- Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 14 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
Full user review
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3 out of 3 people found this review helpful
4.0 stars
"Satisfaction almost guaranteed"
Pros: Addresses many shortcoming of similar units
Cons: Some minor chroming at maximum zoom - NO MANUAL
Summary: Having moved from a Olympus C5050 Zoom (which broke!) to the SP550 I was not expecting this much of a leap forward in ability. The zoom is smooth and fast enough considering it's range. If you have the settings correct, which is not a hard task, it will perform admirably in virtually any setting. Advanced features like manual shutter release and RAW push it close to DSLR capabilities and the 7.1MP zoom mean that the digital zoom is more than useful at the extremis of application.
The old C5050 zoom would get upset if you turned it on with the lens cap on. This unit just pushes it off itself. The battery life is amazing with a capability of more than a couple of hundred shots even from 1700mA Nicads. The feel of the unit is sound and the buttons are pleasantly tactile. The LCD is a great size although the digital view finder with Diopter allows me to use it comfortably even though I wear glasses.
Picture quality is seriously good with faultless ability to acurately capture images as diverse as the surface of the moon (yes really) to the fine fur of a Meerkat. I have grinned at the shiny hide captured on a hippo and been impressed at the ability to capture the deep lush pinks of a rose at super macro which are so deep, you cold just sink into them.
Seriously, I cannot imagine what more you might expect from a product in this category. If you want interchangable lenses, buy a DSLR, dont expect a compact pro-sumer model to jump hoops. The only thing really missing, and this really irritates me, is a full manual. Once again you are expected to spend hundreds of dollars only to then have to print the manual off from the PDF file on the accompanying CD rom. As a new user it would be great to take this with me on shoots to find my way about the many features but carrying about a lever arch file with 90+ sheets of instructions is hardly convenient. PLEASE Olympus, stop insulting your customers with this cost saving inconvenience!
- 1 reply to this review
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I just got a new one and it has a 100 page printed manual with it. I am very happy with the camera's performance.
Where to buy
Olympus SP-550 Ultra Zoom:
$349.51
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$349.51 | Yes |
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