Puts the "easy" in Easyshare!

I bought this to replace a $600 camera that I bought in 2003! (Olympus Camedia) My previous camera took excellent pictures, so I wasn't expecting much for this price - especially since it is so tiny in comparison! I lucked out and got it for $50 off the normal price.

I don't understand all the grainy picture complaints. A few of my pics definitely do look a little grainy on my computer monitor, but they print out very sharp and crystal clear - even when printed at 8x10! I suppose if you REALLY blow up those photos it could be an issue, so that may be a concern for some. (I would imagine if you are blowing pics up THAT big, you probably should be looking at more professional grade cameras anyway.)

This camera is so easy to use! I am not a tech whiz at all, so it was truly amazing that I could use almost all of the features on this camera, right out of the box (without reading the instructions). Easy, on-screen displays walk you through everything.

The "scene" options help me take much better pictures. I kept trying to take pics at an outdoor dance, just as it was getting dark. I was too far away for the "flash" to light up the people on the dance floor, so it wasn't working very well. Not knowing much about photography settings, manually changing the settings wouldn't have helped me much. I quickly scrolled through the "scene" options and found a "sunset" scene selection, which the camera explained would be best for use at sunset (duh). Took another photo with this setting and was amazed! Every person on the dance floor was perfectly clear and well-lit. (How it did that without the flash, I don't know!) There are MANY scene selections to help you take the very best pictures. (Portrait, night portrait, panorama, landscape, night landscape, candlelight, self-portrait and at least a dozen more.) It takes less than 3 seconds to find one, pick it and shoot the picture. I took a GORGEOUS indoor portrait of my daughter, with a black backdrop. It looks just as good as any studio portrait! (I'm not a photographer, but I'm definitely picky about my portraits.)

When taking a group photo, it is supposed to recognize up to 10 faces and automatically adjust the exposure and focus. I didn't ALWAYS see the camera put a "little square" around every single face in the picture. It was kind of a "hit or miss" feature. Sometimes, there would be 6 people in the photo and only three faces were recognized. Still, the picture turned out great, so I can't complain.

My favorite feature of this camera is the battery! No more buying those ridiculously expensive batteries. This one uses a special RECHARGEABLE battery - and it comes with the camera! All you do is plug a small cord into the camera and charge it up! On vacation, I took pics all day long and just plugged the camera back in when we went to bed at night. The battery didn't die on me one time! (It will go from "dead" to completely charged in less than 4 hours.)