The Olympus Camedia C-5500 Sport Zoom owes much to the C-7000 we reviewed in 2004. It incorporates many of the features found on its 7-megapixel big-brother, but with less resolution at 5-megapixels, a "beefier" body style, and is powered by standard AA type batteries. This is a well-rounded digicam that offers an exposure mode for everyone in your household. The more experienced photographers will appreciate the exposure control offered by the Aperture, Shutter-speed Priority and full Manual modes. Olympus didn't forget about the newbies either, the C-5500 has a fully "Auto"matic mode that controls every aspect of the exposure process plus a Program AE mode that lets you have more control.

The 5x optical zoom lens covers a 35mm equivalent range of 38 - 190mm. This offers flexibility in composing your shots as well as adding to the overall fun factor of the camera. It produces sharp results throughout its range with moderate barrel distortion present at its wide angle extreme, but almost no pin cushioning at full telephoto. The autofocus systems works quickly and has few problems focusing in low-ambient lighting thanks to an onboard AF-assist lamp.

Overall the ergonomics were good, the controls are well-placed and very functional. The camera has a nice comfortable feel in your hands, thanks to a substantial hand grip. The menu system is logically organized, and we liked the ability to customize the Shortcut menus. However, the pop-up flash is located on the far left-hand side. When the flash is extended you have to readjust how you hold the camera. There's just no "natural" place to put your fingers. We also saw this poor positioning on the C-7000 and hoped it would have been corrected. Sony also had this problem with their CyberShot DSC-V1, which they have since corrected on the DSC-V3 model. We hope Olympus will correct this obvious error in the next model upgrade of this camera.

Shooting performance was average for a camera in this class. From power up to first image captured measured approx. 2.8 seconds. Shutter lag (the delay from depressing the shutter to actually capturing an image) measured 1/10 of a second when pre-focused and only 3/10 of a second including autofocus. When shooting in single drive mode, the shot-to-shot delay averaged 3 seconds without the flash, and 4.2 seconds with the flash. Using the sequential (burst) mode, I was able to capture 7 frames in approx. 5 seconds. The LCD "freezes" during sequential shooting so it is good that the camera is equipped with an optical viewfinder as well. Our tests were done using a 512MB xD memory card, SHQ quality, preview off, flash off, and all other settings at default (unless otherwise noted.) Times may vary depending on lighting conditions, camera settings, media, etc.

The overall image quality in SHQ mode was good for a camera in this class. The vast majority of our outdoor samples were sharp, well-exposed, and the colors were nicely saturated. There was average amounts of image noise in high/low contrast areas, but virtually no visible chromatic aberration (purple fringing around extreme highlights.) I did notice slight edge softness on some images, but this can only be seen when viewing images at 100% and does not affect prints.

The HQ movie mode (320x240, 30fps) produces good-quality movies but there is noticeable compression artifacts. The "Camera movement compensation" mode helps reduce camera shake, which makes movies appear much smoother. We also found the 2.0-inch LCD quite usable outdoors, even in the bright Florida sun. It would benefit from a non-reflective coating, since there are still some angles that reflect the sun; this is also a time when the optical viewfinder comes in handy.

Indoors the C-5500 performed well. The 38mm wide angle field of view and flash range (about 12.5 ft.) are sufficient for most interior shooting; I produced the best results shooting portraits of individuals and some small groups. Our flash portraits were well-exposed and skin tones appear very natural. The C-5500 has a "red-eye fix" option in Play mode. When a subject shows red-eye, you simply select the REDEYE FIX option from the Edit tab of the Play menu, and it will eliminate it. This is a handy feature that will decrease the amount of time spent on post-processing your images.

The C5500 is an excellent camera for Macro (closeup) photography. When using the flash in Macro mode, it does a good job of "throttling down" to keep from over-exposing the subject. However, be sure to check your images, the lens sometimes shadows the flash on extreme close-up subjects. It also features a Super Macro focus mode that can focus on objects as close as 0.7 inches, both the zoom and flash are disabled in this mode. A camera should be mounted on a tripod for such close-focused shots; the plastic tripod socket means you need to take extra care so as not to over-tighten or cross-thread its somewhat fragile screw threads.

The C-5500 is powered by either four AA type or two CR-V3 type batteries. The amount of images you can capture all depends on the type of batteries used. We used a set of four 2500mAh high-capacity NiMH AA cells and had no problems capturing our samples shot (about 90 images with a lot of reviewing) and concluding our other tests before the batteries were exhausted. It ships with four alkaline cells, however they tend to have a much shorter life than other battery types. Olympus also supplies a 16MB xD card, which means you can only take about four or five 5-megapixel SHQ quality images. We recommend the purchase of a 256MB or larger xD card with the camera.

Bottom line - with its wealth of exposure options, good image quality, and versatile 5x optical zoom, the Olympus Camedia C-5500 Sport Zoom offers an excellent "bang for the buck" (value) at around $350. Its SHQ 5-megapixel images have plenty of resolution to create high-quality prints up to 13x19-inches. We feel the C-5500 will make a great digicam for any family, business or tourist user.