Olympus SP-550 Review
Welcome to my Olympus SP-550 Review. I believe this is the first hands-on review to be posted online for this camera. The review is divided into four parts:
For the record, I’m not a full time reviewer, etc – just an enthusiast who felt like sharing his findings for this camera. My credentials as a photographer are in my images, which you’re more than welcome to check here.
Hope you enjoy the review.
(Edit – on Monday 12th February, I posted a follow up review with more samples and analysis. You can view that here)
(Edit v2 – on Sunday 18th February, I posted another gallery of images of "more" than just test shots to give an idea of what the camera was capable of – feel free to visit here)
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Very nice review – especially impressed w/ the 100% crop of the cat.
Question: W/ the internal memory is the camera capable of taking 2 RAW shots in quick succession?
Thanks – Gordon
Thanks for this very interesting review. I had a C-765 and now a E-500 but sometimes I miss the compact size and ease of use of such a camera. I still own the TCON-17 teleconverter and imagine all the possibilities that I would have with a focal range going from 28 until 857 … Add to this some digital zoom (even with a loss in resolution : 4 megapixels is still perfectly acceptable to me)and you have a dream camera for paparazzi's :-)
Could you comment on the Video?
Hey Jim – I've not used the video mode on enough on other cameras to compare on quality in any meaningful way. Optical zoom is available during video mode however, as is IS. Regarding IS, there are some points to note however.
Here's what the advanced manual says (there are two manuals btw – a printed one that comes in the box which is v sparse and a more advanced one in PDF format on the CD):
"When IMAGE STABILIZER is set to ON, continuous movie recording for a long period will cause the camera's internal temperature to rise and the camera may stop operation automatically. Remove the battery and allow the camera to cool down for some time before you begin shooting again. Or you can set IMAGE STABILIZER to OFF. In addition, the temperature of the camera's exterior also rises during usage. This is not a malfunction."
Note that Olympus calls their IS mode "Digital Image Stabilization" throughout the manual. This appears inconsistent with their earlier use of the term which specifically used that term to refer to boosting ISO (rather than CCD shift mode).
Now, one other point of note from the manual is that when recording sound with movies, Image Stabilization is not available.
The terminology used in the manual definitely shows some inconsistency with what I've seen on other websites, but the above is my interpretation.
Great hands-on review! Have a look also at some 100% crop samples at ISO 5000 here :
http://www.tvsmith.net.my/picturestory/olympus_sp550.html
Great review!
Just addded a link to this page on our Olympus SP-550 UZ Review Roundup & Sample Photos
Keep it up!
Cheers,
Paul
Added some new night pics with the SP 550 here:
http://www.tvsmith.net.my/picturestory/olympus_sp550_test01.html
Hi, thanks a lot for the review, very helpful and indeed first on in the whole WWW!
Question: what is a 100% crop, actually?
Is this a maxed out optical zoom + maxed out digital zoom? Or is it just maxed out optical zoom and then a computer-made crop/zoom of the certain area of the original picture?
Thanks,
Kris
Hi Kris, a 100% crop has nothing to do with optical zoom (it can be at the wide end, the long telephoto end or anywhere in between). It's a reference to zooming in on your PC, after the image is taken (i.e. not in-camera digital zoom), where you can see the "actual pixels" without any interpolation. In fact, this is how Photoshop refers to the 100% zoom ("actual pixels"). Hope this helps. Cheers, Lawrence
what do you think of the exposure on these? Trie some sharpening.
Nice review,, how would you compare it with say the canon 350D, thanks.
The simple answer Chris is that I would not compare it to the 350D. You could say it produces similar quality images, but only if you don't need high speed AF, or mind the shutter lag, or shoot in ISO below 400, or don't need shallow DOF to isolate your subject.
Based on that, you might conclude from that the DSLR produces better images. You could say that, but then only if your budget has enough to get lenses of the same focal length, or mind carrying a larger camera (and multiple lenses) with you and can afford IS in your Canon glass.
As you can see – it's not an easy comparison. It really depends what you want. Simple answer? Get both :).
Ok Thanks, but to tell you the truth i have a 350D and about 1 month ago i bought the canon S3 IS, and when i take one picture from my 350D with the sigma 17-70 and one from my S3 IS and print them i can't tell that much of a difference or at all which is wierd to me, so like you say why carry a big camera with lenses around with you. When i bought the S3 IS about 2 weeks later i read about the olympus 550 so now what? do you think it will be a better upgrade to the 550 or is image quality from S3 IS and 550 about the same thank you Chris.
Hi Chris – I have used the S3 IS but do not have side by side comparisons. From what I have seen tho, I would not expect image quality to be radically different between the two. The difference is more in the optics – having the wide 28mm starting focal length on the Olympus SP-550 makes such a huge difference to the type of pictures I take. I know several photographers who more or less flat out refuse to carry a compact camera unless it starts at 28. I guess you could put me in that camp.
Lawrence, good review, thanks. If possible, try to upload more pictures and I would really appreciate some simple comparison to cameras in similar price level (perhaps some Fuji S9600, Panasonic FZ50, Canon G7 IS etc. – depending on your experience)-this would certainly be very interesting and helpful for many of us.
Great review Lawrence.
One question, posted elsewhere as well (not sure where to put it!)
Your take on the viewfinder? I'm weighing this camera vs a Panny FZ8 which has a decent EVF (not great but few are!).
I see no specs of the one on the 550.
Thanks.
Mark
Hi Mark –
It's a tough one to answer objectively in the absence of specs but it might help for me to explain how I'm using the EVF. Essentially, any of the following conditions will cause me to use the viewfinder over the LCD:
- whenever it's bright outdoors or
- when I'm zooming at full telephoto and need additional stability (I find it easier to use slower shutter speeds through with the camera in this position.
- when I'm trying to think hard about composition and need fewer distractions
No surprises there I guess but I am sure but as a result, I would say that I'm using the viewfinder up to 50% of the time. Which is a lot coming from someone who is used to a large, bright viewfinder of the Canon 5D. So from a usability point of view, I find it to be very satisfactory (given all the usual caveats of expectation, etc – yours may be very different from mine from a camera of this size).
I would describe the viewfinder has "ok" resolution, exhibits minor but noticeable lag in its "frame rate" but has very good contrast. The latter is the most important to me as even under the brightest conditions, it appears largely unaffected and works very well. I found it comparable to say the faster focusing FZ50, which I was trying the other day. Perhaps slightly more comfortable to use even (again, coming back to contrast or the perceived presence).
Hope that helps.
Cheers,
Lawrence
Quick follow up, someone just mailed me with specs from Olympus Australia which you can see on their product home page:
"The new class-leading 213,000 pixel Electronic Viewfinder (EVF) with diopter adjustment makes framing and focusing with the SP-550UZ clear and precise."
I bought a SP550 UZ on the strength of your excellent review Lawrence. You may remember I e-mailed with comparisons with the Fuji 9600. I have the camera and am delighted with it. Not many pics yet (awful weather) but handling splendid. I have asked Olympus about the lens thread size for attaching filters etc. no reply as yet. Do you (or anyone) happen to know ?
Thanks to you and all the follow up and pics.
Cheers,
Alan
Hi, yesterday I became a happy owner of the SP-550. Bought it after having read your review. This is truly an amazing compact camera!
Thanks and looking forward to your next posts/pictures (not only Olympus-made :) )
can one one give me a review between Canon S3 IS and SP-550 ,.. I am planning to buy S3 IS. just saw the olympus one at the shop….
1) Other than the 18X optical zoom which has the better features
2) S3 IS can take movies from 30fps to 60fps as well as while taking movies it has the zoom feature enabled.
Thanks in Advance
cheers
Hi,
Enjoyed reading the review of the SP550 and have two simple questions before purchasing.
Do you drop the pixel quantity to gain extra digital zoom.ie The Panasonic FZ30 is 12x @ 8m pixels and 15x @ 5m pixels and if so,is the image quality still good at a lower resolution like the Panasonic.
Cheers in advance Rich
@Alan Wilkinson: as the adapter is designed to use the TCON17, it obviousley has a 55mm filter thread, as this is the size of the TCON17. BTW: I use the TCON17 with my Olx C770 and it delivers excellent quality. Imagine a zoom from 24 to more than 800 … just marvelous.
I love the pictures..Im also hoping to see a sample of the video image and was wondering how it compars to the video image on the canon powershot s2 IS?
Thanks
Mathhias. thanks for the comment on filter thread. Maybe I am being stupid, but the thread I refer to is the one on the far end of the lens which I measure as maybe 38mm or 38.5mm. This seems to me to be the only place one can screw in a filter or adaptor to fit say a polariser or some other filter.
Alan
Please, I am beginner, what is the difference between Fuji S9000 and Olympus SP550 ( I am using camera mostly for outdoors-mountaineering etc. )
Thank you.
Alan, I did not see any thread on the end of the tube to attach a filter (I had played around with this camera at a local store).
The only possibility to attach filters is via the adapter.
Please see here: https://emporium.olympus.com/innards/empProdDetails.asp?sku=202104-410
This is of course bad if you will use a pole filter or other as you would see the tube of the adapter if you are not at full tele.
Lawrence–
Thank you so much for this review. I am very interested in the 550, but have a question about noise. I have the Olympus SP510-UZ, and find that I have a lot of noise in my photos, unless I am out in full sun. Has Olympus addressed the noise issue in the 550?
Thanks–
Hi.. first thanks for the review … it was stated in DCRP review that it only has USB version 1.1? and not the faster USB 2.0? would you help confirm this? Thank you.
I'm a novice but looking for a camera to photograph my artwork…I like the wideangle feature of the 550-UZ, but wonder about getting exact colors, sharpness, white balance, etc. ect….basically images not requiring much manipulation. Other camera possibities? Thanks.
Thank you for the review which has got me thinking.I have an Olympus C-750 UZ and the 1.7x Tele converter lens. The camera its self has a 10 x optical zoom which with the 1.7x converter attached = 17 times, and having compared the two cameras mine with the tele converter on it and Olympus SP-550 with out, that does seem right.
Olympus also say that the C -750 UZ is the equivalent of a 380mm lens in 35mm terms. So 380mm x 1.7 = in 35mm terms should be 646mm.
On that basis the 18x Olympus SP-550 should have a 35 mm equivalent slightly higher than 646mm but Olympus say its 504mm.
I am just trying to get an idea of what the Olympus 550 35 mm equivalent would be with a 1.7 Tele converter lens on it. Would it really be 504mm x 1.7 = 856mm or something allot less?
I received my new 550 yesterday (3/21/07). After 60 years of buying every conceivable type of camera, from Leica's to Minox's, this is the most amazing camera of all. This is probably my 5th digital camera and by far the best and most incredible of them all.
After a few hours, and shooting a few shots, I am convinced it is the greatest bargain in photography. Took a picture in virtual darkness in my living room last night, and it shot at ISO 3200 and produced a perfectly useful picture. At max. magnification there is a lot of noise, but it would produce a fine 4 x 6 picture.
Every picture I've taken is sharper than my Olympus 8080. I am very pleased…and amazed.
And, I have Lawrence's review to thank for making the final decision. A "practical" review.
Really amazed.
Thanks for the review Lawrence.
I read through all the postings and there are some misunderstandings I’d like to clear up.
When using the CLA-10 along with a filter or accessory lens, it isn’t necessary to use it in the telephoto position. The CLA-10 is designed so it doesn’t interfere with the lens angle of view throughout the whole zoom range.
The C-750 didn’t have a wide-angle zoom. The range went from 38mm-380mm (10x), but with the 1.7x teleconverter this effectively became 64.6mm – 646mm (still 10x, just in a different range), but with no wide-angle capabilities. The SP-550 features a wide-angle super zoom, ranging from 28mm – 504mm equivalent (18x), but the long end becomes an 856.8mm equivalent with the 1.7x teleconverter.
Thank you for your reviewof the Olympus SP-550. Yours, and others, gave me the confidence to buy the camera. I have had it for almost two weeks, and love it. Fast shipping at Beach Camera (shipped from Ritz Camera).
Like:
18x optical zoom
Large LCD display
Image stabilization
28mm wide lens instead of 36mm in many other high-zoom cameras
Strong detents in the mode dial
Rubber grips
Easy menues for items most likely to change
AA batteries
Long battery life
Good macro modes
Easy to use
Nice images
Size, for a camera with its features
Dislike:
Difficulty in making small increments of zoom
Length of time to focus
Slow upload of photos to the computer, so I use a card reader.
Very interesting review!
I own a Panasonic FZ-30 and a Nikon D-50. A few years ago I had an Olympus C-730 UZ.
Unfortunately, my FZ30 is not as good as my previous Olympus for the macro capabilities.
So rather than buying a macro lens for my D50, would you recommand me the Oly SP-550 ?
There seemed to be a question about using filters on the SP550. The Olympus web site indicates the use of an adapter CLA-4 which threads into the inner body of camera (at least of the SP500). In turn, it excepts filter size 55mm. I use this CLA-4 on my C725 with a 55mm Polarizing filter. With a step-up ring, higher filter sizes can be used.
Thanks for the review.
i have the canon s3is and the panasonic fz7 which is better for concerts? arena type .
Also i am looking to buy a telephot lens ,what are the thread size for both adaptors canon and panasonic.are they both 58mm
what is the size of the adaptor for both cameras.
Thirdly i have seen the new sp550 olympus how big is the camera at full zoom? i have seen the dimentions for it closed but not full zoom.
which is the better camera olpympus 550, panasonic fz7 or the canon s3is, i may sell if the olympus is not too big whith the zoom fully extended any help would be greatfull.
Henry Joncas, I have a CLA-10 for my sp550. Unless the zoom is out to at least 50% telephoto you can see the CLA-10 tube through the EVF/LCD. I was surprised the CLA-10 couldn't be used from wide 28mm through to full telephoto zoom.
Lawrence, would you tell us what settings you now use on your SP-550? First, do you use mostly P, A,S, or M? Then are you shooting Raw or Jpeg? If Jpeg, do you boost contrast, saturation or sharpening in-camera?
This is a fabulous camera. Every now and then Olympus comes up with a camera that is revolutionary in its kind. I'am the proud owner of several analog Olympus camera's (OM-1, OM-4, OM-3ti, Trip 35 and 35 SP) and they all were a revelation. Now that Olympus have entered the digital area, they did it again with the SP550. I feel like a paparazi with this camera. I've made photo's out of the hand with 500 mm optical and enlarged a part of that photo, over and over, till I had the subject enlarged on A4: pretty sharp and with details that even suprised me.
Do remember to set the asa to maximum 200 asa. Pictures made with asa above 200 have to much digital noise and other flaws, buts that's the case with most digital camera's.
Using only 200 asa or less isn't a problem in practice, because the image stabiliser works great.
Focussing can be a problem when you zoom in extreme, sometimes it takes a couple of seconds before the auto focus system has focussed on the subject, but that doesn't surprise me.
The colours are vivid, but not as vivid as other digital camera's. Colours are natural and quite neutral, as Olympus has already proved in the analog past. The same with contrast. I do like the total impression of the picture quality. The green of grass isn't greener than in reality, despite a lot of digital camera's.
The Olympus 1GB XD-memory card is quite slow when shooting at SuperQuality. I read somewhere that the H-XD cards are faster.
The electronic manual focus system is not great and hidden somewhere inside the menu. Is does work however and especially in lowlight, focussing can be easier because of the brightening of the screen in low light. If you are someone that uses the manual focus system quite often, that this may not be the camera for you.
The camera has everything in it someone could wish for. Even after the picture making, the edit and print facilities are absolutely great.
I love the camera. It's sturdy, and looks great (not that cheaply looking silver, but nice black). The grip is very good, though people with large hands should try the camera out in the store before buying.
And last but not least: it runs on 4 penlight batteries and has decent battery usage.
There may be ultrazoom camera's that have better image quality (depending on ASA), but the overal package is so great, that I wouldn't hesitate to buy one. I did buy one, and have no regrets at all, despite the enormous competition. Grab one while you can!! 5 stars for Olympus. Yes, they did it again!!
I bought this camera a couple of weeks ago, and I love it. Amazing zoom range and so many other advanced features. Had been contemplating an entry-level DSLR, but am glad I chose the SP-550 instead.
Can anyone confirm definitively whether or not filters can be used with the CLA-10 adapter through the entire zoom range, without the adapter showing in the picture or viewfinder? Henry Joncas says yes, above, but Jeanette says no. Who is right??
The zoom lens (the small lens that moves in and out) is a 38.5mm. I confirmed this with Oly. The 55mm adapter tube interferes with the full zoom range (like looking thru a tube). I have 55mm filters and want to use a step up ring. The challenge will be to find 38.5 to 55mm step-up ring
i'm gonna buy this camera at the end of this month …
i would like to know if anyone of you guys have already bought the camera …
has there been a firmware update …
if yes, what does the update do …
thanks …
This is an excellent review! I'm now fairly certain that the SP-550 will suit my needs too.
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Hello Just drop in to say I found an adapter
made by NEXTPHOTO in Canada.
They have for 52mm and 55mm filters
I remembered buying one for my Nikon 5700
I just ordered one for my new Olympus SP-550UZ
(27.00$) us
Hello Just drop in to say I found an adapter
made by NEXTPHOTO in Canada.
They have for 52mm and 55mm filters
I remembered buying one for my Nikon 5700
I just ordered one for my new Olympus SP-550UZ
(27.00$) us
There is a filter adapter that screws on the lens at http://nextphoto.net/SP550.htm . It looks like 38.5mm is the actual size but no one seems to know for sure. Maybe nextphoto guys will tell us?
Hi,
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I have had this camera for a month now, and have shot about 2500 frames. I teach digital photography at the local college, and have several cameras, so I have a good basis for comparison.
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