Olympus Stylus Verve

Most of this camera's greatest strengths are evident from the outside - it is cute and small and resistant to the elements. I got it so I could have a camera wherever I go, and carry it in the small leather case you can buy for it - on my belt, its about the size of a cell phone. All in all, I'm pretty happy with the camera.

Size. Pretty easy to use. It can be adapted to use in a fairly wide variety of circumstances (but see lens issues below). A good camera to have at the ready. The flash is small, but works fairly well. Macro and super macro are nice, though they lens does not let you get very close.

The lens is small. My main gripe is that it would help a lot to have an extra F stop to play with. Noteably, among the many shooting modes, there is *not* one for action or sports. I've also noticed distortion at the edges at wide angle. This is pretty typical, but since this lens only has a 2X zoom, its more of an issue. Sometimes I wish I had access to shutter or aperture priority, but really its just a little point and shoot, and the primary shooting mode does a good job most of the time.