Olympus SP-550 UZ

7.10 Megapixels   18.00X optical zoom lens   2.5 inch LCD

With one or two exceptions, wonderful zoom cameras have top out at 12x visual zoom lenses in new years. though, Olympus is pushing that border with its new 7.1-megapixel SP-550UZ, which sports an 18x visual zoom lens. The camera marks a move back in the direction of the company's big wide-zoom model since, similar to those, its lens' zoom variety starts at a broad 28mm equal, which should assist when you attempt to press those last a small number of friends or relations into a collection photo. Not many super zoom cameras can claim such a broad lens, nor can they maintain the reach that this camera's 504mm equal maximum zoom afford.

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Much similar to previous year's SP-510UZ, the 550UZ's body was intended with a lot of notice to detail, creation it a extremely comfortable camera to use. A vast quantity of the corpse, counting the lens tub, is enclosed in rubber and feels safe in your hand. Plus, since Olympus placed approximately all the buttons on the correct side of the camera and well inside reach of your right thumb and forefinger, one-handed process is definitely a option. Of course, we always advocate using your absent hand to steady the camera, particularly one with a lens as extended as this one.

now in case your stable hands aren't sufficient, or in case you end up shooting at close speed slower than the mutual of the lens' 35mm-equivalent central length (slower than 1/500th second at the lens' utmost zoom, for instance), Olympus includes sensor-shift (aka automatic) image stabilization to help stable your shots. While visual image stabilization tend to be more effectual than the sensor-shift diversity, we found Olympus' technique very effective and astonishingly quiet for automatic stabilization. For instance, we were clever to capture pointed images while investment the camera in our hands at 1/30 sec. with the lens zoom to an equivalent of 128mm. That's two stop slower of a close speed than we'd usually shoot at that central length. See our slideshow of image sample for this shot and more. In a fit of advertising hype, Olympus touts a double image stabilization scheme in the 550UZ, though the second method, which they name digital image stabilization, now pumps awake the ISO and shutter pace to try to keep you from shooting with too sluggish a close speed. Since most of Olympus' competitor contribute in the same type of hype, it's hard to responsibility them for it, particularly since they comprise the automatic system as well.

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