Olympus SP-550 UZ

Viewfinder
The Olympus SP-550UZ has an electronic viewfinder that measures about a half-inch diagonally. It is surrounded by a plastic eyecup which isn’t that comfortable, but it has a stiff diopter adjustment on the left side that is handy for eyeglass-wearers. The diopter adjustment has 16 different positions, so there should be something for everyone. There is a display button to the right of the viewfinder and above the LCD screen that switches the view from the viewfinder to the LCD. The biggest advantage of the viewfinder is that it is shaded and therefore much easier to see in broad daylight. The SP-550’s electronic viewfinder has great resolution. The information on the display can be changed with the button to the bottom left of the multi-selector. The info cycles from: blank to full info with yellow dashed grid lines, to full info with a live histogram, and to full info only. Overall, the viewfinder is a quality component, offering an abundance of shooting information and great resolution.

LCD Screen
The LCD screen measures 2.5 inches and has 230,000 pixels of resolution. Its display information can be changed just like the electronic viewfinder, and the view can be switched from the viewfinder to the LCD with the button just above the display screen. The LCD can be viewed from side to side just fine because of its wide angle of view, but it doesn’t do well at all when held above or below eye-level. The screen has a glossy finish that makes it difficult to view in bright lighting, but that’s when users will want to switch to the nicely shaded viewfinder anyway. The LCD screen’s brightness can’t be changed with one touch, but it can be changed. Users have to push the Menu button, scroll to the Setup Menu, scroll down for awhile (or skip to tab #3) and access the LCD Brightness option. It has +/- 2 options in full steps and comes with a nice live view. Overall, the 2.5-inch LCD screen provides a nice display with its 230,000 pixels of resolution and wide view – but it doesn’t do well in sunlight and adjusting the brightness isn’t an easy process.

Flash
The Olympus SP-550 has a built-in flash that is much improved over the one on its predecessor. The old SP-500 had a rickety flash that popped up, but it wasn’t very tall and was quite wobbly. The new model’s flash pops up much higher and is much sturdier too. The pop-up flash unit is released with a button on the left side of the flash unit (when viewing from the back). Once up, users can change the flash mode with the right side of the multi-selector. Auto, Auto with Red-Eye Reduction, On, On with Red-Eye Reduction, On with Slow Sync, and Off are the available choices. There are three flash options in the recording menu too, all from the third tab down (out of five). The power of the flash can be adjusted on a +/- 2 scale with 1/3 steps. The flash sync mode can be changed to sync 1 or sync 2 to fire the flash at the beginning or end of the shutter’s flip. From the menu, users can inform the camera of up to 10 slave flashes. The pop-up flash does not automatically pop up when needed, but it must be manually opened with its button. This could be a problem for point-and-shooters who may occasionally use this camera. The flash must be manually closed too, and it takes a good bit of force to squash it back into place. The flash can reach to 14.8 ft (wide) and to 9.2 ft (telephoto) at ISO 200. The built-in flash unit is very high-quality with its many options, its even coverage, its compatibility with slave flashes, and its sturdy housing.

Zoom Lens
The highlighted feature on the Olympus SP-550UZ is the massive 18x optical zoom lens. It is labeled with its specs: the Olympus ED lens measures 4.7-84.2mm. This is equivalent to a 28-504mm lens in 35mm photography and gives a nice range from end to end. This is much longer than the SP-500’s 10x optical zoom lens. To make things even better, the SP-550 also has optical image stabilization. This is a necessity on such a long lens and will help shots at full telephoto keep from blurring when shooting with a shutter speed less than 1/250 of a second. The image stabilization button is located to the left of the shutter release/zoom ring and can be turned on and off. Olympus also automatically runs digital image stabilization along with the optical to further offset any shake. This system works well, although at the full 18x shakes can still be seen – although not as much as when the system is turned off.

The Olympus zoom lens is composed of 14 elements in 11 groups with 4 aspherical lenses and 2 ED lenses. The 18x lens camera can still fit in the palm of a hand and is surrounded by rubber and chrome rings. They may look like zoom rings, but this lens is controlled via a much smaller ring around the shutter release button. The ring is fairly thick and pushes left to zoom out and right to zoom in. It is fat and fairly comfortable, but it still doesn’t seem to do the 18x lens justice. The zoom lens stops at about 30 different focal lengths because the control is fairly sensitive, and it doesn’t breathe in and out or backfire or do anything strange. When zooming from end to end in the lens, it took almost five seconds. The zoom lens can be used in the movie mode.

Three points in the SP 550-UZ's zoom range (full wide angle (left); 10x (center); 18x (right))

Wide Angle (left); Full 18x telephoto (right)

When zoomed out and photographing a subject in close range and/or in the macro mode, there is some fish-eye effect from the barrel distortion. This is not noticeable at the telephoto end though. The max aperture of the wide end is an ample f/2.8. The telephoto end of the lens is far, far away but the lens still manages a f/4.5 max aperture here. This is quite good considering the 18x optical zoom. If that isn’t enough, users can attach conversion lenses. Olympus has a WCON-07 that is equivalent to 19.6mm for a very wide angle. For even more zoom, the Olympus TCON-17 can be attached for more than 30x optical zoom power. The camera comes with a plastic lens cap and strap that attaches to the main neck strap. The Olympus SP-550UZ really packs in the ultra-zoom with this 18x lens.