Olympus SP-550 UZ Digital Camera

The specifications of the Olympus SP-550UZ wowed me from day one. I mean, 18x optical zoom? Compact? ISO 5000? And a relatively low price to boot? What's not to like?

Variously, very little, and a lot. The Olympus SP-550UZ is my third Olympus camera, so I consider myself reasonably familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of Olympus cameras.

I switched allegiances from Olympus to Konica-Minolta and Panasonic some years back when they supported image stabilisation when Olympus did not. When you have a camera with a big zoom, image stabilisation matters. A lot. I basically didn't like the way my Olympus Camedia C-730 UZ, which has 10x optical zoom, couldn't give me sharp images, and that it only worked well under "ISO 100" conditions. I would have been happy to try a new Olympus model with image stabilisation at the time, but they just didn't have one. That's how you lose customer loyalty :)

I've been through a number of cameras since, and have been really pleased with my recent cameras. My favourite is the compact Canon Ixus 800IS (this model is the first Canon Ixus with image stabilisation), and the prosumer Panasonic Lumix FZ50 - 12x optical zoom at full resolution, and up to 23x optical zoom at lower resolutions. The FZ50 is with my husband, freeing me to get a more advanced camera; hence this purchase, and this review. Most of my comments about the Olympus SP-550UZ would be in comparison with these two cameras.

I was first impressed by the size of the camera. It really is rather compact for a prosumer cam, even though it has the relatively large lens that you need for nice pictures. Score one for Olympus.

The only two things I don't like about the physical design aren't really huge problems, though I felt Olympus could have done a bit better. The lens cap doesn't fit all that well onto the lens so it tends to come off accidentally, though of course you can't lose it with the handy lens cap strap. And the main strap is attached through a weird two-part contraption that seemed fairly ingenious, except that it's really hard to get the strap into the tiny openings. I nearly gave up on one side.

My real worry was about battery life, as this camera uses four AA batteries. The good thing is that you can just pop in four alkalines wherever you are if you've run out of batteries. You can find AA batteries everywhere, and they're not too expensive. Try looking for a replacement lithium ion battery that's already charged in a remote village off the beaten track.

The bad thing, I'd found with the earlier Olympus cameras, is that AA-type battery life on the Olympus sucked compared to lithium ion batteries on the Canon and Panasonic. We're talking about the Olympus C40 UZ dying on me after 100 shots versus 500 (Canon Ixus 55) to 700 (Canon Ixus 800IS). I didn't REALLY want a camera that went back to AA type batteries, but that was the package for this camera.

I do have some good news. I've just returned from a day at the zoo, in ISO 100 weather. The four Panasonic AA alkalines that came with the box have lasted me some 150 shots, even when I left the camera on. I typically switch cameras off as soon as I'm done with them to conserve battery life. All the numbers I'm quoting are without the main LCD screen on all the time, which I know is pretty unusual these days, but hey, it saves on the battery. I'm very pleasantly surprised by this as I got this camera with four 2700mAH Panasonic AA rechargeable batteries thrown in, together with the charger. That's about as high as you can go with rechargeable batteries today, so retailers do understand that you need the best battery life you can get.

And now for the sad news. Some of the problems with the Olympus cameras I had had in the past still occur with this model. Item: Response time. It used to take a while for my older Olympus cameras to start up. My latest camera still has this problem. It's not really slow, but it's noticeably slower than the Canon or Panasonic that I use.

Item: Speed of xD card. I remember Olympus claiming that xD cards are fast. They are not fast. Granted I'm using the higher capacity "M" type cards and not the speedier "H" type cards, but now that I'm used to SD cards, and even have cards that go up to 133x normal speed, xD cards crawl. This matters if you want to take several shots in quick succession. You can press the shutter button, but basically nothing happens if it's already trying to save a picture.

Item: Less-than-friendly documentation. I used to hate reading the Olympus manual to try to figure out what various things meant. This particular camera comes with a basic manual that is very clear, but which is much too basic. The advanced manual is on a CD, and I've been too lazy so far to get that up and running.

This matters because there is one function on the on-screen menu that I totally do not understand, and I was hoping for a little illumination from the manual. Of course, I would assume that I do get an answer from the advanced manual :)

You do, by the way, have to read the basic manual to discover that the only way to register your camera is through installing their software onto your computer. I haven't done that for any camera ever since my laptops started supporting slots that read SD (and xD). Imagine if I hadn't read the manual!

Item: Focusing problems. I hate to say this when I got this camera because it could zoom in to 18x normal, but.. when I do zoom in to the max on something at about arm's length, it usually refuses to auto-focus so I just get slightly blurry pictures. I was hoping to get tighter crops of various subjects by zooming in, but I guess you have to crop them with software instead.

I used to have this problem some of the time with the C-730 UZ. You just zoom less, and it works. But with the SP-550UZ, I seem to have this problem more of the time, and zooming out a bit often doesn't seem to work at all. The two cameras are completely different animals of course, but I can't help feeling that if I wanted to keep the camera at its widest angle, I wouldn't have bought a camera with a powerful zoom.

When I go wide angle on a subject that's fairly near, like next to me, auto-focus doesn't work, either. Looks like this camera is meant to be used only with subjects that are a distance away? I remember developing a fine sense of exactly how far away a subject had to be for my other Olympus cameras to focus well. All ultra zoom cameras seem to be quirky that way, though I've had the least problems with the Panasonic FZ50. It's still a pain, though.

Item: Lack of sound in video. Well, strictly speaking this camera does support sound in video. However, you have to go specifically into the menu to switch the mike on. These days, I expect my video to come automatically with sound - even my phone records video with sound. So having to switch the mike on first - even if you only have to do it once - means that your first video will be a total washout. Not smart.

That's not to say I get lousy results all the time. I do get some clear shots, and when they're clear, they're really clear, with wonderful colour. That's something I've come to expect from Olympus, and you do continue to enjoy that. I just wish it was a lot more consistent, and that more of my pictures came out well.

I hope it's just that I need more practice with it, but it's not like it's my first camera, and I have been really impressed with my first looks at various Canon and Panasonic cameras. So Olympus is down a bit in my estimation now, but then you do get what you pay for.

This camera would be probably great for someone who has only used Olympus cameras, or only compact cameras, as they would probably have fewer expectations. I think I may have been spoilt by my experiences elsewhere :)

I've some of the initial pictures from this camera up on http://www.flickr.com/photos/shimmertje, which also contains pictures taken with the other cameras. Please feel free to compare.