Others say...

"Worst camera ever; do not buy."
I researched before I bought this camera and based on the features and value, as well as a recommendation and photos I saw from another owner of the Sony, I purchased this camera. I am very disappointed in the clarity, quality and consistency of the photos. I have set, reset parameters and even taken the camera back to the store where I purchased it to have them figure out why the pictures have sections that are fuzzy. No one can explain it. I do not even take pictures anymore because I know they won't live up to my expectations of resolution, clarity or depth of field. I previously owned a Canon with less pixels and lost it, and replaced it with this one, which does not come near to the quality of the Canon. This one is going in the trash.

"Inexpensive Camera--and Cheap, too!"
For about $150 you can't expect too much from a digital camera... and the Sony S500 certainly meets those expectations. I bought this camera because at the time it was one of the only sub-$200 cameras with a larger LCD display (2.4"). I wasn't expecting such low picture quality however--particularly in low light applications. In most applications, both day and night, you have to hold the camera very still to avoid blur... but in even slightly low level light it is almost impossible to get a clear image without setting the camera down or using a tripod. However, if you do that, the photos are fairly decent.

Other good features is the AA batteries instead of proprietary rechargables that a lot of manufacturers are using... when you're out taking pics all day and your battery dies, it's nice to be able to just pop in some AAs and keep going--vs. having to either plug back in to recharge or have to buy a $20-30 2nd battery from Sony.

The zoom also kind of sucks on this camera. If you zoom at all--even if you are still in the optical range (vs. the digital), the picture quality really plummets and gets very grainy very fast.

Color balance seems to also be an issue with this camera--again especially in low light levels. I find myself spending a LOT of time correcting and tweaking the colors, brightness, and contrast on my pics with this camera... which ultimately screws up the image quality (since the adjustments are done post photo and digitally).

Bottom line, if you are just looking for a cheap, basic point and shoot to keep handy for miscellaneous but not overly complicated or technical shots--and quality is not an big issue--this camera will suffice. If you are going on vacation and value your images--or need higher quality images--go with something like a canon digital elph... a little more money but a much higher image quality...

"One star is generous....awful!"
This camera was purchased for my mother for Christmas last year, it's been about 10 months and we've had nothing but trouble from the start.

Most pictures come out blurry no matter how still the photographer was! After a couple of days or so we started having trouble with uploading the pictures and then deleting them off the camera. Then we started recieving a 'file error' message and pictures started disappearing when they hadn't been deleted. Also alot of pictures would upload but then would not be available to access, happened repeatedly and on different computers. My mom isn't one to complain she liked the big screen, easy to use, and small size of the camera.

The final straw was when we uploaded pictures of an important event and they looked double exposed from pictures we took afterwards. The pictures also would not upload in the order they were taken, they became jumbled in the upload. Awful camera, we should have gone with my first choice, cannon. I have a cannon and LOVE IT! Don't buy this camera!

"Good for an ameture"
I loved the camera when i got it in the mail and everything was great. The camera is very easy to use but dosent have anything fancy that you can play with. Also after a while the lid where you open it to put your batteries a piece from the lid broke off, so now even if the betteries are charged i have to sometimes hold the lid myself because it dosent close all the way and the battery dosent reach the camwera the whole way. My friend has the same camera and a piece of her lid broke off too. Soits a good camera only for a while.

"Not for the adventurous ones"
This camera has issues. I am comparing it to my previous Kodak point and shoot Easyshare 3.2 MP digital that was replaced. That camera didn't have the fancy claims to 6 MP or video, but it was always reliable. The batteries in the Kodak never stop performing when you most needed your camera. I dropped it numerous times and it survived without a flaw. It was really simple to use and transfer photos to any computer. And it took great photos without blurring the subject.

The Sony DSC-S500 I was given as a gift to upgrade my photography has been nothing short of aggravating. Fully charged Energizer NiMH batteries only last an hour or two. If you use it skiing or anywhere its colder than 50 degrees F, prepare for total uselessness. This camera HATES cold weather! The video is extremely grainy and it takes a very considererable effort to initialize the video function to begin with.

Get a tripod too because this camera can't handle even the steadiest hand. Just pressing the button with cause your shots to be blurry unless you balance it on something solid. The back display is small and hard to see. Shooting at night becomes a guessing game of point it that way and shoot.

For a Sony product, this is not the camera to buy unless you plan to shoot in ideal conditions and have a tripod. If I didn't get this as a gift, I would have sold it or returned it already. I already had Sony evaluate its condition for defects and it came back negative. This only means Sony found its low quality to be satisfactory for this model.

I am just one opinion. Good luck in your search.