Olympus SP-550 UZ: 18x ultra zoom

For what applications do you need 8MP?

More detail in sports shots while at a Baseball game in Safeco
field is one reason.

I have a 5mp Oly C5050 and a 10mp Canon A640. All I lack is an 8
or 10mp super zoom and I can make large-format digital prints for
relatives, buds, etc.

The 10mp images I take with the Canon are noticeably more
detailed than the Oly and 8x10's look much better when made from
the 10mp originals, even up close, which is what happens with
sports photos - they are often viewed close.

In article HmIuh.1010$Pk5.417@trndny04, Paul D. Sullivan says...
Same here. But suddenly, so many of the new cameras seem to use
SD, and Digital Video Recorders even come with 'em now. I was
confident Compact Flash would have won, but I guess its size
makes it less desireable.

That's good news then, because CF has a horrible mechanical interface
with all those pins.
--

Alfred Molon
------------------------------
Olympus 50X0, 7070, 8080, E300, E330, E400 and E500 forum at
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/MyOlympus/
Olympus E330 resource - http://myolympus.org/E330/

Paul D. Sullivan wrote:
For what applications do you need 8MP?

More detail in sports shots while at a Baseball game in Safeco
field is one reason.

I have a 5mp Oly C5050 and a 10mp Canon A640. All I lack is an 8
or 10mp super zoom and I can make large-format digital prints for
relatives, buds, etc.

The 10mp images I take with the Canon are noticeably more
detailed than the Oly and 8x10's look much better when made from
the 10mp originals, even up close, which is what happens with
sports photos - they are often viewed close.

It's a little old now, and a little big and heavy for my liking, but a
Nikon 8800 has:

- 2/3-inch sensor (8.8 x 6.6 mm)
- 8MP
- image stabilisation
- 35 - 350mm (eq) range

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikoncp8800/

I didn't like the relative small aperture an maximum zoom.

Plus, of course, all the Panasonic cameras in that range, including the
FZ20 with its f/2.8 constant aperture Leica lens covering 36 - 432mm
(eq.).

David

On Fri, 26 Jan 2007 22:59:24 +0100, Alfred Molon wrote:

In article , ray says...

Now if they'd scrap the stupid xd cards and get with the rest of the world.

I'd say it's highly irrelevant what card format they use. Cards are
cheap nowadays and it's very likely you won't reuse the cards you buy
today with your next camera. Besides, what is the rest of the world -
CF, SD or what else? CF sucks by the way. I bought a USB card reader and
cannot insert anymore the CF card because one of the pins got bent. Why
on earth does a memory card have to have so many pins?

I guess it's no problem at all if you don't mind paying twice as much for
every card you get - I do.

On Fri, 26 Jan 2007 12:13:07 -0800, grruffbowwow wrote:



On Jan 26, 11:55 am, ray wrote:
On Fri, 26 Jan 2007 11:43:47 +0000, Ken wrote:
This look like it will be a good one???

Not yet in UK but anyone elsewhere got one or know the price range?

KenNow if they'd scrap the stupid xd cards and get with the rest of the world.

I agree whole-heartedly - what a waste. Both Fuji and Olympus are
coming out with some very interesting and innovative cameras, but
they're hobbled by the stupid cards. This new Oly camera looks really
good; I too have an Oly C-5060 that I'd like to replace with a "wide to
long-zoom" for lightweight general use. I broke down and bought a Fuji
F10 a while ago, and was pleasantly surprised to find that an xD card
wasn't twice the price of other formats anymore; more like 10% higher -
and a lot less than a Sony memory stick. Still, I feel like I'm being
bent over the cash-register when I think about buying another.

I recently bought a Kodak P850 refurb from the kodak online store. 12x
zoom, IS, only 5.1mp, SD card, and 237k EVF - much better than the 110k
EVF on most competing brands. I'm quite pleased with it.

On Sat, 27 Jan 2007 11:54:26 +0000, David J Taylor wrote:

Paul D. Sullivan wrote:
[]
I wonder if ANY super-zooms are going to have a standard Optical
Viewfinder? I also wonder when they will get to 8 or 10
megapixels to make it worth the step up from my Oly C5050.

Unlikely, as the cost, size and weight of the viewfinder lens would be too
high.

The EVF is already a through-the-lens viewfinder, so can provide precise
framing and lack of parallax. All it needs is more resolution, and
Minolta have already shown that is possible with their VGA-resolution
finder for the Minolta A2.

David

You'll also find that Kodak's EVFs have 237k pixels whereas most others
have only 110k - it makes a huge difference.

In article , ray says...

I guess it's no problem at all if you don't mind paying twice as much for
every card you get - I do.

The CF card is of good quality, it's the card reader whose slot has a
twisted pin now.
--

Alfred Molon
------------------------------
Olympus 50X0, 7070, 8080, E300, E330, E400 and E500 forum at
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/MyOlympus/
Olympus E330 resource - http://myolympus.org/E330/

Sounds great. I hope you are very happy with it.

Is Kodak a good quality Digital Camera? I had been thinking top
tier like Nikon, Olympus, etc. and had not considered Kodak in
terms of cameras. Do they compare well?

I recently bought a Kodak P850 refurb from the kodak online
store. 12x zoom, IS, only 5.1mp, SD card, and 237k EVF - much
better than the 110k EVF on most competing brands. I'm quite
pleased with it.

Alfred Molon writes:

In article , says...
My needs are for a camera with wide angle (28mm) which I have with my
Olympus 5060 but missing a better zoom when I need to get further back! So
will keep an eye on it as the 7 megapixels is fine for my needs.

If you don't need live preview you could get an E400 with the double
lens kit. You'd cover the 28-300mm range and still have a very compact
package.

Except there is no image stabalization in the E-400, and you have to change
lenses.

--
Michael Meissner
email:
http://www.the-meissners.org

On Sat, 27 Jan 2007 21:48:16 +0000, Paul D. Sullivan wrote:

Sounds great. I hope you are very happy with it.

Is Kodak a good quality Digital Camera? I had been thinking top
tier like Nikon, Olympus, etc. and had not considered Kodak in
terms of cameras. Do they compare well?

YMMV - we've had two Kodak digital cameras, one Nikon and one Minolta. I
don't find a lot of fault with any of them. I think they are fine, some
folks seem to have a problem.



I recently bought a Kodak P850 refurb from the kodak online
store. 12x zoom, IS, only 5.1mp, SD card, and 237k EVF - much
better than the 110k EVF on most competing brands. I'm quite
pleased with it.