I have one of the 550 with out the viewer and it is the best camera I have ever owned. I like the compact design because it it is so easy to conceal. I have two of the 550v coming this week. Don't waste your money on the cameras at the chain stores.

Ive noticed from posted pictures that the flash (beam) has a cone-shape to it, and doesnt seem very powerfull. The pics dont look as sharp as some of the Stealth/Moultrie.Cuddeback models either. I hear good things about trigger speed and video mode though.

That is one of it's drawbacks.
More light = more IR's = more power requirement = more batteries = larger room battery compartment = larger camera = same size as the rest.
For it's size it does some amazing things.
It's half the size of a beer bottle.

Not neccessarily true. Check out the Covert II. Nearly the same size, still gets in excess of 4000 pictures, has extra LED's which produce better nighttime pictures. There has been some concern over the PIR sensor field of view being larger than the FOV of the camera lewns, but that is easily remedied with 2 pieces of electrical tape about 1/8" wide on either side of the PIR lens. I'd recomend leaving the tape off in a trail scenario and putting it on at a bait station. They are fabulos cameras. I've replaced all but a couple of my SG550's with them.

I agree, you do give up a bit of flash strength, but I thinkthe picture quality is as good as it gets.Plus you don't have to try to hang a"siutcase" in a tree and then try to hide it.It is so easy to conceal.It is also easy to access the sd card. That is what I did not like about the Moultrie,you had to open the front of it to turn it off then open the side door toget the sd card out with a tweezer. I check my card every day so after about 2 weeks of this the o-ring on the side compartment was already screwed up alowing water to come in. I took it back to Academy and ordered theSG 550.

good reviews...any other owners with reviews?? hows the battery life?