I love the optical zoom, fit, finish and feel of this camera. However, when it comes to pictures, I was unable to get even one clear picture. My 6-year old Olympus D490Z 2MP camera takes much better pictures than this one.

This is my second Olympus camera. The image stabilization with the 10X zoom is great. Also the shooting modes is easy to use. Thanks Olympus.

This is a great overall camera! The optical zoom is adequate - not the best I have used but you can get other lenses. The super macro is awesome, the auto feature works great as do the manual override features. This is the first digital camera I have used that I felt was worthy of purchase.

I purchaed this camera to replace my older Olympus C750 camera. Both cameras have 10x zoom but the C750 has 4MP vs the SP510's 7MP. I expected the SP510 to be a better camera, especially since it's at least two generations newer and it is loaded with extra features such as motion stablizer and higher movie resolution with sound. However, I was deeply disappointed to find that some of the picture quality of the SP510 isn't as good as my older C750. My older C750 produced very sharp and vibrant outdoor pictures while the newer SP510's outdoor pictures are not as sharp and the colors have lost some of their vibrance.

I used to highly recommend Olympus cameras because of the great pictures that they produced, but now I'm not too sure I'll do the same.

The way the SP510 focuses is quite frustrating. It keeps focusing away from the subject in the center and locks in on some obscure object off to the side. I've lost too many shots because the camera does not lock its focus on the center object. I've not found a way to prevent the camera from shifting its focus away from center. This may be why others complain about blurry pictures.

Below are my pro and con for the SP510. I've now had this camera for one month and have taken over 350 pictures + a bunch of movies on the SP510.

PROS:
1. Indoor and night time shots are clear and does not look too washed out.
2. Battery lasts very long. After 350+ shots and a bunch of movies, I've not have to replace the NiMH batteries yet.
3. Camera is very well made and feels solid. I've already dropped the camera a few times (in the case) and it still works perfectly.
4. Movie quality is much improved over the older Olympus and now has sound.
5. Able to capture shots in low light.

CONS:
1. For outdoor shots, the SP510 is not as sharp or vibrant as my older Olympus C750.
2. Very frustrating to focus. The SP510 keeps locking focus away from the subject in the center. This may be why other customers complained about the clarity. Even when I point the center of the camera at the subject the camera keeps locking the focus on some object to the side.
3. xD Picture is more expensive than the sD memory card.
4. The view screen is very dark when using the camera in low light. I can't see where I'm pointing the camera. However the view screen does gradually brighten after a several seconds.

Overall I am disappointed because I expected the SP510 to be better (or at least the same) in every catagory compared to my old Olympus C750. Instead I found the SP510 has lost some of the picture quality I've come to expect from Olympus and the frustrating way the SP510 keeps shifting its focus away from subject in the center of the frame is keeping me from fully enjoying my new camera. Maybe that's why the SP510 has dropped $40 one month after I've purchased mine.

If this was my first digital camera, I might have rated the SP510 higher. But having had an older Olympus camera as a reference, I expected the SP510 to be the same or better in every catagory--not worst in some catagories.

I work in the communications field and have purchased several Olympus models in the past to take photos for marketing materials and newsletters. I have never had a problem with Olympus cameras until I purchased the sp510 UZ.

I bought the camera specifically for the long-range zoom with image stabilization. I was hoping the camera would help me to take photos of performances where I can't get as close to the action as I would like.

The image stabilization does not appear to work very well. I have had problems getting the camera to focus correctly. I borrowed the camera to a co-worker to get photos of an event and half the photos came back blurry. I haven't had this problem with any other Olympus model. I have several Olympus c-5000 cameras that I routinely borrow out to co-workers and the photos always have come back in-focus from those cameras.

I have a lot of money invested in Olympus cameras and in xD memory cards. I'm not quite ready to abandon them yet, but I'm not sure if I can wait for the next generation to see if they correct the problems with this camera. I have been a fan of Olympus in the past, but I would not recommend this camera to anyone. I don't believe it is the best camera available at this price.

I am at work all excited that at some point of the day my camera will be delivered home and I had a HUGE note on the door saying that if I am not there to knock the door on another apartment that ALWAYS someone is there.
NOT!
The fedex guy came and left a $220 digital camera at the doorstep!!!!
I mean how retarded can you be to leave a package in the front door and not even see a message!!! So when I saw the comment online , I had to leave work and rally to go home
Amazon is great but it should be careful with which services they co-operate with.

Can't wait to open and use the camera. Thanks Amazon!!!

----
Thanks Fedex...NOT!!!

I've read the reviews--overall, owners are disappointed. Yet I've looked at the photos by Francisco Haro, and, while I am not a professional photographer, to me they seem like extraordinarily expressive and technically pleasing photos. I would take great satisfaction in being able to interpret the world around me with that skill and sensitivity. Reviewers described focus problem--I see the hairs on a butterfly, whorls of a fingerprint, grains of pollen on a petal. Color saturation is another issue--yet to me, colors appear vibrant and lifelike, as with the green leaves framing the lavender flower.

I'm not arguing or even taking a stance here--just wondering if I'm missing something. Thanks for honest input on an honest question.

BTW, I gave this 3 stars because that seemed the least influential vote--trying to stay neutral while getting my questions answered.

I have always been a HUGE Olympus fan. I have gigs and gigs of pictures from my old Olympus C-740 UZ. I have won competitions with this camera, everyone always tells me how great the photos look - it's awesome. I have recommended my old camera to everyone I meet.

So, when I read the reviews I figured geez, that can't be right...well unfortunately I have to agree - this camera falls short in several areas.

I was going to do Pros and Cons - but since the biggest con is "point and shoot on auto generates fuzzy off color photos", I think that says it all.

I'm sure if you tweaked it enough you can get stunning shots. However, when my three year old is blowing bubbles, or the dog is leaping to get her ball, I don't have time to tweak! I took side by side shots with my old beat up C-740 and the new SP-510 and there is NO COMPARISON! The older 3.2 megapixel camera has much better clarity, more lifelike color, and just a better looking photo!

Olympus - I am sooooo dissappointed. I am returning my nice new shiny toy today and returning to my old work horse. So much for my Christmas present!

When I first started taking pictures with this camera earlier today, I was almost ready to return it. My first shots turned out blurry, grainy, off-color, and all-around unsatisfactory. So much for the factory settings. After spending some time with the manual on CD-ROM, however, I was able to fix the problems.

First, the digital stabilization needs to be turned on--it is not on when the camera comes out of the box. To do this, put the camera in shooting mode and then push the button with the shaking hand next to it. From there you can select to turn the feature [ON] or [OFF], then press OK. This immediately fixed the problems with blurriness.

Second, I initially confused the red-eye reduction with the actual flash. When I realized the mistake and opened the flash, that made a world of difference with the color and graininess. Hey, I know it was a silly mistake, but these small things can happen--at least I didn't snap any pics with the lens cover on (this time, anyway). *grins*

Finally, depending on what kind of pictures you're going to be taking, there are a wide variety of picture quality settings to choose from. Check your manual and play around with those until you find one that works for you. That took care of any remaining complaints that I had.

At the end of the day, I think this camera is decent. There's a definite learning curve, but if you're patient and you take the time to tweak your settings it takes a great picture. It saves your settings, too, so once you have it set right it'll stay that way.

I love the fact that it records movies, too. This feature seemed to work very well right out of the box. Fun stuff!

Ok I felt it was very necessary to write a review on this camera due to the many misconceptions there are about it. When I first purchased this camera I fell imediatly in love with all the endless features it has. Then once I started taking pictures I found that there was a large amount of graininess and "noise" in the pictures. At first I was very disapointed and decided to return the camera. While I was back at the store the person there told me that the ISO was set way to high in auto mode. It was at 800. He told me to set it lower and low and behold the pictures got 10 times better. That was just the begining though!! After reading the advanced manual that comes with the camera and understanding the full features of this wonderfull camera I was able to tweak it enough to get excellent clarity without any noise in the backround or distortion I even found ways to take great night shots with limited light. Having this camera really makes you feel like a photographer because it forces you to understand what you are doing before you take pictures. Anyways all im saying is that if you dont have patience and are the point and shoot type with picutres, do not buy this camera go buy one of those sleak tiny cameras that are made for just that. Point and shoot. This camera has awsome features I cant even get into all of them and once you master the picture taking technique (which by the way took my all of 1 day!) you will be absoulutly thrilled with this camera.

At first I thought I had made a mistake buying this camera. The digital view finder takes some getting used to but you do do not have to worry about parallax. What you see is what you get. The number of functions this camera has is outstanding. You can take pictures under conditions that would be impossible with a lesser camera. You have to set up the camera for the type of project you are shooting. For instance a soccer game is different than shooting a band concert. This camera is not for the beginner or a point and shoot photographer. Save your money and buy one of the cameras designed for this purpose. You can take fantastic photos with this Camera but you do need have some knowledge of photography and photographic equipment.

im very happy with my cam, thanxs amazon!

I gave this camera to my girlfriend for Christmas and she's very happy with it. She hasn't reported any problems to me whatsoever and takes it everywhere with her!

I brought this camera on Sept.25.2006.
First, the power button does not function. Amazon replaced a new one quickly, No dault, Amazon had a good responding.
by December, this camera was no need power button at all, the screen
always shows "one moment" or "remove usb cable" as long as put battery
in the chamber. I have to send it to repair center and pay the shipping fee. It is really sucks. You can imaging what this camera's future
could be.

I work at a museum in central Wisconsin and use this camera to capture images of artwork and events in the Museum. I bought the Olympus SP-510 because of its features and low price and am pleased with the results that it produced. I used it just this morning and sent the images that I took to our designer to have title panels made for two exibitions that I am working on. The SP-510 is a bargin when compared with all of the features it offers.

how do i return the camera..i have the bill and camera has never been opened..it was a christmas gift for my wife...please help mw thank you

I am very pleased with this camera. It takes great pictures and is very easy to use. The only reason I didnt give it 5 stars is because if you take a picture without the red eye flash on, the edit pidture feature doesnt completely fix red-eye. Also the auto focus sometimes focuses on a section of the picture that isnt the intended shot, this however may be a user setting. Other than that I am very happy with the camera.

I really like this camera. It's easy to use, even one handed. The hand hold area is constructed well so your thumb doesn't rest on any buttons. I've only had it for a few weeks and haven't printed any pictures yet, but they look good on the large screen.

Great little camera with more than enough features to get the job done. Reasonably priced.

I purchased these cameras as Christmas gifts for my daughters. They are both thrilled with them! They are of very high quality. They arrived in perfect condition in a timely fashion. I was very pleased with the interaction.

It is important to thoroughly read the manual for any camera and test it out fully before making a decision on keeping it. For example, the "it picks some random focus point" issue can be solved by choosing P mode and telling the camera that the focus point should always be in the center. A lot of this camera's hidden beauty lies in its ability to be fully manually operated, from zoom (albeit awkwardly with buttons) to exposure. Unfortunately, this camera falls slightly short of being a great camera due to excessive noise and no optical image stabilization.

Let's hit the bad points first and then balance them out with the good ones. The Olympus has no manual zoom control or manual ring focus control. This hurts because the motorized zoom is a lot slower than a manual can be and it is very noisy. Next, CCD imaging chips have a lot of pixels on them. Each pixel is sensitive to one color, so you'll have some of the pixels dedicated to blue, some to red and some to green. If a red pixel is placed on the sensor, only red will be sensed at that location. This is OK, because the camera's processor is able to guess the value of the missing colors and output it to the file. The ability of a camera to accurately guess colors (unless it's a 3 CCD camera with one imaging chip for each color) is what makes its photos look good or bad. Additionally, pixels are a certain size. As manufacturers put more pixels on the same-sized chip, these pixels must necessarily be smaller and are therefore more subject to electrically interfering with each other when the chip is exposed to light. This interference is called "noise" and is usually heavily processed out so that it doesn't mess up the photo's resolution. ISO ratings are an old film standard that defined the size of the individual film grains (100 being larger grains than 200, 400 or 800), with larger grains being able to capture more light and smaller grains being quicker at exposure, but shorter on detail. Digital cameras use this same terminology for their light sensitivity settings, with 100 being a bright daylight setting and 3200 being almost pitch dark. This camera is good to about ISO 200, after which, unacceptable amounts of noise creep in, preventing the use of the full 7.1 MP resolution print sizes. It'll make good 4x6s or 8x10s to ISO 800 and, after that, the camera will limit its own resolution to 3MP around 1600 and 3200. I would say that if you were shooting a lot of low light scenes without the flash, you'd be better off getting a DSLR and high quality lenses. This problem with ISO ties into the picture stabilization. The camera will adjust the shutter speed and flash and bump up the ISO to counteract camera shake, but, if you're using the stabilization and the light's not bright sunlight, you'll get a higher ISO and therefore more noise in the photo. This concept makes the higher end of the zoom unusable without a tripod or at least a monopod. The last real downside that is glaring is Olympus's refusal to allow CD cards in their cameras. They want you to buy their special media which is only available up to 2GB and has a higher per-byte cost than any other card. An SD or even a CF slot would have been welcome here! By the way, the flash is not automatic. It's got a little pop up button and you have to manually push it to get the flash up. Not a big deal, but might put people off. Another Olympus blunder is the LCD screen. It's big, but only slightly more than 100,000 pixels...meaning that it will NOT show the photos you take in their full quality. The electronic viewfinder is equally bad. You'll take a bunch of blah photos that will look great once you get them off of the camera...Olympus isn't the only guilty party-other big name manufacturers use a similar trick so they can advertise a 'HUGE SCREEN" and save money on the build cost. Check for this before you buy!


Now for the good things. I know the ISO noise thing sounds like a killer, but the noise level is pretty much on par with other cameras in this class. Most long zoom cameras are basically point and shoots that try to squeeze too much out of their lenses and imaging chips and ISO ratings suffer for it. As long as you learn how to use the camera and learn how to take photos (for which this FULL MANUAL capable camera is ably suited), you'll be able to adjust. The lens is good and doesn't soften too much or distort more than any other camera in its class. This camera features a RAW shooting mode, where you can get the image straight off of the CCD without processing and then tweak it yourself...this is HUGE for this class of camera because even though the files are a LOT bigger, you can basically "take the photo" all over again in processing by adjussting levels and color saturation. This is well worth the effort, but realize that the JPEG color saturation is pretty good already. I would recommend shooting at the next-lowest level of resolution if you're shooting JPEG. This will help the noise problem a little bit by increasing the size of the pixels because they're grouping together. You sacrifice some resolution, but save noise. This camera is light and comfortable to hold and the battery life is outstanding. The camera is responsive and you can save custom settings easily. I also liked the lock on the bottom battery door; it's a small issue, but having a door pop open and batteries raining out of the camera prevents phototaking! The tripod mount is close to center, but the memory card slot is on the back/side of the camera, meaning that you can change cards without removing the tripod! Very nice. The movie mode is great, with the big lens catching a lot of detail and the 640x480 resolution at 30fps making things smooth. The videos don't look too bad on a TV, although they're not in the MPEG format. The software is good and offers a complete solution for not only viewing/editing (especially RAW files) and phot stitching, but also for updating the camera's firmware. Also note that using an Olympus-branded card will unlock a special panorama mode for your camera.

This camera is a good, basic camera that tries to get a little too ambitious and falls slightly short of great. Some of it is due to Olympus's reliance on xD and noisy imaging processor and some of it is due to cutting corners to save the retail price, but overall, the camera is a good buy for the money. People that are disappointed with this camera will be people who might not want to do manual control but just want a camera for point-and-shoot and want quick snapshots to be perfect and fast. Other people want $2000 worth of quality and features in a sub-$400 camera and get upset when it can't match a DSLR with a full-sized imaging chip. Believe me when I say that, if you're wanting a commuter car that will get you there, save power and do it well, this is the camera for you...if you want a sports car, go spend the money and get one. Don't think this is an adequate substitute.


A definite recommend for amateurs who want more control, but can't afford the $150-$200 more that other cameras cost.

I bought this camera soon after it was released. Unfortunately there were no Amazon reviews yet. I have had 3 digital cameras. My first was Kodak. My second was a Nikon Coolpix, and now this Olympus. Well, honestly for me, I think the Nikon was the best. I wanted this new camera when my Nikon stopped working mostly for the large screen, ability to switch to the eye viewer when needed, and the large zoom. There are definitely some wonderful features with this Olympus, but as far as I have seen, my Nikon had much better detail in the pictures. I didn't have nearly as many problems with blurry pictures as I encounter now. Hopefully I can learn the ins and outs of this camera and get more consistent results.

Easy to use and yet has some great advanced features.
The picture resolution is fantastic and the colors are bright but balanced.

I read reviews and researched similar products before I picked the SP-510 UZ. It is everything advertised and then some. Pictures are fantastic. I read the manual and the full technical manual before using and had no problems using all the features. I highly recommend this one to anyone considering a digital camera. Olympus has gone over the top with this one. And, the price was right.

Excellent optical and digital zoom. Good controls. Easy to transfer images to PC. Couldn't beat the price from Amazon.

es una muy buena camara, supero todas mis expectativas, buen lcd, definicion bastante buena, la duracion de las baterias estan por encima del promedio!!!

This is a great camera especially for the price. Very easy to use and download pictures to the computer. Still learning some of the extra features.

What a camera! The zoom is awsome. It is pretty easy to figure out. The only thing I don't care for is being stuck with the XD card format and using the usb cord to download from the camera. The video mode is sharp too. I bought the XDH 1 gig card and it seems to be a good combo. A lot of camera for $220!(plus card) The battery life (4 AA) is longer than I had expected. Shipping was prompt. Very satisfied.

This camera with a 2 gig card replaced both our old Olympus digital camera and our analog video camera. It gives us 30 plus minutes of video and pictures to boot. All functions are as promised. Con: so many features, it's hard to use them all.

Generaly i'm very happy with the camera. The only issue i've had is daylight(bright sun) readability of the dispay.

This is the only digital camera I would compare to my 35MM Canon. The ability to set the camera to what I want is much better than the point and shoot digital I purchased years ago. (Kodak - which didn't last 6 months before breaking). I did a lot of on line comparisions before chosing this model. Plus the Olympus name was enough of a factor has I had a Olympus Infinity Super Zoom for years.

it is a nice camera but it could be much better if it had a faster focus and a black color instead of silver.

I found this camera initially a bit worse (more digital noise and less sharp images) than my old Olympus until I adjusted the ISO and turned off the digital image stabilizer. Then it became a superb digital camera. Yet, for the non-discerning recreational photographer using the program mode w/stabilization probably doesn't matter.

It is a memory hog as the larger, higher quality images are all over a megabyte. However, with today's modern cards and hard drives it isn't much of an issue, but if you have to email a bunch of photos you'd better know how to shrink and compress images.

I like the old Olympus review on the fly. With this camera you have to press the down button and trash the photos. The menus are a bit confusing but with frequent use you can find what you need. The modern computer chip age has lent it self to an extensive array of in camera tools some of which prove useful and others a bit cumbersome. I found some of the scene modes quite good, others not so good or very specific and require a bit of trial and error.

Everyone seems to agree battery longevity is SUPERIOR. I haven't found a lens filter solution yet, but I will look online. Lens cap tether on the neck strap is a bit goofy but minor concern. A black body might have been nice. The software is so-so, I tend to use Photoshop, Picasa, or Microsoft's Image Viewer or Picture Manager.

But for the price it is probably one of the top cameras in the segment.

This camera has many great features and is very user friendly. You would be hard-pressed to find a better camera at this price.

I used olympus digital camera and a film camera ..... and knowing the excellent quality of pictures it gives, i knew that i wanted only "olympus" camera when i decided to buy one for myself. and trust me... i am not disappointed.
what i liked and didnt like about the camera

--> very easy to use... the 'auto' feature is excellent for amateur photographers like me.
--> the zoom though does seem impressive... is in most of the cases unused (the pictures seems to luk grainy if u zoom too much)
--> the "Bright Capture for low-light photography" seriously works !!! i tried it myself. places where my friends camera gave blurred and dark snaps... my olympus gave excellent snaps.... and mind you... without the flash.... no prizes to guess that it will give even better ones with the flash (i prefer not to use flash unless required coz it takes up the battery life)
--> one thing i didn't like was that this thing requires 4 batteries !! and is a power sucker !! make sure that u have rechargeable batteries in hand !
--> the battery locking feature is good.
--> the rubber grip given (on the right as a protrusion) is really comfortable and makes the handling of the camera easy.

there are still so many features that i didn't explore in the camera and am sure that once i get a grip of them... this is gonna be one of my best assets !!

i would recommend this one to anyone over other cameras like sony and canon.

Gave this to my daughter to replacing a 4+ year old Olympus that was starting to fail because she expressed interest in a more serious camera. She loves this one, but she's glad she still has the old one since this one too big to stick in a pocket for walks, parties, etc.

This is realy good camera. I have taken snaps in different modes and the quality is good.

We had an Olympus C2100 for years, and it failed after thousands and thousands of excellent quality photos. So, we decided that another Olympus would be in order. My wife and I are not satisfied with the photo quality of this camera, in relation to the old camera. We contacted Olympus to find out what the difference was, and if there was any other camera that would satisfy our desire for the same "quality" of image as the old C2100.
They were no help at all. We bought this one because it has almost the same specifications as the old camera, but the image quality and the auto features are not a good. The movie features are excellent compared to the old camera. We were spoiled by the characteristics of the old camera.
I am finding that some of the tiny Canon cameras have just as good of image quality as this camera. I guess the price vs quality is only to be found in cameras that weigh a ton. If anybody knows of a smaller camera that has excellent image quality, and I mean excellent, let me know, because we are still looking. My wife called the old C2100 her "magic camera" because no matter how you took the photos they came out amazing. She has shot photos out of the window of our car at 70MPH and they were clear on the C2100, no so on this 510. The dynamic range in the old camera was better, better highlight detail, and better shadow detail. It somehow took the gamma of the image and processed it so much better.

As advertised. With flash, takes cool pics in the dark. I like the scene selection mode when I'm in a hurry. I signed up for e-mail pointers from Olympus for this camera. Using the recommendations for special situations, you can't miss. I probably will never use all the features though.

I think this camera is EXCELLENT! It is definately worth the buy! I love it!
I definately suggest this camera!!

I absolutely love this camera so far. It came in prestige condition with easy directions-so easy that I mastered them in Ireland on the bus to the hotel from the first stop at the airport. The camera is compact enough to be easy to use, but weighty enough so that you feel like a pro using it. So far the shots are grand and I still have a few days left on my 11 day trip to go. I recommend it--so far so good.

I had an older 3.2MP Olympus 8x optical zoom that took great pictures but had an excrutiatingly slow process speed. It was easy to miss good shots because of how slow it was. I did a lot of research in looking for as small a camera as I could find with at least an 8x optical zoom. For the money, the size, and features, this is a great buy. Olympus changed their memory card and processing system in order to speed up the time it takes to snap a picture and be ready to snap the next. So far, I love the camera. The only quirky thing is that there is a slight delay when zooming in or out that is annoying but probably doesn't make any real difference in taking pictures. I wanted as small a camera as possible to take to Europe but I wanted a good optical zoom and a view finder. This SP-510 fits the bill!!

I want to thank Amazon, the price is the cheapest the product great,people who think differently have no idea about what they have bought "what do you expect?", if you want the best camera pay trhee times the price, but for me this one is very very good!!!!!!!!!!

This is a big bang for your buck, my olympus sp-510 has proven itself in many areas of photography. the only drawback, is the amount of memory, there doesnt seem to be enough memory for me if i am taking high quality shots... i would recomend a larger memory card if you plan to take lots of high quality pictures. overall great camera for the money

great camera, great zoom, needs a little help with flash, but still great value and performance for the buck!!

I've found this camera to be very user friendly and the quality especially of the movies I take, to be just perfect. I also love the SCN feature which allows you to easily choose which setting would be best for the current shot. I can't think of a single complaint in using this camera. The two best features for me are the use of AA batteries because I can always have extra with me, and the camera's ability to stay on the setting I choose. My previous Olympus kept reverting back to HQ after a few minutes. And the batteries last a very long time - very impressive!

Everything about this camera is great! I bought it becasue my 3 kids are in sports and I wanted a camera that would give me great pic's, and this is it! I love the zoom and the stabilizer feature. It also has a view finder besides the LCD screen that makes taking shots on a sunny day very easy. It is a bit bulky but it makes it up with picture quality. The battery seem to last for ever. If you are an amature like me you will apriciate this camara. I am still learing how to use it but I would defenitly recomend it to anyone. Oh! and the service I got from Amazon was terrific it was diliverd on the day it was anticipated.

I chose this camera because of my prior Olympus experience, which was great, and because of the optical zoom, and viewfinder. The first time I loaded the batteries into the camera I was concerned because the camera was made of flimsy plastic. With in 3 weeks the camera body had ready cracked. The second disappointment was the picture quality, not sharp. And forget about taking pictures of the kids playing soccer indoors, the camera couldn't do it. The camera has been returned.

I bought this camera as an `upgrade' to my Olympus Camedia C-5050 Zoom. The SP-510 has an awesome 10X optical zoom, 7.1 megapixels and more `scenes' (preset settings) which should all constitute upgrades from my C-5050. At $233 from one of Amazon's members it was a good deal.

I've seen many negative reviews of the camera with suggestions of other brands. The problem is that the alternatives with similar features are often 50%+ more money. The SP-510 is a good camera with some good qualities for the price but you have to work hard to get good pictures out of it under certain circumstances.

The very first picture I took with the SP-510 was a huge disappointment. I have a black, collectible automobile that I like to photograph in low-light. The reflection of the paint, chrome and lights on the car means that I can't use a flash. The C-5050 took beautiful low-light pictures using the "Portrait" setting. Because it automatically increased the shutter time I needed to put the camera on a tripod, but the results were nice. I never had to fiddle with any of the manual settings on the C-5050. Under the same circumstances using the same "Portrait" setting (one of the `scenes') on the SP-510 the results were horrendous. It automatically increased the ISO very high which resulted in a VERY, very noisy picture. I tried other `scenes' (available light, incandescent, and candle to no avail). After messing around with the SP-510s ISO values, white balance and shutter speed I was able to get a picture as good or better than the C-5050. I had similar results at a family gathering where light was incandescent and I used the flash. The picture from the SP-510 under these conditions, when on the AUTO setting, was very poor as well.

I understand it is a `hybrid' type camera: it gives you professional-type manual adjustments that regular point-and-shoot cameras don't while on the other hand it's not a true SLR. Even so, I would have hoped that the preset algorithms (`scenes') would be at least as good as the C-5050 Zoom that it replaced, particularly given the higher resolution (7.1 MP versus 5.0MP for the C-5050). I will now need to program my own settings to compensate for the poor presets.

The pop-up flash is a terrible idea. If you forget to pop it up it will simply take the picture without it, making the appropriate shutter and ISO adjustments, again resulting in a grainy picture.

On the positive side, the camera is noticeably lighter, though physically bigger, than the C-5050. It's actually pretty compact for a camera with a big lens. Menus are intuitive and easy to navigate. The `preview' button is a nice way to quickly preview a picture and then go back to the shooting mode without having to rotate the knob at the top of the camera (though you could do that, too, if you prefer). The camera also `boots up' and takes pictures faster (even at very high resolution) than my C-5050. Critics complain about the resolution of the preview screen - I think it's fine. The digital viewfinder is nice, too.

The digital image stabilization is an excellent feature for a camera with such a long zoom. I find it works well, though I have never experienced the optical stabilization that critics complain is missing from the SP-510.

All in all I think the camera is a decent value, however there are some features that could be improved upon that would not significantly impact the price.

I bought this camera about 5 months ago and I LOVE IT! There is still a lot
to learn but I am so computer illiterate. Yet I can edit on the camera. I
can hook up to a TV or VCR to show pictures or film clips when we visit
friends or family. The only trouble I had was trying to take photos in the
dark, of flowing lava in Hawaii. The lava was over 2 miles away. The poor
camera didn't know where to focus and it was too new to me for me to set it
manually. However, breaching whales, kids jumping on a trampoline and
Christmas lights were not a problem. My only suggestion is to go with a 1
or 2 gig memory card instead of the 512. I find I use the movie feature
more than I expected I would. I have always taken a lot of photos and was
skeptical about buying digital. I am sooo happy that I made the move.

I was able to try out this camera before I purchased it, but now that it is mine to play with, I am finding out how truly great it really is. Lots of fun to use and it takes great pictures and movies. I use the "through glass" setting all the time for my salt water aquarium and the pictures could not be better. Just amazing! And it is so simple to use. It will make anyone look like a pro!

This new toy has made me so happy!! I chose Olympus because I have been working in lab for a few years and the scientific microscopes we use for experiments mostly from Olympus. I also have a digital recorder from Olympus, which I love very much. I believe this brand name. The more I exlpore its functions, the more I love it. Whehter I hang out with friends at dark bars or I walked outside in the sun, this camera has allowed me to take high quality pics. I love its shaking proof feature and "capture objective in the motion" feature. It also looks cool--silver and white. Except for it is a little bit heavy.

So far its a nice camera. Ive had it about a month and the pictures are good. Good settings and I like that it has a larger lens and ability to attach polarizing lenses etc.

I am a fully manual camera guy, it seems increasingly hard to get good film developing. The last trip 2 got crushed after being dropped in the box so decided to go digital. I have a little Olympus that is smaller and more handy. This feels like a real camera but has the benefits of a large camera without the weight.

Only thing off, when I try to focus on something really close it looks fuzzy,but when I snap the picture it refocusses/ clears up and takes a nice pic.

This camera is a wonderful product. I love it for being able to zoom in on my children when we are at school functions or soccer games. I had a Cannon camera before that didn't have near enough zoom so you couldn't make out who the people are. It is fairly easy to use and I dont have any complaints with it as of yet. I have owned it for about 3 months and feel that it would last me a long time!!

This camera has many good features. Most of what I was loking for, and at a reasonable price. It is great for taking still pictures. The problem is that the video/movie files are recorded in the ".mov" format, unlike my old Canon Power Shot which recorded in the ".AVI" format. The .mov format is not compatible with Windows Media Player, Windows Movie Maker, or my NERO software. The video clips are of great quality when viewed on TV or a PC but designed to work with Quick Time on a PC (an Apple product). This severely limits my capabilities to edit and manipulate these files (e.g. write to DVD, etc.). Even the Olympus Master, Master 2, and Image Mixer software is limited in what you can do with these video files. In checking with Olympus support they confirmed that I was pretty much "up the creek" where this product was concerned and that the newer models now record in the ".AVI" format, which seems to be more popular. Sadly, it was past the latest allowable return date when I realized the problem. So you might say that my camera was outdated even before I opened the box.

I love this camera! I love the customer service that Olympus provides. Once you register the product you receive emails telling you how to best use your new camera and little tricks to get the best pictures. The clarity and ease of use of this camera is GREAT! Highly recommend this camera.

Shipping was very fast! I got my camera in 2 days! I was very pleased. The camera is very nice. I am in love with it. It is the best camera i have ever owned. Very nice detailed pictures, with excellent quality!! I am very very happy with this product! And i will buy from 17th photo again! Great business!

This by far the best digital camera I have used to date for the money. I have tried out 3 orther new ones of friends and none compare. Two of witch cost more.I took night shots of lava flowing into the ocean and it looks like your right there. I wish I could give higher than 5 stars.

I bought this camera for my sister's birthday and it has been used constantly since. The images are clear the instruction well defined. Final a digital that works the way one wants.

I had been checking out this camera for quite a while, comparing to other camera's. I ordered it from 17th Street photo on a Sunday, regular shipping, and was shocked to receive it on Tuesday! Talk about fast! I was psyched because I was able to use it the following weekend at my cousin's wedding. This camera is great. It looks complicated, but it isn't. I've had other Olympus camera's and love this one. Its lighter than I thought and comfortable to hold. I was worried about action shots, but love the multi picture option, which doesn't let me miss a thing. The only thing that I don't like is when I am taking pictures at my son's soccer games, and it is very sunny, the screen is hard to see. I didn't have this with my old Olympus infinity digital.

I have two other digital cameras, small Pentax Optio S and Panasonic DMC-LZ5.

This Olympus was big disappointment to me. Namely it's auto mode. I shoot almost
exclusively in Auto mode. That's not because I did not read the manual or
don't know what various parameters of the shot do. I do. But I auto-shoot because I shoot in haste and do not have time to play with manual parameters and take 20 shots
to select one. I am not photography professional and I am not going to be one.
And this is not professional camera anyway.

So quality of Auto mode picture is very impotant for me.
This camera has very poor decisions embedded in Auto mode automatics.
First, it decides sometimes to raise the ISO to 800 in the daylight conditions.
This results in bad grain and noise, not justified by the daylight conditions.

Another problem with Auto mode is very bad rendition of trees and green.
Rarely, trees and gree are rendered well, but this is rare exception.
Most times, trees and green is rendered dull, dark even in good
sunlight, unattractive. When I compare these colors to the vivid
and bright green trees taken by Panasonic in the same conditions, I
am very disappointed.

Another dissatisfaction is not enough of attributed/tags that
the camera embeds into the JPEG files. It does not report which
white balance mode was chosen.

Next problem is limited sharpness of images. The image as I see it
on the 1280x1024 computer screen is actuall what I'd from a 2MP camera.
When I increase the image x4 time, I almost always se fuzzyness. There is
always lack of details that makes me feel that even though there are 7 milllion
pixels in the sensors, either optics or some other element is limiting
actually shrapness of the image to actuall 2MP of detail.

Another discomfort is that in Auto mode, there is no possibility to
define any parameters like White Balance pr ISO. You cannot change them.
Very strange and uncomfortable decision.

Bottom line: I am never buying another Olympus camera again.

Item was birthday pesent. Was delivered promptly and recipient told us he was satisfied with product.

I have had the Olympus SP-510 UZ for about a year and I totally hate the camera. This is my third Olympus digital camera. My previous camera was a C-5050 which I loved, but it got a scratch on the lens so I got the SP-510.

With the SP-510 you have to avoid any of the auto or program settings, because the camera has a tendency to use the higher ASA ratings to solve low light problems. When it uses ASA ratings over 100 the images look totally crappy with so much jpg noise that you will just end up deleting all of them. So you have to use aperture/shutter or manual to have a chance at a decent picture, unless you are shooting in full sunlight.

The exposure is very often off, so be sure to check the images right away and bracket or reshoot the bad ones.

The white balance seems unreliable, so I end up shooting RAW most of the time so I can more easily correct when the color is totally off.

In short you have to be diligent to get decent pictures. If you are the least bit lazy, the camera will punish you with bad pictures.

There are still two things I like about the camera. One is the supermacro setting that lets you shoot very close bug and flower pictures. Second, the camera is powered by AA batteries, so you never are without power out in the boonies.

I've owned it six months. It's fabulous for shooting high resolution macro shots in sunlight; it's great for shooting out of doors and snapshots generally, but that's not what you need all these functions for. I needed it to photograph art objects in various artificial light situations. To switch modes and adjust light source, exposure and focus and such it is ponderous and obtuse. The virtual manual is virtually useless, (unreadable, incomplete, etc.)- trial and error has been the only way for me to use this thing. The camera has too many functions for its size and doesn't deliver on them in a logical or immediately understandable manner, if it delivers at all. If you are a gadget lover, this is great for the price. If you are a photographer it's a pain. My old, old, Olympus D 450 zoom is a primitive camera by comparison, but I had to go back to using it as it works much more efficiently and will match a color more accurately under artificial light.

Love this camera...easy to use but enough options for the more advanced users as wel...

We were never able to take a decent picture, the light was deemed on all the pictures. We called support several times and they could not help us to resolve the issue. Olympus support staff were rude and did not help us. We returned the camera. We have bought two Canon cameras. One works beautiful, the other one is brand new and will see. We will not try Olympus again.