Pentax Optio 550

CNET editors' review

• Reviewed on: 12/04/2003
• Updated on: 11/29/2009

Product description from manufacturer

PENTAX continues to make big advancements in little with the introduction of the 5.0 effective megapixels Optio 550 digital camera. The Optio 550 hosts a variety of features; including a high resolution 1.5 inch LCD monitor, a movie mode that captures up to ten minutes of video with sound, a voice memo recording mode, panorama assist, full manual exposure control and a 5X optical zoom (20X combined). An ultra-compact zoom system allows the lens to fully retract in two stages helps reduce the size of the camera. Crafted from aluminum alloy with design accents on the lens bases, the Optio 550 is comfortable to hold and simple to operate. A single dial offers shooting mode selections with minimal effort including Metered Manual, Shutter-priority AE, Aperture-priority AE, Program, Picture, Movie, Panorama Assist, 3D image, Digital Filter, and User. The Optio 550 also features standalone buttons for easy access to frequently used shooting and playback functions and handy image deletion and enlargement. The Optio 550 records up to 10 minutes of video with sound at 15 frames per second with 320 x 240 recorded pixels. For additional convenience, all clips are recorded in MOV format to facilitate simple playback on a computer. A selection of ten shooting modes are accessible with just the turn of a dial including Metered Manual, Shutter-priority AE, Aperture-priority AE, Program, Picture, Movie, Panorama Assist, 3D image, Digital Filter, and User modes. A variety of additional shooting modes are accessible via drive buttons on the back of the camera including convenient self timer, optional remote control, continuous shooting, interval shooting, multiple exposure, macro shooting, infinity-landscape, manual focus, choice of wide or spot autofocus. The Optio 550 is equipped with a useful self-timer than may be used to allow you to join group shots, or to reduce camera shake when making extended exposures. A detailed histogram display allows you to check light levels with accuracy during both playback and shooting.

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