I purchased this camera in August of 98, and moved overseas. In January '99, my eighty-one year old father was riding on the back of an elephant in Thailand. When I went to take a shot of this once in a lifetime event, the camera lens froze in the out position and would not take a picture. A moment lost forever! Attempts to get the camera fixed overseas were futile, as they would not honor a US warranty. I sent several emails to Olympus asking some direction but received no response.Also, soon after we purchased this model, my husband and I stood side by side taking the same picture with this and a Samsung comparable model, both on automatic, and found the resulting pictures to have no noticeable difference. Due to the lack of email response by Olympus, I would hesitate to buy another, as this one was money down the drain.