Rating: 
Summary: Most of the other review have it right but
Review: I agree with most of the positive comments in the other reviews, so I'll focus why I didn't give it 5 stars.1. For a point-and-shoot guy, I find the focus harder to get then my past non-digital Olympus. I take mostly portraits and pet shots so I need to get the focus on the person/pet and not the background or other points. 2. I can't find any way to save the settings I frequently use as the default settings (anyone know how?). This means I have to reset several setting each time I open the lens. In general, the documentation is OK but sometimes I can't do what I want until I try each menu and several of the options. 3. Since the Windows software from Olympus doesn't have enough editing features, I must use other editors that I only have at work. The software could easily have been better. 4. The delay between the click and the picture means I often miss the shot I want of my pets. However, with practice, I now usually get the photo I want on my first try and I can delete the rest. I am totally pleased with the picture quality - but since I always get 4x6 prints I'm not fully testing the resolution.
Rating: 
Summary: This is a Great light camera!!!!!!!!
Review: I bought olympus d-550 a week ago, and was completely satisfied. It has a 2.8 optical zoom, and that is like to zoom object 3 times. Digital zoom doesn't help. Ignore digital zoom when you buy a camera, because digital zoom is just the zoom that your computer can make when you enter pictures to your computer. The bigger picture you make, slopier image becomes. i can make pictures a whole page big on a sharpest quality. I like about this camera that cover slides down, and lens is always protected, under the cover. This is highest megapixels with such a small lens. I like this camera and I am very satisfied with it so far.
Rating:
Summary: great camera
Review: I bought this camera 18 months ago, and it takes GREAT pictures. I have taken thousands of pictures with this camera with no problem. The two only drwabacks to this camera is its size and it takes a second or two to save the picture to the card, but that's the way it is.
On the other hand, the reason why it is so big is because it uses regular batteries=cheap! However, battery life is great.
Would recommend this camera to anyone who needs a digital camera.
Rating: 
Summary: Save your $$$$$
Review: I bought this camera a year ago; it has served me well in many different environments and in both nighttime and blazing sun conditions. Downloads are swift with either the 3.5 inch flash path floppy or USB. Picture quality is great at low compression settings, higher settings are even better. I use a 64 MB memory card and that is more than adequate for my needs. Battery life is impressive: one charge was good for a 2 week vacation, and that included at least one hour of time viewing pictures with relatives on the built-in screen. Easy to use. Documentation is a bit on the slim side, but sufficient, with the exception of instructions on taking a panoramic picture. Apparently, that info is on the CD. We've taken 1,200 pics or so, no problems.
Rating:
Summary: Money Well Spent
Review: I bought this camera a year ago; it has served me well in many different environments and in both nighttime and blazing sun conditions. Downloads are swift with either the 3.5 inch flash path floppy or USB. Picture quality is great at low compression settings, higher settings are even better. I use a 64 MB memory card and that is more than adequate for my needs. Battery life is impressive: one charge was good for a 2 week vacation, and that included at least one hour of time viewing pictures with relatives on the built-in screen. Easy to use. Documentation is a bit on the slim side, but sufficient, with the exception of instructions on taking a panoramic picture. Apparently, that info is on the CD. We've taken 1,200 pics or so, no problems.
Rating:
Summary: I found my camera!
Review: I do not just buy something quickly. I look around and around and around.
I checked a lot of reviews on this camera. And I really liked what I read. I got the camera and have used it about a week. Thus far, it has everything that I wanted and more. Still getting my camera "feet" with it, but it is getting easier and easier to use.
I am very happy with the quality of the pictures. Happy with the size of the camera and the "feel" of it in my hands.
I am a happy camper....
Rating:
Summary: The greatest, though not the latest.
Review: I enjoy having the "greatest" equipment that I can afford. However, this means not getting it when it is the "latest." I watched the reviews and other info on various cameras for some time. The D550 was one that I kept an eye on. Finally, the D550 started falling in price. The D550 is now available at a number of online retailers for less than $... dollars. I paid $... and was then able to upgrade to better memory cards and other accessories for the original price of the camera alone. Now I have a great camera. For my needs: family photos, vacation memories, birthdays, and the such; the D550 is perfect. I won't be doing many, if any, night time photos. I don't need fancy exposures or other pro camera tricks. I keep the resolutions small for simple 4x6 shots, but it is nice to have the option to go larger. Once on the computer I can adjust, using various software packages, the image to make it more email friendly. But, usually, I just post an image at my simple website (hosted by ...) and let the family know to browse on over. The manual does not show to much other than the basic operations. But, there are lots of websites out there with great reviews and usage tips. I have printed most of them and created a binder with all the info in it. If you are worried about going digital with your photo memories and are confused by all the lingo, hype, and information out there, then go with the D550. The manufacturer is reliable, the digital technology is mature, the features are above average, and the price is within reach of the first time buyer.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent camera
Review: I got this camera for my birthday about a month ago, and I'm COMPLETELY in love. For a computer-geek non-camera-geek like me, it's the perfect thing. First of all, the picture quality is excellent. My main medium for my pictures will be electronic, so I usually take photos at highest quality, lower resolution--1024 by 795 or sometimes even 640 by 480 for snapshots I don't really care about. I don't ever intend to print these, though I know that if I ever did want to go to deadtree format, this camera could do it. The photos it takes are exceptionally clear, bright, well colored and well balanced. The only exception I've found is in very low light--and that may have been because my batteries were dying. I second what people have said about the batteries, by the way. The LCD eats em right up. The viewpiece tends to look slightly closer than the picture that ends up getting taken, too, though I've learned how to adjust for that. It's no worse than a lot of film cameras I've used. This thing contains a standard USB Mass Storage adapter. It hooks to my Linux boxes just great, using default USB kernel modules. I use Windows XP explorer to manage the image files on Windows--again, as a computer geek, I usually stay away from vendor's file management software. The ability to mount this thing as a storage device under Windows and Linux was a key consideration. I assume you could do that with a Mac too. I didn't mind the incomplete documentation. I'm a geek! I'm not afraid to explore the menu system on my own! I even discovered how to have it not reset your settings on shutdown. Go geeks! Great little camera. I recommend it completely.
Rating: 
Summary: There are better now for a little more money
Review: I guess if you are going for an older camera to save money, this isn't a bad choice, but I would recommend looking at newer ones. Like most electronic gadgets, they get better every year.
Pros:
- generally easy to use
- uses standard AA batteries
- no lens cap to lose
- software - easy web page publishing in professional version
Cons
- a little too big to be pocketable
- there are comparable cameras with 10x and even 12x optical zoom
- no stabilization feature
- lacks shutter-priority, aperature-priority, and manual modes
- difficult to impossible to get good pictures of indoor sporting events and other low-light situations where the flash does no good or you can't use the flash (actually, this is probably true of many other consumer-level cameras)
- slow reaction time - push the button and it takes the picture about a second later (or not at all if it thinks you need the flash)
- menus aren't explained very well in the manual
- software - version that comes with the camera is crippled, but the professional version freezes occasionally
Despite what somebody else said, backing up files to a cd isn't that hard if you know what you are doing; you just have to mount the CD so it looks like any other disk drive. I had no problems with this.
Anyway, I'd say spend a little more money and get a Panasonic with 12X zoom, image stabilization, and some of the other features mentioned above. You could also go for a camera with higher MP, but I'd rather spend my money on features that will actually help me take better pictures, not just bigger ones.
Rating:
Summary: Great camera, great price
Review: I have been using Olympus cameras since I first got my Olympus AZ300 back in 1987. Incidentally, the AZ300 still works!! I recently got this camera because of a newborn on the way. It's handy to be able to take pictures, review them, and add/erase pictures as needed depending on how pictures came out. Although I never had a bad picture with my AZ300, the digital camera is one less step that I need to take in terms of picking pictures that I want to develop, e-mailing them, and storing them. Olympus has been known for their fine camera construction in terms of both optics and automatic functionality. This camera is no-exception. It allows both full-automatic function with some user-overriding features--not enough to make it a full-blown professional camera, but enough to allow a user to take a good photograph in unusual lighting conditions. Controls include spot metering, ISO selection (although I wish speeds higher than 400 were available), 7 different portrait modes, exposure control, sharpness, white balance, etc., give users something to work with as well as typical features such as black-and-white picture shooting, etc. The 3.0 MP resolution is more than enough for casual users as well as those who wish to make prints up to 11x14, although maximum resolution setting are recommended for this kind of application. Utilization of various TIFF and JPEG modes are covered well in the manual -- just remember, TIFF for VERY "spiff"y prints!! Word to the wise. I'm sure it's mentioned already, but INVEST IN RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES. Although some may lament how AA's are not necessarily robust to handle this type of application, I find it refreshing to know that there is an extremely standard and relatively inexpensive power source that I can use. And rechargeable batteries certainly make up for their cost in just a couple of charges alone. Also, invest in a 128 MB SmartMEDIA card. The supplied 16 MB card is good for casual use, but woefully inadequate to store any amount of high-resolution images. I like using the 3:2 mode so I can print 4x6 images on the HP Photosmart 7350 without cropping or resizing!!! Some negative reviews proclaim something to the effect of image aberrations ("UFO's?") that occur during night shots. I have not experienced any such malfunction. Great camera, great price!! This is the one to buy if you're an amateur looking for a good digital camera!
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