The Bottom Line: I highly recommend Fuji FinePix E550 if you want an inexpensive, compact, cool yet capable camera with 6.3-megapixel resolution, moderate...
dkozin's Full Review: FUJIFILM FinePix E550 Digital Camera
After trying out the 5.2-Megapixel Fuji FinePix E510, I decided to check out the Fuji FinePix E550 that features a 6.3-Megapixel Super CCD HR and can provide files of up to 12.3-Megapixel resolution.
The E550 features a 2-inch LCD screen, optical zooming viewfinder, wide-angle optics, pop-up flash and manual controls. The list is impressive and goes on: ISO 80-800, 12.3-Megapixel pictures, 4x wide-angle optical zoom.
What is Fuji FinePix E550?
The Fuji FinePix E550 is a 6.3-Megapixel Super CCD HR stylish digital camera with a 4x optical zoom (32.5-130 mm equivalent with maximum f/2.8 aperture at wide angle), a 2-inch LCD screen, powered by two included AA NiMH rechargeable batteries.
The camera features ISO range of ISO 80-800 (automatic up to ISO 640 or manual), automatic and manual white balance, automatic and manual focusing and an adjustable focus area. It also has Aperture and Shutter Priority modes as well as a full Manual mode. The camera stores pictures on xD-Picture memory cards (16 MB xD card is included) and features USB connection to PC and Mac computers.
The camera has the shutter speed range of 3-1/2,000 sec and support JPEG and RAW image formats.
Getting Started
Once the camera arrived, I discovered that it is very similar in appearance to the 5.2-Megapixel standard-CCD E510. The E550 seems very well assembled and nicely styled. The camera is made from plastic and metal and looks stylish. It has a lens that is flush with the camera body when retracted and a metal lens lid covers it. The bezel around the lens can be removed to accept optional accessories (0.76x wide angle and 1.94x telephoto lenses are available from Fuji).
The top deck has a power on/off button, a mode wheel (Auto/A/S/M/Video, scene modes) and a shutter release button.
The bottom of the camera has a plastic tripod mount and the battery/memory card compartment lid. The side has a small rubber-like lid that covers a USB, A/V and DC power ports. The lid has no hinge and you just remove it and set aside. Just as the E510, the E550 comes with an extra lid in case you loose the one that is on the camera.
The back of the camera has a 2-inch LCD screen, zoom control, a metal disc for menu control and other functions with a MENU/OK button in the middle as well as other buttons and a playback/shoot mechanical switch. It also has a mechanical flash release button and an exposure compensation button.
I charged the supplied NiMH batteries, inserted the supplied 16MB xD-Picture memory card and was ready to shoot.
Usage
The camera feels quite sturdy and well-built. The camera controls are within easy reach, but the menu system is not very simple to use. It is better than the one I experienced on the Fuji FinePix F10 and I could use the camera and all of its features without reading the manual. I was also helped by the fact that the E550 is very similar in operation to the E510.
You have to know that the prominent blue F button on the back camera panel is used to adjust ISO (Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800), resolution (12M F(fine) 4,048x3,040, 12M N(normal) 4,048x3,040, 6M 2,832x2,128, 3M 2,048x1,536 pixels, 2M 1,600x1,200, 0.3M 640x480) and color modes (Standard, Chrome (higher contrast and saturation) and B&W). The ISO 800 is only available in lower-resolution modes up to 3M. The RAW file format has to be enabled separately in the setup menu.
The camera has a retractable lens that extends and has a lens cover (two halves) that opens when the camera is powered on. When the camera is powered off, the lens retracts and the lens cover closes.
The camera is very flexible, but with an oversight. It has real adjustable aperture and has aperture priority, shutter priority and manual mode. It also lets you focus manually if you wish. But the manual focusing is not as well implemented as what I saw on its competitors.
To focus manually, you have to hold the exposure compensation button while pushing on the zoom control, which is not very convenient. And the camera does not magnify the center of the screen or show you the distance scale. Thus, it is rather difficult to confirm focus. It is not a terrible oversight, but it could have been better.
The E550 uses a real adjustable aperture, unlike many compact cameras that use a two-step aperture control (Sony W5, Canon SD300, SD400 and SD500 come to mind),. The camera can be used in full auto mode, scene modes or manual modes (A, S, M). Very impressive set of features for the price and the performance is impressive as well.
The E550 comes pre-set to Auto mode. You do not have to do anything other than point and shoot - the camera takes care of the rest. You press the shutter release button halfway to make camera focus and the camera shows you (on the LCD screen) where it focused. Then you take the picture by pressing the shutter release button all the way. In auto mode, the camera can be used by anyone who can point and shoot.
The camera has preprogrammed scene modes that give you more control. In addition, you can select Macro mode at a push of a button. The camera has no dedicated review mode on the mode selector, but you activate it using a switch between the shooting and review modes. I like this idea, but would prefer a button rather than a switch. Some Olympus cameras as well as my Canon S60 use a button and I like this approach.
LCD and Viewfinder
The camera has a 2-inch LCD monitor that "gains-up" in the darker environments and has adjustable brightness. It also has an optical viewfinder. The LCD works well overall, even in darkness. The coverage is about 100% for the monitor, but the viewfinder (as is usual for optical viewfinders) is on the tight side and does not show you everything that will end up in the shot.
Performance
The camera takes about 1-2 seconds to power up and extend its lens, which is very fast. The shutdown takes about the same time.
The shutter lag, when pre-focused, is non-existent. The camera takes the picture as soon as you press the button. The focusing is fast in bright light, slower in darker environments, but is still rather fast. The camera focuses in under a second at either wide angle or telephoto.
The E550 can take pictures at intervals of about 1.5 seconds in single-frame mode recording in JPEG format or about 6 seconds for RAW. There are a couple of continuous/burst modes. The 4-frame continuous mode lets you take four pictures at about 3 frames per second. The other mode lets you take 2-Megapixel pictures at about 1-1.5 second intervals (up to 40 images).
You can fully zoom in or out in about 2 seconds. Zooming has enough steps to compose your shot well. Overall, the camera is rather fast and responsive.
Battery
The camera should allow you to take more than 400 pictures on one battery charge (if you use high-capacity NiMH batteries, like the included 2300 mAh cells). I took about 70 pictures, some with flash, and the battery was still at the full mark.
Computer Connectivity
The camera uses USB connection to transfer pictures to a computer. You can also remove the xD memory card and use a memory card reader (if you have one). The file transfer using the camera USB port is average at about 900 KB/s. I do not use the software that was provided with the camera since I have Adobe Photoshop CS2. I have not tried the RAW format of this camera, but used JPEG.
Flash
The built-in pop-up flash works well, and has good brightness by default. You have to push a button to make the flash pop up. The flash can be adjusted in 1/3 EV increments between -2/3 and 2/3 EV.
Image Quality
The camera has a good white balance system overall. The skin colors are slightly warm, but pleasing. The camera produces very good photos: well-exposed, sharp, contrasty and with pleasing colors. There is some chromatic aberration, but not too much. But the lens exhibits some softness in the corners when moving to the telephoto end of the focal range. The wide angle feature good corner sharpness.
Although the camera uses Fuji Super CCD HR, which I really liked in the Fuji F10, where it produced very low noise at high ISO settings, the situation is different here. The Super CCD here has higher noise levels than the one on F10, but comparable or slightly better than the other compact cameras. Lower ISO settings feature lower noise with higher ISO suitable for small prints only. ISO 400 is only suitable for 6x4 and maybe 7x5 prints and the ISO 800 limits you to 3-megapixel prints that I would not use for anything larger than 6x4.
At lower ISO settings, enlargements up to 13x19 are possible. The camera lets you save 12.3-Megapixel images, but the result is not too good. When viewed on the computer screen, the huge 12MP images look soft at pixel-per-pixel resolution. I doubt you get any better quality than that of the 6MP image. And if you do not intend to print anything larger than 13x19, the 6MP resolution will be enough.
Plus, the corner softness at telephoto will not let you have sharp corners at anything other than wide angle regardless of the resolution you choose.
Pros
Low price, features, manual controls, image quality, wide angle capability (32.5mm equivalent), rechargeable AA batteries supplied, real aperture, resolution and ISO range, excellent battery life, fast operation.
Cons
Some plastic elements (battery door, tripod mount), expensive xD cards, poorly-implemented manual focus, soft corners at telephoto.
Bottom Line
I highly recommend Fuji FinePix E550 if you want an inexpensive, compact, cool yet capable camera with 6.3-megapixel resolution, moderate wide angle capability, fast operation and excellent battery life.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.