Customer Reviews

Sony Cybershot DSCS60 4.1 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This camera seems to be a solid performer for the few days that I have owned it. I have taken many types of pictures with this camera. The digital quality is impressive. To begin, the LCD screen is very, very sharp. Viewing shots taken are easily and clearly seen on the 2.0" screen. This camera has an excellent flash for taking pictures in low light and other various conditions. The optical zoom feature at 3X is adequate for this size camera. Viewing the pictures taken on your PC or TV is where the quality of this camera comes into play. The pictures are very sharp. Distortion and blurred images are almost a rarity with this camera. I have made photo prints of some of these pictures and have enlarged them to 8" x 10". The quality of the pictures were impressive. I could not believe how clear and crisp these pictures came out. I have tested many digital cameras in the past, and this one by far is the best camera I've seen to date. Sony has marketed a great product with the release of this camera. This one is sure to be a great seller and will give other manufacturers great competition.

As stated by many others, digital cameras use a lot of energy to process a picture. When you add up all of the features this camera has and enable every option there is, battery life will be shortened. Purchasing rechargeable batteries with a charger is a wise investment. I have taken over 200 pictures, with many of them using the flash feature, and battery life is still nearly a full charge. I highly recommend Duracell or Energizer rechargeables with a minimum battery charge capacity of at least 2050 mAh. The higher the rating, the longer the batteries will last in the camera before a charge is needed. The reason I state this is because I initially purchased a generic charge kit with batteries, charged the batteries and the batteries lasted no longer than a standard alkaline battery. With the name brands listed above, a difference was seen immediately in the length of battery life.

I got this camera for around 163 at dell's site on the summer of 2005, a few months back, a time when it was goin' for a good 230 elsewhere, so i see it as a bargain deal.
summary:
-The resolution is okay and although its not an 8.0 megapixel one, its decent and sufficient for the light users like myself. The Carl Zeis lens are great and the pictures come out clear, although leaves and greenlife seem a bit darker and more shady.
-I like the flash which beats every camera ive ever owned and its sensors for light detection are top notch.
-It has good focus and macro mode is good.
-I experienced the malfunctioning problem as well at least 2 or 3 times, but this was all fixed in a matter of seconds.
-the battery life is excellent, especially with my 2300 mah nimh batteries and it seems to go on literally forever! I can easily shoot at least 200 photos and probably 300 continuous ones, which is pretty impressive.
-It seemingly has no lag and is very speedy.
Overall it is a great camera but my only complaint is the fact that sony only supports memory stick as its memory storage card. These are noticeable more expensive than sd cards, and I will have to spend around 50 percent more to buy them. With this in mind, I would recommend the canon a520 which is going around for the same price and virtually has all the same specs, the most importance difference being its support for sd. If I had waited for another month I could have gotten the a520 for 159, but its okay since both are great entry to mid level cameras and you can't go wrong with either companies.

I bought this camera to replace my earlier Sony, to see if it was better. It was worth the upgrade, but it still doesn't have a big LCD.

But, besides that, this camera is an excellent choice, and is affortable.

PICTURE QUALITY: Like most Sonys, the picture quality is excellent. The pictures are clear and crisp, however somewhat distort using size zoom. However, the digital zoom is great. I have taken picture of moving things, and the pictures still come in clear.

FEATURES: This is basiclaly what Sony is all about. Depsite it lacking a big LCD, this camera is full of features. It's has manual settings inside, instead of the Canon only having auto mode. The flash is bright, and ups the photo quality a lot. The video mode is a nice feature, and works well too.

LAG: Short lagging, if there is lag at all.

BATTERY LIFE: The battery life is around 10-15 hours. As some cameras have more battery life, this is good enough for me. If I'm going on a trip, I will probably need to bring a charger and spares though.

DESIGN AND DURABILITY: The design is great. It's not as flimsy like the older version (DSCP73, though it wasn't too bad) and could take up some beating.

Overall, if I would do it over again, I'd still choose this one. It has features, excellent photo quality, and a good design, along with a smiling price tag.

P.S. To the earlier review (MSG RCJ), I don't know what you're talking about 18x zoom on an HP. Only Olympus does those cameras (they're a great comp.). Unless you bought a future HP model, you're talking about size zoom, not optical.

Do not buy standard batteries for your digital camera's, you will be disappointed, (15 to 30 min of battery life).
Walmart sell four AA NiMH Nickel-Metal Hydride bateries and a charger (brand Energizer) for about $15.00.
You keep two batteries in your camera and two charged in your camera case, and battery life will never be a problem.
Dont forget your charger on trips.

After a long bit of review, I purchased a DSC-S60 from Best Buy. I liked the short shutter lag and 4MP resolution. Those two things, however, didn't hold me for very long.

The day after I purchased the camera, it stopped working on me. I would turn the camera on in 'review' mode. As soon as I turned the dial to any of the photo modes, the camera would power off. If I tried to turn on the camera in any of the photo modes, the screen would turn on and report 'Accessing', the lens would extend, then the camera would power off. Strange, I thought, but just to be safe, I returned it the next day to a completely different Best Buy in a different state (don't be alarmed, MD and VA are pretty close together) and I picked up another S60. The very next day, the same behavior happened.

Now, Best Buy lets their Geek Squad folks look at something before you can just return it on a whim. Believe me, they were all stunned (both times) when I could pop the camera up on it's box, run through the scenarios above, and watch the camera just peter out and die. I was disappointed, mainly because I have several other Sony products (TV/Camcorder/Receiver), all of which have worked flawlessly. Based on my experience with these two cameras, I decided to stick with Canon and picked up an A510. Not as many megapixels, mind you, but it is reliable, solid, and takes a darn good picture.

I think Sony put this range of cameras on the market as a hold-over for their next line, and it showed.

I just wanted to inform anyone purchasing this camera that you should not use the batteries that come in the package. I guess because I had to turn the camera on and off several times, plus taking 8 pictures, the batteries wore down quickly. I was worried because when I would turn the camera on in review mode, it would power up with no problems. Whenever I moved the dial to shooting mode, it would turn off (I was experiencing the same problem that someone else had mentioned on this site). Turns out that after replacing the Sony batteries with new ones, everything worked fine.

Other than this, the camera is awesome! The features are numerous (I especially like the black and white, and sepia features). It also takes great video as long as you have the Memory Stick Pro. I ordered some powerful NiMH rechargeable batteries from Duracell, so I'm looking forward to when they arrive (several reviewers mentioned that these batteries work the best).

I bought this camera for my families first trip to Disney World and let me say this.......it was GREAT! Not only did the batteries last all day, but the extra memory card I bought held all of our pictures. I didn't have any problems with the camera, it even took great pics of the fireworks!!!! I highly recommend!!!!!

The two things that prevented this camera from getting a 5 star rating are:
1. The Sony Memory Stick prices.
2. 3x optical (would have been nice with a 4x).

I compared this camera to the Canon and Nikon 4.1MP and even the 5MP cameras, and purchased this camera instead. This camera edged out the Canon and Nikon comptetitors.

1. More shots with 2 AA NiMH batteries (up to 500 shots in proper lighting). You are lucky if the Canon or Nikon gives you over 125 shots. There's no need to ever use an AC adaptor. Four fully charged NiMH AAs will give you 1000 shots.
2. 32MB interal memory.
3. Underwater case for snorkelling (under $90 for up to 9ft)
4. 35mm Lens adapter with 30mm to 49 or 52mm ring adaptor and Polariser and (sepia filter for underwater pictures)under $60.
5. Excellent sharp shots up to 8x10, Very Good at 11x14.

I purchased the DSC-S90 4.1 camera for myself for christmas from Best Buy because I had $70 in certificates for them. The Carl Zeis lens is great and it takes beautiful pictures up to 8x10 and 11x14 are good. It has so many features and the battery life is great. It came with a charger and two sony batteries, but I use regular Duracell Alkaline batteries and can fill up a memory stick (256K) without changing them. A big improvement over the old one I had. I used it in Hawaii and found the video to be good as well and it also records voice. For the person who has a problem with the batteries and memory stick in the same compartment, just turn the camera upside down to remove the memory stick and your batteries won't fall out. I would recommend the camera and plan to buy another for my son. Buy your memory sticks on Amazon.com and the price is good. I paid $30 + for my 256 memory pro and at the rate I take pictures that is the equivilent of four 4packs of 400asa film. Not so bad when you think of it that way.

Just got this camera and it seems great so far. It has little shuttter lag and a good flash. For 50 bucks more you can get the dsc-s90, and it has a bigger screen, but i was more than ok with the 2 inch screen provided. The picture quality is good as long as you focus first. Great camera.