I use this camera for my work mainly, and take a lot of macro shots. I've found it easy to use (after having a Canon for a couple of years, the controls are very similar so you can start using it pretty quickly). It's got a good zoom feature and more flash controls than I'm used to - although the difference between 'flash' and 'soft flash' escapes me. But the flash is good enough either way. Connecting to my pc and uploading the photos is easy as well, but I use Windows autoplay and gallery to upload and view the photos - I didn't like the software from Pentax, as that side of things was a bit too different from Canon. If this is going to be your first digital camera, then the software Pentax supply should be fine for you. As for appearance, it's lightweight and thin, and the screen on the back is lovely and big. Bit tricky on a sunny day though, as there isn't a viewfinder - so think about where you'll be using the camera before you buy.