Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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47 of 47 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing little digital camera, August 6, 2000
I bought one of these about 6 weeks ago as I write this, and have fired a couple hundred pictures, and a couple of short videos through it. Wonderful! It takes great pictures, and the videos (with built-in microphone) are pretty cool, too. While the controls seemed a little unwieldy at first, once I pulled out the manual, I needed less than an hour to go through the options and see how everything works, which isn't too bad of a learning curve at all. The LCD viewer is great - I can edit and delete images while shooting, thus saving some precious memory stick space. I have appreciated that the LCD viewscreen can also be swiveled around laterally and vertically, even to point forward, so I can take a picture of myself and, at the same time, see myself in the viewfinder. Brilliant! The flash does a great job of illuminating scenes. The camera also offers ability to adjust for white based on indoor, outdoor, or "other" conditions (sounds dumb, I know, to have "other", but trust me, it makes sense). This is my first USB peripheral, and I have to say I am impressed - I can pull down a full 32MB memory stick pretty darn quick, and it's really nice being able to plug the USB port in *while the computer is on*, and immediately use it without any software hassles. I have to admit to a certain awe at Microsoft for actually pulling it off with win98. You can use the software that comes with the camera, but I have not, since you will find better image handling, organizing, and altering software as freeware, shareware, or expensive (like photoshop) professional stuff.Another super aspect of this camera is the battery - it is removable, but it is rechargable, and the camera comes with a DC-in jack and it's own external power supply, so you can plug the camera into the wall, and recharge that battery for another 2.0-2.5 hours of use. No more buying scads and scads of Earth-killing AAs. This is such a simple built-in to add, and such a highly useful extra, I really have to question why every digitial camera doesn't do this. On the downside, the viewfinder is very, very difficult to see when outside; sometimes impossible to see. And, of course, please realize that this camera is a point-and-shoot (albeit a functional one), so changing lenses is *not* an option, nor is having much control over f-stop or shutter speed - you will have some control, but the f-stop and shutter speed ranges are not are not what you might be used to. I also think that, overall, its senstivity to white is not as good as it should be - my whites tend to end up a bit grey; not much, but a bit. But I have to admit I dont know if that's the camera, or a problem with the really hazy NYC days we've had and/or from shooting inside in rooms with a mix of flourescent and incandescent lighting. Overall, I am impressed with this camera, I'm very glad I bought it (and not a different one), and while it is not 3 megapixels, unless you plan to make large prints of your images, the resolution on this camera is far higher than you need for web-image making, and high enough for anything else. It's small, easy to carry, easy to use, easy to download, and easy to recharge. For the money, this is, in my opinion, your best deal for a non-professional 2 megapixel digital camera.
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53 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
GREAT Camera with TWO minor drawbacks, November 13, 2000
This is my first digital camera. I origionally intended to purchase the Mavica 90 however when I found the Cybershot, I fell in love with the SIZE and the 2.1 megapixel. The battery life on this camera is fantastic, 2 1/2 hours. The batteries and memory sticks interchange with most of Sony's newer model video cameras. The flash works great in TOTAL darkness up to about 5 feet, after that, it's not much good. In low light, the flash works great. One fantastic feature is the screen, it is clear, sharp and when not in use, turns inward so it is protected from getting scratched ect., a definate PLUS! The screen is some what dark when shooting in low light but you can take your shot and look at it right away in "play" mode to see how the shot came out. For me, a minor inconvenience when shooting in LOW LIGHT. The controls are easy to figure out and after playing with them for about 15 minuites, I was ready to go. The video mode will record up to 60 seconds and the sound is really good, given the size of this little baby. Now for the few MINOR drawbacks. First, the 4 meg memory stick supplied with the camera is a joke. Plan on getting at least an 8 meg but I would suggest no less than a 32 meg. Second drawback is the Memory stick/Floppy Disk adaptor. When I purchased it, I was told it worked just like the Mavica - it DOES NOT. Without the software, the adaptor does not work, so if you plan on popping it into a friends computer to look at your pics (Like the Mavica), forget it, unless you carry the software disk around with you. All in all though, this is a great little camera. Smaller, higher pixels and cheaper in price than the Mavica. It performs as advertised by Sony and I was not disappointed. One suggestion, look at the sony starter kit, it includes a carry case, 8 meg memory stick and extra battery, well worth the money in my opinion. If you do get it, I would place a piece of foam in the bottom of the carry case to better padd the camera. Bottom line, if you have been looking at the Mavica's, look at the Cybershot 50 before you make your purchase. If you can do without throwing the floppy disk format into anyone's computer then the cybershot is better, smaller and lighter. For me, it was a minor trade off. EVERY person I have showed this camera to now wants one !
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61 of 63 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great all around digicam, and it's truly Mac compatible!, December 2, 2000
I have had this camera for about six months now. As a serious ammateur photographer for 15 years, I swore that I would still use my film camera for some things, but I haven't touched it. I take this Sony everywhere. This camera is a great all-around digital camera. It is compact, easy to use, the menus and controls are easily understood, and it takes great pictures. I was thinking about getting the S30 without the video feature instead, but I am very glad I got the video. I really like the video feature and I use it a lot. Below are a few major points you should consider about this camera. First of all, no other digital camera brand I have seen comes anywhere close to the lens quality of the Sonys. The marco (close-up) setting allows you to take a picture from literally a half inch away from the subject. Most other digital cameras with macro settings let you get as close as a couple feet. This means that when you can get, at closest, a full-frame picture of your whole hand with other digicams, the sony lets you zoom all the way in to just a fingernail. Incidentally this camera also has a text-capture mode which I have used quite successfully for taking pictures of blueprints and other documents. These kinds of images show up nicely on the computer screen. Secondly, This camera is fully mac-compatible. It comes with a USB cable and software that actually does work on the Mac. When you connect the camera to the cable, it shows up on the desktop just like a drive. The only problem I have had is when reading files right off the disc - sometimes it thinks there's a problem with the drive. If you first transfer them to your hard drive and then view them there's no problem. Some rules of thumb for file size: A high resolution pic (1600x1200) typically takes about 900k, so I figure about one meg each. The medium res (1024x768) is about 300k per pic, so I figure about three pics per meg. These are still pretty high resolution pictures. The lowest res (640x480) pics take about 100k each (a nice size for emailing). That's about 10 per meg. On video mode, the high res (320x240) takes about 100k per second, so about 10 sec of video per meg. The low res video mode (160x112) does about 40 sec per meg. So with the 4 mb memory stick that comes with the camera you can get about 4 or 5 high res pics, 15 med res pics, 40 low res pics, 40 sec high res video, or 160 sec low res video. So in summary, get more memory. I bought two 64 mb cards and they lasted a whole 4-day vacation, and I am pretty snap-happy. The one problem that I have to complain about is that there is about a one-second delay between pushing the shutter button and the actual capture of the image. (And I am not talking about the wait time for writing the file, I am talking about the actual moment of the photograph) This means that if you are taking pictures of subjects in motion you will have to anticipate the moment and push the button a second early. If you take a lot of action shots, this camera will proove frustrating. Often a critical moment will have passed by the time the camera actually takes the picture. Baby pics, wedding dance pictures, sports shots, all of these are very hard to do with this camera. For regular static subjects this is not a problem, but for objects in motion this camera is difficult. All in all I highly reccommend this camera. Happy shopping.
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