Olympus SP-350

I am not happy with this camera's picture quality-especially since it's supposed to be an 8.0. I have seen a 7.0 that had much better picture quality than this Olympus. I have owned several other Olympus products and had this same problem. I will not buy anymore of their products.

Light weight
Several options for taking pictures
Has a "record" button

Not user friendly
Picture quality is terrible
The more pictures taken, the worse the quality
Battery is not rechargeable

Very nice presentation and good quality pictures and screen, but SLOW recording time.

Overall presentation is very nice. Especially like decicated hot-shoe for external flash, which is a BIG plus for still-life, or in studio. This would be ideal for studio casting with an infrared slave. Excellent image quality on large (2.5 cm)screen, with particularly fine black and white rendition. Tiny package with an abundance of manual and pro features at a very low price. AA batteries and optical viewfinder.

Slow to record pictures makes for time between shots. Limited in-camera photo editing -- no interpolative program to go UP in resolution. Comparatively short battery liife. Relatively expensive XD memory, with certain features, such as panorama stitching only available if you buy more expensive Olympus-brand. I found the controls overly fiddly and requiring too many button presses as it returns to "home after each operation. True, you can pre-set preferences in Scene mode, but this was too complicated for me, because I like to regulate camera quickly on-site. I returned this after two weeks despite very good value for money.

Sony DSC-S600
Casio EX-P600
Fuji E900
Sony DSC-V3

Unknown

I purchased this camera because of its underwater capabilities, along with the PT-030 housing from Olympus. I have since added the FL-20 strobe and PFL-01 housing.
The camera came with a single use battery and no memory. It uses the proprietary xD type memory, available up to 1Gb. Rechargeable batteries are available in either NimH or Lithium AA type, or the rechargeable CRV-3. Batteries will last through over 200 shots with the camera constantly on.
The SP-350 offers 8mp of capacity plus video capability in 15fps-30fps modes. The camera has numerous presets for ease of use as well as fully manual settings for flash, aperture, shutter speed, focus, white balance, etc. While the learning curve on manual settings is a bit tedious, it is more than worth the trouble. The camera also shoots in RAW mode, as well as four levels of JPEG.
It is easy to shoot in the automatic modes and presets and very versatile. Once familiar with the manual settings, you can shoot professional quality photos and print up to poster size. The camera also comes with a download cable for those who don't have a memory card reader as well as a cable to connect to an AV device.
I strongly recommend this camera for both beginners and experienced photographers.

The camera's greatest strengths are the combination of easy to use presets along with SLR type features for the experienced photographer. It is a versatile camera on land, and with the factory housing, one of the easier cameras to adapt for underwater use as well. The excellent resolution and the ability to shoot in RAW mode and utilize a variety of photo editing programs allows stunning pictures with minimal experience. The camera also allows four "My Modes" which can be constantly updated for your most common shot types to allow you to preset manual settings or resolution quality so that you can change formats with two or three key strokes. The large color screen is easy to see and the camera settings are clearly displayed. The camera also has a signal light for the auto-focus and allows settings for either spot or area focus.

The xD memory is only available upt to 1Gb and is currently more expensive and slower than the more common SD. The write time for RAW pictures is up to 10 seconds and the camera will not shoot until the picture is written. Highest quality JPEGS take about 2 seconds. The autofocus is a bit slow, but the camera has manual settings as well as a "sport" mode which do away with autofocus and allow very fast shots.
The camera doesn't come with rechargeable batteries or a memory card, so both have to be purchased separately. The optical zoom could be a little stronger. I would like to see the larger lens and better zoom from the SP500 on this camera.

I previously owned a Sony 2.1mp DSC-55.

Thus far, the camera has been trouble free, so I haven't had to avail myself of any of Olympus' customer service. The online downloads for the latest software and firmware are a nice feature.