The SP-550UZ features the world's most powerful zoom lens, offering maximum shooting versatility for travel, sports and everyday use. The 18x super telephoto zoom gets you closer to the action than any compact digital camera on the market. The 2-in-1 blur solution Sensor-Shift Image Stabilization keeps your shot steady by compensating for camera shake and freezes the action with high ISO sensitivity along with faster shutter speeds. Record TV-quality AVI movies close up with sound 640x480 at 30 fps up to the capacity of your xD card. Shutter Speed - 1/2000 Second - 15 Seconds ISO Output Sensitivity - Auto, High ISO Auto, 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200,5000 Metering Mode - Digital iESP Auto Multi-Pattern TTL, Center-Weighted MeteringWhite Balance - iESP2 Auto, One-Touch, Presets (Sunlight, Overcast, Tungsten and 3 Fluorescents) Recording Modes - DCF Exif 2.21, PIM3 and JPEG Still Image, AVI Motion JPEG Movie 30 Shooting Modes - Auto, Program Auto, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, Manual, My Modes, GUIDE, Scene Presets (Portrait, Landscape, Landscape & Portrait, Night Scene, Night & Portrait, Sport, Indoor, Candle, Self-Portrait, Available Light Portrait, Sunset, Fireworks, Cuisine, Documents, Auction, Shoot & Select1, Shoot & Select2, Beach, Snow, Underwater Wide 1, Underwater Wide 2, Underwater Macro) and Movie Panorama - Up to 10 frames automatically stitchable with Olympus brand xD-Picture Card Built-in Flash Modes - Auto, Red-Eye Reduction, Fill-In, Fill-In & Red-Eye, Slow Sync, Off Self-Timer - 12 Seconds, 2 Seconds, AUTO 20MB internal memory Power Supply - 4x AA Batteries, AC Adapter (C-7AU) System Requirements - Windows 98SE, ME, 2000 PRO, XP, VISTA, Mac OS 9.0-9.2x, OS X 10.1-10.4 or higher Dimensions - Width 4.6 x Height 3.1 x Depth 3.1 inch (116mm x 78.5mm x 78mm) Weight - 12.9 ounces (365 gram) without batteries and media card

I bought this as a gift for my wife. In exchange I got her older camera. Bottom line - if you want to be treated well by your lady, get this camera.

I have really enjoyed this camera. It seems to offer a few things that I can't seem to understand how to access. It's relatively easy to use in the automatic mode. It takes good pictures, even from far away. It offers several different picture modes. I used the glass mode and took pictures of an aquarium. The pics were so clear it looked like I was in the water with the fish!

If you are looking for a point and shoot camera keep looking. If you want more control with how you shoot. This camera will do everything you need and more. My first suggestion, take enough time before going on vacation to learn all the options that are on the camera. I got this one because I do a lot of bird and nature shooting, 'Very good optical zoom'. Turning off the sound is nice when I need quite. Cropping photos in the view finder. Being able to adjust my depth of field. Or the shutter speed I want. Focus on what I want. Every option worked right out of the box. You've notice that I tell the camera what I want to do. So if I have a bad shot I know who to blame. Mine was refurbished. Only down side was the manual looked like a copy of a copy, pictures and symbols where very hard to understand(One star off for that.) Equipment wise, five stars. I feel you get a good bang for the bucks. No regrets, I'll buy another if I wear this one out.

This model is my third Olympus. My old ones have superior battery life but not this one. It's batteries need a recharge after 35 images, max, although I don't use the large viewer and turn off the anti-shake. Then I have to charge them 2 or 3 times to get them to work. I was using Sony and Energizer 2500Mah with poor results, so The company accepted it back as flawed. The replacement is the same. I then ordered the Olympus charger and batteries recommended for this camera, and they are no better. What's funny is, my daughters Canon Supershot (same Mpix, anti-shake, large videos) worked fine on my "spent" batteries.

A lot of "noise" is evident in images taken in low light. The high ISO which is supposed to help in low light, actually makes it worse.

All my Olympus cameras are well made and easy to use, though the internal battery died in one after 3 years, so I have to redo my settings every time I change the battery. There are better cameras out there. I wish I'd gotten something else.

I purchased the Olympus SP 570UZ last month. This past weekend I took it out for the really the first time.
I do like the camera, however I was extremely disappointed with the life of the battery. I actually had to buy 4 sets of additional AA batteries to get through the weekend.
And therefore I was unable to take as many picture as I would have liked to. I saw that somebody wrote that he took 600 picture with a set of batteries. Well, I never got past 250.