The competition is getter tighter with Olympus now having released an
improved SP-550, namely the SP-560 UZ. The new model features a larger CCD,
a higher relolution of 8.0 megapixels, the same 18x optical zoom but with
the larger CCD now equivalent to 27-486 mm on a 35 mm camera, Face Detection
Technology to quarantee the capture of sharper and more accurately exposed
faces, Shadow Adjustment Technology to ensure that shadowy areas are
brightened, a five frames pre-capture mode, BrightCapture Technology which
works to brighten both images and movies, a Smile Shot scene mode which can
detect when a subject smiles and automatically releases the shutter, a more
powerful popup flash, a 47 MB internal memory, and TruePic III image
processor for faster mimage handling and higher image quality.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0708/07...olysp560uz.asp

Maybe this is the camera that Oly was working with last year, but they
decided to release an unfinished product, the SP-550, just to be the first
with an 18X optical zoom?

/Per

"measekite" skrev i meddelandet
...
The camera will be released sometime in September. I am also waiting for
reviews to see if I want to buy that or the Canon S5 IS. I have already
decided to purchase the Canon over the FZ8 because of less noise and
better image quality on the Canon. I do think that the FZ18 may be either
noisier or more speared due to more noise reduction than the FZ8 but I
want to be sure and not sorry.

Per Nordenberg wrote:
Are there any Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 user reviews available yet? I have
only seen previews so far.

Regards,

Per Nordenberg