Camera Test: Olympus SP-550UZ

Camera Test: Olympus SP-550UZ225885OlympusSP-550 UZIn many ways, the Olympus SP-550UZ represents both the best and the worst of digital camera marketing. On the one hand, it's is a solidly built EVF, with an astonishing 18X optical zoom (4.68-84.24mm f/2.8-4.5, or a 28-504mm equivalent in 35mm), effective sensor-shift image stabilization, a 7.1 Megapixel CCD, a RAW shooting mode, and lots of other impressive features. It even feels like a slightly scaled-down DSLR in the hands. On the other hand, it also has a number of super-impressive sounding features that come with footnotes and annotations, squirrelly explanations and marketing doublespeak. For example, the promo sticker atop the pop-up flash proudly touts: 15 fps Burst Rate. But nowhere on the camera itself does it mention that this ridiculously fast burst rate is captured at a ridiculously small file size of 1280x960 pixels -- just twice the pixel width and height of VGA video, or a measly 1.2 megapixels per image. Turn it to the "real" burst mode at full resolution and you'll only catch 3 frames in just over two seconds. You call that a burst? Bottom line: You may have the reach and the burst rate to zoom in on Emily's diving catch in the outfield, but you'd be sadly mistaken to think you could print 1.2MP images at 8x10!

In many ways, the Olympus SP-550UZ represents both the best and the worst of digital camera marketing. On the one hand, it's is a solidly built EVF, with an astonishing 18X optical zoom (4.68-84.24mm f/2.8-4.5, or a 28-504mm equivalent in 35mm), effective sensor-shift image stabilization, a 7.1 Megapixel CCD, a RAW shooting mode, and lots of other impressive features. It even feels like a slightly scaled-down DSLR in the hands.

On the other hand, it also has a number of super-impressive sounding features that come with footnotes and annotations, squirrelly explanations and marketing doublespeak. For example, the promo sticker atop the pop-up flash proudly touts: 15 fps Burst Rate. But nowhere on the camera itself does it mention that this ridiculously fast burst rate is captured at a ridiculously small file size of 1280x960 pixels -- just twice the pixel width and height of VGA video, or a measly 1.2 megapixels per image. Turn it to the "real" burst mode at full resolution and you'll only catch 3 frames in just over two seconds. You call that a burst? Bottom line: You may have the reach and the burst rate to zoom in on Emily's diving catch in the outfield, but you'd be sadly mistaken to think you could print 1.2MP images at 8x10!

Other disputable claims?

• ISO up to 5000! But, again, images shot at ISO 3200 and 5000 are at a pixel-shedding, resolution-dropping 3.2 megapixels each.
• Dual Image Stabilization? The sensor-shift mechanical IS in this camera is impressive, and it works very well, but the other half of this dual IS amounts to little more than ISO boosting and aggressive noise processing.
• Video at up to 30 frames per second at 640x480 pixels per frame! (With the card we used, we were limited to 15 seconds recording time at this highest resolution. However, users can record movies at full resolution and 30 fps longer than 15 seconds -- and actually all the way up to card capacity -- as long as they use a Type H xD card.)
• Zoom while recording video! (Here it gets tricky. You must turn on the "FULLTIME AF" mode in the camera settings menu options before shooting movies to allow the camera to maintain focus on a moving subject or when using the zoom lens. Otherwise, you can zoom without sound, or with sound but all the while locked into that focal length until you pause and re-zoom.)

Olympus is not alone in this rampant marketing hype. Virtually every camera manufacturer is guilty to some degree or another of trying to inflate performance, touting semi-features that only work with reduced resolution or in certain modes, and touting high ISO settings as "Image Stabilization" or "Electronic Vibration Reduction." It is the consumers who ultimately pay the price for these marketing tactics with disappointment that the camera isn't all they thought they'd bought. Unfortunately, we don't see this trend stopping any time soon.

Having said all that, what's the real story with the Olympus SP-550UZ?

The story is this: Olympus has made a pretty impressive camera. It's not perfect, but then again, very few cameras are. This is a very nice camera for the beginner ready to jump up, or the DSLR shooter who is looking to downsize without giving up too much control.

It feels great in the hand. The lens barrel, which extends a surprisingly long way, is solid and smooth all the way through. Even when the lens barrel is gripped to lend extra support and stability, it doesn't rattle or shake, as we've seen on many zooms. The buttons and dials feel great: good resistance without being sticky. The flash pops up with a satisfying cluck. The xD-Picture card door pops open nicely. The battery compartment cover, which we expressed concerns about in our First Look feels a little bit better, but it is still a little clunky getting it latched and locked over the 4 AA batteries.

The main LCD is a big and bright at a 2.5 inches (230,000 pixels) and gains up and down quickly in changing lighting. The LCD in the Electronic Viewfinder is obviously much smaller, and is a bit more dim, but offers good contrast and is very easy to view and read. Very fast panning will challenge the redraw time of the EVF, but it keeps up pretty well with most action until the shutter is released. Then it blacks out briefly and refreshes for a split second before firing off the next frame, and blacking out again briefly.

In the lab, the Olympus SP-550UZ performed well, competitive for its pixel class without setting the world on fire. Color accuracy, particularly Automatic White Balance, is Excellent, with an Average Delta E: 7.96.

Noise is handled well at ISO 50 with a Very Low rating of 1.4. At ISO 100, it scores a Low rating at 1.9. At ISO 200, it climbs to 2.5, Moderate rating, and then hops just over into an Unacceptable rating at ISO 400, with a 3.1. At ISO 800 and 1600, blur filtering kicks in, and gets the noise back down to Moderate at ISO 800 (2.7) and Moderately Low at 1600 (2.2).

Of course, the blur filtering takes its toll on resolution, which drops from 1675 (Very High) at ISO 50, to a noisy 1525 (Very High) at ISO 400. After blur filtering kicks into high gear, resolution drops way down to 1025 (Unacceptable) at ISO 1600. Our policy is to only measure full resolution ISOs and modes, so we did not test ISO 3200 or 5000, but casual observations indicate aggressive blur filtering and exceedingly low resolution at these ISOs.