olympus' competitors participate in the same kind of hype, it's hard to fault them for it, especially since they include the mechanical system as well.
We're less inclined to let Olympus slide on the other specious marketing claims they associate with this camera, such as the supposed 15 frame per second burst rate and ISO 5000 sensitivity. The 15fps burst can only be achieved by setting the camera's pixel resolution down to 1.2 megapixels, while the ISO 5000 (or ISO 3200 for that matter) setting caps your pixel resolution at 3.2 megapixels. We find it disingenuous to prominently advertise features like these without just as clearly and largely pointing out the shortcomings of those modes.
To Olympus' credit, there are plenty of features in the SP-550UZ that we enjoyed. In addition to full manual exposure controls, the 550UZ boasts 23 scene modes to help you take on challenging situations and explanations of each mode appear on the menu screens when you choose them. Plus the camera has a built-in guide, accessed through the main mode dial, which steps you through the adjustments needed to take on difficult shots, such as shooting a backlit subject, or shooting a subject that's in motion. Also, if you press the display button while the camera is turned off, it'll show the time and date, and in case you're on the road without your travel alarm clock, you can set the 550UZ to wake you up with the alarm function included in the camera.
However, we'd give up some of those nice features if it would make this camera faster. The SP-550UZ took 2.86 seconds to start up and capture its first JPG. Subsequent JPGs took an agonizing 4.61 seconds between shots with the flash turned off and 4.76 seconds between shots with the flash turned on. When shooting RAW, the time between shots just about doubled to a crippling 9.39 seconds, and that was with the flash turned off. Shutter lag measured an unremarkable 1 second in our high contrast test, which mimics bright shooting conditions, and 1.6 seconds in our low-contrast/dim shooting conditions test. Continuous shooting yielded about 1.5 frames per second when capturing 7.1 megapixel JPGs.
Image quality also left a bit to be desired. While the lens in the 550UZ is admirable for its wide angle, fast f/2.8-to-f.4.5 maximum aperture range, and 18x optical zoom, it is noticeably less sharp than the lens Olympus included in last year's SP-510UZ. All the images we shot were slightly softer than we would've liked from a camera of this class. On the plus side, we only saw minor purple fringing, and mostly only at the edges of the frame and under harsh lighting conditions. Olympus' ESP metering did a decent job of judging exposure, but tended to sacrifice highlight detail to maintain shadow detail. Experienced shooters should be able to overcome this with the spot or center-weighted metering modes. The SP-550UZ's automatic white balance did a good job of serving up neutral images, even when faced with the challenge of our lab's tungsten hot lights.
While we noticed some image artifacts not related to sensor noise, we also saw ISO-related noise as early as ISO 200. Even at ISO 100, we saw the beginnings, though it was extremely minor and would only be visible slightly when viewed 100-percent magnification on a high-quality monitor. Even at ISO 200, the noise present wouldn't show up in most prints, though you'll notice it on monitors. At ISO 400, noise was much more noticeable and chopped away at the finer details present in these already-soft images. At ISO 800, the noise grew more, ate away more detail, and shadow detail began to fall off. You may still be able to get passable 4x6-inch prints at ISO 800. ISO 1600 should be avoided at all costs. At that point there is very little detail or shadow detail. The decreased pixel count at ISO 3200 and ISO 5000 help to manage some of the noise issues, but your best bet is to stick with ISO 400 or below. For a camera in this price range, that's an unfortunate diagnosis.
Given its performance and image quality issues, it's tough to recommend this super zoom. If you're willing to spend this much money on a camera, and you don't want an SLR, you should consider some of this camera's competitors, such as Canon's Powershot S3 IS or Sony's Cyber Shot DSC-H5.
Shooting speed (in seconds) (Shorter bars indicate better performance)
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Great. Small camera huge range. Good for beginners and experienced
Its a really good camera. It has a huge zoom range of 1cm macro to 18x zoom(100x with digital). ...
Its a really good camera. It has a huge zoom range of 1cm macro to 18x zoom(100x with digital). The performance is exceptional. At full zoom in dim light performance is still great. The Image Stabilization is great. I had good pictures at 4" shutter lag. It has great burst mode. At 3mp it does 7fps and at 1.2mp it does 15fps. You sacrifice some resolution but its still usable. It also shows you shutter lag before you take the picture and highlights bad settings in red. You should stick to ISO 50 there is no need for higher ISO or using flash(unless pitch black)as long as you turn on stabilization. There are many features ranging from an alarm clock to underwater modes. Overall its a good extremely versatile camera. The EFV is also good for those who were wondering but you should try out yourself, I dont know what your standards on that are.
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by Alexjhp (see profile) -
March 13, 2007
50 out of 50 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Excellent Camera - super zoom
This was a replacement for a Canon S1IS and I have found the zoom to be exceptionally good. Excellent macro ...
This was a replacement for a Canon S1IS and I have found the zoom to be exceptionally good. Excellent macro performance. You only have to handle the camera to fall for it. The menu system is very easy to use, fewer buttons than the S1 and the large LCD is very clear. Sadly it does nor swivel. Excellent video performance.
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by YorkyCNET (see profile) -
March 10, 2007
35 out of 35 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 out of 10 - Excellent Excellent Camera
This camera is a winner. Much better than Olympus FE series. I am very happy with this camera even with ...
This camera is a winner. Much better than Olympus FE series. I am very happy with this camera even with the big price. It is a great value for the dollar.
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by librasystem (see profile) -
March 9, 2007
35 out of 50 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 out of 10 - Excellent Great Camera, well worth the price.
This camera replaces my old Panasonic which had a 12times zoom lens. Most of these cameras with the long zoom ...
This camera replaces my old Panasonic which had a 12times zoom lens. Most of these cameras with the long zoom lens, starts off at 35mm or 38 mm lens. Having a 28mm on THIS camera opens up a 'wider world', providing you with more options. Make sure you 'opt' for the 'xd memory card', with 'H' on the front of it. This is the only type of card that will let you use every feature on this camera. If you choose the basic card, which sports an 'M', then you'll loose out on Full Video mode, and the card is much slower. It's well worth the extra $20 or so. Also, make sure you opt for the largest card (which is a 2Gig), as it'll give you a total of 492 pics, at the highest setting. Camera feels solid, flash is great and colors are very accurate. Stabilization feature on this camera works wonders as well, I was very impressed as my former camera had set a very high standard for me. This camera works on AA batteries. I personally think this is a major benefit. The best rechargeable batteries (2600 mAh) should provide over 600 shots before the need to recharge. Also, AA batteries can be found anywhere if your rechargeables run out. I do miss a button on the camera body itself, to take multi pics. To do this, you have to go into the menu of the camera. Also, when taking multi pics, the screen goes dark until you're finished. I'm sure this would be corrected in next years upgrade. All in all, it's a great camera. With such a large lens, and with a 7mp camera, the possibilities are endless.
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by caberoo (see profile) -
March 21, 2007
20 out of 20 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 out of 10 - Excellent Satisfaction almost guaranteed
Having moved from a Olympus C5050 Zoom (which broke!) to the SP550 I was not expecting this much of a ...
Having moved from a Olympus C5050 Zoom (which broke!) to the SP550 I was not expecting this much of a leap forward in ability. The zoom is smooth and fast enough considering it's range. If you have the settings correct, which is not a hard task, it will perform admirably in virtually any setting. Advanced features like manual shutter release and RAW push it close to DSLR capabilities and the 7.1MP zoom mean that the digital zoom is more than useful at the extremis of application.
The old C5050 zoom would get upset if you turned it on with the lens cap on. This unit just pushes it off itself. The battery life is amazing with a capability of more than a couple of hundred shots even from 1700mA Nicads. The feel of the unit is sound and the buttons are pleasantly tactile. The LCD is a great size although the digital view finder with Diopter allows me to use it comfortably even though I wear glasses.
Picture quality is seriously good with faultless ability to acurately capture images as diverse as the surface of the moon (yes really) to the fine fur of a Meerkat. I have grinned at the shiny hide captured on a hippo and been impressed at the ability to capture the deep lush pinks of a rose at super macro which are so deep, you cold just sink into them.
Seriously, I cannot imagine what more you might expect from a product in this category. If you want interchangable lenses, buy a DSLR, dont expect a compact pro-sumer model to jump hoops. The only thing really missing, and this really irritates me, is a full manual. Once again you are expected to spend hundreds of dollars only to then have to print the manual off from the PDF file on the accompanying CD rom. As a new user it would be great to take this with me on shoots to find my way about the many features but carrying about a lever arch file with 90+ sheets of instructions is hardly convenient. PLEASE Olympus, stop insulting your customers with this cost saving inconvenience!
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by shoutj74 (see profile) -
March 26, 2007
15 out of 15 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular A very useful camera
The SP-550 is the first camera I can honestly say outperforms my old C-2100UZ. The 18X zoom with Image stablization ...
The SP-550 is the first camera I can honestly say outperforms my old C-2100UZ. The 18X zoom with Image stablization works flawlessly, The Flash range (43 feet) is more than adequate for night photogaraphy. The controls are well placed for ease of operation, The diopter adjustment on the viewfinder is excellent.
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by RichardCLandon (see profile) -
March 13, 2007
15 out of 15 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Excellent Zoom and Photo Quality. The closest you can get to a SLR Camera without the high price
I love everything about this spectacular camera. My only worry is about the battary compartment door, it's a typical ...
I love everything about this spectacular camera. My only worry is about the battary compartment door, it's a typical Olympus design which is a bit easy to break, I had previous bad experience with this kind of door design but I hope I will not experience it again with the SP-550!
I highly recommended the SP-550 Ultra Zoom Camera to any beginner or intermediate user
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by ehab72 (see profile) -
June 5, 2007
10 out of 10 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Excellent Camera
This camera takes great pictures. It can take wide pics as well as incredible zoom. For those who read about ...
This camera takes great pictures. It can take wide pics as well as incredible zoom. For those who read about slow focus there is the manual option which makes it slr-like. i don't think cnet did this camera justice. i suggest looking at other reviews online that have spent a lot more time with it in real world situations. obviously its not perfect, but if you're someone who cares that it's grainy at ISO800-5000 this camera prob isn't for you. however other cameras will fall short in other departments when compared to the 550.
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by jakoub555 (see profile) -
April 5, 2007
10 out of 10 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Fun, wide range of options, pictures are good. Nice stabilizer
I've owned several Olympus cameras and this one really stands out in every way. Now that rechargeable AA batteries ...
I've owned several Olympus cameras and this one really stands out in every way. Now that rechargeable AA batteries are back and at 2500mah and higher these batteries really last I don't need the Li-ions anymore. I have a 2x conversion lense that makes the optical 36x but it definitely loses something around the edges. I can get great shots of birds and animals from quite a way out. Would recommend it to anyone as a near slr camera.
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by Ron Taube (see profile) -
March 15, 2007
5 out of 5 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular I love it, it does the job for me
All in all a good camera. I showed the results to my friend who is senior photographer at Time Magazine, ...
All in all a good camera. I showed the results to my friend who is senior photographer at Time Magazine, and he loved the head shot of my cat L.C. Cool Cat. He checked it out on a 24 inch monitor.
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by old dog (see profile) -
July 23, 2007
5 out of 10 users found this user opinion helpful.
JPEG 1280 x 960,
JPEG 640 x 480,
JPEG 3072 x 2048,
JPEG 2304 x 1728,
JPEG 1024 x 768,
JPEG 2560 x 1920,
JPEG 1600 x 1200,
JPEG 2048 x 1536,
JPEG 3072 x 2304,
RAW 3072 x 2304
Flash memory
20 MB - Integrated
Supported Flash Memory
XD-Picture Card
Lens System
Type
Zoom lens - 4.68 mm - 84.24 mm - F/2.8-4.5
Focal Length
4.68 mm - 84.24 mm
Lens Construction
11 group(s) / 14 element(s)
Additional Features
Self Timer
Yes
Self Timer Delay
2 sec,
12 sec
Additional Features
Cropping an image,
USB 2.0 compatibility,
Dual image stabilization,
In-camera lighting fix,
DPOF support,
Audio recording,
PictBridge support,
Digital noise reduction,
Automatic Pixel Mapping (APM),
Resizing an image,
Brightness control,
Direct print,
Saturation control,
Digital image rotation,
In-camera red-eye fix,
Bright Capture Technology,
Auto power save,
Histogram display,
PRINT Image Matching,
Interval shooting mode
Camera Flash
Effective Flash Range
15 ft
Type
Pop-up flash
Flash Modes
Flash OFF mode,
Fill-in mode,
Slow synchro,
Auto mode,
Red-eye reduction
Red Eye Reduction
Yes
Effective flash range
15 ft
Features
Flash +/- compensation
Viewfinder
Viewfinder Type
Electronic
Color support
Color
Display
Type
LCD display - TFT active matrix - 2.5 in - Color
Mounting
Built-in
Resolution
230,000 pixels
Digital Player (Recorder)
Type
None
Microphone
Type
Microphone - Built-in
Connections
Connector Type
1 x Composite video/audio output,
1 x USB,
1 x DC power input
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