Compact but boxy, the inexpensive 3-megapixel Olympus D-550 Zoom is not particularly light, shiny, or easy to use; but what it lacks in sex appeal, it makes up for in extra controls and superior image quality, earning the highest scores in its class. Both our indoor and outdoor photographs were evenly exposed, with accurate colors, realistic skin tones, and sharp detail. Shots we took of our mannequin, using the flash, looked a tad overexposed, but no other point-and-shoot model performed so well across-the-board in our tests.

In addition to offering standard exposure compensation, metering, and white balance settings, the D-550 Zoom has some extra features, such as in-camera sharpening and contrast controls, the ability to take panorama and two-in-one picture-in-a-picture shots, and creative image-editing tools that let you save pictures in black-and-white or sepia tones as well as reduce their file size to save space on the removable memory card (the camera comes with a 16MB SmartMedia card).

The camera is sparsely equipped with dedicated controls. A shutter button and a zoom toggle switch sit atop the camera, and a four-way arrow pad on the unit's back provides quick access to the macro mode, the flash, the self-timer, shooting modes, and a series of nested menus accessible via the Virtual Mode Dial, a carousel-style menu display that mimics the circular dial located on the top of many digital cameras. A few cryptic icons and the maze of menus-typical of Olympus digital cameras-may have you flipping back to the manual frequently to decipher all of the D-550's complex (for a point-and-shoot) features, such as the 14 different combinations of resolution and compression settings available in TIFF or JPEG format.

UPSHOT: The D-550 Zoom generously makes up in added controls and stellar image quality for what it lacks in high-tech sizzle and ease of use.

SUMMARY

Olympus D-550 Zoom 3 megapixels, 1984 by 1488 maximum resolution, 36-100mm focal range (35mm equivalent), f2.9 to f8.6 aperture range, shutter speeds from 1/2 second to 1/1000 second, optical and LCD viewfinders, USB and video connections, 16MB SmartMedia card, four AA batteries, 11.6 ounces with batteries; Camedia Master 4 software. One-year parts and labor warranty; 13-hour weekday toll-free support. $399 800/622-6372 www.olympus.com