Olympus SZ-14 Digital Super Zoom Camera - Black (14MP, 24x Wide Optical Zoom) 3 inch LCD

got this camera to replace the same model i had before as i drop it and lost the view for taking photosso i am very please to have found this on offer on amazon. frank

Early days yet however I would summarise by saying this is an excellent point and shoot camera with a high power optical zoom that enables greater shot choice.More expert users may know that in the last 5 years the camera industry has moved from ccd to cmos sensors mainly because cmos are cheaper to make and allow faster processing speeds. In my view however ccd sensors are simply better because the cmos sensors look like you have a subtle grey filter over all your photos and therefore pictures appear less bright and clear and also less true to life in regard to colour and contrast. So whilst this camera is a fairly basic unit it actually produces very good images using it's ccd sensor.The other thing is mega pixels. 20 mega pixels seems almost a minimum these days but in my experience more is not always more. This is because as pixel density increases so does noise. We have enlarged 14 mega pixel images to A4 size and they are perfect.The other thing is sensor size. Larger is regarded as better and that is probably true. A larger sensor has less densely placed pixels than a smaller sensor with the same mega pixels, so less noise, and a larger sensor can obviously 'catch' more light so is better in low light conditions. This camera has a small sensor however, because ccd sensors are more sensitive to light, yes light, duh, the thing cameras collect, a smaller ccd sensor can work well and this one does. So arguably a small ccd sensor could be better than a small cmos sensor and arguably a small ccd sensor may be as good as a medium sized cmos sensor. 1 inch (medium sized) cmos sensor cameras start at about £300.....Zoom. If the optical type, that essentially minimises image distortion, more probably is more. However beyond about x10 it is very hard to hand hold a camera steady. If you could hold it still enough or use a tripod the max x24 optical zoom is good although it does distort slightly at the top end. It has a digital zoom that takes it's x24 optical zoom to about x50 but at that point image quality is fairly poor. So this camera is an excellent, pocket sized camera with a zoom that is more than enough for a human.The adjustability of this camera is limited, it has micro, ISO adjustments, timer, multi shot and others although these are not that immediately accessible so whilst they can be adjusted this is really more a point and shoot unit but I do not despise it for that. The camera has a great selection of what it calls 'magic' functions such as fish eye, sketch, reflection, sparkle and lots of others including panorama and 3D.I have a Sony RX100 and other high price quality cameras and all I would say is that price is not necessarily a guide to quality and when you strip away all the snobbery, etc, the affordable Olympus is a tremendous little unit for the money that is also easy to hold.It is better than many similarly priced or more expensive cmos based units in my opinion. Better image quality that is.

On getting it out of the box was disappointed with it's plasticy feel - Don't like the charge battery whilst still in camera charger supplied - So have ordered a stand alone charger - and the 'Manual' supplied in hard copy is a joke - it just tells you how to put the battery on charge in 30 different languages - there is one on the CD supplied but for those new to camera's that will not help - To my mind the singularly most annoying thing is, you cannot turn off the horrid start up chimes every other sound but not them - Come on Olympus get real and put a silent option that turns ALL sounds off!!Right that's the niggles over -The camera is easy to set up and for those that need it you can leave it set to give explanations against each setup - Switching between scene modes is also quick and easy - still got to get the hang of the exposure levels - the shots I've taken so far seem good and the different levels and compressions are very handy - The controls and buttons are all in easy reach and the video button is recessed so you cannot turn it on by mistake - the zoom is adjuster and shutter release are together which makes it easy to zoom in or out and take your picture quickly - very handy if you are trying to take a picture of a moving object or animalAll in all it is a good little camera for putting in your pocket - which is what I wanted it for - got totally fed up with lugging heavy DSLR camera, multi lenses and tripods where ever I went - this has a decent zoom and panorama stitch plus loads of other stuff I doubt I will ever use - but I can if I ever want to - worth the money as a lot cheaper than others with similar spec

I bought the SX-14 to replace my SX-10 which is at the bottom of the English Channel, lost on a very stormy crossing back to France. The differences between this and the SX-10 are minor - the increased zoom range is probably the most appreciated.I usually carry a (over!)full camera bag with 2 Canon DSLRs, several lenses, filters, and other stuff that I use rarely, but more often than not I use the Olympus. The Panoramic feature is so easy to use and produces startlingly good images, only expansion up to A3 size begins to show the lack of giga-pixels that most new cameras have. At an A4 expansion, I defy you to notice the difference. In normal lighting, the Auto-Focus is spot on, but on misty, drizzly days it can take quite some time to settle down. The features - not in the SX-10 - that are really weird are the Dog and Cat settings. This allows you to frame a picture of a Dog (or Cat), press the shutter, and the camera will only fire the shutter when it recognises a full face. The macro settings produce images that are better than either of my two DSLRs.If you feel so inclined, the camera has the full technical settings you can find on far more expensive cameras – white balance, ISO settings etc., but as I said earlier, it is now being overtaken by the number of pixels that are currently available elsewhere, should you need them – mostly you don’t. The only drawback that annoys me is the noise of the shutter that is very loud, so taking pictures quietly is impossible. However, as a point-and-shoot camera that fits easily in your pocket it cannot be beaten.