5 comments about Sony Cybershot DSCW80 7.2MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom and Super Steady Shot with Sony HD Printer.

1. I used to have an Olympus Stylus Zoom 80 digital cam and my finace bought me the Sony Cybershot DSC-W80I last year. I liked the Olympus, but it was an old model and I wanted more functionality in a camera. However, I am disappointed in the Sony Cybershot. It is great for taking outdoor pictures, but don't even think of getting a good picture indoors, of motion or anything that's not stationary. It boasts the Double Anti-Blur Technology with Super Steady Shot, but this is a joke. A lot of the pictures come out blurry and you have to spend a lot of time adjusting the settings to figure out how to get a good picture. It does not take very good low light images even though it has adjustable sensitivity, twilight, and ISO settings. I tried to take pictures at a party where there was average lighting and colored lights, and they ALL came out blurry unless I used the flash, which still didn't look great b/c everything was too bright for the actual setting. Without the flash, the people in the pictures were literally transparent; They looked like ghosts and there were streaks of light across the images. Horrible.
   It does have great red eye reduction and fast shutter speeds for taking multiple pictures (again, these will come out blurry if there is ANY movement). I've had the Sony Cybershot for 7 months, but I am going to go back to Olympus.



2. I am very happy with this camera! Great picture quality, self explanatory functions, and great size for taking with you every where! I do not need a hundred different settings, or the latest super savvy technology- I was just looking for a camera that makes it easy to take good pictures- whether it's a special occasion, or just a fun everyday moment, and this camera is great for that. The battery life is good, too! Another big plus is the great flash; out of all cameras I have had, it has the most flattering, soft-but-still-illuminating flash; people look great, not like deer caught in headlights. I took me some time to find a camera case for it, since I didn't want to spend almost $40 on the Cybershot ones; if anyone else feels the same way I can recommend Swiss Army's "the sherpa" I believe the style is called- fits perfectly, and costs less than $15!



3. I am not sure about all the "positive" reviews on this camera. Maybe it is the particular one I have got, but I do see some very negative reviews. I grew up in a photo studio and know enough about cameras. Only ~1 out of 3 pictures I took with this camera turned out reasonably good. Majority of the pictures were blurry and grainy, sometimes even in well-lighted settings. Overall quality of the pictures are not nearly as good as my ancient Canon G2 (3 or 4 MP? I bought it 8 years ago, unfortunately battery died 2 years ago). What a waste of many cozy moments! I have decided to trash this piece of junk and get a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ5, which I hope will work better. Don't think I can return my Sony to Office Depot since I bought it 9 months ago.



4. If you plan on taking pictures of small children or baby, THIS IS NOT THE CAMERA! As some of the other posting mentioned. Motion produces Fuzzy or Ghost-like image. Low light produce grainy pictures. I know some would say that the way it works but I don't recall my old 2.0MP sony camera was this bad. The only optimal setting I find is a very bright sunny day inside or outside and your subject is not moving around then you have great pictures. I also find that sometimes you think you took a great picture as seen in the LCD but when you actually see it on your computer, its a total different story.



5. This was excellent service. I was a little nervous ordering over the internet, but delivery and product were top notch.

5 comments about Mavica FD92 Digital Camera.

1. I purchased this camera a couple of weeks ago. It's my first digital camera, and I must say that I am extremely satisfied with its features and performance. I even purchased the long life battery to go with it. I find it's battery life indicator to be helpful. The photo quality is exceptional depending on the resoloution level you set it at. The use of floppy disk or memory stick gives you even more options. It also has an indicator for the amount of room left on the disk for more pictures. I highly recommend this camera.



2. We bought this camera because we just had a baby and wanted to email pics to all of our close relatives from out of town. It has been a great fit for what we wanted it for. We like that fact that the camera comes with so many features and is easy to use. Black and white baby shots are great. The menu is easy to use (my 77 year-old grandmother used it). If you are looking for a camera that saves pictures on floppy and memory stick, this is the camera for you. None of the other Mavica cameras have the built in memory stick slot, a big plus for the 92.

   We just wish it was a little cheaper because the megapixels are lower than other similarly priced cameras.




3. I did a lot of research before purchasing a good digital camera(I had a really cheap one before this one). The FD92 just excelled in every aspect. It has 8x optical zoom (look at the difference between digital and optical zoom is a good thing to know). It has the capability of storing images in both a Floppy disk and a Memory stick(128Mg Memory stick available now) which depending on resolution can satisfy all your needs(Max res on FD(6 pics) Max Res on Mem Stick (300 Pics) Good Res 640x480 (30 on FD and 1500 on MS). Besides all the comparisons I made with other cameras from Nikkon, Olympus, and Cannon, I purchased from the mavica product line since my Auto Shop uses them line... they abuse an FD90 day in and day out and it still works perfectly... this was one of the major factors that made me purchase it. After I bought the camera and started using it I was very happy with my investementet ... My wife picked it up and starting taking pictures without even reading the manual and she loved it... which is a first when it comes to electronic "toys". I recomend this camera to anyone in the market for one.



4. I have owned this camera for over 4 years. When I purchased it, there were 4 major reasons:
   
   1. Ability to take digital pictures.
   2. Ability to record video WITH sound.
   3. 3x optical zoom. This means there are physical lenses doing the magnifying - this is better than "digital" zoom.
   4. It could write to floppy.
   
   Well, I still love the first three, and could do without #4. I can count on one hand the number of times I've used the floppy abilities of this camera.
   
   That said, I have been very impressed with the abilities of this camera. First, it could do video with sound long before most cameras, even though the clips are short (15 seconds). Second, it takes a great picture, even when printing them.
   
   This camera is SOLID. I've seen quite a few people get small cameras and they drop them, and that's it.
   
   The only complaint I have is about the size, but I knew that going into it...
   
   Every connector, input/output slot, etc. still works the way it was designed. I am considering selling this, and will probably buy another Sony due to the quality of this camera.



5. I have enjoyed this camera and the quality of its work. However, I wanted to know if you can buy a memory stick for it and use it only? I did not get one in the box when I purchased it, but would like to use it instead of the floppy disk on occasions. If you have the name of the disk, please let me know. I have received error messages with the Sandisk Pro and the Magic Gate Memory Stick Pro.

5 comments about Sony MVC-FD87 1.2MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom.

1. very easy camera to use. Great first digital camera for anyone.



2. The thing that attracted me most to this camera was the fact that I didn't have to buy one of those $100 memory sticks. I can, if I were planning to take a great deal of photos and don't want to carry extra disks around, but it's greta for people like me who just want to use it for recreational purposes.
   I was at first turned off by the size, but this is part of the beauty of being able to save the files directly onto disk which inserts into the camera itself (which means the camera has to be the size of a floppy- which roughly it is). Besides, The size is a good fit to the hands and makes shaky hands less of a problem.
   The zoom is great. You can really get close-up shots from a distance without compromising image quality or color. The display screen on the back of the camera is larger than on most, which makes it easier to choose which photos I want to keep/delete without popping the disk into the computer to take a closer look.
   This camera has plenty of fun features to keep anyone entertained for a long period of time, and the battery life is great. The charger reharges the battery quickly when it does need to be charged.
   The photo quality is great both indoors and out, night and day. There are differet settings for landscapes, people, etc, as well as light, and they do make a pleasing difference. This camera can be used in any situation.
   Overall, I am very happy with my purhase. Sony is a terrific brand, after all.



3. This camera was on sale for 350 dollars at Christmas time when is it going on sale again. If they can do it once they can do it again.



4. Don't waste your money on a Mavica. I bought an FD-87 less than a year ago and it's broken -- again. Imagine that you bought a brand new car ... and then three months later, you had to pay $...one-fifth of the car's value... for a repair. Then, seven months later, the car breaks down again, and you're told it will cost ...about one-third of the car's original retail cost... to fix it. Who in their right mind would pay over half the original cost of a new car for repairs in less than a year? (There's a word for a car like that -- it's called LEMON).

   Well, by analogy, that is precisely my situation. It's not worth getting my FD-87 repaired this second time around, having already shelled ... 20% of the camera's original retail price tag, the first time around. I discovered the hard way that Sony charges an obscene amount of money for labor, even though it's still within the one year warranty. (Sony's one-year warranty covers parts for the whole year, but labor is covered for ONLY 90 days!!!).

   I admit that I, too, was originally impressed by the FD-87's ease of use and the convenience of floppy disk storage. However, quality issues aside, the size and sheer bulk of the camera is also a major drawback; smaller is really better. And the floppies -- they just don't hold enough photos. Even at the lowest resolution (640 x 480), I'd get maybe two dozen pix on a disk, and in no time, I had accumulated a huge pile of disks. Now that the price of smart or compact flash media has come way down, it makes more sense to get, say, a 64 or 128 MB smart card, which store a lot more photos and are so tiny in comparison. Even if I knew the FD-87 would never break down, I still wouldn't buy it, not in today's competitive digicam market. It's just not a good deal...




5. I bought the FD87 thinking that I would never run out of media on long trips; I could always go buy more disks, or erase some shots. Unfortunately I didn't consider how inconvienient that would be. Lugging 40 floppy disks around Disney Land along with a bulky camera was not fun. Taking it skiing was a whole other pain in the rear. Another problem is the inherent unreliability of floppy disks. I have lost many shots due to disk errors. I liked the Mpeg mode when I bought it, until I discovered you cannot stop the camera once you begin recording. This is stupid. The camera takes good pictures, if your activity is taking pictures. Do not, however, buy this camera if you plan to take pictures while involved in any other activity. It is very impractical. There are two good points though. The battery lasts forever and the camera formats disks about 20 times faster than a PC.

5 comments about Sony DSCP51 Cyber-shot 2MP Digital Camera w/ 2x Optical Zoom.

1. I don't understand why there's some people complaining about the quality of this camera.... This is a 2MP camera!! People cannot expect the picture quality of a 3, 4 or 5MP camera. I have been using this camera for 3 years already and it's working just fine... The only problem that I had with it, was that the flash stop working one day, and when I called Sony they help me over the phone, and the camera was fixed in the spot... And the Customer Service at Sony was great too....
   
   It's pretty easy to use, even for people that have never used a digital camera before.
   
   I read that somebody said that he's not gonna buy Sony anymore, well too bad for him.... I love Sony so much that I have almost everything Sony, and the best part is that I can put my camera memory stick in the Sony TV and in my Sony laptop and I can view the pictures, without using any cables.... That is just amazing!!!
   
   If you want to have a camera for everyday pictures and for printing small pictures this is your camera. I have even printed 8 x 10 pictures and they look pretty good.
   
   The only reason that I'm giving a 3 stars it's just because I prefer a camera with more mega pixels.... But, if we're talking about 2mp cameras: this is a 5 Stars!!!!



2. Ok, I thought it was just my luck that I had gotten a bad camera. I will say, that for 2 years, this camera took incredible pictures and I used it on almost a daily basis. However, about 4 months ago I have also been defeated by the infamous "black screen". After doing searches online just to make sure it wasn't one of my settings messed up, I found this review on here. I'm adding my $0.02 in. I will try pounding the crap out of my camera since that seems to work for a short period of time and at this point, it's not working anyway so I can't possibly break it more. One of my friends and my brother have had HP Digital Cameras for a while now and have no problems. The picture quality is good too. I have a feeling that will be my next purchase unless I stop with the electronics stuff and go to good ol' Kodak!



3. Same thing that happened to these other reveiewers... the infamous black screen... I've had it for about 2 years now, and randomly now and then, i'll take a picture and get a black screen for no reason... i've never dropped it, and treated it with a lot of care... it took great pictures, but i'm scared to see how much SONY is going to charge to fix it... is it even worth it, is the question? and yes it is a shame that sony wouldn't recall these and fix them for free...



4. Sony has finally recalled this and other models for the black LCD screen problem. Other models being recalled include those listed here:
   
   http://www.imaging-resource.com/NEWS/1128703521.html
   
   To issue the recall work order, call Sony 1-866-703-7669. I had just gone through the process, and it was rather painless. Hope this helps!



5. I BOUGHT THIS CAMERA AT BEST BUY IN BROOKLYN NY. I NEVER HAD ONE SINGLE PROBLEM WITH IT YET. I DO NOT KNOW WHY PEOPLE ARE COMPLANING ABOUT A BLACK SCREEN? I NEVER SEEN OR HEARD ABOUT IT TILL I READ THE REVIEWS. I HAVE HAD THIS CAMERA SINCE DECEMBER OF 2002. GREAT PICS. YOU SEE RESULTS WITHIN SECONDS ON THE LCD SCREEN. I HAVE UPLOADED SO MAY PICS. FOR WEDDINGS, PARTIES, CONFIRMATIONS, ETC....ONE REVIEW SAID, HE DID NOT WANT TO BUY SONY PRODUCTS ANYMORE? I HAVE MOST EVERY ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT FROM BOOMBOXES TO A 32 INCH STEREO TV. I WOULD NOT THINK TWICE ABOUT BUYING A SONY PRODUCT. I AM ALSO THINKING ABOUT BUYING A NEWER VERSION OF A SONY CYBERSHOT, MAYBE A SMALLER VERSION. THANK YOU. I HOPE THIS HELPS

5 comments about Sony DSCP150 7MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Silver).

1. I purchased this camera for my wife because she wanted a light-weight digital camera that would fit in her pocket or purse. After eight months, we have taken about two thousand pictures with the camera.
   
   The good points about the camera are its small size and its speed. You can turn it on and start taking pictures almost instantaneously, which is a real advantage for catching unexpected moments.
   
   There is only one bad point, but it is a real kicker. About half of the pictures I take come out blurry. I always take multiple shots as a safeguard, but it is a bit of a pain to filter out all the blurry photos, and sometimes none of the pictures are sufficiently clear.
   
   You might just assume I am a bad photographer, but I have owned several other digital cameras as well as a number of film cameras, and I don't have this problem with any of them.
   
   One reason the pictures are often blurry is that the camera, by default, will set the shutter speed to 1/40 for flash pictures. As any photographer can tell you, this is really too slow for most people. The slow shutter speed, the fact that you have to hold the camera away from your body to see the LCD, and the light weight of the camera combine to make camera shake a real problem. Even if you manage to hold the camera still, the subjects in the photo may be moving, in which case they will be blurry anyway.
   
   Most cameras, including my other digital ones, default to 1/60 for flash pictures, which works much better. While it is possible to work around this problem by setting the camera to manual mode, I find that to be rather a pain, since you have to set both the shutter and the aperture. This camera has no shutter priority (Tv) mode, so manual mode is the best option.
   
   The second reason that the pictures come out blurry is the auto-focus. The default mode - multi-AF - is poorly documented and doesn't seem to work that well. In some cases, green boxes will appear - presumably the locations that were used for focus. In other cases (usually when the scene is darker), no boxes appear, even though the camera seems to focus correctly using its built in focus assist light and it makes the double beep sound that indicates successful auto-focus. In those cases, you can only guess what the camera is focusing on. Even setting the camera on center focus does not solve the problem for me, and there is the added annoyance of having to focus and then re-frame each shot. I think that the auto-focus in this camera is just not as good as in other cameras.
   
   A couple of minor annoyances highlight why Sony is at the back of the pack when it comes to user interfaces. 1) The self-timer setting resets after each photo is taken. This means that if you want to take a bunch of pictures using the self-timer, you have to remember to press the button before each shot. I've never seen any other camera that did this. 2) The mode wheel is right on the edge of the camera. Sometimes, when I pull the camera out of my pocket, the wheel changes settings, and I only discover that I've gone to manual mode (or whatever) after I've taken a shot or two.



2. I got this camera for my birthday last year and have to tell you that I could not be happier. I have turned into one of those people that takes nonstop pictures. I picked this camera because I wanted something that was small, compact but good enough that if I wanted to take high resolution artsy shots I could (and have the possibility of blowing up the shots to poster size, etc).
   
   I took this camera to Kentucky for a horse show and used it to take shots of horses jumping over fences...many of them I used digital zoom for because I could not get close enough for the shot I wanted...and I have to tell you I was SHOCKED at how good the images came out. Motion pictures of a horse jumping a fence with the digital zoom? Everything I had ever heard about the digital zoom on digital cameras involved "don't use it for anything you would not want to be blurry".
   
   Want to see what this camera can do?
   
   I took that picture with this camera.



3. I absolutely love this camera. I bought it on sale, not knowing as much as I could have known about digi cams, but I wasn't disappointed. It takes extremely sharp pictures, has alot of settings you can change (if you like to move away from the point-and-shoot simplicity) and of course, has the great Carl Zeiss lens. I would recommened its older brother, the DSCP200, since it has a bigger LCD screen, but 2 of the modes on the wheel seem to missing from the DSCP150 to the 200. Definately get a 1 gig memory stick, because its hard to downsize from 7.2 megapixels if you don't have to.



4. The camera (along with the other P-series) has a well-known tendency to get dust on the sensor. This shows up in brightly lit outdoor scenes when the shutter is stopped down. Sony warranty service proved to be a joke -- they claimed my fully functional camera had corrosion damage and was unrepairable. [...]
   
   The slow shutter speed when a flash is used is also a problem. However, for outdoor use and general pocket camera usage, the P150 would be a jewel if it weren't for the dust problem.



5. When it did work, for about a month, it was ok. Very sensitive to movement, but ok. After I took it with me on a trip I got blurry, dark images under the best of conditions. Otherwise I got nothing at all. Quite often the screen would be almost completely black. Maybe I got the one bad one or maybe they don't survive airport security. I finally threw it away in disgust on my honeymoon.

5 comments about Sony DSCU20 Cyber-shot 2MP Digital Camera (Silver)+B2.

1. Though I've not had experience with this U-20, I can comment on its predecessor, the U-10, which is a 1.3 megapixel version of this camera.

   When our son in law was deployed to Iraq in Feb. 2003, I wanted to send a digital camera with him. It needed to be very small and lightweight, but also needed to withstand the rigors of life in a fox hole. The Sony Cybershot DCS U-10 really came through! When he returned 8 months later the camera had been dropped many times and had a lot of scratches and dents. It was very dusty and gritty and even the memory card inside felt gritty. I was afraid the data on the memory card wouldn't be readable. But also, the little Sony had takin a lickin and kept on clickin! The pictures were very very good for a 1.3 megapixel. The photos taken inside the tents were a tad dark because the flash only goes about 6 feet, but overall they were good. The photos taken outside were wonderful. If I had to send another camera off to the Iraqi desert, I'd stick with the Sony and choose another Cybershot U. It may have its limitations but it was perfect for the need we had.




2. I took this to Iraq in order to have a camera I could keep with me at all times. For 6 months I lugged it around wherever I went. Despite the lack of a zoom, it took great shots, and with a large (128MB) memory stick, I was able to store many pictures and download them when I had the opportunity. Just what I was looking for!



3. I have had it for about a year. It is my constant companion. We ditched 35mm in favor of this baby. Results are not perfect, but for the size & price, it's wonderful. And don't forget that it uses AAA batteries!

   Having said all that, I am hoping to get a DSC P92 before our next family vacation...




4. This is an incredible little camera. Have had it for about 5 years and it goes everywhere, takes awesome photos without a lot of useless confusing features. Simple, it works, shoots quickly and holds about 185 images with the memory card. Easy to pocket and take anywhere, can use regular AAA batteries in a pinch. Too bad they dont make it anymore. Sure the newer cameras have a big screen but aren't as easy to carry and manipulate and have too many confusing features.



5. Sony DSCU20 Cyber-shot 2MP Digital Camera (Silver)+B2
   
   Well, I had two of these cameras and they're great when working ok. But the two I possessed had that SAME deffect... the pictures starts to become pink and the screen blackout and the USB does not connect to PC anymore.
   It used to be good.

No comments about Sony DSCP150/B 7MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Black).

5 comments about Sony MVC-CD200 Mavica 2MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom.

1. This camera takes very good pictures and has a great concept for storage that is by far cheaper per picture than most digital cameras, but it is UNRELIABLE.

   My camera has been broken with the same issue THREE TIMES in one year. The issue is a bad power module. Sony Customer NO Service was not helpful in resolving this issue the first time after I had the camera for 1 week. It took them 6 weeks to return the camera, eating up the 90 day labor warranty and causing me to have to purchase the extended warranty so I would not have exorbitant labor charges if it needed to be fixed again.

   Do not purchase this camera if you want to be sure to get pictures at those important times in life. If you do, please have another camera on standby so you have another way of capturing the moments.




2. As with all products, the use of the camera really depends on what you buy it for; as a consumer model, this is probably somewhat high end, but I wouldn't consider it professional grade. It has a rich set of features that you definitely wouldn't find on less expensive models.

   The CD function sold me on the camera, since I am an avid Linux user and didn't want to fiddle with attaching a USB card reader to my system. (Support for them has gotten better in the six months since I purchased the camera, but I have to admit that I'd still stick with the CD's.) The cost to picture ratio is incredibly low--you can buy mini-CD's cheaply (CD-RW's are more expensive), and they can easily hold 300 pictures each (1024x768 resolution, fine). The camera does allow you to take uncompressed images (TIFF format) if you want.

   As for endurance, the camera has done very well. I did drop it (from about three feet) once, which broke the UV filter I had on it. The camera itself sustained no damage (it was in a bag). The battery life is around two hours, depending on flash use, how often the power is cycled, and whether you spend more time taking pictures or looking at them on the LCD (which, by the way, is of excellent quality; Sony has done us the favor of allowing us to zoom in on the image while still in the camera, so you can often tell how well you've focused on a shot before you open it up on your computer).

   The picture quality is good. Not perfect, but definitely good. I bought it mostly for web work rather than printing my own shots, which aren't anything to brag about. I have found that taking pictures at 1600x1200 leaves the photos a little grainy (I run my monitor at 1024x768). Its automatic adjustments for light and distance are usually pretty good, though I occasionally mangle them a little bit in manual mode. The ability to take movies has been slightly beneficial, but probably isn't a major selling point (I've used it for some analysis in the martial arts for board breaking).

   Some problems can arise when taking and recording pictures, which can be a little slow. Recording to mini-CD is certainly slower than recording to a stick, and the focusing process isn't the fastest in the world. (There is a manual focus button, which is convenient.) Depressing the action button down about half way will activate the auto-focus and allow you to take the shot at the right moment, but that does take some getting used to.

   For people who are going to take a lot of pictures, this is definitely a camera to consider. I've taken probably two thousand of them without any difficulty since I got the camera. The resolution may not be as high as you could get in a stick model, but smaller prints should help mask that a little bit. It's a little pricey, but comes with a plethora of options that can introduce novices (like me) to manual photography without the expense or hassle of development.

   And, if you like the special side gadgets--TV out and a USB connection (if you even need to use it)--this could turn out very well.




3. This camera has my vote for one of the best cameras made by Sony, or for that matter anybody! The largest I enlarge my pictures is 8 x 10 and it's perfect for that! When you figure what is the size most people think of for a picture, its 8 x 10, what else! The control of this camera rivals 35mm, and then the camera is adaptable to various filter systems. Who could what anything else!...Julian Gang



4. This is the second digital camera I've owned. It takes great pictures and you can store a ton of them (I get ~300 at 1200x1600) on a cd. It takes great pictures in automatic mode but being able to kick it into full manual (shutter speed, focus, aperture) means you can get pictures in circumstances that the point and click mode would choke on.

   The fact that you don't have to worry about uploading images off a memory card makes it the perfect camera for long trips. I took it and a couple cds to Thailand for two months and came back with a ton of great pictures. Best of all I didn't have to take a laptop or ration my picture taking. I also took it on a month long bike trip and it worked great. The long battery life and fast charge time are also strong features in it's favor. It's solidly constructed, a year and a half later it's still clicking away.

   One reviewer was complaining about drivers. HE IS TOTALLY WRONG! It sounds like he didn't have a USB port, you don't ever have to take the cds out of the camera. The device is a USB CD/RW drive, you plug it in and it shows up as a cdrom drive. I've used it with Win2000 and 98 and it's fine. No [bad] program to use to get the photos off, you just drag a copy off the cd and onto your computer. With a little poking you can plug it into your computer and actually burn the cds (though they are the little ones).

   As I said in the subject the problem with the camera is that it's just too big. The cd drive makes it a funny shape that's kind of a pain. Also the lack of an optical viewfinder [is sort of bad], it's a sacrifice to the cd drive. That said I'd buy this camera again in a minute.




5. Overall I have been very satisfied with the CD200. A good camera with 1 major flaw. This flaw was brought up in the exchange between geekysteve and mgoril: finalizing CDs. I feel the need to to comment on this point.
   
   In my experience, you DO need to finalize the CD-RW in order to take it out and read it in a normal CD drive. You DON'T need to finalize the CD-RW in order to read it directly through the camera using the USB connection. I prefer to avoid finalizing because its a risky process & wastes CD-RW space. So this is essentailly the same situation I had with memory stick based cameras. This was always disappointing to me.
   
   When looking for a camera to buy, I preferred the CD design because I take my camera all over the place-when visiting friends, family, school, work. I thought the CD format was pretty standard. This should allow me to take out and use the CD-RWs at any computer. Just like the floppy based Mavicas, right? Wrong. I have to either finalize or set up a USB connection. I avoid finalizing for the reasons geekysteve mentioned. So what advantage does the big, clunky CD design have if CD-RWs essentially function like memory sticks?
   
   I use the USB connection with most computers. But I really don't like setting up a USB connection on someone else's computer. Occassionally you find someone who doesn't have a USB port available. Other times the USB is touchy and causes the entire system to crash. On these occassions I bite the bullet & finalize. The CD Mavica is not quite universal like the floppy models. Though it is still superior to the floppy models which are notorious for low storage space & disk errors.
   
   Portability is always an issue with cameras. If your primary concern is creating photos on a highly standardized & easy to use media, go with the floppy Mavicas. If you want more storage space and a smaller camera, go with a memory stick. The CD200 splits the difference. Comparable to memory sticks in storage space. Though it is a bit too bulky. Can be used on nearly any computer, but don't expect it to be as easy as a floppy.

5 comments about Sony DSCP32 Cybershot 3.2MP Digital Camera.

1. This camera provides an affordable entry into digital photography. Nothing to fancy. Very easy to use, takes high enough qaulity pictures to get great 5x7 prints. Battery life is decent enough to use regular batteries. But it would be worth it to get some extra rechargables. And it takes Mem Stick Pro media, up to 2GB!
   
   My only gripe is the lack of an optical zoom.



2. I sold this and bought a Fuji 450 thinking that I was upgrading-- what a joke.
   
   This camera's REALLY great for MOTION shots!! very fast shutterspeed. Awesome, awesome camera that I totally recommend!



3. I've been using this camera for about 2 years now. You'll fine that the zoom is incredible small. However, don't let that fool you, this little camera is great for at night shooting.
   
   The options on the camera is lovely for its little cybershot-self. However, if you want to do some professional shooting, this is NOT the camera.
   
   The photos do come out lovely, but the lighting often comes out all wrong! To be a user of this camera, you might have to be friendly with Photoshop or some kind photo editing program.
   
   The other con's of this camera is that the battery often runs out. It takes a lot of power to run the camera and the LCD (There's an option to turn the LCD screen off). The memory slot gets dusty very easy, and when that happens, it often leads to complication...like the one's I'm having now. The camera often can not read the memory stick!
   
   However, despite all its con's: this is a lovely camera for just snapshots! Nothing professional on it.



4. This is a great camera for the size. I originally purchased this camera about two years ago for Stormfront Productions (...). We have used it on several photo shoots and the quality has really livened up some of our web sites. Why purchase stock photography when you can go shoot exactly what you need with this camera? I would recommend it to small businesses looking to provide photos for web sites.



5. This is actually quite resonable product and very easy to use. It's not groundbreaking or anything, but it offers some quality pictures and is adjustable in various ways. The pricing is resonable and the you pretty much get what you buy.

5 comments about Sony DSCP9 Cyber-shot 4MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom.

1. No words can describe the beauty, simplicity, and power of this little miracle device! I've been using it for about 9 Problem-free months. This camera is super for digital snapshots. Connectivity to the PC is simple via USB. It uses a proprietary Sony MemoryStick and a tiny rechargeable removable battery pack (which you can buy on ebay for cheap).

   This camera has many functions that even a die-hard photographer will go nuts over: EV, aperture focus, white-balance, spot meter, iso, picture quality, image size, sharpness, flash brightness, & record mode ie video, email, voice & more!

   I'm the dummy so I keep most things on default, and it still works well.

   It also features red-eye reduction, flash on-off, and video recording (but the quality is very poor so I advise from using it)

   You can choose from among 5 picture sizes:
   2272x1702 (4 megapixels)
   2272(3:2) -- I call this the widescreen, my favorite setting
   1600x1200 (2 MP mode, quality like 4MP, use if cramped for space)
   1280x960 (quality is ok, use for auction pix and shrinking later)
   640x480 (quality not so good, for email or low bandwidth use)

   All in all, in today's day in age, I still think that 4 megapixels is overkill for an ordinary Joe. 2 Megapixels is the best bang for the buck today. But if you're into taking high quality pictures, want ease of use, want a decent fair price, AND want bragging rights, then this camera is for you!




2. As a photo enthusiast with a number of photo workshops/classes and countless books on photography theory from landscape to portrait photography so I'm a very hard person to please when it comes to digital cameras. First I would like to mention that digital cameras are still a long way from matching quality of the better film cameras using 35mm slide film and no where near the potential quality of medium and large format cameras, so you need to take that into account and consider what you will be using it for. When I purchased this camera in June 2002 it was the cutting edge CyberShot. I immediately dumped the 16mb memory stick and picked up the largest available (and still to this day) 128mb Memory Stick as well as a couple extra lithium batteries. The great part is one of the batteries lasts right about as long as it takes to fill up a 128mb card!

   The pictures are outstanding for a digital camera, the other thing that is really cool about it is you can capture mpeg format video with sound. Dont toss your video camera yet though, its dark light performance is hideous and resolution is not even close to a digital or tape video camera, but it is a neat feature when used under the right circumstances.

   My biggest grip is Sony never came out with Memory Sticks larger than 128mb and doesn't appear to ever support it. They've produced a smaller MemoryStick version thats half the size but has an adapter to make it work but still none of larger capacity. I recently read on their web site that they are comming out with a total new format that isnt going to be compatable with any current MemoryStick device but will have capacities in the future exceeding 1 gigabyte.

   At max resolution 2200x something, you can get 65 still pictures on a 128mb card. The pictures are in fact so good that you can stand 30 feet away from a soup can and snap a shot of the label, view the picture and zoom in to the point where you can read the ingredients. You can also set it down to 640x480 and get like 1500 pictures on to that same 128mb card so theres a lot of flexability depending on your needs.

   Its a great camera if you need something compact and good enough to take pictures of things in every day life for instant digital gratification. If you dont plan to blow up prints the size of a poster you will have no problems with the resolution and find that the max setting is many times too much for your standard birthday party or trip to San Diego.




3. This camera is top notch in many ways.
   I gave it only 4 stars because of one thing: low-light shots.
   Someone wrote that if you set the flash power manually to highest, it produces good low-light pictures. Unfortunately it's not true. I wish it would be. This camera is worse in low-light shots than the competition. Believe me.
   It's your decision: if you can handle this, buy it, because otherwise it takes excellent pictures in normal lightning conditions. If low-light, night and indoor shots (with poor back-light) is important for you, look at the Canon S45 or S400 instead.



4. I had my camera about a year when it stopped charging fully. It is supposed to get 120mins on a full battery and only got 20. After trying two new batteries I called Sony to be advised that they would look at it for a cost of $180!!! It would have cost me around $200 with shipping! The only people allowed to service Sonys are Sony. You can't bring it someplace else. Kind of like a Volvo in that respect. Moral of the story, when buying a camera make sure it is something that your local camera store can fix.



5. Although the camera is fine, the memory card format represents a fatal flaw that prospective buyers should consider. The memory cards are prone to format errors (Format Error 13-01) which can cause you to lose your photos. We have 8 memory sticks and have had problems with all but 3 of them. I recommend that any one considering a Sony camera purchase do a Google Search using search terms: Sony format error "13-01" to discover what disgruntled Sony owners are saying about this problem.