Olympus SP-550 Ultra Zoom

Excellent – This is my 3rd Olympus UZ camera and it wont be my last. They continue to get better and by continuing to use AA batteries over proprietry units Olympus will keep my business. Even though my cameras have travelled thousands of kilometres none have ever had a problem. I have had mine for a couple of years now and it continues to be a reliabe unit. Great focal range and not a lot of distortion at the extremes. 28mm capability is by far the feature that separates this camera from many others. AA Sized batteries are a real plus as you can always get power, altough I would recommend Powerex rechargeables if you are taking a lot of photos. I have found that the flash is great for a pop up, much better than other compacts, but still not as good as a proper external (which would cost more than this whole camera). Software is also good and the abiltiy to take high res movies with the right memory card is also great. This camera is a great all rounder and has served me well on a few trips now. Although much smaller and lighter than an SLR, it is still a bit chunky for a belt and I find it has to go in my backpack when I am out and about. However every big zoom unit is at least this big.

Excellent – i live on a budget this camera is worth the money and i would recomend this to anybody wanting to buy a digital camera very easty to use has alot of picture options easy to manuver through menues lightweight,comfortable rubber grip, viewfinder set well no smudge on screen from nose touching. fine zoom and digital zoom are great. the picture quality is great easy to down load pictures from the camera to my pc . I'm happy with my purchase had to print 100 page manual with cd that came in package if you dont have access to a computer and printer your out of luck, i dont like the lens cap on a string hooked to the shoulder strap gets in the way