Olympus SP-550 UZ

Photoxels - 5/7/2007 - reviews the 7.1 megapixel Olympus SP-550 UZ and writes, “My personal take is that the Olympus SP-550 UZ is a well designed and very good ultra zoom digital camera, is enjoyable to use, and the 18x wide-angle optical zoom blows past all its ultra zoom competitors. If you must have that much zoom power (and the wonderful wide-angle), no other ultra zoom can match it. Just don’t expect to be able to track and follow fast moving action at that long focal length. The SP-550 UZ is full-featured but it might take a knowledgeable photographer (or a beginner willing to learn) to make the most out of it.”

PhotographyBlog - 4/30/2007 - reviews the 7.1 megapixel Olympus SP-550 UZ and writes, “With an asking price of £375 in the UK, which is similar to what some retailers are now asking for body-only DSLR deals, potential purchasers of the Olympus SP-550 UZ face a hard choice – particularly those who are upgrading from a simple point-and-shoot, and don’t already have the increased flexibility of a prosumer camera. Build quality is however good given its mainly plastic frame – the camera is solidly fashioned, attractively finished, and with batteries inserted feels capable of withstanding a few knocks in the heat of the action. The necessary unfurling of that zoom lens however does slow down responsiveness. That given, the most disappointing feature of the Olympus SP-550 UZ is the images themselves, which benefit from sharpening and their colours boosting in the image editor of your choice. Noise is also something of a problem when attempting low or natural light shots, suggesting that the best use for the camera is candid snaps in the park on a bright sunny day. If you do so you’ll find the majority of photos are far from terrible; close ups are OK (down to an impressive 1cm) and shots taken at extreme telephoto can be surprisingly crisp, but there’s certainly room for improvement.”

Steve’s Digicams - 4/5/2007 - reviews the 7.1 megapixel Olympus SP-550 UZ and writes, “As a sports shooter, the SP-550 UZ is a bit of an enigma, hampered by its slow autofocus performance and poor image quality in its 2 high speed drive modes. But no other consumer digicam can come close to its high speed capture rate and the pre-capture mode that renders anticipating the decisive moment a moot point. The SP-550’s high-quality lens can’t be matched either, offering a versatile focal length range that is equally at home in tight interiors and athletic playing fields. Combine that with its very good image quality in standard drive modes, and the SP-550 UZ represents a good value at its $499 MSRP.”

Pbase has a gallery of sample photos taken with the 7.1 megapixel Olympus SP-550 UZ. Read our Olympus SP-550 UZ Review Roundup and View Sample Photos

CrunchGear - 3/28/2007 - reviews the 7.1 megapixel Olympus SP-550 UZ and writes, “Olympus has always had slow auto-focus and although the 550UZ is better than previous Olympus models, I don’t consider it fast, just passable, quicker in the day than at night.”

DPReview - 3/26/2007 - reviews the 7.1 megapixel Olympus SP-550 UZ and writes, “Ultimately however, after a lot of debate here, we decided that the SP-550UZ has just too many flaws where it matters (image quality and performance) for a $500 camera, and that (though a close call) it fell short of a Recommended rating.”

Megapixel - 3/23/2007 - reviews the 7.1 megapixel Olympus SP-550 UZ and writes, “Negatives: Slight distortion at both ends of the focal length range - Slight chromatic aberration - Some hesitancy in the autofocus under low light Positives: Very good to excellent image quality - 18X optical zoom - Effective CCD stabilization - Excellent metering - RAW format - Complete range of capture modes - Good viewfinder and monitor - Compact and light.”