Olympus SP-550 Review – Follow Up
Only two days later and the Olympus SP-550 is back :).
Due to popular demand, I’m posting a follow up to my original Olympus SP-550 review (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).
In this follow up, I’ll be adding some notes and examples primarily on image quality, giving more 100% crops at various focal lengths and showing the differences exhibited with in camera settings. I’ll also include a macro shots and add a bit of text about RAW. Once again, I remind that this a user review shot in normal environments – not a studio review under controlled lighting. The latter is left to others who are better suited than me at those sorts of things.
For those of you who haven’t yet seen the main review, I encourage you to start there.
Image Quality at Macro
Macro Samples
OK I’m going to start with a macro example. This was taken indoors with the camera resting on a table – pointing at the side of an Evian bottle. Note the "distortion" that appears in the image is simply due to the curvature of the bottle. The front of the lens was a half inch / inch from the bottle.
Macro Conclusion
This was an easy conclusion for me to make – what’s not to like.
Image Quality at Mid Zoom
Mid Zoom Samples
My 100% crops from before were mostly at the long / telephoto end of the lens – where you’d typically expect it to be at its weakest. So here, I’ll provide a few more examples in the 50mm to 200mm equivalent range to show the quality of the lens at the focal lengths more likely to be used in general usage.
Example 1 – Golden Buddha
Focal length = approx 100mm.
This was taken outdoors about 150 feet from this (huge) golden buddha. Settings are set to default on the camera. There was a harsh overhead sun which was challenging to shoot under. You can see the EXIF if you click on the thumbnails and should note that the aperture is stopped down slightly for additional sharpness.
Original adjusted in Photoshop for levels, saturation and small unsharp mask:
My take:
At this focal length, I think the lens is behaving extremely well. The camera did a good job of exposure too (note that I’m deliberately underexposing by -0.3 to help that). Sharpness is excellent in the original and 100% crops and with a small unsharp mask, appears even better (you can try this yourself on the 100% crop). When modified in photoshop for levels (adding contrast) and saturation, something which took less than 30 seconds, I think it’s hard to believe this is from a $450 USD compact.
Example 2 – Lock on Door
Focal length = approx 55mm.
This was taken outdoors a few steps away from the lock. Again the sun was bright which can wash the colours out a little. Settings are set to default on the camera. Again, aperture is
stopped down very slightly for additional sharpness.
Original adjusted in Photoshop for levels, saturation and small unsharp mask:
My take:
Again, I found it hard to find anything significant to complain about here. As I’m finding with this camera, the originals are processed quite conservatively but this is an easy correction in Photoshop (or any basic image editing software app) and as I’ve said before, it’s easier to add contrast / saturation / sharpness effectively in processing than to remove it. The 100% crop could be a touch sharper but again, a simple unsharp mask made this very sharp. I actually have a tough time telling the finished version apart from an entry level DSLR.
Example 3 – Temple
Focal length = approx 150mm.
Back at the Buddhist temple, I took a quick shot of one of the towers (foreground)
set against the building (background). Settings are at default once again,
although this time ISO is a little higher at 100.
Original adjusted in Photoshop for levels, saturation and small unsharp mask:
My take:
Again, I think image quality is standing up to scrutiny very well. Note the tiny wheel in the top right and the ability to see the minute holes in its center. Exposure looks good too – despite seeing good detail in the shadows, the highlights are reasonably well maintained. Notice the fact that because we’re at ISO 100 now, you can detect some small amounts of noise in the shadows (as I noted in the ISO tests in the first part of this review), but these are all but undetectable at normal viewing distances. It is a reminder tho that if you’re going to sit with your nose pressed to the screen at 100%, you might want to make sure you don’t go much over ISO 100. Again, my 30 second processing to add levels / saturation, produces what I consider to be a very high quality result (even if it is an otherwise, somewhat pointless image :).
Mid Zoom Conclusion
I’ll make a guess that most will agree that the lens quality seen in these images is excellent. I was very impressed and when I remind myself that this is a lens capable of going more than three times beyond the maximum focal length (or going twice as wide) displayed in these shots, it’s really a remarkable achievement. As we’re starting to see – the processing engine in the SP-550 seems reasonable and slightly conservative which I think is a very good thing (although it can be amped up in camera also, something which I try a little later).
Image Quality at Wide Angle
Wide Angle Samples
OK, so I didn’t make that big a deal out of it in my first review but one feature is actually one of the most significant advantages for me over the 90% of compacts out there – glass that starts at 28mm. It’s not so much the 18x zoom that impressed me on the spec sheet – it was the fact it was 18x which started at 28mm. So, in light of that, here’s an example at the wide end.
Example 1 – Building
Focal length = approx 28mm.
Taken outside (obviously) about an hour before sunset which is why the explains the warm light across the face of the building. This is just a simple tilt upwards and shoot – nothing particularly interesting aesthetically but it contains plenty of straight lines which can make these tests useful
Original adjusted in Photoshop using advanced editing:
Wide Angle Conclusion
Distortion is noticeable here but it’s actually reasonably under control. I’m not sure this is the best shot to really show it up but to be honest, I had little expectations here and am willing to accept a reasonable amount given the range of this lens. The 100% crop is good once again. Probably not quite as sharp as at some of the middle range focal lengths but then I’d be surprised if it was. I gave myself a bit more leeway in the processing in this example by straightening the lines a little, burning the clouds and adding saturation to the sky only. All in all, I think we’re seeing this once again seeing proof a decent piece of glass and more to the point, this is a shot that would not even have been possible in the vast majority of compact cameras (and almost all ultrazooms) which would have cropped out significant parts of the edges.
Image Quality at Telephoto
Telephoto Samples
OK so we’re back to the long telephoto end again. Singapore has close to 100% humidity in the atmosphere and in some shots I was noticing the influence of the atmosphere in the image quality,
so this time I decided to shoot something much closer.
Example 1 – Poster
Focal length = 504mm
So here, we have a A4 sheet of paper posted on an electricity cabinet in the street about 60 feet from my position. I’m fully zoomed in on it and actually took two pictures. The first (original) is with default settings. The second is with in camera settings applied (Sharpening = +3, Contrast = +1, Saturation = +2). Note, I cloned out part of the address in the images (removing the house number and part of the post code) – otherwise the images are totally untouched.
Second picture taken with in-camera settings applied:
My take:
OK so to put in perspective what we’re looking at here, in the 100% crops you’re seeing sharp, clearly readable text from 60 feet which is probably no more than a centimeter or two high. With the naked eye from that distance, it’s just possible to make out there is writing but obviously not readable at all. So, what did I think of the results? Honestly, I think it’s pretty amazing. Sure it’s obviously not as sharp as 500mm prime but I think anyone not satisfied with what is being produced by this < $500 USD camera, has got their expectations set a little high perhaps. Even more so when you once again consider that this is the same camera / lens that took a 28mm wide shot in the previous image. It should be noted that the second image does look better – some of that minor softness has now gone and it should please the anti-post-processing crowd as this is as a result of simply upping the sharpening to +3 (it goes up to +5).
(By the way – you’ve probably noticed that the paper is behind a plastic sheet. I
didn’t realise this until afterwards so it’s possible that the image was very
slightly degraded by that making this even more impressive).
Example 2 – Leaves
Focal length = 504mm
This time I shot leaves. These were blowing around a bit but the shutter speed was high enough (1/125) for it not to cause a problem. Again, all three of these images are untouched – no processing at all. Again, I photographed the same scene using in camera settings set to the same as before (Sharpening = +3, Contrast = +1, Saturation = +2). Note that we’re 4x slower than the recommended shutter speed btw (thanks to IS)
Second picture taken with in-camera settings applied:
My take:
I think this is an even better than the first example actually. The original / 100% crop looks good. Again, some minor amount of softness but very acceptable in my opinion. This image sharpens up very well in photoshop. The second image with in camera settings applied is really impressive. The increased sharpness is visible, the saturation is richer and probably more accurate (and more to my tastes) and contrast is very good.
Telephoto Conclusion
I’m not going to present too much a case for these images as I think people are going to fall into two camps. One camp will be a group which find the 100% crops only "ok" – and to be honest, I believe this is a group that expects something which is simply not achievable by optics today (at a price / convenience factor to suit). The "only ok" (or worse) opinion is of course still valid although I imagine it’s going to be a lot longer wait than this year before you see something significantly surpassing the Olympus SP-550’s samples.
Alternatively, you’re in the group that I’m in – that is someone who is amazed by what they see here. The fact the lens can even extend this far (in exchange for price / convenience / size) already makes me willing to accept sacrifices in image quality – but what’s really surprised me is the fact that the compromises I’ve had to accept are relatively minor. For this group, there’s really no waiting – the future is already here :).
RAW
When I originally started this review, I intended to provide some RAW examples. Now, because I actually plan to spend 90% of the time in JPG when it came to writing this I only had a few shots to try to "develop" using Olympus’ new Master 2.0 software. However, what I found in my initial tests was somewhat surprising – that I had to sharpen very heavily in Photoshop to get a similar image quality than JPG with default settings. Sharpening was not a surprise – but the extend I had to do it was.
Now this could be due do any number of reasons so I’m refusing to draw any conclusions on this yet. It could have been bad image samples (e.g. camera shake), me being unfamiliar with Olympus Master (I only installed it earlier today) or it could be intentional by Olympus. This may be the one area I revisit again in future and would encourage any other SP-550 owners to comment on this area too.
Final Conclusions
So I’m back where I ended the first review – with pretty much only glowing things to say about this masterful little camera. I’m not going to repeat what I said earlier – as further analysis here has only cemented my earlier stated views. Instead I’ll confess something instead – that is when I started this follow up review, I attempted to maintain an unbiased view. However, given the consistently remarkable results combined with that amazing focal range, fantastic build, ergonomics / access to controls and price – and I’ll now admit that I’m a unquestioned and now biased convert. The Olympus SP-550 started a stir when it was announced and that buzz has not abated. I predict as more reviews, user reports and samples hit the streets, the group of biased users like me is only going to grow and grow.
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...
Lawrence, your review is very well written, thank you. It what I was looking for except for how the camera performs at close-up work.
I take a lot of close up shots, and so looked at the 'macro' comment in the follow up review. I didn't understand it, could you explain please ?
I am curious to understand the useability of the camera when aiming for maximum image magnification of close up subjects.
Thanks, Mick.
Thanks for your User Review.
I would like to know how fast image review is. Review after a shot an review of a group of shots already taken.
Thank you.
Thanks, Lawrence, for your review. I found it well written and appreciate all the work you put into it.
This may well replace my 740UZ!
Thank you for this extra review. I did post some questions from your earlier review, but as I said, I am new to this stuff and now realise that this might not have been the right place to ask questions about other brands and models. Forgive me please! You have pretty well convinced me that this is the camera I should be getting and I am looking forward to it being released in Canada.
Thanks for the kind feedback. Phyllis – I've mailed you directly. Mick, re reviewing speed, it's v fast. Image to image is fast and you can use the UP/DOWN buttons to jump several images at a time. Only time it's slower when you start to zoom on a RAW image. This has a few seconds delay, not for each zoom – just went you go from the thumbnail to the zoomed version. Zooming / navigating within the image is fast after that.
Thanks for the great insightful review. I'm a newbie and looking for a camera and your review is very timely. I have a question on the macro capability of this camera, how good is the macro function? Is the macro picture quality good? I'm comparing to Canon S3IS. Thanks KC
Thankyou Lawrence for such a comprehensive review in the short time you've had it. I'm interested in it for Astrophotography, and kindly ask if you could take some night shots of 30s – 8 mins of a clear sky, at iso 200, and post the results. Do you get a 'hot' corner in the image if bulb up to 8 mins used? Also any videos of night sky would be helpfull.
many thanks Tom Hanson
KC – the macro quality is good. Going 1cm away from your subject allows for a detailed image and with the decent lens on the SP-550 it results in v sharp images. There is a 100% crop in my review which you can use to judge for yourself.
Tom Hanson, unfortunately I live in a big modern city (4M people) which has a lot of light pollution. It's v rare to be able to see much of any stars in the sky from where I live.
Dear Lawrence,
does your model have a filter thread at the end of the lens? They tell this in a video at asia.cnet.com.
However, Olympus suggests this CLA-10 conversion tube, but I am highly suspicous about vignetting when the lens is pulled in.
Great, detailed review, thanx for that!
Regards
Nils
I would like to thank you for a fascinating look at this new camera. I have been actively looking for a replacement for my old camera for a while and when this came along I couldnt wait to find out more. Its not out here in the UK yet and getting information is pretty hard so your review is very welcome indeed. I'll hopefully be buying one at the end of the month. Thanks again for a very professional looking review.
Hi Lawrence … I just had a quick play with the Oly 550 at the local camera store. I tried to take some shots of people slowly walking past in the dimly lit conditions of the mall. The shutter lag was appalling with the subjects almost out of the field of view by the time the shot was taken. Am I missing something here – how can I take action shots with this camera? I must say everything else looks pretty spot on! … Cheers
Hi John, you're experiencing something I predicted would happen – people trying the camera out in shops under mall lighting at full zoom. In this cases I'd say you can expect to miss the focus the majority of times. The question I posed was more to do with whether that's a situation representative of what you'd be using it for in reality (max telephoto, indoors). At wide to mid focal lengths, I've seen no such issues. Having said that, if you are someone who would be using this under those sorts of conditions, then you'll very likely fall into a camp of users whose needs are in conflict with what the camera is capable of. Personally, I've actually never been truly satisfied with any compact camera's AF abilities when at full zoom. In cases where I can't afford to miss (the following shot would be a good example of that http://www.pbase.com/scared_of_the_dark/image/64198719 ), I've found only a DSLR will do.
Thanks for your review. My camera arrived this morning and I am still playing at seeing what it does. But pretty much everything you say holds up so far.
I had a Camedia C2100 UZ which was brilliant, and comparing the images (even though the 2100 was only 1.9 Mp) I can see some great improvements with this new one
My only comment so far is the action on the zoom is very quick and it is going to take me a little while to get used that. There is a bit of colour aberration on the really long shots, about the same as the 2100.
I hope to get back to you once I have some more experience with the camera.
Hi Lawrence,
Just wanted to say i love your work. Been following your Oly review/pics closely (getting mine delivered soon)- but got mesmerized by your other work too. You've a wonderful roving eye there!
Cheers, Liza ;)
Lawrence:
My hat is off to you as you provided the only early and fairly complete (with sample photos) of the Oly SP550. It is directly due to your efforts and honest review that I have purchased this camera (due this week!!!). I will send a picture or two your way when I get the camera. I think Olympus owns you lunch if not a commission for your great work!
Thanks,
Phil Hanna
Indian Rocks Beach, FL, USA
I too have been following your reviews/pics of the Oly Sp550 with the greatest of interests. The indepth time and efforts of your details, Oly owes you another sales commission.
Thank you for this review. We are planning to buy the camera as well.
I have two questions for you that you might be able to answer.
The first drawback about this model is the lack of a flash shoe. I love the way a photo looks when it was taken with the external flash pointing to the ceiling. (It looks natural – like with no flash used.)
How does your camera behave in indoor lighting conditions? Can you shoot decent pics without the flash?
The other question is about using filters. I would like to use a polarizer. Is there any way to attach a filter to the camera? There is an adapter called CLA10. Did you have the chance to take a look at it? I would like to know if the tube disturbs the edges in wide angle shots.
Thank you very much
Regards
S.
Hi Lawrence
Thanks for your review, I need a camera usable for bird photography (more record shots than pro pictures :). Do you think 550 UZ will be ok for the job. I am hesitating between 550 Uz and FZ50.
Regards
Bernard
Just wanted to say how much I appreciate how quickly you got this review online and how complete it is, especially with regard to image quality. Great to see something so substantive written by someone who doesn't do reviews full time! Thank you!!
Lawrence,
Hi from Australia. Thank you for reviewing the SP550 for what it is, and not for what people wish it was and bagging it.
There is no where on this camera that says DSLR because it isn't.
I have had the camera for 3 weeks now and have not had to change a lens once.
I can confirm this is a fantastic little camera as you have demonstrated, sure it has limitations compared to a DSLR That's because it isn't.
Thanks again for an unbiased view and real world photographs not test shots.
Mike Smith
Your real world photos are a helpful contrast to the studio or ideal lighting shots used in most reviews. I don't fault the professional reviews, but don't enjoy their advantages either.
I am skeptical about the incremental advantage of DSLRs over top-line zoom models when there is no tripod and light is not optimum. Professional SRL people can always show work that beats the rest, but we don't see one-on-one comparisons under challenging conditions.
My favorite comparison would be between various zoom models and a prosumer DSLR, consisting of wide-angle and full zoom shots of ball players taken at the same game under the same late day or gymnasium light conditions. The comparison would be not on a "best of the lot" shot, but a series of six to compare the median quality. Might the manufacturers sponsor this sort of comparison at an upcoming sports event? I'd nominate you to represent the Olympus SP 550 contender.
Meanwhile, I've found birds in flight to be a pretty severe test of camera capabilities: motion of both subject and photographer, back light, distance, and color / contrast. Gulls are the easiest if hovering over rubbish. Geese, eagles, hawks, and vultures are a bit tougher. How about testing your Olympus on some airborne avian subjects. Sitting or swimming birds don't count.
One thing I do not understand: that all the zoom cameras use 1 / 2.5" CCDs. Why none with a slightly larger one? Wouldn't that improve the IQ?
Hi,
I experienced purple haze showing up in LCD/viewfinder of my SP-550 when shooting at high constrast e.g. sunlight. Image is okie though. Is this a norm?
I have used the Olympus Master program to process some SP-550 RAW (ORF) files, and noticed the blurriness of the default conversion which Master first presents upon opening the RAW file. I had set the camera to provide a JPEG copy also so I had something to compare it with.
My take on it is this: the program appears to do no sharpening in its default conversion, and the user has to do at least +3 or +4 sharpening to get the image looking as sharp as the JPEG version. Once done, you are in business, and the RAW conversion looks quite fine to me. The adjustments provided in the software besides sharpening seem effective and easy to use.
So I am not too concerned with the delay in waiting for standard RAW software like Adobe, Bibble, ewtc to catch up and provide SP-550 support. The Olympus Master, while not the program i am used to using, will do for the time being as my RAW converter.
I am new to all this and after reading reviews for the last 3 MONTHS,I was undecided between the
Canon Powershot s3 is, Panasonic DMC-FZ50,
Panasonic DMC-FZ8 and the Panasonic DMCTZ3.
I stumbled accross Olympus SP-550 reviews by
chance.Subsequently the reviews led to your review.
I can honestly say your review convinced me that this is the one for me has set the bar
for the other reviewers who seem to saythe same thing.
Based on what you've written I put in an order for an Olympus SP-550 today!
Olympus should pay you a big fat commission!
how does the camers compair to the canon s3si and the panasonic fz7 ,
please let me know also how far dows the zoom lens come out from the boby when zoomed
Very thorough review, thanks for your efforts. Went from a Olympus C2100 UZ to a Kodak 10x (good, but felt too slow) and now it seems this is the next obvious step. Love the idea of true 28mm, about time!
THANKS.
Really thorough review and great to be able to compare images. About to replace a lost Olympus camera and after reading your review will certainly go with the SP-550 way. 18x optical zoom will be fabulous.. previously had 10x and thoroughly enjoyed the clarity and detail in the pics.
Thanks again. Monique
Thank you for your comprehensive review……..I'm off to Botswana in September and need a digital camera with a good zoom for taking wildlife shots. Until now I've only used a 3X zoom (Canon IXUS 55) but love the idea of the Olympus SP- 550. Until now I've been a point-and-shoot snapshot photographer….do you think upgrading as high as SP-550 would be a good idea or would you advise me to lower my sights and perhaps buy something like a Fuji Finepix S5700?
i have a sp550 and am thinking of getting a3xtele lens extender.the one im looking at is a crystal optics that cost 98.00 .there is also a 3x thats high defination thats 300.00 dollars is it worth the differance
Leave your response!
Stay Connected
Tags
Twitter Feed
Recent Comments
Archives
Admin
Best of the Best
Most Commented