Customer Reviews

Sony DSCP32 Cybershot 3.2MP Digital Camera

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

THREE YEARS LATER -- A REVIEW

I have now taken 9,800 photos with this camera!

DURABILITY: It has been bumped, dropped and exposed to hostile climates for extended periods of times (The camera has spend most of it's life in Arabia with severe temperatures, dust and high humidity.) but no real horror stories like falling down concrete stairs. Still, it works fine.

SOFTWARE: I have totally given up with the bundled software. I tried to use it but it just was a pain. However, both the stills and video are perfectly computable with everything.

FIRMWARE (aka feature): I never ever use the digital zoom feature. There's not point to it, that I can see. It's better just to crop it with your home software.

I really don't use ANY of the firmware features except review and -- rarely -- delete if I am running out of memory.


MPEG MOVIE MODE -- very nice! Of course the picture quality is limited but the sound is terrific, making it a rewarding viewing experience. It is a wonderful tool for putting short clips on the web for the grandparents. With my hosting service (Photobucket), I can just upload the native file.

START UP TIME: This cameras is still faster in the start-up time than some newer cameras (especially when the batteries are fresh.) I love that.

HARDWARE:

THAT DANG RUBBER FLAP! That little rubber flap still annoys me. IT NEVER STAYS ON! Sometimes I scotch tape it but mostly it just bothers me. I almost never use those connectors and have considered cutting it off and covering it with duct tape -- except that now-and-again I use the AV out.

I really like the flash features -- I use nearly all the modes fairly often -- accept red eye reduction. I love how easy it is to switch between flash modes. No all cameras are that way.

The auto-timer is also very easy to use.

Auto focus almost never is wrong. It probably helps that there is no telephoto.

3.2 PIXELS is almost always enough. It means you can't severely crop your pictures. I now routinely use professional digital printing and have even done 5x7s which look great. 4x6s and web photos are very nice.

COLOR: When I compare professionally printed 4x6s with our old Olympus 35mm point-and-shoot camera, the film still wins (not by a lot) However, for the web, the Sony is much better than scanned prints from the Olympus.

BATTERY life is OK -- but not great. You will probably want to travel with an extra set. However, the fact that these are AAs means you can easily buy a set anywhere in the world, as needed. The supplied NiMH's seem to be getting weak but I still use them.

THE SCREEN -- IT is OK but not nearly as good as modern screens. Mostly, I use the viewfinder for shooting. Except on bright days, the screen is fairly useful but it can be hard to tell if someone's eyes are closed.


WHAT I WANT FOR MY NEXT CAMERA:

* I want a real (mechanical) telephoto. I miss that the most.
* I want an optical viewfinder (many of the new cameras don't have them) but also one of those large bright screen. It is great to have either option.
* I want video. I have learned to really like taking video clips for sharing on the web.
* I want a camera that uses standard AAs. This has come in so-handy for long trips since I can leave the charger home and just buy them along the way. But, at home, I use NiMH


- - - - -

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

EASE OF USE
Fairly easy for basic functions - taking a picture, reviewing pictures, setting resolution, deleting etc.

Some of the more advanced feature can be buried in menus. Many of the icons and other indicators on the screen are not obvious and one must refer to the manual. On at least one occasion, I found an item on the camera menu that wasn't in the index of the manual.

Despite what I listed above, I'd say this camera qualifies as easy to use.

PICTURE QUALITY look great on my home ink jet printer at 4X6. From a foot away, you can't tell that it isn't a traditional print. (just less vibrant)

AUTOFOCUS seems to work fine. Flash is more than adequate.

LOW LIGHT shooting is pretty good but could be better

COLOR ACCURACY is good but not perfect. I'm not sure if it is my printer or the camera, but traditional photos are distinctly more vibrant.

RESOLUTION. It is advertised as 3.3 megapixels but I saw somewhere in the literature that is "effectively" 3.3 megapixels. By my calculation it is 3.15 but so what? I which they'd say it like it is, anyway.

ZOOM is almost useless since it doesn't work at the highest resolution which is the resolution I use and almost never change. You'll just have to crop after you get the picture on the computer.

SHUTTER DELAY and RESET TIME are tolerable and much better than some of the cameras I played with in the store

I've seen bigger SCREENS on other cameras but it does the job. It is a little dim in daylight forcing you to use the eyepiece. You can easily turn the screen off to save batteries -- a nice feature.

The included BATTERY CHARGER is a nice touch and can be used for your other electronic items. However, it would have been classier for Sony to make the battery charger also work as AC adaptor like it does for video cameras. You can buy an adaptor for extra money, which isn't cool.

BATTERY LIFE if more than enough to fill up the chip. Probably, you'll want to buy an extra pair for backup. Since it uses standard AA, you could also just keep a pair of alkaline or NiMH batteries on hand to use in a pinch.

MEMORY STICK. I wish they would adopt a more common standard like the SD or MMC but other than that, it works just fine. I wish they also would include a bigger chip. You will probably have to go out and buy one. I bought 128MB which hold 91 pictures at full resolution but added...to the price of the camera.

The camera SIZE is like a small 35mm camera and is a little lighter than my Olympus 35mm Stylus.

No CAMERA CASE is included, which is a drag. I found one that fits perfectly ..., so that was easily solved.

The little RUBBER COVER that covers the plugs is not well designed. It falls off all the time and finally I put some scotch tape on it to keep it in place. This would not be a satisfactory solution if you use the USB cable but I use a card reader so I don't open the cover much.

VIDEO feature is fun but the picture quality is terrible. Still, it is fun to play with. You videos will make you look like one of those imbedded Iraqi reporters! The sound is quite good. You can also add voice attachment to still photos a feature that would be better if you could easily switch to it. Also, it frustratingly clips off that last couple second of your message.

The VOICE RECORDER (same as what I mention above) is a feature that is cool but not too useful since it is limited to about 45 seconds. Too bad. The camera could also serve as a cool voice recorder. It will work OK for short notes.

VIDEO OUT is pretty useful for reviewing your pictures if you are not near a computer (like on vacation.)

Included SOFTWARE is barely adequate. I found the ImageMixer software very frustrating until I finally got the learning curve going up. The help screens are not helpful. Still, it's free and works (sort of!) Probably, you'll want to buy another software package. Fortunately both the pictures and MPEG videos are open-formats and easily import into most programs.

I bought this camera about two weeks ago and it's a perfect little camera. The size is just perfect, but, just because it's small does not mean it's a basic camera. This camera falls under point-and-shoot category, but, it also offers you a lot of manual controls such as exposure control, white balance control, focus control, ISO control, etc. It also has preset scene modes such has night, snow, beach, landscape, portrait night, etc. For picture taking, you can have a combination of different megapixel (3.1, 2.8 @ 3:2, 2.0, 1.2, and VGA) and compression (Fine or Standard). Picture quality is AWESOME. Outdoor pictures are just perfect and indoor pictures are between best and good (if there is any such thing). Buttons are very easy to operate. Video mode is another thing to brag about. You can take videos at 640*480 or 160*? resolution. The 160*? is not good at all. But 640*480 is just awesome. Video size is only limited by the amount of memory you have. I can record upto 5 minutes on my 128MB card. The only thing I hate about this camera is the cover that hides the video-out, usb, and dc-in port. Another thing that could would have made this a better camera is the wait between shots when using fill-flash or flash. It takes about 3-4 seconds before the camera can take another shot. However, when taking pictures without flash, it's as fast as any film-cameras.

I am one more happy owner of Sony DSC P32. The camera has been with me for almost a month now and it's been used a lot. Let me update my review. My purpose for this camera is an all-around sort of thing: It must be pocketable so I can carry it to school, to work, to my family's garden, to my friends' outing, to the mall... well, you get the idea.

Henceforth, here are the features I found most useful:

Amazing picture quality, clear and vibrant.
Easy to use and small enough to fit in my pocket.
Real time shutter and aperture info.
Rechargeable AA NiMH batteries.
Finger grip on body front.
Instant detection and download with WinXP.
Separate power ON button. Because it does, the lens cover remains closed when you only want to preview your pictures or change setup settings! Just turn dial to "play" or "setup" position before turning ON the camera.
No optical zoom. The less moving parts, the better.
And last but not least, it's beautiful.

Wish list:

LCD could be made larger.
An ISO 50 would be a nice addition.
More accurate white balance in auto mode.

For me the Sony DSC-P32 is a good-looking, functional design. I have no hesitation recommending this to anyone who wants a highly portable and reliable digital camera that can be carried on your pocket ready to shoot at a moment's notice. I can only smile in reaction to contrary recommendations by professionals. As far as this actual user is concerned, the Sony DSC-P32 is beautiful to look at and a pleasure to use!

Good luck hunting for your own camera!

I've been using this camera for about a month and have to say I am very happy with the picture quality and ease of use. I debated on purchasing the model with the optical zoom, but for my type of camera usage (vacations, pictures of the kids, animals, flowers, etc.) the P32 digital zoom is more than satisfactory.

I also purchased two 128MB Lexar Memory Sticks and the Lexar Memory Stick Reader. I would highly recommend the reader, it will save your camera batteries for taking pictures instead of powering the camera for uploads. The Lexar sticks haven't given me a moment of trouble, either, and are extremely well priced compared to the Sony sticks.

I also purchased some Rayovac NiMH batteries (half the price of Sony's) which charged just fine in the battery charger included with the camera.

If you have ever used one of those "mail the camera" jobs then you're familiar with the wait time while the flash charges. You will have a much shorter wait with this camera, but there is definitely a pause while the flash recharges. I did not notice any wait time while taking pictures without the flash - the save to the memory stick is quick!

The LCD display is very easy to read once you become familiar with all the tiny icons. I did have difficulty seeing the display in bright outdoor light until I discovered the settings to darken/lighten the display:) In the meantime I used the normal "nose to the camera" image viewer.

The camera has an automatic lens cover that closes when the camera is powered off. This might be true of all digicams, I'm just relieved to have one less item to track!

My only complaint is the manual. There isn't any "flow" to it and sections I felt should be grouped together are scattered through the booklet. The animated GIF, multi-burst, and MPEG settings are in the same location on the camera, but not in the manual! I ended up creating and printing a cheat sheet to carry in my camera bag.

Overall, I would highly recommend this camera to anyone looking for a first-time digital camera. I absolutely love the instant gratification of taking a bunch of pictures and seeing them in all their glory on the computer immediately afterwards. Waiting for film to be developed, only to discover I under/overexposed the picture, is now a thing of the past!

This is a great quality camera. It comes with all the accessories like rechargable batteries... etc. you need. The only thing you need is an additional 128mb memory stick... the only thing that's not so good about the camera is that there's no optical zoom. But since it has the smart digital zoom feature, it's not all that bad. You just have to edit the picture later for a close up... all in all, it's very easy to use and an awesome camera for the price... and I actually like the look of it...unlike some other comments I read before buying it. It looks better than the pictures in my opinion.

I just bought this camera for my husband and we both love it. We took over a hundred pictures this weekend at a family event and cannot believe the quality of the pictures. They are so crisp and clear, almost better than in person. We have been searching for a great camera at a good price and we found it with this one. We highly recommed this camera and know you will be happy with your purchase. We do recommend a larger memory stick maybe 64mb or 128mb. The one it comes with can only handle about 8-15 photos. :)

I am absolutely THRILLED with this camera! I would have easily paid 5 times the price for all of the wonderful (and easy to use) features. Don't believe me? I already shelled out [money] for a Coolpix 990 2 years ago with the birth of our daughter, then [more money] for a digital camcorder 6 months later. Why did I need another camera you ask? While there is no denying that the coolpix takes incredible pictures, it's too bulky and complicated. It has TOO many options and worst of all, you can only shoot 30 seconds of video WITHOUT SOUND! What's the point?!? (My husband got me this camera!). The digital camcorder obviously would do the trick but it's so bulky and it's never around when I want to capture those adorable moments of a 2 year old. Being a parent of a toddler, I wanted a camera that I could carry with me EVERYWHERE and be able to take great pictures and VIDEO CLIPS with AUDIO! I love the fact that you can take minutes, not mere seconds of video. And best of all, it is the easiest camera to operate in the world! I didn't even have to read the manual. Just shoot, and plug it into your computer (I do have XP). Finally, a product that I have been looking for! Do not hesitate in getting buying this camera. It's worth its weight in gold!

I went looking for my first digital camera and wanted to stay under [$$$]. I found the Sony, a 64MB memory card and a case within my budget.

I've taken about 30 pictures with it around the house and I can't believe the quality of the shots! The functions are easily accessed through the menu and the battery charger that's included has got to be worth more than the savings.

I highly reccomend this camera for anyone looking to get into digital photography. My only negative comment is that the camera doesn't have a dedicated zoom. But, I'm really not that worried about it.

Try it out, you'll love it!

This is my second Sony camera. I love it for 2 reasons: ITs so SMALL and because the pictures are clear and crisp. However, I miss having a zoom. If I could I would buy the same camera but with the zoom.

I use this camera with Windows XP. When I connect it pops up a Window and I can print directly to my HP printer. The pics are unbelieveable nice.

I've been in the market for a new digital camera for a couple of months, and was trying to narrow down my choices. I've been using my trusty Fuji Finepix 2400 Zoom for the past 2 years, and have been very satisfied with the images it's made. But at 2 MP I've outgrown it a little. Now I've always been a fan of Sony products, but in their digital camera arena, their prices are a bit high. Then along came the Cybershot DSCP32. It had great reviews from all the major sites, ie pcphotoreview.com, steves-digicams.com, Amazon.com etc and everyone seemed to like it. However the dealbreaker is you can get it for under $200.
I won't review all the specs, I think everyone here has already covered it, but lets just say that if your giving this as a gift to a first time digital user, they will love you, because everythng you need is included. No one else can say that. Camera, "film", batteries, and a charger!
Being a lifelong sceptic, I try to see how good things are right out of the box. Judging such things as ease of use, features, and can I even just take a darn photo just by raising it up and snapping the shutter. Yes you can.... I did just that, after setting the date and time, put the memorystick in my card reader and opening the image in Photoshop. My goodness..
the colors were rich, no obvious pixilation, and I could even 'clearly' see what was on the television that the camera was partially aimed at.
The only reason I rated it as 4 stars vice, 5 is to be honest I've only had it for 4 hours and something could go wrong. But so far trust me that this is another winner from Sony, and a great buy!