Customer Reviews

Sony Cybershot S650 7.2MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

[ Revised July 14th. I would now rate this camera at 2 stars given other cameras have had price drops, making them relatively much better. ]

This is the 5th digital camera I've owned and the one I've found to be the most "lacking." If you are simply looking for a point/shoot with no additional features and okay pictures (why a 7 MP then?), this will work. However, I was looking for something that was a little more than point/shoot (ie, some basic control features which seem to be the baseline of Canon cameras). I would rather take pictures with my previous Canon A85 (4 MP but better quality images).

Pros:
- 7.2 MP (although I think this is kind of silly... the number of pixels may be high but a 4 MP camera with higher quality would produce better pictures/prints)
- mostly easy to navigate around the menus (just not much to navigate)
- small/compact
- cheap (price), although now the same price as cameras with significantly more features

Cons:
- no viewfinder, which is a pain when it is sunny
- pictures are mediocre
- colors aren't as vibrant as I hoped they'd be
- many of the pictures are grainy, even in full sunlight
- battery/memory card door opens very easily (too easily... opens up accidentally a lot)
- lens distortion is pretty bad and makes panoramas a bust
- only advantage over other introductory digital cameras is the size

I hesitate to recommend this camera to anyone, however, if you are simply looking for a digital camera with ONLY point and shoot options AND that is compact, this will probably work out. Sony is looking for that niche with this camera. If you want a few more options besides point/shoot, look elsewhere.

The quality isn't that of Canon -- the only advantage of this camera over a Canon A550 is that it is smaller. This camera and the Canon are, as of the review revision, the same price plus/minus a couple bucks. Advantages of the Canon include
- creative flexibility (ie, opportunities to become a better photographer and take better pictures via mild manipulation of camera settings)
- 4x optical zoom relative to the 3x of the Sony
- includes a view finder (no longer standard on point and shoot cameras)
- superior software, including "Photostitch" (phenomenal for making panoramas)
- allows for easy point/shoot on top of the features listed above (ie, ease of use for a point/shoot is comparable with the Sony)

Having owned 3 Canon A-series cameras, I would not hesitate to recommend them. They range from the price of this camera up to a few hundred for additional features/resolution... if I was buying one now I would probably just go with the A550 since 7MP and 4x optical zoom is more than enough for a point/shoot. If you have money to blow on additional features beyond what the A550 offers than I don't know why you are even considering this camera :) Other camera brands may also be good, although I am not very familiar with their offerings... I looked around briefly for some comparable cameras and I only found one non-Canon that I would consider if I was again in the market for a point/shoot: Panasonic Lumix DMC-LS70S.

I bought this camera to take with me to Disney World. I have a digital SLR but didn't want to use it on this trip as it is a little heavy for carrying all day - just wanted a small camera which would go in my pocket. I am certainly not disappointed with my purchase - I took over 400 photos and have only deleted 20 of them. The majority of the pictures were sharp with excellent color. I used the optical zoom quite a lot - and this worked really well. I disabled the digital zoom. All the pictures were taken at the highest quality so I could edit later if necessary. I took a lot of night shots of firework displays - some of the pics weren't so great - but others were very good. I would certainly recommend this to anyone wanting a convenient, easy to use camera. The menu is easy to navigate and I found the batteries lasted a long time. It's nice to be able to buy regular AA batteries to use as an emergency. I spent a lot of time in the evenings scrolling through all my pictures, so the batteries were really put to the test! I do like a viewfinder and this camera does not have one - but it really wasn't a problem and even the shots I took when I couldn't really compose the image worked well.

I bought this camera a few days ago. We had a Sony Cybershot for 3 years before this one and loved it. The S650 is a great camera, especially for the price. Takes amazing pictures and I love how it has 7mp, my old one was only 3.2mp.

One downfall for the camera is that is will not imprint the date on the pictures (which is important to me, may not be to others), unless you upload them to your computer and use the Sony program and manually add the date on each picture.

2nd complaint: it takes great movies with sound, but the sound can not be played back on the camera, only when it is connected to a TV or after you upload them. I like to hear the sound because I am not always around a TV to plug it into. I have little kids and I love to take videos with it and they like to watch them afterwards, but now we can't hear them.

3rd complaint: when in low light situations, my old cybershot shined an orange light so you can see the subject or area you are trying to take the pic of, this one does not. You just have to shoot blindly and hope you aimed at the subject.

I just don't understand why an upgraded camera would have downgraded features.

All in all, I love this camera with a few minor complaints, I recommend this camera for the quality of the shots.

Short background; I was USAF combat photographer during Viet Nam. (see www.601st.com) Got out in one piece thank G*d, went back to school and did weddings, special events, product photos, and have kept a camera close ever since. While I have studio level cameras, my old Oly digitals were all broken. My wife just last week agreed to try a digital over her film camera.

I did a brief review of what was available, and started by limiting my budget to $200 or less. Since getting this "economy digital camera", I've put it through its paces, and while I was suitably impressed, I was blown over to realize that it also takes movies, automatically converting them to avi files for immediate viewing on our computers. (nice feature, although lo-res, but totally worth having in a pinch.) You'll note that previewing your shots is done through the digital, color display. You don't have an optical "view-finder", as you'd have on other cameras. The upside is that the display is true to the finished shot.

And with all due respect to the few reviewers that had a problem with this camera's quality, I'd have to say, on the face of it, that either the camera lens had petroleum jelly smeared over it, the sensor was damaged in shipping or the purchaser/user needs some re-training in basic photography and reading a user's manual. As for battery issues, there are none that I can see. (I have numerous rechargable systems, but many times will use AA alkalines in pro-gear, as recharable systems can fail. You should always keep a couple Alkalines in reserve!) Being able to use AA's means you can "go anywhere in the developed World" and power it up. If you expect to leave this camera on for many hours, continually scan and view your photos, and then wonder why the batteries are spent.......then buy some new-technology rechargables.

Bottom line, I couldn't find a more basic, yet suitably outfitted with options camera. I'll probably buy one this week for myself as an emergency spare. And by the way, I briefly considered the new generation "flat cameras." But, the build quality and lens quality of this model made this an easy choice. Overall; best value I could find for under $150. By the way, I also purchased a 1 gigabyte memory card. Don't expect to use the internal "minimal memory", as it just isn't big enough. Shoot all your photos in the highest resolution mode. You'll get approximately 300+ shots, 3 megabyte jpg file for each photo, on that 1 gig card. If you're smart, you'll save off your memory card whenever possible. Don't shoot your whole vacation.....and G*d forbid, lose the card or accidently damage it! That goes for ANY digital memory.

I Bought this product almost a month ago, its sleek, its reliable and has all good features a good Digital Camera should.

Worth the money for a Sony Camera, this camera has the usualy Seen High Quality for a SONY product.

This camera was a great investment. the photos turn out wonderfully. better than a regular film camera and I have kept an eye out on simular cameras...price wise we got a fantastic deal on this camera and it was well worth the price. the only problem I have found with it is that the batteries wear out soooo fast but I think all digital cameras have that problem. this is a great camera.

This camera is top notch!
I had one of the original Cybershots so I decided on getting a newer version.
The pictures are amazing at 7 MP, simply amazing. Be warned though if you want to take pictures at this quality you should really get a memory stick as the internal memory will only hold 6 pictures. You can go through the settings and bring the quality down to hold more. I think you can get well over 100 pictures on VGA mode (about a normal camera phone quality)

The actuall use of the camera is very easy, just like any of the Cybershots. There are a lot of different modes for different lighting situations along with landscapes, portraits ect. I have not messed with those yet but it seems to be some good add on's.

The size of this camera is fantastic, fits in the palm of your hand, light as a feather.

The display is beautiful also.

All in all I am extremely happy with this purchase, highly reccomended.

I love this camera. Easy to use. Double A batteries is so convienient. You will need to buy a memory stick. But all in all a great camera at a great price.

I was given this camera as a gift a couple months ago - and I'm currently trying to decide how to tactfully tell my parents & in-laws that I'll be buying a new digital camera soon.

I have taken pictures in all types of lighting, with all but one of the pre-set functions, and I have been disappointed over and over again. Luckily, I'm handy with Photoshop and can fix the color relatively well... the sharpness of the photos though - that's another issue.

Problems: Color quality is not very good (especially shadows... they look green or red tinged!). Also, for a 7 MP camera, the images are NOT as sharp and crisp as one would expect. My old 4 MP camera has much better quality photos! And it has no viewfinder for sunny days when you can see the screen!

Word to the wise, skip this camera and buy something else.

Not wanting to take my more expensive and large digital camera with me on vacation, I decided that it was time to invest in one of the new "inexpensive" digital cameras. The Sony takes surprisingly good photos and does have a lot of operator setting possible but left in automatic produced some really good imagines. For the price, you really can't beat this camera.