Olympus 16 Megapixels SP-620UZ 21x SuperZoom Review by StevesDigicam

On January 9 2012, Olympus announced the SP-620UZ 21x (25-525mm equivalent) SuperZoom camera. The 620UZ comes with 16 Megapixels CCD image sensor, Multi-Motion Movie Image Stabilization, which minimizes camera shake when the user is moving and Dual Image Stabilization allowing you to record crisp and clear stills and HD videos. 

In addition to shooting wide-angle shots, expansive panoramas and macro close-ups, the Olympus SP-620UZ also comes with a host of in-camera Magic Art Filters enables you to apply spectacular effects to stills and in video mode. The Beauty Make-up mode will let you apply everything from eyeliner to eye shadow and rouge. You can even lift cheekbones and morph your subjects into cover-models. With 3D image capture, the Olympus SP-620UZ combines two photos of the same subject from different angles to generate dynamic 3D images that can be viewed on a 3D-compatible monitor or television. The SP-620UZ is listed for $199.99 in silver and black colors. Here's the summary of review by Steve's Digicam:

"A typical problem with powerful zoom lenses is what you get at the wide and telephoto ends of the zoom - often some form of distortion or vignetting. To the camera's credit, I found that when zoomed in to 525mm in bright sunlight, I got a usable shot, although the edges of my subjects looked a little soft. In addition, even when my subjects were backlit, the camera adjusted the exposure nicely so that their faces were well exposed, though digital noise was evident in shadow areas. At the other end of the spectrum, distortion and noise is evident at the edges when shooting at 25mm. You can see this in one particular landscape shot on the samples page (P6240103) - the edges of the horizon are blurry at the edges, and the grass in the foreground shows blurring and possible chroma distortion. As for exposure accuracy, the SP-620UZ performed well. Exposures tended to be accurate more often than not, even when dealing with the difficulty of high contrast on a sunny day with clouds casting dense shadows. Where the camera was most troublesome was indoors without using the flash. Using the iAuto mode without flash in low indoor light often produced blurry photos, which the camera shot at ISO 400. To combat this, the camera does allow you to bump up the light sensitivity to ISO 1600. There is also a high ISO setting; when using this the camera can use an aperture as wide as f3.0 (wide) to help capture a sharp shot. With higher ISO settings, however, comes digital noise, which you can see in the series of images on the samples page using ISO 80 - ISO 1600. Of course, you can always use the flash, which you simply flip up on its hinge. There is no flash pop-up button, nor does the flash spring up automatically. You have to lift the flash, and once you do, the flash icon on the LCD changes from "no flash" to the selected setting: off, auto, redeye, or fill-in. At first this struck me as basic and unsophisticated, but not having to search for a flash pop-up button really is a convenience. 

Movie quality is good for a bargain camera. The SP-620UZ captures 720p video, and has an HDMI port for playing it on a TV (HDMI cable not included). On the plus side, the autofocus readjusts to lock on to your subject. However, on the downside you can't use the zoom while recording video; you have to preset the desired focal length before you press the movie record button. Bottom line - The SP-620UZ performs well for a sub-$200 camera, and offers a powerful lens for a reasonable price. Despite its sophisticated appearance, it is a basic camera and does not offer quick focus, fast continuous shooting at full resolution, or a beautiful LCD. But if a powerful lens is all you need, you'll have fun going zoom zoom zoom."

need it, Carlton B Wagoner - May 09 2013
wish it had a rechargeable battery but still a good price for the camera and I look forward to using it...

great, ang - Apr 13 2013
very good for the price. you cannot buy anything better then the olympus digital camera. the price that i paid was 99 dollars....

Best Camera for under $200 !, AmericanPatrick - Apr 13 2013
I bought this on a link through Amazon as they had just run out. The link got me to Robert's Camera in Indy, they had 2 left at only a crazy low after Christmas price($120). Some of the reviews in here are way off the mark. If you want a perfect camera then move up in the dollar amount & stop complaining ! The market has hundreds of cameras that will do a better job from $399 to w...

Good value for money, M. C. Agbara - Apr 12 2013
Bought thsi as a birthday preent to myself and I am very pleased with it. It was very good value for money and i've taken some amazing shots with it. Not necessarily a SLR but still very good...