Customer Reviews

Sony Cybershot DSCV3 7.2MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I own several photo equipment and nothing will suit every situation. For huge enlargements needed for professional work nothing beats medium and large format film. Which is not what these cameras are made for. In the 7MP range the V3 is the best choice. Fairly priced and very good quality picture in a reasonably compact body.

Canon G6 may have a little better quality image, but what is also important for snapshots is shutter lag time, that is the time between the moment you press the button and when the picture is taken. Here the V3 is unbeatable with less than 0.1 sec. This means that you won't loose the photo or have a blur instead of your children recorded. This is why I bought this camera, it is better to have a little less detail looking through a lupe than loosing the picture. Despite the startup time, 3 sec, which is not too long I think that this camera beats the other 7MPs because of the smaller shutter lag.

Another thing that helps is that it accepts Compactflash. the only problem is having to buy a MS pro to be able to record high quality video, but I can live with that.

When I can carry heavy stuff I bring film equipment or my Canon 10D. Otherwise the V3 is my choice, the ultra compact ones just don't have good enough picture quality for printing and the shutter lag is usually unbearable, so I think it is better to carry something a little bigger.

If you want very high quality pictures, film like quality, you have to buy bulkier equipment like the Canon 20D (US$1,500.00). And for professional work Canon 1DS Mark II or a medium format digital, but then you have to spend from US$8,000.00 to US$25,000.00.

So there is no point in people complaining about picture quality in a compact US$700,00 digital camera that delivers pictures with about the same quality as its competition. Sony makes very good digital cameras, not miracles.

I Own a Sony DSC-F828, and really wasn't looking for another camera, but the fact of the matter is that since the 828 is essentially a SLR camera, once you had the flash Etc. you got yourself one heavy piece of equipment!So seeing as we had a new baby coming along I found my self in the market for something lighter, but I was determined that it have as much of the power and capabilities as my 828.This was a tall order! The first camera wasn't a Sony at all it was the Canon G6 wich all in all was a fine camera and one I considered seriously until I saw the V3 on sony's web site. I sell camera's at BestBuy as one of my many jobs and I can tell you that that for every G6 we sell we sell 4 V3's heres why. First of all is the general design of the body, the G6 is essentially a box with a lens stuck on it! While the V3 is smaller and more contoured in shape and feel. One minus here, and I'm sure you've heard about this before... the eye piece on the V3 is poorly placed, and virtually useless, but with that big beautiful 2.5 LCD screen on the back you wont need it! As far as optics the G6 and V3 are just about dead even both having 4X optical, I give this one to Sony also because next to Canon I fell Ziess lenses are superior in optics and quality. (just an opinion) Next moving to flash ability, as far as on board flash this one goes to the Canon, the onboard with the V3 is useless for anything more than 5 or 6 feet away the Canon fared slightly better, both cameras equip with a hot shoe for an external flash, an when you slap the Sony X-32 flash on the V3 the results or nothing short of astounding again blowing the G6 out of the water! Another quick note on the V3 flash, if you plan on buying the V3's lense hood from Sony or here at Amazon include an external flash in your budjet! The hood does cause shadowing!! Word to the wise. As far as function the V3 has a extremely fast start up time, 1.1 or 1.3 seconds,The G6 was a little slower. Getting into speed hear me when I tell you this...if you want a camera faster than this you need to start looking at SLR's. This ain't no Nikon 2600 or a Canon A85, the V3 and G6 are both extremely fast cameras, again I found the V3 to be faster ( remember because of my job I get to do hands on comparisons) On virtually every other score I found the V3 to be the better of the two cameras heres a quick list of some of the biggest advantages the V3 has:
1.BIG LCD screen!! At last you can see what your shooting! Don't bother with the eye piece however, it just about useless!
2.Easy to read and navagate menus. If you want to start messing around with shutters and apatures this is your camera.The scene settings are great too, but I recomend using "P" mode for most of your picture taking! (just remember to have a tri-pod ready in low light!)
3. Video, video, video Sony is the undisputed king of on board digital camera video! Great sound, great Resolution It aint DVC, but it ain't bad either! You can get upto 44Minutes worth on a 1GB card (stick)! NO MORE CLIPS!!
4. Decent battery life. About 220 minutes per charge. Im not sure about the G6 (A friend of mine owns one, and he said he got about the same.)
5. Dual memory capability! A huge plus here! The ability to carry twice the memory ready and available right on the camera!Just flick the switch!If you are a volume picture taker this is a Gift from above for you. One minus however the V3 can't use Micro-Drives. (Maybe on next years model!?!?) The V4?
6. Picture. The V3 takes clearer shrper pictures than it's counterpart, bottom line. Not to mention the fact that you can crop your shots within the camera, and even select the resolution of the new image!! Fantastic! Beat the snot out of the G6 in ambient and low light settings. The G6 does have better ISO response, but not by enough for me to reccomend it over the V3.
7. A sane, Useful array of shutter speeds, and apature settings. I hate it when a camera adds a 40 or 60 second shutter delay, or a 1/2000 shutter speed, and then charges you 300 or 400 bucks for your trouble! Most mortal picture takers like you and me don't need these! (hell Im a professional photographer and I rarely do) the V3 shutter speeds range from 30 seconds all the way up to a scorching 1/1000, the apatures are set up likewise, It's a nice selection of speeds, allowing the use some really nice creativity options!
the apaturesThe Bottom Line, and what is it?
Sony has again set the new standard for so called point and shoot cameras, by increasing functionality and power while maintaining a compact size.Just search through Amazon here and you will be astounded at all the extra's available for this little camera! I like to call these new cameras Hybrids because they combine a little of both worlds. Sony proved they are the masters at this when they released the DSC-F828 which in my opinion is one of the most amazing digital cameras ever made! Tempramental but amazing! And that is where I can best describe the V3, It has many of the features and most of power of its predacessor (F-828) but is much more user friendly and tolerent of misgudgement on the photographers part. With the G6 like the 828 I found I have to work for great shots (not that I mind working) but with the V3 they just seemed to happen. The camera seems to act like an extension of yourself, and that is what any great camera should do. So to Sony I say Bravo again!! I bought one for my father, one for me and every damn accessory for it I can lay my hands on! If your ready this could be and will be the last digital camera you'll ever have to buy. To the Canon people out there don't get mad, the G6 is a fantastic camera in every sense of the words, but the V3 is an experience in photography not just another tool for taking snapshots!Sorry!
This is (if you'll excuse the pun) the best buy!

If one is looking at this camera you should be glad that this camera can record not only on Memory stick but also on CompactFlash Type I cards. So, for anyone trying to upgrade from Sony digicams with plenty of Memory Sticks, you can't beat this one. Also, for all those who complain about expensive Memory sticks, you have no reason to complain on this Sony ;-)!

V3 has lot of advanced features professional photographers demand like those found in F717 while having all the auto features needed for normal family photographer.

For someone trying to move from V-1 to V-3, you will be glad about the higer capacity battery and larger LCD, while you will miss the compactness of V-1. If you prefer smaller pocketable size, this will not fit your needs. You should consider DSC-W1.

I feel V3's main strength is it's capability to take excellent indoor pictures. As a dad of two, I take most of my pictures indoors at parties and home and this camera stands up to the best digital camera I used for indoor photography namely, Sony's DSC-F717.

This camera though very similar to the Canon G6 comes out ahead in some aspects:
1) Cool Sleek Black Body with a nice feel and made out of metal and plastic;
2) Several Night shooting modes including a very nice laser hologram focus tool;
3) Dual memory slots for CF and MS;
4) This one is the killer: Full Screen VGA video (G6 does not even come close);
5) Pictures are more detailed and sharper than G6.
6) Great 2.5-inch LCD which auto-brightens in low light
7) Full on high speed USB2.0. Canon G6 has the older slower USB 1.0.

I have always found the Sonys to be more reliable than the Canons.. So as far as this one is concerened..I went for the Sony

Took about 100-150 photographs before realizing this camera needed a little help with both indoor and outdoor photographs.

Indoor: The onboard flash is just not sufficient. Large amounts of redeye, pets eyes looked like something off a horror movie and picture colors weren't the quality I was expecting. I spent 3-4 hours touching up my first set of pictures with photo software (not included). I purchased the HVL-F32X flash and the whole indoor world changed. Redeye almost totally disappeared, my pets look friendly again and colors were much richer and fuller. So add $140-150 to the price for an external flash, don't go cheap here.

Outdoor: Pictures weren't as crisp as expected. I believe it was caused by sunlight glare and the cameras aperture choice, so I added the VAD-VHA adapter and a Circular Polarizer which helped along with opening the aperture a little. Other online reviews can explain how to do this.

So my second set of photos needed almost no editing and I am very impressed by the quality. The camera is solid and time from shot to shot is amazingly fast. I am using a High-Speed MSX-512N Sony memory stick and a 256MB SanDisk Ultra II CF Card. I noticed the write speed on the memory stick are slightly faster than the CF card. But to be honest, I don't think the difference is that much to justify the extra cost of the memory stick.

UPDATE July 7, 2006 - After 9 good months, this camera just completely died mid-use. Motherboard fried for no reason!
No world-wide guarantee and $700 to fix here in Singapore (yes, much more than the camera cost)! Now the camera is worthless to me since I am not coming back to the USA soon.
Can't seem to reduce this to 1 star now...

What WAS a great experience has gone down the tubes...

THE OLD REVIEW BELOW
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After trying out several other cameras (Nikon & Cannon) over 3 months, I decided this one was the perfect one for me!
I will be backpacking for a LONG time through India and neighboring countries and needed the smallest and most versatile camera I could find - (D-SLRs are too large).
Got a 2GB CF card, 1GB Memory stick and 2 batteries. This setup was around $700 and will allow 1-3 weeks of shooting!

OVERALL:
1. Its very compact for the features it has.
2. High grade digital circuitry, feels like a fast, durable device.
3. Excellent manual controls for a non-SLR.

FAVORITES:
1. Digital SmartZoom is awesome: Sharp, Web-quality pics at 19x zoom with -NO ADDITIONAL OPTICS- !!!
2. Built in lens cap, fast on / off mean you won't miss the shot.
3. Plug-N-Play USB2 (no software) = download pics anywhere in the world.
4. Multi-voltage AC adaptor = recharge the batteries (in the camera) anywhere in the world.
5. Good, builtin adjustable flash.
6. Large LCD = allows more in-camera editing/deleting for when you don't have a computer.

DRAWBACKS:
1. Can only see last picture taken with quick-review. Must switch to "playback" mode to see others.
2. Agree that "auto" setting underexposes pictures.

I've had this camera for a little more than a week now, and have thoroughly run it through the paces, exploring every nuance. It is an awfully nice camera, with some unusual features. If it has any weakness at all, it is the initial difficulty with the PC connectivity, which is exacerbated by the poor treatment given to that subject in the manual. I'll try to explain what's wrong there, and maybe you'll have less difficulty than I had. But first, I'll tell you a little bit about the distinguishing features of this camera.

First off, I like this class of camera, because I feel that it gives you the most important capabilities of a digital SLR, but without the excessive bulk. I also appreciate the convenience of an automatic lens cap, which is not ordinarily a feature of SLRs. If what you primarily want is the manual controls that you get with an SLR, then you don't have to buy an SLR to get that, and you can still have a camera that will take excellent pictures.

One feature that attracted me to the DSC-V3 is the speed. It isn't the fastest camera on startup, with roughly 3 seconds from the time that you press the power button until it is ready to take a picture. Once it is ready to go, it is one fast camera, rivaling the digital SLRs. It is exceptionally quick to focus when you press the shutter button half way, then the delay from when you press the button all the way until it takes the picture is imperceptible, and finally the delay from when the picture is taken until it is ready to take another picture, is about a second, albeit greater as slow shutter speeds due to the unique approach to noise reduction (which I'll discuss in a moment). If you wait until you can see the image in the LCD again before pressing the shutter again, you can take 10 pictures in about 15 seconds. If you put it in burst mode, it will take pictures at a rate of about one picture per second, until you release the button or until the card is full. Using the "speed burst" mode, it takes 8 full-resolution, 7.2 megapixel pictures, in fine jpeg format, in about 3 seconds, but then you have to wait a little while for it to transfer the files from internal memory to the flash memory card. All of this assumes that you aren't using the flash of course, because anytime that you use a strobe flash with any camera, you have to wait for the capacitor to recharge.

By the way, you can use either Compact Flash cards or Sony's Memory Stick. If you want to shoot movies in the finest format that is available, you have to use Memory Stick Pro. I wasn't planning to use this camera to shoot movies, but I wanted the inter-shot delay to be as small as possible, and I wanted the wait period after shooting in speed burst to be minimized. I found myself wondering whether the speed of data transfer from the camera to the memory card would be limited by the camera or the data card. I bought a Memory Stick Pro card, and did some tests comparing it to a Compact Flash card that I had in an older camera. The Memory Stick Pro reduced the delays by a significant amount in every shooting mode. It appears that the delay in every mode is determined primarily by the write speed of the memory card, so if you can find comparative data on the write speed of different categories of Compact Flash and Memory Stick, those numbers should translate directly to the delay between successive pictures and the number of pictures that you can take in a given period of time.

Let's see, some of the other distinguishing features of this camera are the Hologram auto-focus assist light, and of course the Night Framing and Night Shot modes. The Hologram AF assist light uses a low-power laser to project a sharp, fine cross-hatch pattern on the subject. This works in complete darkness, and although it works better when the subject has some contrast lines of its own, in most cases it will permit the camera to focus instantaneously on a flat wall in a dark room. It works better in the dark, and the camera will not try to use it if it isn't dark enough, but when the subject distance is great and there is still enough light for the camera to focus using ambient light, you get better results by turning it off. The manual says that it works to a distance of about 10 feet. I know from experience that it works at least twice that far, but haven't experimented beyond that.

The Night Framing capability lets you use the IR lamp to preview and frame your picture in the darkness, but then using the flash to take the picture, so that you get a normal picture with the flash instead of the monochromatic, greenish image that you get in Night Shot mode, which disables the flash and uses the IR to capture the image. The IR lamp built into the camera is not very strong, and doesn't work well beyond 10 feet or so. In fact, Night Shot mode is really only practical when used with a tripod, due to the slow shutter speeds needed with the dim IR light. If you bought a separate IR light, you could probably do some serious IR photography at night, and with the help of an IR-pass filter, you could possibly do daylight IR photography, although that would be hampered somewhat by the fact that the IR modes are only available in the camera modes where the camera has full control of both shutter speed and aperture. (The IR-blocking filter that normally shields the sensor from IR, is moved out of the way in these modes. It isn't clear to me whether attempting to use these modes in the daylight could damage the camera, but at the least you won't get a correct exposure in Night Shot mode, since the metering seems to apply a special correction factor to compensate for the sensor's sensitivity to IR, and this throws off the exposure whenever the amount of ambient full-spectrum light overwhelms the amount of IR.)

Three metering modes are available, and three focusing methods are available. With the Flexible Frame focusing method, the focusing frame is small and you can position it wherever you like in the LCD, to focus on a subject not in the center of the frame. You can't do the same thing with the metering, but you can use spot metering in conjunction with the exposure lock button. That is, you first aim the camera where you want the metering to be peformed using spot metering, then press (and release) the AE lock button, then re-frame the image, and then focus using the Flexible Frame positioned where you like, or use one of the other two focusing methods, or set the focus to a preset distance. While that much flexibility is available, in most scenarios where you want the metering and the focusing to apply to the same subject area that happens to be off center, you would leave the Flexible Frame in the center of the LCD, then aim the camera at the small subject area of interest and press the shutter button half way to lock both the exposure and the focus, then reframe the image and zoom as desired before pressing the shutter button the rest of the way.

The AE lock button is located above the LCD, as are the two buttons that you use to control the focusing method, and the exposure compensation button. The four-way navigation buttons are overloaded, as is the norm, so that when you haven't pressed the menu button or done something else to change the function of those buttons, those four buttons are used for selection of the flash mode, macro mode, self-timer, and quick review of the last picture taken.

By the way, the quick review feature only works for the last picture you took. To review other pictures and movies, or to resize them, delete them, protect them from deletion, rotate them, etc., you turn the mode dial on top of the camera to the "Play" position. Some users will find this inconvenient and will wonder why the quick review button doesn't take you to this mode, and why there even is a "Play" position on the mode dial. Regardless, the quick review feature is at least useful for zooming/magnifying the last picture that you took, to see whether it was in focus.

The button that selects Night Framing, Night Shot, or normal, is on top of the camera, next to the power button and the mode dial. The back of the camera also has dedicated buttons for selecting the recorded image size (which functions as the delete button during quick review and the Play position of the Mode dial), for accessing the menus, and for selecting the LCD mode.

The zoom contol (rocker) is on the back, up high near where your thumb rests. It is perhaps not as high as you'd like, and part of the reason for that is that between the zoom control and the mode dial, there is a little thumb wheel that protrudes edge-wise, which you spin with your thumb to select the shutter speed, aperture, program shift, and exposure compensation value, according to the mode that you have selected of course. The only capture mode in which the jog dial isn't used is the fully automatic mode, where the camera is in total control of the exposure settings. The jog dial is functional and easy to use whenever you select the program shift mode (P), the shutter priority mode (S), the aperture priority mode (A), or the manual mode (M).

You use the menus for settings such as the metering mode, record mode (normal, burst, bracketing, TIFF, etc.) white balance, ISO (sensor sensitivity), scene mode selection (twilight, portrait, etc.), jpeg quality factor, etc. For these sorts of menu selections, you make your selection simply by navigating using the 4-way buttons, i.e., without pressing the center button to confirm your selection. For the menus that you access in play mode, which you use to edit and delete images, rotate them, etc., it is different in that you use the center navigation button to confirm your actions, so there is little chance to screw up. I especially like the way you access the setup screens through a special position of the mode dial, as opposed to entering it through the menu as you do on many cameras (which makes the menus more cluttered and less intuitive).

I should say something about the auto-focusing mode, which is not the same thing as the AF method. You select the AF mode via the setup screen, and you can set it to Single, in which case the camera only attempts to focus when you press the shutter button half way, and then it locks the focus along with the exposure controls. You can also select Monitor, in which case the camera maintains a useful degree of focus as you move the camera around, which shortens the time that it takes the camera to focus even more and avoids the need to press the shutter button half way when all you want to do is check the framing. In Monitor AF mode, the focus still locks when you press the shutter button half way, so you can have this nice feature yet still be able to lock the focus and then reframe the image. Continuous AF mode is like Monitor AF up until you press the shutter button half way. In Continuous AF mode, the focus doesn't lock along with the exposure controls, but instead it continues to focus right up until the shutter is released, which is useful when the distance between you and the subject is changing rapidly.

Uh oh, there is still one more feature that I need to tell you about. One of the limitations of digital cameras in general is that the sensors all have a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N), which becomes worse as the sensitivity is increased, i.e., at higher ISO, the noise is worse. But the noise also gets worse as the shutter speed decreases. The DSC-V3 uses an interesting technique to reduce sensor noise at slower shutter speeds. Immediately after the shutter is closed when an image has been captured at a slow shutter speed, the shutter remains closed and another "picture" is taken, with the shutter closed, for the same duration of time. That "picture" is subtracted from the captured image, to cancel the noise. It doesn't work miracles, but it definitely is effective, and definitely improves the quality of images taken at low light and slow shutter speeds, especially at higher ISO settings.

Before moving on to talk about PC connectivity, there is still one more thing that I need to talk about. On a couple of the popular (and highly informative) web sites that review cameras, they point out the reduced sharpness of the image that occurs at smaller apertures such as F8. They did this in a way that can cause the reader to misunderstand how this concern applies to the DSC-V3 differently from similar cameras. The reason that this happens is that some amount of light that enters the lens will strike the edge of the aperture and will be diffracted. If that quantity of light is significant relative to the quantity of light that reaches the sensor cleanly refracted by the lens, the image will be less sharp. Aperture diffraction is a well-known physical phenomenon of waves in general, and anyone who has a general knowledge of optical systems will tell you that when the quality of an optical system is "diffraction-limited", this is the best possible scenario for that system, since if the quality is not limited by aperture diffraction, it is limited by something else that should have been avoided. The only way that the DSC-V3 can be any different in this respect is if, in the full automatic mode, in bright daylight it uses an aperture that is smaller than is necessary, instead of using a faster shutter speed. In full automatic mode, the DSC-V3 will go to F4.0 at 1/250 s, and then will decrease the aperture in small steps and won't increase the shutter speed to 1/500 s until the aperture has reached F8. I don't know how this compares to other similar cameras, but regardless it doesn't matter much to me because whatever difference there is between this camera and other similar cameras will only be in whether the other camera avoids F8 until the shutter speed has been increased to 1/500 s or perhaps 1/1000 s. The only way that you can avoid this effect with any camera is to understand it and take control. This is but one of the various reasons why a camera might not take as good a picture in full automatic mode that it would take if the photographer intervenes, and hardly deserves to be brought to anyone's attention unless every other possible failure that can occur in the full automatic mode is discussed as well, and that could take a very long time.

Darn it! I forgot to tell you about Smart Zoom ... When you select a recorded picture size smaller than the full sensor resolution (as you might if your memory card is nearly full), Smart Zoom lets you use digital zoom, but doesn't let you zoom past the point where the number of sensor pixels remaining will be less than the number of pixels in the recorded image size. As long as you have plenty of space on your memory card, you probably wouldn't want to select a picture size smaller than 7 Megapixel, but if you did, you'd probably like to be able to use the digital zoom if only you could be confident that you hadn't zoomed past the point where the number of pixels that remain after the sensor cropping is less that the number of pixels that you are going to record. Smart zoom is nice in that respect, but of course if you never use a picture size smaller than the full 7 megapixel, then it is entirely the same as disabling the digital zoom.

I've told you a lot about the camera, and now I'm going to tell you about the PC connectivity side of things, which is very important for digital cameras.

Getting the camera to connect to the PC via the USB port was a piece of cake, as is the norm with USB interfaces. But I did not find the Picture Package application intuitive, and I was irritated by the fact that the installation set it up with two icons in the system tray, and even worse, an application that is started automatically when the PC is booted. I called Sony more to express my displeasure with this than to actually solicit help, but for Picture Package issues, they point you to the company that makes it, Pixela. Pixela's tech support people were very helpful. I didn't mind the application launching as soon as I connected the camera, but I didn't want it to immediately start copying the images from the camera, and I certainly didn't want it to copy the images that it had already copied the previous time that I connected it.

With Picture Package, you cannnot pick and choose individual pictures that you want to download, but you can make configurations settings that will determine whether or not the download starts automatically when the application is started, and whether or not images that it has already copied will be copied again, and whether or not the images on the camera will be deleted after being copied to the PC. The ability to avoid copying pictures that have already been copied, turns out to be very smart. You can make selections that influence what Picture Package looks at to determine whether a picture on the camera already exists on the PC. (It doesn't attempt to keep a log on the PC, which would inevitably get screwed up.) Each time that Picture Package copies files to the PC, it creates a new folder that is located under a folder that corresponds to the date that the copy is performed (creating that folder the first time that you perform a copy on a given day), and with that folder, there are sub-folders that parallel the folders that you have created in the memory card in the camera. When you capture a picture in TIFF or RAW mode in the camera, a jpeg is recorded in parallel, and when these two files are copied to the PC, Picture Package gives them the same name, differing only in the suffix. To determine whether a given picture already exists on the PC, Picture Package compares the EXIF data in the jpeg files in the Picture Package folder on the PC, e.g., the date and time that the picture was taken, and the size. If you want, you can even tell it to compare the images, which I assume is a byte-by-byte comparison of the two files, but as long as the EXIF data is intact and correct, that seems unnecessary.

I blame the user manual for the initial difficulty that I had with Picture Package. The instructions for Windows users endeavors to distinuish between Windows XP and other versions of Windows. The essential fact that underlies this distinction, which is not made in the least bit clear in the manual, is that if you use Windows XP, the instructions that apply to you, apply not to the installation of Picture Package, but to how you can use the Scanner and Camera Wizard instead. This distinction is important from several standpoints, including that a different USB mode setting is needed in the camera, depending on whether you use that Wizard or use Picture Package. The only place where there is a meaningful mention of the difference in the Normal and PTP modes of the USB port is in the table toward the back of the manual, that summarizes the various Menu settings and settings in the Setup screen, but even there, it isn't at all clear that one setting is for Picture Package and the other is for the Scanner and Camera Wizard of Windows XP. The worst offense in the manual, however, is where on the page that talks about connecting the camera to the computer, in small print there is a note that says that if you have Windows XP, to skip forward 2 pages. Immediately following that note there is a picture of the LCD showing that USB normal mode is selected, but nowhere is there a similar picture for Windows XP, and because that picture and the text that goes with it is indented under the advisory comment for XP users, you wonder if it is supposed to apply to XP users. After you skip forward two pages to where the XP-specific stuff is, which talks about using the XP wizard, you flow without interruption directly into a section that talks about the folder structure on the PC. There is absolutely nothing that suggests that this only pertains to Picture Package and does not apply if you use the XP wizard method. That is particularly unfortunate, because it obscures an important distinction between Picture Package and the XP wizard. If you use the XP wizard, things may be simpler at first, because you don't have to figure out how to configure Picture Package, but you won't get Picture Package's smart folder structure on the PC, or the naming scheme that logically binds the RAW or TIFF file with the corresponding jpeg file that has the EXIF data. If you have Windows XP and prefer not to use the XP method, you can use the Picture Package method just as easily as users of other versions of Windows. If you have Windows XP, I will advise you to ignore the instructions that are specific XP users, and follow the other Windows instructions instead. It may take you a little while to figure out to get Picture Package to not start copying files as soon as it is started, and to not copy the same files over again when it is connected, but once you have that straightened out, Picture Package is a vast improvement over the Windows XP Scanner and Camera Wizard.

Not that Picture Package is perfect. In the thumbnail view, Picture Package doesn't show the file name suffix, so until you learn that the first of two files that have the same name is the jpeg, you have a 50/50 chance of being able to see the EXIF data when you double-click on one of those two thumbnails to open the single-image view for that file. It would be nice if you could see the EXIF data in the thumbmail view, and it would be nice if you could even do that for the RAW/TIFF image, since it wouldn't be that hard for Picture Package to read the content of the file that has the same name as the RAW/TIFF file except that the suffix is different.

I played around with RAW files using Picture Package, but found it not well suited to working with RAW files. If you really want to work with RAW files, which have the data as it was taken from the sensor but before the procesing that applies white balance, saturation, color, sharpness, and contrast adjustments that you have set in the camera, you need to install the other CD, which has the Image Data Converter application. Picture Package will let you view RAW files, and make a couple of basic corrections, but it is painstakingly slow and crude. The adjustment that is labeled "exposure compensation", by the way, is not the same thing as doing exposure compensation on the camera. If you really want to work with RAW files, I would advise installing the second CD right off the bat and not using Picture Package for anything more that copying the files and viewing them only in the thumbnail view.

The DSC-V3 is an excellent camera. When you count the number of unique features, that are not found on other cameras of this class, which bridges the gap between compact digital cameras and DSLR cameras, you wonder why it is that you can have this much more for the same price as the others. The advantage in speed alone is enough to give this camera a competitive edge, but then it also has the Hologram auto-focus light, Night Framing and Night Shot, an effective approach to noise cancellation, and lesser but still useful features such as Smart Zoom. The size of the camera is nearly perfect, being just big enough to be comfortable when shooting, but no bigger. It has a large LCD screen that is easy to see in all kinds of light. It takes excellent pictures. And if all that isn't enough, it's a very handsome camera!

I've shopped the market and for the price, nobody beats the Sony in picture quality, build quality, ergonomics (ease of use), or lens quality. Nobody. It's a sleeper, and before buying the new Canon Rebel, I accidently stumbled upon this camera. Mind you I already have an older generation Sony i've long since out grown. Right away I noticed something very special about this camera, its lag time (hardly) and giant 2.5" super accurate LCD screen. One of the fastest digital cameras on the market including the pro DSLR's. From there I realized that everything fit my hand well and seemed in the appropriate spot. Being an avid outdoor person, lots of mountain biking etc... I wanted a compact lightweight camera with a heavyweight punch. That is what this camera is. I almost settled for the much larger DSLR's out there. Glad I didn't. Small enough to fit in a jersey pocket, and super lightweight (for what you get) I hardly feel it when im out there. Yet I can stop and take pics all day (3hour battery life avg. on a single charge, very impressive!!)if I want too. The 1Gig memory stick was very affordable (got mine for $109.00) and I have yet to fill it up on a single outing taking upwards to 300 pictures at a full 7.2 meg resolution!!! Did I mention how good the pictures are? There are alot of reviews on this camera out there, that speak highly of the picture quality with one snag. There are alot of claims about the camera automatically going to a high F number in bright sunlight. This however is easily remedied using the camera's built in Aperature priority mode, or manual mode. So I wonder if any of the reviewers actually owned this camera? Even though that seems to be the only complaint from the lot, i've yet to experience what they claim as "reduced image quality, poor image quality" in bright light conditions using the automatic modes (Ill keep trying however, there may be some truth to it). However, i've already taken upwards of 1000+ pics with it and have yet to see the Sony duplicate that claim. On the contrary the little Camera really seems to shine in bright light conditions, taking for me the most crisp, clear, and color filled pictures to date. You can say I am happy with it and look forward to learning everything it is capable of, the next step is you! Ill save you from the specs/additional features as you can go see them for yourself as im sure you will be more than pleased/satisfied. I've seen it on price war sites as low as $439.00, for that price its a steal, for the $569.00 I got it for it was a real good investment and worth every penny.

Do not buy Canon G6. Buy this one instead. I have done the research and paid the price for you.

When I buy cameras, the most important thing to me is picture quality. I have owned two digital cameras (3 MP and 5 MP, both are Sony) and I was upgrading to 7MP.

I narrowed my search to Sony V3 and Canon G6. I thought G6 may deliver better picture qualify because it has a bigger lens. I found out in a hard way that in this case, SIZE DOES NOT MATTER!

Here is the story: I bought a G6 about 3 months ago (at $599.99). I compared it side by side (same objects same conditions) with my 3MP Sony DS75 and astonishingly saw that my three-year-old Sony DS75 beat the G6 both in resolution and color of the pictures. I was very disappointed and decided to compare the G6 and V3. I brought my compact flash card to a local chain store that sells both the G6 and V3. The sales person was kind enough to let me take dozens of picture at the store using my compact flash card in both the G6 and V3. I compared the pictures at home. Every single shot (in door) by the V3 was better.

What about ourdoor pictures? I bought the V3. After coming home, I take many outdoor pictures using both the G6 and V3. Again, the V3 outdoor pictures have much better resolution and color. I was totally convinced that the G6 was just a piece of junk.

Another thing for the G6: It does not have date/time stamp unless you print in out in a Canon printer. Years from now, I don't want to check the time I create the picture file to figure out when the pictures were taken. If date/time stamp is important to you, another reason to forget about the G6.

I returned the G6 (paid 15% restock fee). I have taken over a thousand pictures with my V3 and I am very happy with it. Picture quality is much better with the V3. An excellent product.

I've been using the DSC-V3 under a wide variety of conditions for about 1 1/2 months here in Costa Rica...from night scenes to beach scenes to tropical jungle settings in low light. Overall I've been very satisfied with the image quality, but especially the performance. Its definitely a rock-solid performer in terms of shutter lag and shot-to-shot times. Auto focus is also instantaneous. You click, it takes a photo...and fast. I have a 1 Gig memory stick pro card and the write times to that are fantastic (except in RAW and TIFF modes). You'll be impressed by most of the performance issues, and if you use the camera right you'll get great crystal-clear 7MP images with great color edge-to-edge. So in a sense this is a plain camera; meat and potatoes...a good hearty camera which delivers in those areas a camera should. It shoots fast, battery life is great, build quality is solid, the 2.5" LCD is great, and the images it produces are top notch. Ignore the optical viewfinder, and go get yourself a PDA screen protector to cover the LCD with...then you're good to go.

What they say about the aperture being selected as too small in Auto mode (under bright light) is true. But don't base a purchase decision on that...if you are an "enthusiast", you'll likely be using one of the modes with some custom control, like program shift or manual. Its easy enough to change the aperture before you snap a shot. I do that 90% of the time...I don't like blindly trusting a computer to make decisions anyway. I'd argue that if you are not really into tweaking settings...there are cheaper cameras out there that would be more satisfying to you. But keep in mind you CAN use it on Auto mode just fine in all conditions except bright outdoor lighting.

Before buying this camera I debated the merits of this style of camera VS the long-zoom image stabilized models VS a digital SLR. I racked my brain over the merits of each over and over. I think after all that I've decided that a Digital SLR would have been more suitable for me. But that's not to knock this camera in any way...it does great for its range of capabilities. The ISO sensitivity is decent, but I was really looking for something more on par with a DSLR in terms of better high ISO capabilities. I was a bit dissapointed, not by the Sony per se...but by the overall capabilities of this class of camera in low light (except the Sony laser focusing system, incredible!). You will get noisy images at ISO 400 or above in dark conditions. Two things to consider about low light capability, image stabilization and high ISO sensitivity. If you get an image-stabilized camera you will have more flexibility for common situations..."twilight" scenes and real common "pseudo-indoor" situations. That's something you don't really hear about in the professional reviews but is real practical in terms of usability. Forget about the utility of image stabilization with long-zoom...think about its usability for low light conditions. With image stabilization you will get that little wavvy hand (indicating a blurred image) much less frequently before you snap a shot (2 stops?). And for those dark tripod-only long exposures...nothing beats noise-free high ISO sensitivity. Ideally it would be the best to have great ISO sensitivity AND image stabilization, if you get both in a digital camera you will use a tripod 1/3 as much, and have a much more versatile camera.

That being said, I don't really regret not getting one of the long-zoom image stabilized models (Canon S2IS, Panasonic DMC-FZ20, etc). I feel better knowing the money went into a solid performing camera with good resolution and quality. I feel comfortable with my purchase over those types of cameras. I'm curious about something like the Canon Rebel XT, but most DSLRs only can have lense-based image stabilization, which enormously increases the cost of each lens if you want IS (its like buying a computer with each lens). I find myself dreaming about...and looking for something like the Konica Minolta Maximum 7D...a DSLR with body-based image stabilization. I think that's where all these cameras will eventually be heading, in a year or two I'll bet you'll see all the major DSLR manufacturers have models with body-based image stabilization.

This Sony is a great camera to learn photography on, largely because of that huge LCD. Overall, the camera is great and I would have given it 5 stars except for the viewfinder, and I would have liked to see a slightly longer, more versatile zoom. Another feature I would like to see would be the ability to attach full camera info for standard images, not just the date and time (RAW lets you see that info). That way you could snap 100 shots with different settings, and when you get those images to the computer there would be no guessing as to what settings were used...you could carefully compare the results of each shot to learn faster and become a sharper photographer.