Introduction

Ease of Use

Olympus had a resurgence of interest with the release of the digital PEN back in 2009 and have been enjoying the limelight for the past five years. They've expanded the PEN range, released the OM-D series and started to give their compacts a retro look.

The SH-50 continues this trend with it's vintage chic shape, faux leatherette grip and there's even a little bulge towards the bottom of the lens bezel to give the impression that the lens is removable. It's not, sadly, but the 24x optical zoom will cover pretty much everything you can throw at it. As well as a large focal range and a super fast start, the SH-50 sports Olympus' multi axis image stabilising technology.

Front	Rear

This new technology comes from the Olympus DSLR and MicroFour Thirds system cameras. It works by moving the sensor in multiple directions to aid in stabilising the image. Their are five axis' but only three are used for still photography. It will use the whole five when shooting video, though. Interestingly, the two movements it doesn't use are the left, right, up and down movements. They're the standard settings for image stabilisation, so it will be interesting to see how the camera copes without them.

Another intriguing bit of tech wizardry that the Olympus SH-50 has fitted is the iHS system, It combines the performance of the CMOS sensor giving slightly lower noise along with the dedicated Truepic VI processor and according to Olympus will provide sharper images in the dark, work faster and also utilises the iAUTO mode which analyses the frame and selects the most appropriate scene mode for what you're shooting.

Side	Top

One of the things we like about long zoom cameras is that when you're at full telephoto, the camera will produce wonderful bokeh to make your subject stand out. That, of course, is as long as you're far away enough. With a great focal length, comes great focusing distances. However, Olympus have given the SH-50 a 40cm close focusing mode at full zoom. That's around 3x closer than a standard camera with this type of focal range. It means that wildlife – or in particular – insect photography will become easier to do and also more widely available as a genre to people who maybe aren't flexible enough to stoop down to the level of an ant. Should you wish to focus closer, the SH-50 doesn't have a macro mode per se, but does feature Super Macro scene mode. This will automatically move the optical zoom to the optimum range to get a 3cm close focusing distance.

Olympus aren't renowned for their easy to use menu systems, but with the Function menu, the SH-50 has a simple layout of various modes and shooting options all listed down the right side of the screen. Press left on the directional pad on the back of the camera and the menu opens up, spreading out over the screen. You can then scroll up or down to your desired position.

Front	Pop-up Flash

Should you require something from the Main menu, it can be accessed via the Function menu right at the bottom or by pressing the Menu button on the back of the camera. It's split into four sections and each page of those sections is listed down the left side in tabs. These can be accessed by pressing left, allowing you to scroll down them by page rather than by option. You can choose from Shooting, Video, Playback or Set-up. The menu is a black background with with font and a yellowy green highlight.

The Olympus SH-50 can start up from cold, focus and take a picture in 1.8sec which is very fast as you can give a couple of hundredths of a second either way due to reflexes. There are five continuous/burst modes on the Olympus Stylus SH-50. Sequential 1 and 2 will shoot continuously with Sequential 2 shooting faster than Sequential 1. We managed to get 25 shots on Sequential 1, but 17 on Sequential 2. However, the pictures in 1 were spread over the 10 second time frame we tested the camera over. The 17 images from Sequential 2 were shot in around 1.5sec. Hi1 and Hi1 and Hi2 are burst modes that will shoot in a much lower resolution setting in order to speed the process up (shooting and downloading, ready to shoot again). Hi1 shoots around 20fps (frames per second) and will shoot a 3sec burst at 3 megapixel. Push the setting on to Hi2 shoots at a much faster rate. The camera records at 60fps, again at 3 megapixel. The download times for all these is pretty good. The Hi1 and Hi2 were downloaded onto the card in 10sec, while the high resolution images were done in 20sec.

Memory Card Slot	Battery Compartment

Pictures on the SH-50 can be played back by pressing the Playback button on the back of the camera. This can be done whether the camera is off or on, but if it's off, you need to hold down the button slightly longer for the camera to respond. When the image pops up, it will be full size in the window with no information about the shooting details on. This allows you to examine the picture to ensure it's right so you can reshoot if you have an issue. Press the Info button (up on the navigation pad) and you can choose a viewing version that shows a thumbnail of the image which can still be zoomed into for viewing convenience. But it also shows the full file info such as aperture and shutter speed, ISO and white-balance, resolution, compression and there's even a Histogram so those of you in the know can check the exposure is correct. Simply press down on the navigation pad to erase single images and if you press Menu, the Palyback section of the Main menu is prioritised. You can choose to create a slide-show, edit pictures such as resize, crop, add sound, adjust shadows, eradicate red-eye, rotate or fix the skin of portraits.

In the box you'll find a Basic Manual which looks bigger than it should for a Basic guide, but is in multiple languages. The enclosed CD sits on the top with the manual and it contains the full User Guide as well as a way of registering the camera online and Olympus Viewer 3 which is Olympus' editing suite. In the lower section with the camera, there's a charging unit, wriststrap, lithium ion battery and touch stylus (appropriate or ironic?).

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this review were taken using the 16 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 6Mb.

Noise

All through the test of the Olympus SH-50 we were continuously impress with how the photographs looked on the back of the camera. Of course, this can be completely misleading as to how it looks on screen due to the difference in resolution so we kept some reservation until we saw them back at the office. Low ISO pictures are exceptional with no noise whatsoever, bright colours and sharp edges. Because of this perfect result, we have to be hyper-critical when noticing the first ebbs of noise poking through. This materialises at ISO 400 with a slight shimmering of otherwise straight edges as noise reduction software begins to smudge detail to eradicate noise. At ISO 800 we can detect amounts of colour noise in the darker areas of the picture and to combat it, the noise reduction has began to desaturate the image. Primary colours are the first to suffer as they become less prominent in the frame.

ISO 1600 sees the crackling of mid-tones as noise seeps through onto them. Colour noise is being suppressed well, but at the expense of colour in the image. There are two more settings and at normal viewing distance, they still look ok. There's certainly not any cast over them even at ISO 6400. Close in to full magnification and you can see green blobs of colour noise beginning to stifle the noise reduction software. It can't cope with the sheer amount of noise coming into the picture, but it's fair to say that this type of reaction is normally seen at around ISO 400.

In an attempt to stop the advance of colour noise swamping the entire picture, primary colours have been practically drained from the image. Edge definition is shot, but only to a degree that we'd see at ISO 800 on other compact cameras. Salt and pepper noise cover the whole image, but we're still seeing one of the best noise test in recent times.

ISO 100 (100% Crop)	ISO 200 (100% Crop)
ISO 400 (100% Crop)	ISO 800 (100% Crop)
ISO 1600 (100% Crop)	ISO 3200 (100% Crop)
ISO 6400 (100% Crop)

Focal Range

The 24x optical zoom on the Olympus Stylus SH-50 offers a focal range of 25-600mm in 35mm terms. Couple that with the new image stabilising tech and you have some pretty sharp images at close quarters.

25mm	600mm

Sharpening

The lens on the SH-50 is a good one. The pictures are nice and sharp to begin with and the camera also adds its own amount of sharpening. Putting the photographs into an editing suite and using sharpening does add a little extra to the pictures.

Original (100% Crop)	Sharpened (100% Crop)

File Quality

A full resolution image will produce a file size around 5.5Mb or slightly lower. Knock the compression down to Normal from Fine (found in the Main menu) and it will lose more information to preserve memory space. A typical Normal compression image is around 3Mb. The amount of definition in the Fine images is noticeable but only at full magnification.

12M Fine (5.10Mb) (100% Crop)	12M Normal (2.44Mb) (100% Crop)

Chromatic Aberrations

The lens quality is very good on the SH-50 and we struggled to find chromatic aberrations on the pictures we took. We struggled, but didn't fail. It only manifests on extremely high contrast areas, such as burnt out highlights and for the majority of instances, at the far edges of the frame.

Chromatic Aberrations 1 (100% Crop)	Chromatic Aberrations 2 (100% Crop)

Macro

The SH-50 doesn't have a typical macro mode that we all know and love, but it does have a Supermacro mode in the Scenes menu. This will focus down to 3cm. One of the most interesting features of the SH-50 is its ability to focus on objects as close as 40cm away while at full zoom. This type of close focusing simply isn't available on everyday compact cameras. It's the addition of the new image stabiliser that allows it to be possible. Without the 3-axis stabiliser, there would be too much camera shake at that distance. A typical focusing distance at full zoom is 1.2m.

Macro	Macro (100% Crop)

Flash

Wide-angle shots show vignetting regardless of whether the flash is turned on or off. This is an indication of a smart flash system that works with the other systems on the camera to get a balanced exposure. It compliments the available light instead of over powering it. Unfortunately, no-one has worked out how to get it to over power vignettes without bleaching the main subject. Vignetting does disappear by the time you get to full zoom.

Suppressed Flash - Wide Angle (25mm)	Forced Flash - Wide Angle (25mm)
Suppressed Flash - Telephoto (600mm)	Forced Flash - Telephoto (600mm)

Should you get red-eye on your portraits, the flash has a red-eye reduction option on the flash menu which only activates once the flash has been popped up. If you require something a little stronger, once you've taken the picture, go to the Playback menu and select Edit. From there, you can choose a red-eye removal. We didn't suffer from red-eye on our test images, though.

Forced Flash	Forced Flash (100% Crop)
Red-eye Reduction Auto	Red-eye Reduction Auto (100% Crop)

Night

The SH-50 selected very similar settings to us for the Night scene. We opted for a low ISO 125 which gave us a 10sec exposure. It appears that the camera enjoys a wider range of sensitivity though, because it used a setting of ISO 160. It's only around 1/3 stop difference, but allowed the camera a 4sec exposure. This will lessen the type of noise generated from heated pixels during long exposures and therefore obviate the need for noise reduction. We feel that the ability to use a manual white-balance in Program mode has also helped with the overall image quality. Also there's more detail in the Program mode image.

Night Scene	Night Scene (100% Crop)
Night Program	Night Program (100% Crop)

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Olympus SH-50 camera, which were all taken using the 16 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample Movie & Video

Product Images

Front of the Olympus SH-50

Front of the Olympus SH-50

Side of the Olympus SH-50

Side of the Olympus SH-50

Side of the Olympus SH-50 / Flash Raised

Rear of the Olympus SH-50 / Image Displayed

Rear of the Olympus SH-50 / Turned On

Rear of the Olympus SH-50 / Manual Mode

Rear of the Olympus SH-50 / OK Menu

Rear of the Olympus SH-50 / Special Effects

Rear of the Olympus SH-50 / Turned On

Rear of the Olympus SH-50 / Settings Menu

Rear of the Olympus SH-50 / Movie Menu

Rear of the Olympus SH-50 / Playback Menu

Top of the Olympus SH-50

Bottom of the Olympus SH-50

Side of the Olympus SH-50

Side of the Olympus SH-50

Front of the Olympus SH-50

Memory Card Slot

Battery Compartment

Conclusion

The Olympus SH-50 is like a breath of fresh air for digital compact cameras at this price point. It's perfect for the tech-savvy thanks to the 3-axis image stabiliser that has come straight from DSLR waters. Not only does it provide the camera with a unique benefit in pictures being sharper at full zoom, but also allows you to get closer to the action with the 40cm close focusing system at telephoto. This kind of feature is perfect for insect photographers who want to get close to the action without scaring the creatures away.

The SH-50 is very well made. Olympus have fitted some great glass to the front which prevents all but the worst chromatic aberrations. The command dial is stiff, but only so it stays in place, though if we were to be highly critical, the corner of the camera where the command dial is can get in the way of comfortable operation. The battery door has a locking switch on it and is solid enough even without a lot of metal backing it. We're disappointed to see a plastic tripod bush, but then given the increased performance of the lens system, you won't need it that much.

We're happy with the FullHD video and stereo sound, but we're unsure why the 5-axis stabiliser is only available in video. If the technology is in the camera, we can only surmise that Olympus simply can't do it as opposed to not wanting to.

For less than £200, the Olympus SH-50 is a very capable camera. It offers manual control for those of you with an interest in photography or for any newcomers wanting to learn more about it. Our only gripe is that we would have liked to see shutter and aperture priority added too, but you can't have everything on one camera. The feature set make the SH-50 a highly robust camera, capable of meeting the needs of multiple types of photography. The lens quality and image stabiliser should sway your decision if nothing else when looking to buy a new camera.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4.5
Features	5
Ease-of-use	4
Image quality	4.5
Value for money	4

Main Rivals

Listed below are some of the rivals of the Olympus SH-50.

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Olympus SH-50 from around the web.

Specifications

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