Olympus Stylus 550 WP 10MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom and 2.5-Inch LCD (Blue)

by Olympus

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5.5 x 2.5 inches ; 4.5 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B001P06Q0W
• Item model number: Stylus 550 Blue
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,370 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
  • #97 in Electronics > Camera & Photo > Underwater Photography > Cameras
• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 7, 2008

Product Description

Color: Blue

From the Manufacturer

Thanks to waterproofing technology adopted from Olympus’ Stylus Tough series cameras, the new 10-megapixel Stylus 550WP waterproof camera is optimized for those who want to take stunning images of their aquatic adventures, making it the perfect pool companion.

Olympus Stylus 550WP Highlights

Point-Dunk-and-Shoot Camera
The Stylus-550WP can go where other cameras fear to tread and can perform as well under water as it does on land because of its slim lightweight, aluminum exterior that is sealed from the elements by interior rubber gaskets and O-rings. The Stylus-550WP can be submerged up to 10 feet under water, and the inclusion of an underwater scene mode makes it ideal for taking photos while snorkeling, in the pool, or riding the waterslide.

Intelligent Auto Thinks for You
In or out of the water, you won’t miss the shot thanks to Intelligent Auto Mode. It automatically identifies what you are shooting (i.e. Portrait, Night + Portrait, Landscape, Macro and Sports) and adjusts the camera’s settings to capture the best quality results. First-time users can dive into this quick and hassle-free feature that does the thinking for them and produces incredible images.

Can’t Hide with Face Detection!
Portrait and group shots make family reunions live beyond the short event, and with Face Detection you’ll capture even the shyest relatives. The new camera detects up to three faces within the frame and automatically focuses and optimizes exposure to capture sharp, brilliant portraits and group shots. With the waterproof Stylus-550WP, you’ll capture amazing photos even if your next family reunion is at a water park!

Versatile Memory
All Olympus digital point-and-shoot cameras accept xD-Picture Card media. Starting with products available in August 2008, they also accept microSD memory cards to capture images. The Stylus-550WP offers the flexibility to use either xD-Picture Card or microSD memory cards, which is just one more advantage of Olympus point-and-shoot cameras.

Freeze that Splash with Digital Image Stabilization
The fast motion of moving sea life or paddling swimmers could easily cause blurry images. Digital Image Stabilization freezes the action with high ISO sensitivity and fast shutter speeds to help prevent blurry images often caused by a moving subject, resulting in crystal-clear snaps.

Perfect Fix In-Camera Editing
While it can’t remove the red from your eyes caused by too much chlorine in the water, the Stylus-550WP offers Red-Eye Fix as well as other in-camera editing features such as Shadow Adjustment Edit, resizing and cropping, so you can edit photos right in the camera. With the Perfect Fix function, multiple editing features can be applied at once, so what you see on the 2.5-inch LCD will look amazing when you show it to your friends in the hot tub.

Olympus Master 2 Software
Olympus Master 2 Software provides the ultimate in digital imaging management. An intuitive user interface makes downloading to your computer quick and simple, and images are easily organized by folders or albums and searchable by date in Calendar view. A direct link makes uploading your images and videos to YouTube easier than ever. Additionally, with one-click editing tools, such as red-eye removal, images can be touched up before printing or emailing. Online support, templates, firmware upgrades and other user services are just a mouse-click away. Use the optional muvee Theater Pack to create professional quality slide shows and DVDs from your pictures using any of several built-in templates. Additionally, create scrapbooks, greeting cards and other fun prints using the optional ArcSoft Print Creations plug-in.

What's in the Box
Wrist strap, camera WIN/Mac USB cable, audio/video cable, Lithium-Ion Battery (LI-42B) & Charger (LI-41C), MASD-1 (microSD Adapter), manual, warranty card and Olympus Master 2 software (CD-ROM)

Product Description

Dive in with the camera that goes anywhere. The waterproof, sporty STYLUS-550WP is one camera you wonâ?TMt need to handle with care. Itâ?TMs built to survive whatever you can dish out â?" the pool, the game, or even the beach. If you are the type that is always on the go, this camera can keep up.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not perfect, but not bad. You get what you pay for., June 29, 2009

By 

Nathan Gaude (Tennessee, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Olympus Stylus 550 WP 10MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom and 2.5-Inch LCD (Blue) (Electronics)

I bought this for an upcoming trip to take snorkeling, but first wanted to test it out. So I went to a pool party for a 4 year old, and gave the camera to my 6 year old neice and told her to do whatever she wanted with it. I posted 2 pics above for you to see. I figured it a good score just for still working after a 6 year old dropped it into the pool twice, and once even got a nice big scratch on the side, but still works great. The pics aren't perfect, a little washed out, but the only reason I bought this camera was to take it underwater, and the price. I'm sure if you spent more money for the canon it might take better pics, but these will do just fine for me. So if you are looking for a basic underwater camera that takes decent pics, more for photo albums than publishing, this camera is probably for you. The kids LOVED it, and if my 6 year old neice can work it underwater, everyone else should have no trouble.
The only Con I have is that the battery was almost completely drained after about an hour and a half underwater. Don't know if it uses up more power somehow underwater, but that is my only concern. Haven't tested it long enough to know if that is normal or not yet.

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very good, middle-of-the-road, versatile point & shoot camera, September 20, 2009

By 

W. C. White "Googlyelmo" (Seattle<=Arizona<=Brooklyn) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Olympus Stylus 550WP 10MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom and 2.5-inch LCD (Black) (Electronics)

This being the first digital camera I have owned, though I have used several extensively, the reader should bear in mind my limited frame of reference to other digital cameras. I am and have been for 35 years an avid film photographer. As digital photography has finally advanced to the level where a comparable finished photo can be taken with a camera affordable to non pros (or at least non-photogeeks!), I took the plunge.

The waterproof function was an afterthought in my case, though a welcome one. It has performed well in this regard. I mainly wanted not to worry or think about water and I haven't had to. The 550WP is not at all bothered by steady rain, splashes, and a dunk or two in streams, lakes, tubs, etc. Score one!

I am generally frustrated and critical of digital cameras (save DLSRs) for their automaticity. I have yet to see a model that allows manual and independent adjustment of shutter and aperture, so lets forget that here. The manual features available on the 550WP took a while to get used to (white balance, shot-by-shot ISO/ASA, exposure compensation, flash mode, etc.), but give predictable and useful results, if with less fine control than I would like. Again, apparently a very common if not universal attribute of point and shoot digital cameras.

Finished image quality, without further editing or processing is excellent, and I found none of the issues with grain, washed out images in bright light, shadows, or poor low light non-flash images. The one qualification I have here is also a bit of a compliment: flash shots, indoor and out are generally excellent, without much if any harsh reflection washing out, or other defects. Remarkably and easily so, such that I found it very easy to get very good shots, especially indoors (where reflection and overlighting are the most problem). My old Olympus and Canon film slrs, circa 1990 and 1994 are must more complicated to yield such flash shots. Where this is a criticsm is that there is a gap (how many lumens/lux I don't know, haven't had a seperate light meter in ages) between the light level where flash is neccesary and where not so. The camera, if allowed to, defaults to using the flash, if at low instensity, where if aperture, shutter, and ISO were truly and independently adjustable by the user, the picture would be well lit, and more naturalistic than any flash photo ever could be. But as above, the flash is remarkably unobtrusive and yields uniform lighting. Outdoors the flash shots are good also, and in all cases the flash is both ample, and finessed, by which I mean the flash does not simply ignite, nor simply alter the synchronization between flash and shutter, but flashes before, during, (seemingly) after the shutter, in pulses of varying intensity/width, which clearly alter according to lighting conditions and other factors. Good photos all around.

The various modes and settings seem intimidating even to an old shutterbug like me. In the end it took less than a week to master basic functions of what, where, and when. And again, these are all mostly comparable to other models/makes. My criticisms seem all to level at digital cameras in general (save DSLRs), rather than this model: lack of manual modes, inadequate audio or other feedback on shutter release, slowness of "winding"(it takes a second or two after a shot before the camera is ready even to begin composing again), and the lack of an optical viewfinder (the LCD is nice for review, but a real viewfinder is much easy and faster, things being equal, to frame and set shots).

I should say that I have fairly extensive experience using Photoshop (and earlier, more primitive photo editing software), going back to the early 1990's well before digital cameras were either affordable or of a quality that could then even compete with an Instamatic or Polaroid. That said, for purposes of retouching, color correction, or other processing to produce a finished straight photograph, the Stylus 550-WP largely shoots and prints without *any* need for post-camera work (effects for artistic and dramatic reasons are another matter). I count this as a big deal, since the early digital cameras I used around 2001 were not just lower resolution (MP rating is the most oversold spec besides), but full of defects: bad color, 'noise' and other digital artifacts, over-under exposure, distortion, et al. This model is mercifully free of virtually all of these. All of the criticisms in other reveiws of this model I have read, that weren't based on irrationalities, seem to me to be expecting images typical of a camera with a street price of OVER $500, rather than this model, in the $140-170 range.

As an experienced photographer making a beginning at digital photography, I can recommend this camera and a very good model for people like me and for others wanting a solid, basic model that produces excellent prints (I do print, a lot, and the final determiner of what is a good photo should be held as such an object rather than an image on a computer screen, no matter what the resolution; no display commonly available for under $5000 can display at full resolution a 10 megapixel image anyway). The addition of video w/ audio (I know, that is most models now), and a number of fine details of design and finish make this camera a great package for me. (I don't think I'll ever get over being able to shoot away with no concern about the cost of film or processing! You'd think there would be a real surge of nascent Annie Leibovitzs and Alfred Steiglitzs out there with all the practice this technology allows, but so far I don't see it. . .) A good buy, good optics,solidly built, dependable, from an exteemed camera company, with the limitations and caveats mentioned.

88 of 102 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Tested at the store... Disappointed., March 24, 2009

By 

whoareyou (SoCal) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Olympus Stylus 550WP 10MP Waterproof Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom and 2.5-inch LCD (Black) (Electronics)

I very recently bought the new Fuji Z33 WP camera, but since I am unhappy with the high levels of image noise, I will be returning it and looking for a replacement. The other top camera on my list was the Olympus 550WP. I went to a major electronics store yesterday and had the opportunity to play with the 550WP. The salesman even let me put my microSD card into the camera to save some test shots to view on my computer at home.

The image quality does not make me excited to buy this camera. The pictures show a significant amount of noise, even when I forced the ISO down to 100. Every shot without a flash looks pale and slightly hazy. With a flash, the image quality improved, but there is still an unreasonable amount of image noise. The best shots were taken of objects about 10 feet away. This was a good distance to prevent the flash from washing out the subject, but still providing an adequate amount of light to get a decent picture. Even those shots seemed to lack sharpness. They were OK, but I guess I expected more. I understand that there are trade-offs in image quality when buying a waterproof camera, but I had hoped that they wouldn't be this bad.

Besides image quality, my only other complaint was the couple of seconds delay between shots. The screen goes blank, so you can't even compose your next shot while you wait. The noticible delay upon startup and between shots was a deal-breaker for me when deciding if the image quality was acceptable.

On a positive note, the size and shape of the camera is pleasing and it feels well-built and sturdy. It is not too heavy, and I didn't feel like I needed to be overly protective of it. It's not ultra-thin, but it could easily fit into a pocket. Also, I really liked the menu graphics. The menu structure seems very similar to that of the Olympus weatherproof cameras from the last couple of years, but the icons on the 550WP are in color and are much brighter. This may seem trivial, but it definitely makes for a flashier interface than the couple of models just prior to the 550WP. I also tried out the Tough Series 8000 and noticed that it shares the very cool, updated menu graphics with the 550WP.

I wanted to like this camera and it was my top choice to replace the Fuji Z33, but I was not satisfied enough with the test shots I took to spend my money on it. The slightly older and mixed-reviewed Olympus 850SW that I tested on the same visit responded much more quickly on startup, on auto-focusing, and in recovering between shots. It felt fast in all areas and the pictures were much better than the Oly 550WP and the Fuji Z33 WP. The image quality on the 850SW wasn't perfect either, but I was much more excited about its performance than the two newer cameras. Since it has been out for a little longer than the 550WP and Z33, the 850SW can be found for a similar price. Without spending the extra $100 to step up to the next level of image quality and performance, I think my money is going to the Oly 850SW instead of the Oly 550WP or the Fuji Z33.

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