Others say...

"Very good step up camera"
This is my third Olympus Digital Camera. I became a fan in 2000 when I bought my C-3000. I still use that one quite a bit. My second Olympus was the D-590 - I bought it because I wanted a compact camera to throw in my purse. For the money the SP-500 can't be beat. I got mine for $139. I haven't had any problems with blurry images or indoor lighting. My only issue is the battery compartment cover - it is hard to close and I'm concerned it may snap off. The lack of image stabilization hasn't been an issue. When you hold the shutter button half way down the camera locks the focus - I've never had an out of focus picture at any zoom level using this method. I'm very pleased with this camera's performance.

"Rather good. Not perfect."
I had to get a digital camera for my wife (her first). I thought a 6mp camera would be as good as she would ever need. The thing that really sold me was the 10X zoom and the small size.

First impressions when I got it:
(1) Looks sharp, except for the fact that it is three inches thick to accommodate the zoom and the four batteries. Was happy that it wasn't too heavy though.
(2) How do I close the battery case without breaking it when I first put in the batteries? Long story short, there was nothing wrong, but it was more trouble than I expected.
(3) Camera doesn't work! Loud cracking sound when zoom initially moves around during startup. What? "Zoom error" The camera turned off. Turned on again. Same drill. The camera was the only present I got my wife that cost real money. Of course, she was upset. She upset: me upset. Because of Christmas rush I don't send it back immediately.
(4) 2 months later, I send my camera with my amazon receipt, the warranty, and the Olympus service form (get it on the web or request it from their website) to the Olympus service center via UPS.
(5) Received camera back in ONLY 1 and a half weeks. How did they do that? Olympus stock rising...
(6) Turn camera back on after fumbling with batteries again. Same annoyance.
(7) Camera works! O happy day!
(8) Overall happiness with camera after using it for a couple days: Very satisfied. Not a point and click camera. You must depress shutter halfway and wait for a green light to come on to communicate that focusing is ready. Large LCD screen is awesome (2.5"). Zoom awesome. Picture quality is good. Very satisfied. Good for young adult looking to take pictures of "stuff." Probably not for aspiring professionals.

Would I do it all over again? I don't know. But assuming you don't get a broken camera, I think its a good camera and does what it advertises.

"new digital camera user"
I have now used my camera for about 2 months and I am still trying to figure out the various settings. It is much more difficult than the other reviews eluded to. The big disappointment is that I did not receive an Operation manual. Only a basic one with 20 or so pages (english) that wasn't helpful for first time digital camera users. My brother in the Netherlands who bought the same camera did receive the complete Operation manual. I eventually had to download over 189 pages. So when I study the manual and can take better pictures I will be happier. At this time I am disappointed with the results. Also Olympus customer service is not helpful. They just don't return your calls and ignore you. Not very good PR. New digital camera users should insist in a complete manual.

"Long Term Review"
I got this camera for about twice the price 6 months ago. Now that it's about $150 it's definitely worth the price.

I am an amateur photographer and I use this camera virtually every day, so I"ve shot a couple thousand pictures with it. I always keep it in my backpack and I've taken it on trips. It has fallen many times and is still in complete working order! (the end of my last camera was my old roommate dropped it in the snow.)

PROS:
The optical zoom is AMAZING. Having that powerful of a zoom lets you capture so many things that otherwise would have been missed.

The color reproduction is very, very good. And despite the fact that it sometimes has trouble focusing (discussed below), when it does focus properly (which is about 95% of the time) the images are very crisp and I have gotten very professional results.

The flash is manual. You have to push a button and it pops up. So, it normally is non-flash mode, unlike most cameras. And this is amazing, because I hate flash. So you don't have that awkard situation when you take a picture in a musuem and ten guards jump on you because the flash accidentaly went off.

The shoot options (print, portrait, landscape, indoor, MUSEUM (no flash and silent)) are amazing. I love having them.

For what it can do it's pretty small. Because of the lens, it doesn't fit easily into my purse, but it's a good alternative to cameras with the equivalent optical zoom.

It can shoot RAW!!!!!! RAW is a file that contains all of the picture information (rather than a JPEG which condenses the info, so you loose some of the data meaning that the color and such are harder to manipulate in programs like Adobe Photoshop). This is amazing for a point and shoot.



CONS:
The camera sometimes requires you to hold it very steady when taking pictures in low light. I never realized that it would be a problem until I was trying to get someone else to take a picture in a dim room. So, for me I've never had any problems, but as someone mentioned in another review it is a consideration (but for the price, I really wouldn't worry about it).

The camera does have trouble focusing sometimes. Okay, more often then sometimes. I have upped the amount of pictures I take, because often a picture will be out of focus. You just need to be patient with the camera.

This camera also has shutter lag. All point and shoots at this price have shutter lag (you press the button and it takes a second or two to take the picture). This can be awkward at times when everyone's smiling and it hasn't taken the picture, but for this level of camera, not unexpected.

The menu isn't particularly intiutive, but it's not a problem.

Because it's an Olympus and they like to be special you are in trouble if you loose your cord. I went on an extended trip and left my cord at home and despite the fact that I was with people who had every kind of cord imaginable, the cord is not a regular connector. So make sure not to loose your cord!




Comment on the previous reviewer on having to reformat his card:
I have had a similar experience and I panicked, but for me it turned out that when I had dropped it, the card had slipped out of its slot and all I had to do was take the card out and put it back in. I haven't had any problems (I have a 1GB card).




All in all, a great camera and I definitely recommend it. Even though it's not as slim by any means as most point and shoots, the zoom is indespensible. It's a great transition camera between point-and-shoot and a dSLR (which is the next camera I'm getting). It has definitely been through a lot and it has performed very well.

"Great clarity and fantastic zoom"
Wow - what a great camera for a low price. Not only does it has 10X optical zoom, but its additional on-camera editing is great - the red eye reduction on the camera is far superior to any software I have used on the computer! Add in framing and split photos and other bonus tools and it is a real winner!! This is one camera you can really use without a PC and print directly to printer (if you so choose)