Olympus SZ-15 Review | 108 Data compared

The Olympus Stylus SZ-15 is a budget-friendly travel compact camera designed like a miniature DSLR, featuring a 16-megapixel 1/2.3-inch CCD sensor and a powerful 24x optical zoom (25-600mm equivalent). Built specifically for casual point-and-shoot photographers, it stands out for its extreme ease of use, tracking autofocus, and a built-in "Magic" mode that offers 11 creative art filters. It handles video recording at 720p at 30fps and features a highly capable image stabilization system that minimizes camera shake at long focal lengths. However, the camera is severely limited by poor image quality due to over-aggressive noise reduction and heavy JPEG compression, resulting in a distinct lack of fine detail even at the lowest ISO settings. The 3-inch 460k-dot rear LCD screen suffers from low contrast, inaccurate colors, and prominent purple CCD charge bleed under bright lighting conditions. Performance is further hindered by slow processing speeds, requiring roughly three seconds of recovery time between individual shots. Additionally, advanced photographers will find it lacking, as there is no option to shoot in RAW format and no alternative image color configurations, such as a...

The Olympus Stylus SZ-15 is an affordable, pocket-sized compact camera that stands out for its impressive 24x optical zoom (25-600mm equivalent lens) and budget-friendly sub-£150 price point. On the positive side, its extensive zoom range delivers sharp, precise details and faithful colors when shooting wide-angle photos in bright daylight. It uniquely excels in macro photography via a "Super Macro" mode that can focus on subjects just 3cm away without casting a lens shadow. Additionally, its slightly chunky 30mm design includes a physical handgrip that allows for very comfortable, one-handed automatic operation. However, the camera is severely held back by its slow internal processing and weak sensor performance. The autofocus is sluggish, taking over half a second to lock onto a subject, which results in a frustrating 2.8-second delay between standard shots. While the lens performs well in direct sunlight, any dimmer environment forces the camera to raise its ISO; even modest settings like ISO 200 produce heavy noise reduction that replaces fine textures with muddy smudges. Furthermore, its video capabilities are highly outdated, capping out at a grainy 720p resolution...