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We have collected 2 reviews of the Olympus SH-21. Experts rate Olympus SH-21 7/10. Reviewsor.com helps you find reviews, best prices, user reviews of the Olympus SH-21 and Olympus Digital cameras.
The SH-21 fits squarely into Olympus' Traveller range. With a long zoom, high resolution and a sturdy, no-frills body that feels like it could take a few bumps, it's just the sort of gadget you'll want to carry around the world. Shop around and you could pick one up for under £170 -- a low price that might lead you to question its abilities. Don't be fooled, because this is a first-class snapper in almost every respect. Colours aside, the SH-21 has very conventional looks, with a chunky grip tacked onto the front of a fairly fat body. This leaves the shooting mode selector set a little too far across the top of the chassis to turn comfortably with your thumb. The plastic construction is testament to its budget price tag but build quality is fine. The shooting selector is set quite far across, so it's not the easiest to thumb while shooting. It boasts the usual collection of buttons and switches on the top and rear plates. I was impressed by the inclusion of a thumbwheel to the side of the 3-inch rear-mounted LCD display, which is always a welcome time saver when it comes to scrolling through menus or reviewing shots. The menus are among the best you'll come across, but the real boon is the on-screen shooting controls.
The SH-21 is the first in a new series of 'SH' superzoom compacts from Olympus. The SH-21 is actually pretty similar to the firm's SZ-20, but with a more compact design and a touchscreen. It has a promising set of tech specs, including a 16-Megapixel BSI CMOS sensor, a 12.5x zoom lens (24-300 mm, f/3-5.9) and a 1080p Full HD video mode. Note, however, that although the focal range is reasonably impressive, the lens looks a little slow due its limited aperture. While the SZ-20 looked like a kind of mini-bridge camera, the SH-21 is 100% compact, with its more classic, smooth design and its built-in flash. Compact it may be, but the SH-21 is nowhere near as stylish as a sleek little pocket snapper—it has a more basic look that's neither bulky nor super-slim and neither ugly nor super-sexy. Although the camera body is made from plastic, the build and finish are actually quite good. The SH-21 handles in a similar way to other recent Olympus compacts, with a fairly limited choice of settings all of which can be accessed quickly (macro, self-timer, ISO, etc.). There's a mode-selection dial on the top of the camera (P, scene, iAuto, magic filters, etc.), as well as a handy video-record button under your right thumb.