A great price for a 24x zoom, but let down by its
noisy sensor and slow processor.
The 24x zoom in the Olympus SZ-15 is the biggest available
from a pocket-sized camera. It’s a little chunky at 40mm from the front of the
lens to the screen, but this gives room for a handgrip that allows comfortable
one-handed operation.
Olympus Stylus
SZ-15
There’s no dial or rear wheel, which slows down access to
controls, but there isn’t a huge number anyway; this is a camera that will
spend most of its time in fully automatic mode.
There’s nothing wrong with simple controls, but the SZ-15’s
poor performance is harder to forgive. Autofocus was slow, taking over half a
second between pressing the shutter button and capturing a shot. Photos took
about a second to appear on the screen after capture. The net result was that
it took 2.8 seconds between shots, and slowed even further to 4.6 seconds after
capturing four photos. Continuous mode wasn’t much better, either, lumbering
along at 0.4fps.
Autofocus was slow
Shooting in bright light, these 16-megapixel photos looked
good close up, too. Details were precise, and while focus deteriorated a little
at the long end of the zoom, this was compensated for by the extra range of
this 25-600mm (equivalent) lens compared to rivals that max out at between 480
and 550mm.
The lens excelled at macro photography, too. While other
cameras’ macro modes only work at the widest zoom position, the SZ-15 has a
Super Macro mode that zooms in a little and still focuses on subjects 3cm away.
It can also focus on subjects 40cm away when zoomed right in, capturing
subjects 5cm wide; others are limited to between one and two meters for
Tele-macro photography.
The lens excelled
at macro photography
Using the full zoom extension in anything other than direct
sunlight made the camera raise the ISO speed to avoid shake. Even modest ISO
speeds of 200 and up resulted in noise reduction that replaced fine textures
with smudges. By ISO 400, details looked scruffy. As a result, the SZ-15 took
last place in the majority of our comparative image quality tests.
It fared even worse in our video tests. Recordings are
limited to 720p resolution, and even in bright light, shady areas fizzed with
noise. Low-light clips were grainy, and soundtracks thin and scratchy. Clip
times were limited to eight minutes.
We love the lens, and we’ve no complaints about the price.
However, the only reason to consider this camera is that it is significantly
cheaper than the others here…
We love the lens,
and we’ve no complaints about the price
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Specifications
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Rating: 2/6
·
Megapixels: 16 megapixels
·
Sensor size: 1/2.3in
·
Viewfinder: None
·
LCD screen: 3in (460,000 dots)
·
Articulated: No
·
Touchscreen: No
·
Optical zoom: 24x (25-600mm)
·
Optical stabilization: Optical, lens based
·
Orientation sensor: Yes
·
Maximum resolution: 4608x 3456
·
File formats: JPEG; AVI (MJPEG)
·
Video resolutions: 720p at 15/30fps, VGA at 15/30fps
·
Slow motion video modes: N/A
·
Maximum video clip length: 7m 59s
Controls
·
Exposure modes: Auto
·
Shutter speed range: Auto
·
Aperture range: f/3 (wide), f/6.9 (Tele)
·
ISO speed range: 100to 1600
·
Exposure compensation: +/-2 EV
·
White balance: Auto, 4 presets, manual
·
Additional image controls: None
·
Manual focus: No
·
Closest macro focus (wide): 3cm
·
Closest macro focus (Tele): 0.4m
·
Auto-focus modes: Multi/face detect, center, tracking
·
Metering modes: Multi, center, face detect
·
Flash modes: Auto, forced, suppressed, slow synchro, red-eye
reduction
·
Drive modes: Single, continuous, self-timer
Physical
·
Card slot: SDXC
·
Memory supplied: 38MB internal
·
Battery type: Li-ion
·
Battery life (CIPA): 230 shots
·
Connectivity: USB, A/V, Mini HDMI
·
Wireless: No
·
GPS: No
·
Hotshoe: No
·
Body material: Plastic
·
Accessories: USB cable
·
Weight: 221g
·
Size (H x W x D): 69x108x40mm
Buying
information
·
Price: $225
·
Supplier: www.olympus.com
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