Olympus SP-550/560UZ?

[Jason Green]

Has anyone used this for wildlife photography as yet? If not, are their any wildlife photos taken with it on the Net yet? I am interested in this camera.

[The Black Rabbit]

Jason - I have borrowed a Olympus sp550 from my boss for the last few days.
Very briefly, as I am new to all this also!

Plus points:
The 18X Zoom. Many mags will tell you that its not great quality and a bit blurry at long range - its good enough - believe me. Its more than good enough, and is the best thing about this model. The image stabilization is fine for amateurs like you and me, rather than paying many, many times more for a proper DSLR and all the rest.

Negative point:
Very poor macro facility - my phone is better! You want to take a photo of a Ladybird or fly - forget it with this camera.

Could do with autofocus as well (or maybe I just didnt find that in my few days with the phone).
Try shooting through branches at a bird for example, and the camera will just focus on the branches, not the bird - very frustrating!


So (in my opinion) (and DO bear in mind I'm very new to all this digital stuff),
if you want a mega powerful, mega cheap zoom, consider this (or its twin - the Fujifilm finepix s8000fd).
If you want a little more control over your photos, best leave it be.

Thats the shortest, most basic camera review ever eh? (From a digital newby!)

Anyway, hope that helps a little?
Doug

[Jason Green]

Do you have any bird pics with the OIlympus that you've taken to show me? Have you used the Fuji(8000fd? I have the Fuji S5600 that I use.

[Pete Collins]

Hi Jason,

I've been thinking of getting a new camera, and the Fujifilm Finepix S8000fd is one of the cameras I'm considering. I remembered seeing the conclusion of a review of the S8000fd, which preferred it to the Olympus SP-550UZ

Fujifilm Finepix S8000fd Review - PhotographyBLOG

Another review really slated the SP-550UZ - I think it preferred the Panasonic TZ18 (another one I'm considering, the general consensus of reviews I've seen seems that it's better than the S8000fd).

I didn't realise there was a SP-560UZ - a quick search shows it's only just come out. When I'll get time, I'll do more internet searching, it could be interesting - it's obviously an improvement on the 550-UZ. Being new it'll obviously be more expensive and the price of the 550-UZ should drop. But the reviews I've seen have definitely put me off the 550-UZ.

Anyway, there are plenty of camera reviews out there on the internet, although they may not focus (no pun intended!) on wildlife photography.