Olympus SP 500 UZ

You only need to post once..

>Has anyone purchased the newly launched Olympus SP 500 UZ.

Not me, but lack of knowledge never stopped me before...

>I am planning to buy this cam very soon.

Oh, really? Well, perhaps you should *wait* for the reviews before
deciding.. otherwise, why read them - they may just depress you!

>Does anyone have any useful review abt the cam

Nope, not yet. Megapixel has a fairly lame review, and gives the
following negatives (which are always WAY more important than
positives)..

# No optical stabilization.
And it has a 380mm zoom????

# Poorly designed viewfinder eyecup and no diopter correction.
No diopter correction??? No good for shortsighted me...!!

# EVF refresh rate lower than monitor's.
whatever..

# RAW format needs better software support.
whatever..

If it's like many of the other Oly's, it will have a great lens, a
slightly noisy sensor, be a little 'quirky', have excellent colour
fidelity. I would be concerned about the lack of IS, the possibly
noisy sensor (although it's only a 6MP, so maybe that's not an issue)
which may constrain low-light shooting, and possibly slow AF/shutter
lag, which will constrain it further.. There is one user (ie not
professional) review on DPReview that complains bitterly about
low-light performance, but I would wait to see a few more, and some
real reviews, before believing it. However, it is cause for concern if
you want to shoot in dimly lit cafe's and clubs... Actually, you
shouldn't even be considering a prosumer if that's what you want to
shoot...... (O:

Don't get me wrong, I own an Oly (C8080) and love it very much, but it
suits what I shoot - mainly landscapes and outdoor (ie brightly lit)
portraiture.