Sony W550

Sony W550 is Sony's Ultracompact camera initially released on July of 2011. It houses a 14 MegaPixel, CCD 1/2.3" sized sensor and has a maximum resolution of 4320 x 3240.

The W550 is placed #58 out of 151 in Ultracompact cameras and all round #992 out of 1465 for cameras in our database. Remember to look at our Advanced camera search to find camera ratings based on your custom factors.

The following is a diagram of multiple criteria used in the scoring system.

The Sony W550 comes with a history of related cameras. Listed below, you can discover all earlier and new models along with key specs.

You can check the W550 from different angles in the gallery here.

Below is a list of advantages and disadvantages of the Sony W550 based on things which are generally viewed as essential in a camera.

The Sony W550 is powered by the BIONZ chip. The sensor dimension in the Sony W550 is 6.17mm x 4.55mm (1/2.3"). The 28 mm² sensor has the ability to resolve 4320 x 3240 pixels and aspect ratios of 4:3 and 16:9. The camera has got Image Stabilization (Optical). Sensor stabilization is superior than digital stabilization as the latter may lead to cropping.

Photography Glossary

The CCD sensor boasts 14 megapixels and delivers a native ISO range of 80 - 3200. Unfortunately, RAW format is not saved which means that the user has less margin for error.

The picture underneath illustrates the W550's sensor dimensions when compared to other common sizes. The W550 sensor comes with a crop factor of 5.8 and is shown in green.

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

Sony W550 weighs around 0.24 lb (110 grams or 3.88 oz) and the volume of the camera is 94mm x 56mm x 19mm (3.7" x 2.2" x 0.7"). The weight of normal Ultracompact camera is 121 grams so the Sony W550 is on par when compared to various rivals.

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Down below is a shot of the Sony W550 beside a softdrink to help you have a sense of its scale.

The top view just below will provide the button layout on the W550.

The W550 provides a fixed lens and it has a focal range of 26-104mm making it a 4.0 x zoom which won't be significant however it can be invaluable in certain scenarios.

At the widest 26mm, the lens provides an aperture of f2.7 which is very slow and not the best in low light situations and you will probably find it hard to capture good bokeh. You could also have to raise the ISO setting leading to noisy pictures. With the tele end, 104mm comes at f5.7 which is pretty slow and you will need to go with slow shutter speeds.

The W550 has the following connectivity:

• USB Yes
• HDMI Yes

Cameras with NFC and Bluetooth support can easily be used wirelessly through smartphones. You will be able to transfer photos and in some cases change camera settings with no need to connect straight to the camera.

Certain applications even provide a Liveview and click the shutter in case you aren't near the camera. If the camera features a HDMI out, it could be attached to an external monitor. Most cameras enable you to recharge the battery through the USB socket.

The maximum video resolution in the Sony W550 is 1280 x 720 and it can shoot in MPEG-4 format. 720p is low by today's standards. You should target at least 1080p resolution for video recording. The camera doesn't feature a mic and headphone port which means you get little control over your audio. It is perhaps best to shop for another model should you want better audio in your video clips.

There is no weather sealing for the Sony W550 so you need to be cautious in wet or dusty situations.

The Sony W550 is equipped with a 3" fixed display supporting a resolution of 230k dots.

Please note that the display screen offers no touch support.

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The View Finder specs regarding Sony W550 are as follows:

• ViewFinder None

In those sunny outdoor situations which make the camera screens washed out and tricky to view, viewfinders will be quite useful.

Sony W550 continuous shooting rate is 1.0 frames per second. The max shutter speed is 1/1600 seconds.

Sony W550 has got only in-built flash without external flash ability.

Sony W550 has got just Contrast Detect Autofocus and is missing Phase Detect Autofocus. Phase Detection focusing is more faster and accurate in comparison with Contrast Detect focusing.

The AF system supports 9 focus points to choose from. Sony W550 does not have manual focus. Manual focus mode is useful during low light situations or you need more exact focus control.

The general Ultracompact camera battery life is 214. Nikon L32 features the highest possible (320) battery life within this range of cameras.

Listed below is a listing of Ultracompact cameras which have the highest battery life:

ModelVisualizeBattery LifeRAWNFCBluetooth

Nikon L32
W550 vs L32320 nonono

Olympus TG-870
W550 vs TG-870300 nonono

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Panasonic FP5
W550 vs FP5260 nonono

Sony TX20
W550 vs TX20250 nonono

Sony TX55
W550 vs TX55250 nonono

The following bar chart gives a analysis of the Sony W550 for specific types of photography. To look at more, have a look at the specific section underneath.

The Sony W550 has a points tally of 28 which is really bad, meaning that it is not good to use for portrait photography. Photographing portrait images favors heavily to sensor resolution, RAW support plus the potential to utilize external lighting.

Coming in at a reasonable score of 57, the Sony W550 is fairly acceptable for street photography. A very good street photography camera provides a fine balance of image quality and portability.

A really bad sports photography points total of 35 suggests the Sony W550 is not good for photographing sports. A camera should have very good autofocus and fast continuous shooting for sports photography.

Size is very critical when buying a travel camera. On the whole, the Sony W550 gets a above average 65 as a travel camera which is a very decent fit to purchase for your vacations.

In case you're planning to purchase a digital camera for landscape photos, the most important factor is going to be image quality. The Sony W550 at it's really bad score of 42 for a landscape camera is not good within the current marketplace.

A vlogging camera preferably should posses a moving display, mic input and ideally IBIS. Considering every thing, the Sony W550 is not good as a vlog camera as it delivers a really bad rating of 29.

If you need replacements to the W550, below is a selection of the top scored cameras which fall within the category of Ultracompact.

The chart underneath gives you an overview of the W550 compared to it's highest scoring rivals mentioned previously.

Following are several cameras you might take into account as alternate options. To read a thorough comparison, simply click on the "compare" link.