Olympus SP-500 UZ - any recommendations please?

I hope I'm not doing anything wrong by opening yet another digital camera thread. I didn't want to hijack anybody else's thread though.

I've had a pretty basic Trust Powerc@m 910z camera for ages now, and I really want to get something better. I'm mostly interested in "artistic" pictures - I'm no artist, but I like taking landscape photos and close-ups of flowers. I would also like to take photos at night and to be able to manually adjust the focus. I therefore want something with a good macro function, as high an optical zoom as possible, the ability to set shutter aperture and speed, and manual focus.

I haven't hunted around much (yet), but I've found out that the Olympus SP-500 UZ has all these features and is probably within my price range (I say probably because I live in Malta and so I can only get an approximate price from converting the price at Newegg and similar sites into Maltese pounds). I'm going to check with the Maltese reseller tomorrow, but they don't have a website (pathetic, I know ).

From the reviews (here, for example) it seems that the only problem is the lack of image stabilization (I hope to get a tripod in the near future, so not much of a problem there) and that the fastest shutter speed is not very... err... fast (1/1000). How crippling is this? And how will it impact the photos? Basically... why would I need a fast shutter speed? ^^;.

I have also read many good things about Canon and Fuji cameras. Can anybody mention any comparable models to this one, please?

Thanks for any help!

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I was actually going to get this but opted for a cheaper sony instead.

You should get it, its apparently rad. Also, faster shutter speeds are good if theres a lot of light, or if you're shooting something thats moving really fast. 1/1000 is fine though. I think you should go for it, its pretty inexpensive for the neat lens it has.

BUY.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Thanks for the response! I hope the prices here are not too exorbitant, since there's the middle man and things tend to inflate in price due to importation.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I don't know how it compares in pricing, but a similar camera you could look into is the fuji finepix s5200 or s5100. ~

How ya doing, buddy?

I got a shock... it's Lm200, roughly $585 - on Newegg it was half that price. I still think it's worth it, but I don't yet know if I can afford it ^^;. I also want to ask a friend whether he has ever bought from Amazon or Newegg. They're saying that they don't ship cameras to Malta, but it could be that I'm doing something wrong.

Thanks for the Fuji recommendations - I'll go check on them immediately .

I was speaking idiomatically.