Olympus SZ-12 14.0 Megapixel Advanced Compact Reviews Roundup
On January 9 2012, Olympus announced the full-featured, slim and sleek SZ-12 (aka SZ-14 in Europe, Australia and Japan), a compact 24x SuperZoom camera. The SZ-12 comes with a 24x optical wide-angle zoom f3.0 - f6.9 lens (25-600mm equivalent) and two forms of image stabilization to help deliver the clearest results possible. The SZ-12 also comes with 3-inch LCD with 460,000 dots, High-speed, 7 frames-per-second sequential shooting and 10 Magic Art Filters with a whole range of special effects to apply to your images directly in the camera. The Olympus SZ-12 offers the new Reflection magic filter takes the image and duplicates it across a horizontal or vertical plane of symmetry creating powerful illusions. The Olympus SZ-12 is listed for $199.99 in silver, black and red colors.Olympus SZ-12 Camera Reviews Roundup
| Steve's Digicam: "Overall, the SZ-12 produced accurate exposures most of the time. For example, even when taking pictures on a bright sunny day with clouds casting dark shadows, the camera tended to adjust well to the high contrast. The exception was the previously mentioned reddish cast on faces. However, shooting indoors without the flash was disappointing. In iAuto mode without flash, the camera shot at ISO 400 and often cap..." - Jul 12 2012 More » | |
| CNET AU: "The SZ-14 is not going to set the world alight with its image quality, but it's perfectly serviceable for snapshots and photos for sharing to the web. Image quality does start to deteriorate at ISO 200 and above, with visible over-processing. The SZ-14 has a maximum sensitivity rating of 1600, but at this stage there's a lot of smearing present that recovering much detail, even with noise-removal software, is tricky..." - Apr 18 2012 More » | |
| ePhotoZine: "The SZ-14 takes pictures with decent colour reproduction that are well exposed. When viewing the images full size details lacks in shadows and highlights with clear softening in the corners and purple fringing appearing occasionally. With a minimum focusing distance of 3cm the camera is capable of taking an impressive close-up shot. Noise doesn't affect image quality at the lower ISO levels of 80 and 100. ISO 200 se..." - Mar 07 2012 More » | |
| CNET UK: "The SZ-14 did a better job than its cheaper sibling, the VG-170, in capturing detail throughout my tests. This shot of a seafront cafe is generally good, with low levels of noise in the railings that encroach from the edge of the image. The sky is vivid and there's fine detail in both the flag and the blinds at the windows. The SZ-14's colour recognition was good throughout my tests, with the results in each ca..." - Feb 24 2012 More » |
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User Review of the camera - Olympus SZ-12
easy to use, Kim
I love the small size, easy to use and lots of features. Still have to read up on some of the great things it can do.
Beyond Expectations!, Rebecca Hayes
I'm no professional photographer, but I've had a digital camera before. Our last camera was a Kodak Easy-Share, and it was a reconditioned model. We wore it out. The photos were grainy, it had no zoom, and even outdoor pics in broad daylight left a lot to be desired.
The Olympus SZ-12 is a huge improvement. The lens is large enough and wide enough to let in plenty of light, even for indoor shots with no flash. If daylight is coming in from windows, you will have great natural lighting. Be advised that the flash doesn't automatically come on in low light -- you have to flip it up manually. The focus is crystal clear. If the object of the shot is in motion, there will be some blur, but not much (like a dog wagging its tail), if the CAMERA moves during the shot, however, you will need to retake the shot.
The zoom feature works beautifully. Pictures that used to show mountains barely there, far away on the horizon, now show up-close details of shrubbery, trees, and even grasses. We haven't tried the pan shot or video features yet, but we sure are pleased with what we've done so far.
The time between pressing the button and the picture being taken is a fraction of a second, but the delay between taking the picture and being ready for the next shot is about 3 seconds. For us, that's not a huge deal, but for a devoted hobbyist photographer -- or a pro -- this would be a bad thing.
The battery charged in less than 2 hours, and we got an 8 GB Sandisk memory card for it at Walmart. The more megapixels you use, the fewer shots you can take. The camera comes with a default setting at 14 MP, and we used up the onboard memory within 12 photos. When I reduced it to 3 MP, we suddenly had lots more room! With the camera set at 3 MP and the memory card in place, we can take over 9,000 pictures!!
So, if you aren't a pro or devoted hobbyist and just want a really good camera for taking pics of the things you love, this is a great little work-horse. The vendor was terrific, though since we live in a remote location, delivery was delayed over a weekend. Our camera is new, not reconditioned, and we love it. We found it to be very intuitive to figure out how things work, and a quick reading of the manual (print or CD) will fill in the details.
The features and capabilities of this little camera out-strip anything put out by any other digital camera maker, IMHO. After reading about Nikon, Canon, Kodak, Sony, and Panasonic, this one had the best of what we wanted for the price we could afford. We were not disappointed.
menu does not work, hl1975
I ordered this camera planning to use it on a future trip. It looked intimidating and decided to just return it and make do with my iphone camera so I requested a refund several months after purchasing it on amazon but it was past the return date so I had to live with it and figure out how it worked. I took it on vacation only to find out the menu on the camera didn't work. Since I purchased on amazon, it came with no warranty. The seller would not give me a refund because I didn't return it within 2 weeks of purchase and neither would Amazon. Do yourselves a favor and don't purchase anything without a warranty!
Love this!, Dmariesweet
This camera is awesome!!!! The zoom on this thing is amazing!! I have pics of a lady bug that are so close and detailed you can see the pollen on her body! I took a pic of a butterfly and zoomed in so close you could see her tongue licking the flowers! So so awesome!!! I have this exact camera at my job as well to take pics for awards, retirements, etc.
Only downside is the battery runs dead quick!
Olympus SZ-12 14 MP Digital camera, Anncha Briggs
I have a feeling I will like it once I get used to all the different settings. The battery, however, is not as long
lasting as I had hoped. My older Olympus was much better in that respect. I still use my old camera as a
backup so it is a little too soon to give a fair product review.
Good camera., unclee0518
It is a very good camera. The 24x zoom is definitely a help. I am still learning all of its aspects but it seems like it will serve my needs well.
Good, not perfect, Paul S. Wright
Love the 24x wide angle zoom. the image stabilization is adequate. Size is convenient. There is some software glitch that causes it to freeze periodically. the viewscreen is still active, so you can't tell it is frozen until you try to change something or shoot a picture. Pop the battery out to reboot it. All is well.
camera, beth messner
I was looking for a small digital to carry around easier than my slr. Size is great. Although I have not used the camera much yet, I am traveling soon and look forward to testing it.
Don't expect this camera to "wow" you, BDE
I was looking for a simple point and shoot camera with high megapixels and long zoom. I don't know anything about all the "special" features on this or any other digital camera. As with all my digital cameras I've owned in the past, I simply put the camera in "auto" mode and set it to the highest megapixel and go from there. I've had this camera a little over three months and needless to say, I'm not impressed. Probably about 1/3 (86 out of 269 to be exact) of the pictures taken are blurry and/or grainy and not suitable for print. As I'm taking the pictures, they look great on the camera's LCD display. However, once I uploaded them to my computer, I noticed the poor quality. The majority of the bad pictures were indoor shots (with flash). This camera performs a little better outdoors. Every once in a while, I used the "action" feature of this camera to photograph the kids playing sports - nothing spectacular here except lots of blurry images. Again, this is approximately 1/3 of the pictures, The other 2/3 are good to go. Nothing spectacular, though, just good enough to view on a digital photo frame.
I've only owned two other digital cameras (HP 4.1mp, 3x zoom and Kodak 8.0mp, 5x zoom). Using those as a benchmark, this is not much of an improvement. Yes, the zoom is longer (24X vs 5X) but you have to hold the camera rock steady to get a clear picture. I've tried taking a picture at 24x optical zoom, but the image was grainy. I can't notice a difference between 8mp or 14mp on my 10 inch digital photo frame. Guess if I ever wanted to print a large picture the 14mp will come in handy.
To sum up, the basic function of this camera (point and shoot) is no better than my seven year old Kodak. I'm sure the advanced features are better than the Kodak, but I will never use 'em. Again, I'm a novice photographer at best. My main use for this (or any) camera is to simply point and shoot. My Kodak was inconsistent. Most pictures were good, some were bad. Thus, I decided it was time to "upgrade". I was hoping with the Olympus brand and 14mp I would get more consistency with the quality of the photographs - nope - it's about the same.
Olympus SZ 12 digital camera, Real Guilbault
For the few times that I used the camera, I was quite pleased with. I still have to play with it to understand all the facets of this camera. With time and practice I will be able to upgrade or downgrade my comments.
Not a very good camera!, Coach lover
Purchased this because of the long zoom, I was sadly disappointed. I do have another Olympus which my husband hates but it is waterproof and that is why I bought it and I could not return it. This camera took horrible pictures that were pix-elated. The zoom pictures were even worse. I do not recommend this camera when there are others small cameras out there with long zooms. I replaced it with the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX30V, now this is one heck of a camera. Don't waste your time or money on this Olympus camera. Even with my other Olympus, I get crappy pix-elated pictures most of the time.
amazing zoom, easy menu, bit bulky - happy buyer, merlin "merlin"
For a hundred and fifty bucks (Jan2013), it's a good deal for a camera with 24x zoom. The zoom has a soft grinding sound when zooming in or out, but not irritating unless you're recording a symphony orchestra. Has 29 minutes limit for recording any video at the max HD, unless you go for lower resolution for longer recording. Audio recording is quite loud enough for conversation in a 20x20 room.
The panorama feature is easy. It provides a small star icon on the sides of each shot and you pan camera to link new shot to the previous star. But the final output of a panorama shot is smaller than a normal shot; so enlargement is quite limited. E.g. when taking 3 panorama shots, you are compressing 3 pictures into one.
The latch on door to battery/SD card compartment underneath is tiny, using finger nail to open/shut. Be careful not to inadvertently open it.
Photos are sharp when my hands don't shake too much. Colors are true to life. Conclusion, unless using a tripod, when using zoom, the steadier your hands, the sharper the photos. The greater you zoom in, the more vulnerable you are to shaky videos.
Best Camera I ever bought., Book Author Tabitha R. Pike "tabithapike dot net"
My sister bought one of these cameras and I simply fell in love with all the features and had to buy me one. I love the sleek red, which is my favorite color of course but that is not all. I love the HD video recording features and the picture quality. I have owned a lot of cameras in my time but I have never owned one I loved as much as this one. It has an automatic beauty enhancer built in, sparkle, and so many other functions. I enjoy not having to upload my pics then edit them. The pictures automatically look great. I would say, If you are buying a camera, you wont regret buying this one. It is perfect for every thing. It has functions, for snow, pets, sports, night time portraits, plus hundreds more.
Great value, Nota Bene
You'll spend hundreds of more dollars to match the features of the Olympus SZ-12. While you can point and shoot in full automatic mode this camera has many optional features that will prepare you for your dSLR when the time comes. Before you buy another camera compare the specifications. Nothing matches the SZ-12 in its price range. Get ready to have fun!
Quite a disappointment, cnyadan
I'm a daily camera user, and I got this on special to replace a Canon camera with similar specs because the Canon's flash no longer works. Unfortunately, 3 months later, I'm back to using the Canon more often than this camera.
Now, the SZ-12 does do decently outside, both in daytime and at night. However, I was looking for a camera that would take nice pictures indoors as well, particularly of kids (who don't stay still to pose).
In any case, for a long time, I just thought I was missing something, and over the last couple of months, I have been through all sorts of settings, and nothing seems to help much. I am already now looking for something to replace this one.
Right away, I noticed that the camera almost sounded like it was grinding inside to adjust the zoom. I looked this up, and supposedly this is "normal". The other thing that I noticed right off is that although the file sizes are 80% larger than my Canon (also 14mp) it is a lot less sharp, and if one needs to shrink the file size, say for email, the picture starts looking pixellated right away. Even with my 5.1mp camera, I never had that happen so badly.
The flash on this camera is too bright - if you take pictures inside, it makes it look like the whole room - except for what the flash hits - is a dungeon. The flash then is too bright on the subject. It's so uneven, that if one uses the camera vertically, it's noticeable as to what side of the subject the flash was on. Also, any picture on a subject that is less than half a room away will look washed out. I think I've gotten severe red-eye on every single picture I've taken with this camera of people indoors, even with the "red eye" function, which itself is a joke. The red-eye function, instead of being a red light that flashes along with the flash, ends up being some sort of "pre-flash" - if you can imagine, kind of a "fluttering" light, then a pause of about a second, then the "real" flash. So, forget trying to get pictures of kids with this (even if it would work), because they don't sit around just to have pictures taken. (Hence, blurry & unfocused pictures.)
The focus on this thing is horrible. I take pictures, look on the screen, many look lovely, then later, I get them on the computer, and they are really grainy and often nothing is focused very well. I've taken pictures at three occasions so far involving birthday cake, and every single one of those pictures looked horrible - so much so that I could tell on the screen - and no setting seems to be able to rectify this. Many times, this camera makes solid color walls look kind of like those old 1970's shag rugs, which were made up of fibers of many different shades of a color.
I contacted Olympus about the camera, and after explaining the problem, and sending them examples, they said I could send the camera in for "evaluation". Well, it turns out that I probably no longer have the receipt, and so it seems that I have absolutely no recourse here. I can guarantee you, though, I will never be buying an Olympus product again.
I like it, Bea
I was very excited, came on time ...great little camera that's all I needed it. Will recommend to a friend.
pictures, garret hecker
Got my camera in reasonable time and it works great. It was a good price as well. I enjoy the zoom ability of it.
Fabulous!, Coco the Koi
I bought this as a Christmas present and the person who got it loves it. Especially the rechargeable battery aspect of it!
Great camera!, T. Hein "TAGS Fan"
This is a nice camera with great features including the fantastic zoom! I wish it would have come with a manual, so I haven't figured out all the features yet but it seems to be working well. I just took it on a cruise and the photos were beautiful!
Not too impressed by the pictures this takes, W. Wilson
I have a DSLR, but wanted a super zoom that I could throw in my pocket to take random candids with. I landed on this after a fair amount of review reading, but I really haven't been impressed with the quality of the pictures from this. I'm not sure that it's really much worse than any other average point-n-shoot camera, but it's definitely blown away by my low-mid range DSLR. I'll keep it around, but if I had a time machine I'd probably tell myself just to lug the DSLR around instead of buying this thing. I guess this review is as close to a time machine as I can get, so if you actually want good pictures, use a DSLR.