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:

1. Part 1 - Introduction
2. Part 2 - Design, Controls, Timings
3. Part 3 - Image Quality
4. Part 4 - Conclusion

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)

Comments

[Gordon]

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

[Joseph]

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 :-)

[Jim Trattner]

Could you comment on the Video?

[Lawrence Ripsher]

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.

[Terrence]

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

[Dphotojournal]

Great review!

Just addded a link to this page on our Olympus SP-550 UZ Review Roundup & Sample Photos

Keep it up!

Cheers,

Paul

[Terrence]

Added some new night pics with the SP 550 here:
http://www.tvsmith.net.my/picturestory/olympus_sp550_test01.html

[Kris Z]

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

[Lawrence Ripsher]

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

[morris]

what do you think of the exposure on these? Trie some sharpening.

[chris]

Nice review,, how would you compare it with say the canon 350D, thanks.

[Lawrence Ripsher]

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 :).

[chris]

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.

[Lawrence Ripsher]

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.

[Roman]

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.

[Mark Phillips]

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

[Lawrence Ripsher]

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

[Lawrence Ripsher]

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."

[Alan Wilkinson]

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

[Kris Z]

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 :) )

[Renish]

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

[Rich]

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

[Matthias]

@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.

[Rose]

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

[Alan Wilkinson]

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