Olympus SZ-30MR review

It’s strangely heartening to have our pessimistic preconceptions proved wrong. We regularly complain about the excessively high megapixel ratings of modern compact cameras, which add little more detail and lots more noise to photos. This year’s move from 14- to 16-megapixels made our hearts sink. And then along comes this the SZ-30MR, which packs 16 megapixels into its tiny 1/2.3in sensor and even squeezes a massive 24x zoom into its pocket-sized shell. With such extravagant specifications, our expectations for this model were rock bottom.

We shouldn’t have been so cynical. The SZ-30MR’s photos were impressively clean and detailed in bright conditions and exhibited surprisingly little noise in darker environments. Meanwhile, the extraordinary feat of miniaturisation to fit a 24x zoom lens into a pocket-sized camera comes with remarkably little compromise in terms of optical performance.

The design is handsome yet practical, with a moulded handgrip that feels extremely secure. We like the manual lever to release the pop-up flash, which ensures that it’ll only fire when it’s actively called for. The mode dial lacks manual exposure options, but the assortment of scene modes, panorama stitching, creative filters and 3D photography (achieved by slowly panning the camera to capture a stereoscopic image) should prove more popular with most people. The lack of a manual white balance mode is more regrettable, though.

The 3in, 460,000-pixel screen is sharp and bright. A navigation pad that doubles as a wheel sits alongside, and provides quick access to a selection of icons running down the edge of the screen. It’s a reasonably quick system, although it’d be quicker if Olympus dispensed with the animations.

Shot-to-shot performance was quick at 1.8 seconds. Telephoto shots were slower, though, as the focus sometimes hunted for a second or two before locking onto its target. Continuous mode didn’t live up to Olympus’s 7fps claim in our tests, but 5.8fps for five shots is still impressive. However, the digital lens-distortion correction that’s applied at other times was disabled to deliver this performance, so wide-angle shots suffered from heavy barrel distortion. An alternative continuous mode avoided this problem and captured at 1.5fps for 12 frames. Yet another mode ran at 5 megapixels and 15fps for 70 frames.

Videos are captured at 1080p in AVC format with a 29-minute maximum clip length. The zoom and autofocus motors remained active without impacting too heavily on the high quality stereo soundtrack. Video picture quality was excellent, with crystal-clear details outdoors and not much noise indoors. It’s even possible to capture a couple of 16-megapixel photos without interrupting video recording. The optical stabilisation struggled to constrain handheld jiggles when we zoomed in, but that’s forgivable considering the huge zoom and low weight of the camera. Lens distortions aren’t corrected for videos, either, leading to bloated-looking wide-angle clips, but it wasn’t too noticeable in most shots.

Impressive sharpness at full telephoto zoom, but note the noise at ISO 200, most conspicuous in the bottom-right corner – Click on this image to enlarge it

Our photo tests revealed reasonably sharp focus throughout the zoom range, confounding our expectations for such a big zoom in a slim camera. The Super Macro mode worked superbly, zooming in a little and focusing on subjects just a couple of centimetres away to produce some stunning close-ups. Even at the full 600mm telephoto zoom position, the lens focused just 40cm away to produce even more dramatic macro shots.

The 16-megapixel sensor and Super Macro mode make a monster of this tiny spider; at ISO 80, colours are smooth – Click on this image to enlarge it

Noise levels were surprisingly low for a 16-megapixel compact, but some shots at ISO 160 still looked quite speckled. However, judicious noise reduction held picture quality together to give printable results up to ISO 800. Automatic settings tended towards slower ISO and shutter speeds than we’d choose in low light, but it cleverly raised them when it detected a face to avoid motion blur on the subject. Burnt out highlights was a common problem, and were often accompanied by heavy purple fringing. Overall, though, image quality was well above average for the price.

Noise reduction is working hard at ISO 400 but colours and details remain impressively natural-looking – Click on this image to enlarge it

We didn’t expect to like the SZ30-MR, but in fact, it’s one of the best compact cameras we’ve seen. It’s remarkably similar to the Nikon S9100 in its specifications, performance, quality and price. The 12-megapixel Nikon is even better in low light but it’s not quite as detailed in bright conditions and its zoom range isn’t as huge. We prefer its slow-motion videos to the Olympus’s creative filters and 3D mode, but that’s a matter of taste. On balance, both cameras are equally impressive, so the Olympus is also deserving of a Best Buy award.