Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Price Paid:  $65.00 from Staples

Summary:
I purchased the first DSC-S500 because my old Kodak died on a business trip and I needed a camera. Since I purchased the camera at such a low price I wasn't expecting much. Boy was I suprised. the camera I got was a floor model so I didn;t get any of the accessories, manuals, etc. I really didn;t need them though. I was able to use the camera after about 15 minutes of playing with it. The only problems I ahvae had are wit hthe batteries. The camera will eat AA batteries pretty quickly. I have been using some of the Lithium disposables and get pretty good, but not great life from them. The onyl other thing I don;t like is the lack of an optical viewfinder. Becasue of this you have to use the LCD to setup and take your picture. Since you have to use the LCD often I am sure that is why the battery life is not the greatest. Pictures were pretty good quality, better than the Kodak DX3940 I replaced. I haven't had time to really study the photos but for my untrained eye they look good.

Strengths:
Samll size
large LCD

Weaknesses:
eats battreries
no optical viewfinder