Olympus SP-550UZ 7.1MP Digital Camera with Dual Image Stabilized 18x Optical Zoom | List Price: $349.99
Discount Price: $325.99
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Brand: Olympus
Binding: Electronics
Release Date: 2007-03-01
Love the super macro and 18x zoom [Posted on 2008-04-03]
I bought this camera last month, upgraded from my Olympus C-5000 that I bought 4 years ago. The SP-550 has a super-macro mode which allows for extremely up close and detailed photos of things like wildflowers, insects, etc. The 18x zoom works very well thanks to the image stabilization feature. The video function is handy to have. I've been impressed with the battery life of this camera. In all I highly recommend this camera!
Awesome camera! [Posted on 2008-04-10]
I LOVE this camera! I bought one, only to have it stolen 6 months later! I loved it so much that I got another one just like it. It's very portable, easy to handle, not too many buttons to confuse you and, my favorite feature, the zoom is incredible for a camera of its size! Very pleased with this purchase....twice!
Very Good Special Use Camera [Posted on 2008-04-21]
This is a great camera if you use it within its limits. I read a lot of complaints about the auto focus in low light or extended zoom photos. IMHO, if you take that many photos in low light, or at 18 X ( 503mm) you should not be using this camera. This camera takes excellent photos, even at 18x with good lighting, if you are faced with a low light situation at 18X, you should probably have this on a tripod, and give the camera time to focus,or better yet, use manual focus. I will take a decent photo at 18X, but again you are at the upper limit of what it was designed to do. My car is designed to run at 115 mph at times. Would I do that all the time, no. It operates better at 65-85 mph, same concept with your camera.
I bought this camera to take on recent trip to Europe and did not want to haul my DSLR and a couple of lenses. With that in mind, this camera did a great job of being an all around all purpose camera, and even did a good job on some long range shots. I even got good shots of the London Symphony Orchestra at night, at Barbicon from about 700 feet back in upper level seats.
The pictures can get a little noisy at 1600 ISO, but I have other cameras that will not even operate at 1600 ISO.
My only complaints, and biggest concerns with this camera are the USB port, and battery life indicator. You cannot use a standard USB cable with the camera. This must be a recent change for Olympus. I have several other olys that use the Standard USB mini jack. Now, you are forced to keep track of another cable.
Secondly,the battery life in this camera is great, I was able to shoot well over 600 shots,even using image stabilation on one set of AAs. However, the battery indicator is pretty much useless. Several times, I was shooting and the battery indicator showed full power, and after 2 or 3 more shots, the LCD flashed "battery empty." The indicator,does not give you time to plan your battery changes. In one case, the batteries during the LSO concert and it was too dark make a quick battery change. I had to use a second camera.
There are some complaints too about the XD card, but I knew about the XD card requirement before I bought the camera, so that was not an issue for me.
Even, with the downsides, this camera takes great photos under the right conditions. Yes, I did get some bad shots too, but I don't blame the camera. Sometimes, I just missed the shot, or shot before the camera was ready.
I own a high end Nikon camera too, but I still prefer the shots that come from my Olympus cameras for overall picture quality. I have a couple of friends that always say, the photos look 3D out of the Olympus cameras, especially out of my C-8080 Zoom and my C-60.
I probably would buy the 570UZ if this was my only camera. I bought the 550 because it was relatively inexpensive and I didn't think I would be heartbroken if it was lost or damaged while on vacation. Now, that I have used it, it quickly becomming one my favorite cameras.
pictures are good, the camera needs improvement [Posted on 2008-05-28]
i have this camera for 13 months already and i have taken it on 4 long trveling periods. this past tour two pieces of felt/rubber that are supposed to make your hold of the camera comfortable started falling off.
on another occasion the little door that holds the xd card got open while i was wlking. i dont know how long i was wlking this way before i realised it was open. in my case the card didnt fall out but you never know it might have fallen and i would have lost all my pictures ( about 600).
unfortunatly my warranty has just expired but if you are thinking of buying a camera that starts falling apart after 12 month, i would suggest looking at the other makes. maybe they dont have rubber pieces that will fall off after a short use.
i bought it as soon as they came out with the 18 optical zoom. if i would have bought one today i would probably go for the fuji 8100 because it takes 2 kinds of cards as opposed to the olympus which takes only the xd card.
This Camera Rocks!! [Posted on 2008-06-27]
I bought this camera because I had a little Olympus and always got compliments on the quality of pictures it took, but WOW, this was an impressive upgrade. The 18x OPTICAL zoom is awesome!! I have had this camera for 6 months and have taken it to Hawaii twice and Yellowstone/Grand Teton National parks and I have over 2000 amazing pictures!! It may not be the most impressive looking camera out there but it does an EXCELLENT job with landscape photos. All the different settings (landscape, portrait, beach, sunset, fireworks, cuisine, document, underwater, sport, available light, night scene and others I am forgetting) make it very user friendly and help any amateur take professional looking pictures. Needless to say--I love my Olympus!! There are so many good features on this camera I have left out of this review, but I could go on and on...........JUST BUY IT!!!
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