I had a 7 year old Olympus and loved it...then I got a Fujifilm 18x zoom..I liked that/but it was too bulky to carry EVERYWHERE......came across this at Wal-you know....and loved the size and feel.So I ordered on Amazon/because price was better....received the camera/loved the "effects" loved the feel/and the zoom is awesome! if you see my posted picture....I zoomed in on a sailboat 3 miles across the lake and it looks pretty good for what is does! I was amazed at how the camera didn't need 4,5,6 or 7 tries to get a focused zoom! I also like the fact you can take several pictures in a row with no special set up/even though the "preview screen" still shows previous shot/you can continue with 6,7 more shoots in a row!easy to use "navigation" button....just wished it took AA batteries..I ended up buying another battery with a wall charger...the "down side"? only charges via usb when connected to computer/unless you get another type of charger as I did...ALSO the "usb" is special... Read more

This Olympus is ultra compact with excellent zoom of 18x which you would normally find in bridge cameras but is compact like the point and shoot. Loaded with features and video was crisp and sound was better than expected with no additional mic attached. I was well pleased to have purchased an everyday point and shoot yet performs like a bridge camera with tons of shooting options. This is a great camera to go anywhere with. Will recommend highly.

Will be returning/exchanging.

Pictures looked good (especially with the nice LCD) but the image stabilization was hit or miss when using the zoom. The Magic Filters worked well but, in the end, I didn't see myself using them much in the future. The deal breaker for me was that video mode did not allow zoom (SZ-30 does). Don't get me wrong, the videos were clear and sound was great (720p is really good enough for me). I'm looking for a camera that takes good quality pictures AND takes decent videos with things that should come standard (i.e. zooming in video mode).

Also, it seemed that the whole camera was heating up (more than normal I guess). User Interface was not very user friendly with the lack of a dedicated, physical mode dial. It took quite a bit of time when focusing on objects near or far (approx 3 - 5 seconds).

Overall, good picture quality without zoom, and sometimes WITH zoom. The lacking areas as mentioned above were enough for me to... Read more