Customer Reviews

Sony Cybershot DSCF88 5MP Digital Camera with 3x optical Zoom

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I really like the lens quality and picture quality overall. My experience with it over the past 4+ months (which includes a 2 week vacation) are the following:

PRO's
- Fast start-up for more spontaneous shots.
- Good Image quality.
- Swivel lens gives nice, low eye level shots. Might be fun for pets and kids

CON's
- Colors can be a bit bluish sometimes
- Swivel Lens doesn't allow that many great shots of people with backgrounds. Since the distance from the lens to people (in self portraits) depends on your height and arm length, your mileage will vary. I'm about 6', and found the camera's ability to swivel back at you to be limited for capturing people and backgrounds. I bought the optional wide angle lens (x0.7) which helps... but that attachment prevents you from rotating the lens back into the camera body. This means it won't fold compactly for travel anymore.
- My biggest gripe, and this is a very big one, is that mode selection can be buggy due to the software. I've had almost 2 dozen instances in which the mode selection dial has failed me. In those instances, there is no way for me to access the set-up mode, the playback/review mode, or the movie mode. I find that extremely irritating and I don't know of any solution. I've tried taking the battery out, turning the power off, taking the battery out while the power is still on (Can you see how desparate this flaw can make you?). This flaw kills the camera for me.

UPDATE: Seems like the mode selection problem above was due to a faulty motherboard that Sony replaced. Their customer service handles the problem quickly and professionally. Be sure to save your receipt if this problem happens to you! I'd change my rating to 3 stars but the Amazon system won't let me.

ANOTHER UPDATE: After almost 2.5 years of use, one of the directional buttons (that lets you review a photo you've just taken) is very loose. I have 2 genuine batteries. One of these holds only a 30-45 minute charge. Once the battery goes out, all my settings (such as date, review and beep preferences) get deleted.

I owned one of Sony's first digital cameras. It had the beloved swivel lens. No flimsy lcd screen that flips out, if you want to take a nice picture of yourself and a friend.

When I saw this camera at my local CompUSA, I pounced on it. I am getting married in December, and want to make sure I have decent pictures. That is what the swivel lens is good for. I am planning on using it to make sure my hair/make-up is camera friendly. Those pictures stay with you for life!

Beyond vainity, this is a great point and click camera. It also is great at taking movies with audio. The camera will play the movie, including audio. This is a feature that is a lot of fun.

I'm not taking pictures to be an artist. I just want a camera to capture moments with my friends. This is the perfect camera for that.

As I expected, SONY came thru again with just another superb Product !
I have taken Hundreds of excellent photos and continue to be awed by the flawless respomse this camera provides !
You don't have to spend a fortune to get the best quality.
Thank you SONY for making my life much more exciting !!

I hope Sony continues to make cameras with this swivel lens. I cannot say enough good things about this camera and its picture quality.