Digital Trends

We’ve all heard the jokes and seen the cute ads about how bigger is better. Since this is a decidedly G-rated site, our discussion of the biggest one out there has to do with mega-zoom digital cameras. In this case it’s the 7.1-megapixel Olympus SP-550UZ, a compact point-and-shoot digicam with an 18x optical zoom that’s equivalent to a very wide 28mm to a whopping 504mm in 35mm terms. No other model comes close to this; the very popular 6MP Canon PowerShot S3 IS and Sony CyberShot DSC-H2/H5 have 12x zooms with typical ranges of 36-432mm. For the record, Sony just announced updates to its H series, the DSC-H7 and –H9 which will have 15x optical zooms and 8MP resolution (they’re due in April for $400 and $80, respectively). Still the Olympus is the proverbial king of the hill when it comes to mega zooms and we were anxious to try it out.