Olympus SP-550 7.1 Megapixel Bridge Camera

SP-550 UZ Camera a good buy

Strengths: I first got this camera from work as a real estate photographer. I have been using it for almost two years. It is very good quality and takes great pictures.

Weakness: The main problem I have had with this camera is the shutter not lasting. I am on my third camera in a year and a half. The two previous to the one I just bought had the same problem.

This is a great camera for home use. If you do a good search of the internet you can find it for a great price. Depending on usage it should last quit a while.

By demitchellde - Aug 25, 2008

Best of its Kind!

Strengths: 18x Zoom, Manual Focus, Timeslice, Adjusting Flash Strength, Area Focus, Battery Life,15FPS,Instant Help on pressing Display button

Weakness: ISO 400+ is bad, Expected Screen cover or Swivel

I am been using various cameras, this one is really different and best of its kind, you really need not worry about the light, distance, speed anything, its a good cam with tons of features. Infact i could capture every moment as i wanted. In Movie mode, we cannot zoom when Audio is enabled

Scn and Guide mode will help amature users

By SreeRam_bh - Apr 10, 2008

Great in the right setting. Frustrating in some others.

Strengths: 18X optical zoom, stabilized. Compact for such a big zoom. Good at indoor portraits. Good in high contrast settings. Very solidly built. Fast burst rate for instructional purposes.

Weakness: Slow focus or even inability to focus in hazy or overcast conditions.

I love superzooms. Have owned the Olympus C-2100, C-735, Fuji S5100, S5200, and S9100. Love to take pictures of sports competitions from distant seats. For single shots of players in day games, this camera is very good. You need to prefocus, of course, but if you do, you can get some very good shots that you wouldn't get with the other cameras I have owned. There are two burst modes. The faster...
Read Full Review

I love superzooms. Have owned the Olympus C-2100, C-735, Fuji S5100, S5200, and S9100. Love to take pictures of sports competitions from distant seats. For single shots of players in day games, this camera is very good. You need to prefocus, of course, but if you do, you can get some very good shots that you wouldn't get with the other cameras I have owned.

There are two burst modes. The faster one puts out 15 one megapixel images per second. The slower puts out 7 three megapixel images per second. I like the second burst mode more. If you have the camera at the higher quality setting for 3 meg images, the pictures are not bad, although they are all taken at an ISO setting of 400 or higher. The weakness of the camera is its slow focusing at higher zoom settings. My family's home has a great view of Mt. Rainier (snow covered volcano) from the deck. The other cameras I owned focused on it pretty quickly, especially the S5200. The SP-550 does ok if the air is clear and the sky is blue over the snow covered slopes of the mountain. Otherwise, it hunts and hunts, and sometimes, never focuses correctly. In that case, you have to resort to manual focusing.

I have mounted the TCON-17 on this camera and you can get some great shots of the moon with this combination.

If you want to take a lot of full resolution pictures of your kids' soccer games, I might pick a different camera.

For an overall, carry around jack of all trades type camera, it's pretty good, especially since the price has dropped so much from its original SRP of $499.

By robfieser - Oct 6, 2007

Great all around camera

Strengths: 18x zoom is fantastic. Uses AA batteries, no special battery needed. Bright and clear LCD. Rubberized case makes it easy to hold onto. Built-in user guide is easy to understand.

Weakness: No manual focus mode. Does not have an external flash shoe. The mini-USB connector on the camera is different from standard cables, so you need the supplied cable to download picutres.

This camera replaced a well-worn Olympus C-750 Ultra Zoom. The new camera is a huge improvement from the old unit. The SP-550UZ operates much faster than the C-750UZ. Taking zoom pictures indoors is much easier with the SP-550UZ. I do recommend getting rechargable batteries for the camera as the SP-550UZ ships with regular alkalines. The add-on zoom lens I had from the C-750 just needed a new...
Read Full Review

This camera replaced a well-worn Olympus C-750 Ultra Zoom. The new camera is a huge improvement from the old unit. The SP-550UZ operates much faster than the C-750UZ. Taking zoom pictures indoors is much easier with the SP-550UZ. I do recommend getting rechargable batteries for the camera as the SP-550UZ ships with regular alkalines. The add-on zoom lens I had from the C-750 just needed a new adapter to work with the SP-550UZ, but I have not had an opportunity to test how it performs. The SP-550UZ has a special mode to work with add-on lenses, so I can't wait to try it out. Overall, I got a much improved camera for a decent price.

By Estevius - Jun 8, 2007

Great alternative to SLR Camera

Strengths: long zoom lens, image stabilization, solidly built, uses AA batteries

Weakness: Uses expensive xD Picture Cards

Very good camera, not too heavy considering long zoom lens, image stabilization works. Execellent quality pictures. Ergonomic design, comfortable to hold. Uses AA batteries which I prefer over proprietary batteries.

By mrcay - Apr 10, 2007