Olympus Stylus 550WP 10MP Waterproof Digital Camera (Black) Review

I very recently bought the new Fuji Z33 WP camera, but since I am unhappy with the high levels of image noise, I will be returning it and looking for a replacement.The other top camera on my list was the Olympus 550WP.I went to a major electronics store yesterday and had the opportunity to play with the 550WP.The salesman even let me put my microSD card into the camera to save some test shots to view on my computer at home.

The image quality does not make me excited to buy this camera.The pictures show a significant amount of noise, even when I forced the ISO down to 100.Every shot without a flash looks pale and slightly hazy.With a flash, the image quality improved, but there is still an unreasonable amount of image noise.The best shots were taken of objects about 10 feet away.This was a good distance to prevent the flash from washing out the subject, but still providing an adequate amount of light to get a decent picture.Even those shots seemed to lack sharpness.They were OK, but I guess I expected more.I understand that there are trade-offs in image quality when buying a waterproof camera, but I had hoped that they wouldn't be this bad.

Besides image quality, my only other complaint was the couple of seconds delay between shots.The screen goes blank, so you can't even compose your next shot while you wait.The noticible delay upon startup and between shots was a deal-breaker for me when deciding if the image quality was acceptable.

On a positive note, the size and shape of the camera is pleasing and it feels well-built and sturdy.It is not too heavy, and I didn't feel like I needed to be overly protective of it.It's not ultra-thin, but it could easily fit into a pocket.Also, I really liked the menu graphics.The menu structure seems very similar to that of the Olympus weatherproof cameras from the last couple of years, but the icons on the 550WP are in color and are much brighter.This may seem trivial, but it definitely makes for a flashier interface than the couple of models just prior to the 550WP.I also tried out the Tough Series 8000 and noticed that it shares the very cool, updated menu graphics with the 550WP.

I wanted to like this camera and it was my top choice to replace the Fuji Z33, but I was not satisfied enough with the test shots I took to spend my money on it.The slightly older and mixed-reviewed Olympus 850SW that I tested on the same visit responded much more quickly on startup, on auto-focusing, and in recovering between shots.It felt fast in all areas and the pictures were much better than the Oly 550WP and the Fuji Z33 WP.The image quality on the 850SW wasn't perfect either, but I was much more excited about its performance than the two newer cameras.Since it has been out for a little longer than the 550WP and Z33, the 850SW can be found for a similar price.Without spending the extra $100 to step up to the next level of image quality and performance, I think my money is going to the Oly 850SW instead of the Oly 550WP or the Fuji Z33.



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Digital Camera Labels: Olympus Stylus 550WP 10MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom and 2.5-inch LCD (Black),Olympus,Stylus 550 Black