The NEW Olympus SP-550 UZ with 18X Wide Angle (28 - 504mm) zoom?!

[ND66]

Rather intriguing camera forf me.

I’m getting too lazy to carry a dSLR with multiple zooms and external flash, like I did when I was single. Now I have 3 kids with crap load of children accessories to carry whenever we go for a vacation, party, etc.

This could be the greatest thing for me if the camera is fast and it delivers fairly good results with this lens… .

More info HERE:


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[Claymonkey]

That's one of the first non-SLR's I've seen that could beat my old Mavica FD-91 with it's 14x zoom.....

[RhinoZ]

Pretty cool, I've been looking at these types of point and shoot cameras that have the nice telephoto lens. I've been reading up on the Canon S3 and the Sony H2 ( Yeah I know Sony ) but they use a Carl Zeiss lens, so it must be pretty good. But nice to have another contender.
I'm definitely leaning toward the Canon, but I've yet gone to a store and have a look at them up close.
R

[az]

Their "Carl Zeiss" lenses, as well as Panasonic's "Leica" and whoever's "Schneider" lenses have mostly the name in common, rather than actually being as good. Which doesn't mean they're bad, just that those names mean very little.

[RhinoZ]

Thanks for the extra info Az.

[ND66]

What puzzles me the most, the camera will have 1/2.5" CCD sensor.
The most P&S cameras have is around 1/1.8” CCD sensor.
Combined with the Mega Zoom, this could be the best camera on the market…. or a dud.

The Competitor for it is a Nikon D40 I’m holding off with purchase, just to see what this camera will do.


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[Jon P. Inghram]

I think all small superzooms have 1/2.5" sensors, the S3 IS and FZ8 both do. The FZ50 has a 1/1.8" sensor, but it's a much larger camera.

[ND66]

I think all small superzooms have 1/2.5" sensors, the S3 IS and FZ8 both do. The FZ50 has a 1/1.8" sensor, but it's a much larger camera.

Thanks.

You're right, somehow I got messed up which way the sensor gets bigger or smaller… .

It’s going to be a Mega Zoom dud… .


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EDIT: I think I'll go back to the original choice of Nikon D40 & Fujifilm FinePix S9600 / S9100. I was really hoping for something more compact.... .

[az]

Fuji F30

[ND66]

Fuji F30

Still use Fuji E550. And still very happy with it. Just need something with longer zoom, better night shots and fester RAW processing.

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[az]

The F30 is a compact, almost ultracompact cam, but with night shooting abilities second only to DSLRs. Unfortunately, it's only got a short zoom, relatively slow lens and few controls.

[Nappe1]

SP-550UZ is first really competitive try from Olympus in Ultra Zoom class since the C-770UZ was fighting against Konica-Minolta Z2 a bit over 2 years ago.

SP-550UZ isn't follower only for the C-xxxUZ series that were only really affordable Ultra Zooms when they first were released, but also such a legendary bridge cameras from the past as C-2100UZ(I) and E-100RS.

[TransformX]

A very interesting and quite insightful review of the Panasonic DMC FZ7 on CNET:

http://reviews.cnet.com/Panasonic_Lumix_DMC_FZ7K_black/4864-6501_7-31684200.html?ctype=msgid&messageSiteID=7&messageID=1915171&cval=1915171&tag=uolst

Reasons I'm posting it here are that the Leica lenses are about the best thing the Panasonic has to offer, they're amazing. Also, this particular review has some interesting (I don't know if correct or not) things to say about the Fuji line and about accepted reviewing methods.

Edit: forgot to mention that the FZ8 is already out - http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicfz8/

[ND66]

I also found this site (french), lets you compare pictures side by side.

http://www.lesnumeriques.com/duels.php?ty=1&ma1=60&mo1=190&p1=973&ma2=24&mo2=258&p2=1508&ph=2

Looks like they let the camera take full control of it's settings in the same environment, a realistic outlook on how the camera would behave on FULL AUTO mode???


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[TransformX]

Too bad those are strictly indoor pictures, not to mention a serious lack of daylight. Their reason/excuse is that unlike their lamps, they can't make certain the weather, hour, season etc. will provide the exact same amount of light for every test.