A good value for a digital camera
Pros:
Good price, easy to use, compact design, good-quality photos.
Cons:
Extremely limited internal RAM (~22MB); battery charger larger than camera.
The Bottom Line:
A great buy for $110, but you'll need a Sony Memory Stick. Not for professionals, but a perfect compact camera for capturing the moment.
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Overall Rating:
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Author's Review
I needed a small, simple digital camera and decided to go with the Sony Cybershot when I found it for under $110. It comes with a rechargeable Lion battery, battery charger, USB cable, A/V cable, and wrist strap. A printed manual came with the camera and so far has seemed adequate.
The camera isn't very fast, it requires about 2 seconds between pictures. The 3x optical zoom is adequate, especially for such a compact design. The 2.5" LCD monitor is plenty big, and the 7.2 Megapixel capacity is good, even for taking photos for up to 11x17" prints.
Standard features include a 10 and 2-second self timer, mpeg recording, manual and automatic flash, red-eye reduction, face detection, and macro mode. The camera also offers modest scene selections (Auto, Landscape, Twilight, Twiglight Portrait, Beach, Snow, ISO (high sensitivity w/out flash), and Program (B&W, rich, etc.). I found this to be more modes than I needed in a simple camera, but it's nice to know if I go the the beach or a snow covered mountain, Sony has me covered.
My chief complaint is the lack of internal memory. The 22MB has to be augmented with a memory stick unless you only expect to take 5 photos before downloading them. I hadn't heard of Sony's Memory Stick PRO Duo, and it's not compatible with most card readers out there today. However, the USB cable will allow you to download to your PC, so it's a minor nuisance if you don't mind using it. I ended up buying a 1GB Sony memory stick for $28, so I guess you could say the camera cost more like $138.
Also, the battery must be removed to charge it. The charger is actually larger than the camera, so to travel with the whole "kit" requires a camera bag larger than I'd like. The battery life seems good, about 200-250 pictures before charging (depending on use). The flash is adequate for close photos, but you can't expect much more for such a compact camera.
The menus seem fairly intuitive. Commonly used settings are quick and easy to get to, and nothing is more than 3 "clicks" away. Picture quality seems good, especially for a $110 camera. If you expect to take professional photos, you'll probably no want the Cybershot. But if you're like me and just need a simple camera to capture the moment, you can't beat it for the price.
