Olympus SP-550 UZ

Picture Quality / Size Options (9.0)
The Olympus SP-550 isn’t caught up in the hype of the “megapixel race” with its 7.1-megapixel image sensor. Sure, other manufacturers are releasing models with more and more megapixels, but is it really necessary? Probably not.

The image sizes can be selected immediately from the initial menu that appears. A RAW file of 3072 x 2304 pixels is available along with the following JPEG file sizes: SHQ - 3072 x 2304, 3072 x 2048 (3:2), HQ - 3072 x 2304, 3072 x 2048 (3:2), SQ1 - 2560 x 1920 High and Normal, 2304 x 1728, 2048 x 1536, SQ2 - 1600 x 1200 High and Normal, 1280 x 960, 1024 x 768, 640 x 480, and 16:9 – 1920 x 1080. RAW and JPEG files can be shot simultaneously, which is an interesting feature found on a few Canon DSLRs and hardly any compact cameras.

If users want to quickly resize and upload photos to the Web, there is a resizing option in the playback menu. It saves a copy of a photo at 640 x 480 or 320 x 240 pixels. This is handy for bloggers everywhere.

The image size selection is vast and the ability to shoot RAW and JPEG at once is impressive, but the 7.1-megapixel image size isn’t available in a few situations. The Candle and Available Light scene modes shrink pictures to a maximum size of 2048 x 1536 pixels, hardly enough to print a decent 4 x 6-inch picture. The camera also shrinks images to that size when the ISO 3200 and 5000 settings are used.

Picture Effects Mode (7.5)
For an ultra-zoom digital camera that costs $499, the Olympus SP-550 has a lot of picture effects. In the recording menu, the sharpness, saturation, and contrast can be adjusted +/- 5, complete with live views. The same parameters can be changed in the playback menu if the file is RAW. If it’s a JPEG, only the saturation and brightness can be adjusted.

All kinds of projects can be easily conquered with the SP-550UZ. Users can directly print finished calendars, scrapbook pages, and cards. Different layouts can be selected for each of these projects so the main picture doesn’t always have to be at the top of the calendar, for instance. Cards can be made with more than a dozen frames and phrases that cater to most occasions: “Happy Birthday” and “Happy New Year,” for example. The frames and text can be customized with color and font size. This is quite extensive for an ultra-zoom model.

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