Olympus 550WP

Olympus 550WP is Olympus's Small Sensor Compact camera first announced on January of 2009. The camera features a 10MP, CCD 1/2.3" sized sensor and has a max resolution of 3648 x 2736. It is also known as "mju 550WP" in other countries.

The 550WP is rated #245 out of 261 in Small Sensor Compact cameras and over all #1237 out of 1465 for digital cameras in our collection. You should look at our Advanced camera search to get camera ratings based on your customized requirements.

Here is a chart of different factors used in the rating system.

You can check the 550WP from various angles in the gallery here.

Below is a list of pluses and minuses of the Olympus 550WP based on things which are oftentimes considered essential in a camera.

The sensor measurement on the Olympus 550WP is 6.08mm x 4.56mm (1/2.3"). The 28 mm² sensor can capture 3648 x 2736 pixels and aspect ratios of 16:9, 4:3 and 3:2. The camera boasts Image Stabilization (Digital). Sensor stabilization is preferable than digital stabilization since the latter can easily cause cropping.

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The CCD sensor boasts 10 megapixels and includes a native ISO range of 64 to 1600. Sadly, RAW files are not saved therefore the user has less margin for error.

The image underneath shows the 550WP's sensor dimensions compared to other common sizes. The 550WP sensor comes with a crop factor of 5.9 and is outlined in green.

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To get a sense of various aspect ratios, you should refer to the visual below.

Olympus 550WP weighs about 0.37 pounds (167g / 5.89 oz) and the volume of the camera is 94mm x 62mm x 22mm (3.7" x 2.4" x 0.9"). The weight of typical Small Sensor Compact camera is 174g and the Olympus 550WP is very much the same in comparison with its rivals.

Photography Glossary

Here is a image of the Olympus 550WP with a softdrink to help you to have a sense of its scale.

The top view just below will highlight the button layout on the 550WP.

The 550WP provides an inbuilt lens and it has a focal range of 38-114mm making it a 3.0 x zoom which is not at all significant nevertheless it is likely to be invaluable in a few conditions.

At the widest 38mm, it will have an aperture of f3.5 and that's fairly slow and not very good in low light situations and you might struggle to capture a shallow depth of field. You would also need to raise the ISO leading to noisy photographs. On the tele end, 114mm comes to f5.0 which is quite slow and you may need to apply slow shutter speeds.

The 550WP has the following connectivity:

• USB Yes

Digital cameras which include NFC and Bluetooth compatibility can easily be controlled wirelessly via smartphones. You will be able to copy photos and oftentimes change settings with no need to connect directly to the camera.

Several applications even give a Liveview and hit the shutter when you are not near the camera. If the camera includes a HDMI out, it could be connected to an external display. Most cameras enable you to recharge the battery pack using the USB socket.

The max video quality on the Olympus 550WP is 640 x 480 and it can shoot in Motion JPEG format. 480p is low by today's standards. You should really strive for at least 1080p quality for decent video. The camera does not have a mic and headphone jack which means that you have got little control over your audio. It is perhaps a better idea to purchase a different model should you require better audio in your video clips.

Olympus 550WP features weather proofing making it a good option to use in tricky environments. This can be especially useful if you are uncertain about the conditions you might face in outdoor photography.

The Olympus 550WP features a 2.5 inch fixed display supporting a resolution of 230 thousand dots.

Please note that the display screen offers no touch support.

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The ViewFinder specifications regarding Olympus 550WP are below:

• ViewFinder None

Viewfinders are really useful in sunny outdoor conditions which may make the camera display washed out and very difficult to view.

The maximum shutter speed is 1/1000 sec.

Olympus 550WP boasts only inbuilt flash with missing external flash support.

Olympus 550WP boasts just Contrast Detect AF and does not have Phase Detect AF. Phase Detection focusing is a lot more snappier & exact in comparison with Contrast Detect focusing.

Olympus 550WP has not got manual focus. Manual focus can be useful in low light situations or you want more precise depth of field control.

The usual Small Sensor Compact camera battery life is 241. Fujifilm X30 comes with the maximum (470) battery life in this category of cameras.

Here is a listing of Small Sensor Compact cameras having the highest battery life:

The following illustration presents a summary of the Olympus 550WP for different categories of photography. To look at more, browse to the specific section underneath.

The Olympus 550WP gets a rating of 19 which is low, meaning that it is not really good for portrait photography. Photographing portrait photos leans heavily to sensor dimension, RAW support plus the ability to utilize external lighting.

With a above average points total of 61, the Olympus 550WP is a good pick to buy for street photography. A decent street photography camera comes with a perfect balance of image quality and portability.

A low sports photography points total of 30 indicates the Olympus 550WP is not really good for taking pictures of sports. A camera needs excellent tracking and fast continuous shooting for sports photography.

Size is super critical in getting a camera for travel. On the whole, the Olympus 550WP gets a moderate 55 for a travel camera which makes it fairly suited for your journeys.

When you are looking to purchase a digital camera for landscape photographs, the most significant factor will be image quality. The Olympus 550WP and it's low grade of 30 as a landscape camera is not really good compared to it's competitors.

A camera for vlogging should come with a articulating display screen, microphone port and if possible image stabilization. Considering every thing, the Olympus 550WP is not really good for vlogging as it comes to a low score of 25.

If you want alternatives to the 550WP, here is a number of the top rated cameras which fall under the category of Small Sensor Compact.

The diagram listed below will give you an overview of the 550WP compared to it's top ranking rivals listed previously.

Here are a few more cameras you might look at as alternative options. To see a detailed comparison, simply click on the "compare" link.