Olympus SP-550UZ review at DPreview

[Singapore21]

See http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympussp550uz/

"Above Average"...

[leeclw]

Terrible review. Some of the test shots were obviously better on the 500UZ than the FZ8.

[drakon09]

It is better to read into the "Pros" and "Cons" rather than the final rating.

As much as I like DPR's reviews for the resolution tests and sample comparison shots against other cameras, I don't usually give a rat's a$$ about the final rating.

[michhy]

I know this doesn't go too well with fans of Olympus, but if what the reviewer wrote is correct about the poor autofocus system, then that camera would never get a good rating. If a camera's AF is poor, I wouldn't recommend it to any of my friends! would you?

[Singapore21]

Is the AF that crappy? Any users here that can verify/demystify?

[michhy]

Originally Posted by Singapore21 Is the AF that crappy? Any users here that can verify/demystify?

I just read more and realize not only the AF is weak, the auto WB is also weak, and the lens has distortion throughout the zoom range

[cyuxiang]

I think the distortion is inevitable from a fixed lens that can cover such a big range (35mm equi: 28-504mm).

Anyways ST's Digital Life also has a review on it today. Albeit more positive, it also points out the slow speed of the AF.

[wind30]

actually slow speed is OK. what is disturbing is that the review points out that the focus is wrong in some case, ie focus confimation but not correct.

Which is very bad as you may only discover the focus errors much later....

[michhy]

Originally Posted by wind30 actually slow speed is OK. what is disturbing is that the review points out that the focus is wrong in some case, ie focus confimation but not correct. Which is very bad as you may only discover the focus errors much later....

yeah, that is kinda serious!

[ExplorerZ]

Originally Posted by Singapore21 Is the AF that crappy? Any users here that can verify/demystify?

from what I have used during IT show, at the long end of the zoom, I can feel that it is significantly slower than my old fz5 (at tele 12x zoom as well, and both under indoor poor lighting)
Can't say much about it accuracy tho, since I only played with it for a while.

[Singapore21]

I thot the samples were excellent...

http://www.dpreview.com/gallery/olysp550uz_samples/

[harper]

well... there's a review out there by one of the CP people when it first came out...

and there's a few owners of the 550uz here... (including me )

[drakon09]

Is there a PnS with good AF?

I'm asking because I don't know...

[Raymondb]

Originally Posted by harper well... there's a review out there by one of the CP people when it first came out... and there's a few owners of the 550uz here... (including me )

Quite keen on this camera. Since you are using one, would you care to share your experience with this camera? i.e. Performance, image quality, how slow is the camera, how effective is the stabilizer, low light focusing, ...etc.

Thanks.

[tao]

Quite clearly, not everyone has the same opinion about this camera and for some reason or the other, dpreview has always been accused of being biased against Olympus products. Reviews are always subjective, so it is probably best to try out the camera yourself.

See here for a 2nd opinion: http://www.megapixel.net/reviews/oly.../sp550-gen.php

[harper]

Originally Posted by Raymondb Quite keen on this camera. Since you are using one, would you care to share your experience with this camera? i.e. Performance, image quality, how slow is the camera, how effective is the stabilizer, low light focusing, ...etc. Thanks.

erm... i'm just using it as a PnS and actually got this camera mainly for the zoom and its design is very nice... unlike others, feeling solid in my hand...

my last digital cam is a casio Z3 and thus, its a very big improvement, can't really say much as compared to other cameras as never tried much of the camera of the same class...

image quality think really you'll have to see the test shots as posted by all the rest,

personally, find that the IS is really very good. only think is the wash or blow out of the LCD, which i've never experienced before, but don't really bother me.

As mentioned in reviews of the problem of focusing, yah, facing some problems some times. but not too critical.

think you'll really have to go down and test the camera yourself as mentioned...

oh, one thing that is bad is the very slow transfer speed of the camera... its only full speed usb...

the zoom is really amazing...

well, here's a pic i took on a boat going into kusu at max zoom, shows how the IS is... image only cropped...

[wrx_sti_22b]

Originally Posted by wind30 actually slow speed is OK. what is disturbing is that the review points out that the focus is wrong in some case, ie focus confimation but not correct. Which is very bad as you may only discover the focus errors much later....

Common & often with long zoom prosumer lah...

[cantaresg]

I just find the ISO performance of the camera rather bad, plus the focus is rather soft at the telescopic end.

[drektster]

they dun make good camera anymore.

[drakon09]

Make a solid PnS and cannibalize DSLR sales?

Not the way to go.