We needed a camera that is easy to use and carry while on vacation. The Good. I chose the Olympus 7000 because the features and its size. Very compact and slim, it's user friendly and fun to use. The 7x zoom features is nice, it allows you to take clearer image when zoom in. If you plan on taking close-up on landscape stay with 7x lens or above. 3x is not good enough. The 12 megapixel comes as good as it gets for this range of cameras, it will never come close to those SLR cameras, but are better on the wallet. The camera features a 3'' screen which is a nice features, it present pictures in clarity, this is what all camera should be. The Bad. This camera takes good pictures but bad videos.I don't know if other users are experiencing the same issue. For some reason, the video mode has a slight distortion similar that to a 3D movies without a pair of glasses. Sometime, you'll also get that on the pictures mode too. I'm not thrill with the software for this camera. It once froze on me on Windows Vista when I was working on some of my downloaded pictures. I'm on the process of sending this unit back to Olympus for service and hope they will remedy this problem or replace for a new one. With few issues as mentioned I'm given this camera a 3.5 star. I do recommend it, but would look into canon or sony brand.