Customer Reviews

Sony DSCS75 Cyber-shot 3MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What can I say? I really like this camera! I'm a 35mm photo-hobbiest that previously owned/used a Mavica FD-81, and was looking for something that was smaller, faster, and took cleaner pictures. I originally was looking at the S50, but with that model on it's way out (being replaced by the S55 possibly, depending on sales of the P50...I'm told), I looked into (and bought) this model.

This camera may actually begin to replace my 35mm. First off, the camera's lens takes some excellent pictures: clarity, color, etc. Combined with the tons of manual override features, it gives me the visual control I found lacking in other models (you can even disable the digital zoom altogether, a big feature for me). And the LCD capabilities also stand out against the competitors: (1) you don't have to use it (a view window is provided, which is centered to the lens...so you really get what you see) and this almost triples your battery life, and (2) LCD image review allows you to zoom in/out of pictures to verify that you got the details you were looking for. Expansion speaking, Sony uses the memory stick technology in their cameras (I can share my 64 MB sticks between my mp3 player and this), it has a slot to attach a more professional model flash, and the camera lens supports add-ons. As well, the speed is phenominal - it takes the pictures quick...and you don't have to half-press the button to focus before you take the pic...just press once and it'll auto-focus and take the picture on it's own.

There are only two real downsides of note to the S75: (1) size and (2) ease of image distribution. There are a lot of cameras out there that are both smaller and lighter; however, I found this model to have the same size and feel as my Nikon 35mm, so that didn't bother me. As well, I miss being able to use the straight-to-disk feature of the Mavica. Also, beware - out of the box it's set to 2048x1536 fine (which will blow up to poster-size without pixilating, BTW) - which will eat up the 8MB stick in about 5 pics...reducing it down to 1280x960 let me fit a lot more before I upgraded my memory stick.

If size and weight is your ultimate selling point, take a look at the P1 or the P50; but if you want the pictures and the control of a real 35mm, this is definitely the camera for you.

The Sony DSC-S75 brings digital photography one step closer to the output one acheives with a 35mm camera.

The unit fits perfectly in ones hand and is ergonomically well designed. It has an in-camera recharable battery that gives you an amazing amount of shooting power over time. The Carl Zeiss lens yields some of the sharpest prints I have ever seen produced by a digital camera. Even 8x10s look gorgeous when shot in the fine mode.

The camera has all the bells and whistles that allow the photographer different degrees of control over the image. Shutter priority, aperture priority, manual overide and digital zoom are but a few. The macro mode allows you to get extremely close to an object with fantastic results.

On the negative side, Sony embarasses itself when it ships this item with only an 8 mb memory stick. You must factor in the price of a 32mb stick into your budget. I loved the camera so much that I splurged on a 128mb stick and now I can shoot until my finger gets sore!

This aside, I highly recommend this beautifully engineered piece of equipment. I am beginning to reconsider my reliance on the 35 mm camera.

This camara is NOT for somebody that want to just take a few snapshots every once and a while to stick on a web page, and maybe make a print once in a blue moon for a really good shot. If you want something like that, there are camaras that are smaller, lighter, cheaper, and easier to use.

This camara is NOT for somebody who is a photo fanatic. If you want razor-sharp prints the size of posters, or if you want to take pictures of hummingbirds in flight, there are camaras that have interchangeable lenses, higher resolution and better image controls.

If you are semi-serious about your photography, require a good lens, decent control over the photos, and spectacular batter life, this camara is an excellent value.

Equipped with an excellent (if bulky) Zeiss lens, this camara can produce much better pictures than other three (and even four) mega-pixel camaras that only have tiny, small things. One thing you must remember is that mega-pixels are useless if the lens cannot deliver detail that fine to the camara. This lens can. The 3MP it has will do just fine for any size print up to and including 8x10's.

The user interface for the camara is simple enough, which makes up for the somewhat lousy manual. My only complaint about the controls is that the cursor movement button is hard to center correctly. This is a minor point, as I have never had it cause a problem other than me having to hit the button twice.

The pictures are razor sharp and the camara is capable of perfect white balance. (For those that don't know, bad white balance is what causes some pictures under flourescent light to look green, and incadescents look yellow.) All you have to do to adjust it to perfect every time is to keep a white index card in your camara case and then use the "one touch" balance control to re-calibrate it in a couple of seconds.

You can make small movies with this unit, but they aren't suitable for anything but posting to the web. Let's face it, this isn't a camcorder.

The included rechargable lithium battery is more than enough for a full day or two of shooting, but if you won't have access to a car or electrical outlet, it could be a problem, since it isn't a AA you can pick up at any corner store. (That means that you can't use this camara for your 10-week trek through the wilderness.)

This camara includes only an insultingly small 8 MB memory stick. However, I believe that everyone with a 3MP camara should own a 128MB chip, and NO camara maker includes one that big. Buy one when you buy the camara. Since other manufacturers besides Sony now make them, they are very reasonably priced.

You can buy accessories like a flash, an adapter for 52mm filters, additional lenses, etc., but the cheaper non-sony brands are tough (but not impossible) to find.

The included software (MGI Photosuite) is not really that good, but not bad for a bundled package. I reccommend, and use, Microsoft Picture It! Digital Image Pro.

All in all, for the price this camara costs, it is the best available and has no competition.

P.S. If you have windows XP, you MUST change the USB Transfer mode from the default. If you don't, it won't work. See the manual and the sony website for details.

I did a lot of research online and read a lot of reviews before I finally decided to buy the Sony DSC-S75 camera. After using the camera for about a month, here are my impressions.
Positives:
1. Excellent pictures. When printed on a good printer with photographic paper is virtually indistinguishable from film.
2. Loads of features. Allows you to customize your shots the way you want. Menus are relatively easy to use.
3. Battery life is excellent, gives you an estimated remaining battery life on the camera.
Negatives:
1. Relatively bulky, there are smaller 3 megapixel cameras out there, but is ergonomically designed and fits well in my hand.
2. 8MB memory stick is practically useless, you need to have at least 64MB.
3. Slow taking pictures. I don't know if this is a problem with all digital cameras, but there is about a 1 to 2 second delay from the time I press the button to when the picture actually takes. Meanwhile, your subject could be moving and ruin the picture. I've tried taking pictures of my 2 year old and I have to take 10 pictures before I get one good one.
Overall, I think this is a very good camera, which takes excellent pictures and could replace my 35mm camera.

The image quality of the Sony has lived up to my high expectations; it is incredible. As a long-time amateur 35mm photographer and professional graphic artist, I really wanted a true digital SLR digital (couldn't afford $3k with lenses), but as a digital rangefinder, I am giving away very little with the DSC-S75. The manual mode combined with available spot metering gives me the control I need, and the controls are very easy to set - much easier than on most film SLR's. The overall size is small, but the rubber grip gives me a good place to hold it steady. Compared to the Nikon 995, the build quality is obviously superior. The heft of the controls is superb, and the materials are first-rate. The Nikon feels like it is made by Fisher Price. The image quality of the Sony is crisper and the colors truer, to boot. Tell me again why the Nikon is more expensive. The battery lasts a LONG time. It lasted more than 2 hours with the LCD on the whole time and with a lot of flash use. I had presupposed that I'd need a second battery, but I am sure I will get tired of shooting before this camera does on any given shoot.

I will list my quibbles here in hopes that Sony might see them and rectify them, but they by no means outweigh my extreme satisfaction with this camera.

Quibbles:

*Needs more white balance presets - For now I use the one-push calibration, but if you don't have a gray card or a sheet of paper handy, more than 2 measly presets would be nice.

*AF lock is awkward to use - It works, but not well at all. You have to push a button to lock focus AFTER releasing the shutter button from its halfway down position, and you risk the focus going blurry again (catching it in the middle of its trying to refocus) before you engage the lock button.

*Manual is lacking in detail - There is no guide relating recommended apertures to distances for the different settings of the flash. You either use auto mode or you take guesses at the correct f stop. It also doesn't explain what the camera does with the flash in auto mode. I am sure I'll figure all this out with some experimentation, but as a techie I like to know EXACTLY what is going on.

*Metering only shows +-2 stops, and doesn't work at all when in aperture or shutter priority mode and the camera deigns that there isn't enough light to get to the desired exposure. It just blinks a light at you.

*The 8mb memory stick is a joke. 128mb sticks are now available for [$$$], but this must be factored into the price.

I was dead set on getting on of the Sony P1s - it was small and took high quality pictures. Sadly, the store had run out, but an enterprising showroom assistant suggested checking out the DCS-75 instead. I'm so glad I did! This camera is amazing. I've never owned a digital camera before - and wonder why I waited so long now. 3.3 Megapixels is probably more than enough for most people - for snapshots I have the setting down to 640 x 480 and don't go much above 1280 x 960 for anything. However, should you want to, the camera can take 2048 x 1536 and can save in a variety of formats, including .TIFF. It will even take movies of up to about 1 minute, although the quality of the movies is not fabulous. There are some standard special effects settings too (if you don't trust youself with Photoshop or the like)such as black & white and negative. The menu system is easy to understand although I'd recommend having a quick look through the instruction booklet to find out about all the extras. I found it easy to find my way round the camera after only one reading. The camera has a nice chunky feel - like and old school 35mm - and the handgrip feels good and secure. The LCD is a sensible size at about 1.5 inches (although like all LCDs is hard to see in very bright light)and combined with the viewfinder makes it very easy to focus and frame in just about any light. An adjustable LCD would have been even better, but there you are. The only thing that I found wrong with this camera was the piddly little 8mb Memory Stick. I would strongly reccomend getting a 32 or 64 Mb, as the 8 meg will fill up in about 10 shots if you go for size and quality. Also - some sort of protective covering offered with the camera would be nice: I bought the semi-hard carrying case for it after dropping on a corner and denting the aluminium casing... What more can I say - a fabulous camera.

I probably spent 2to 3 hours researching my anticipated purchase of a digital camera. I told myself that I would spend no more than a couple of hundred dollars but the more I looked into it, the more I realized that a decent camera could not be bought for that price. So I changed my goal to find a camera that had all the features I would need for the least amount of money. I must have read everything on the net about digital camera's that ever was and I started narrowing down the list to a few names, then finally all roads kept pointing at the DSC S75. So I found a deal and made the leap, fully expecting to be a little disappointed when the camera finally arrived. The camera arrived and I began shooting the same day. Yeah, there was a bit to learn, but the more I learned, the more impressed I got. The quality of the pics are quite amazing. Oh, I also bought the Lexar 128mb stick so I would not have to keep deleting the pics cause I had no more room. I got a fantastic deal here on Amazon on that, even better than you can get on Ebay. I also bought the HP photosmart 1115 printer and it arrived about 3 days after the camera did. Anyway, back to the pics. They came out super good. Now I am hooked, I just ordered the flash, and now I am checking out the telephoto lense options. Photography many years ago was a big hobby of mine, and I do believe this camera has brought that interest back to life. This camera has auto settings, aperture priority options as well as shutter priority. This camera has so many cool things to take advantage of that I guess it will be a while till I get proficient with all the possibilities. I wanted to be brief with this review, but with this camera that is difficult. I can just say that I am glad I did my homework, I feel like I got an "A" on the exam. Oh, just thought I pass this one on to you, I read a professional reviewers article on this camera, he that said this camera was probably the best digital camera under the $5000 professional range. I thought he might be biased, but now I am not so sure.

I love this camera! The images print out very nicely just on my Epson Stylus Color 880!! I cannot believe the quality of the pictures.

Watch out for # of pixels. If you want to print out a 4X6 pic, choose 2048 3X2 instead of 2048X1536. But, If you want to use an image as wallpaper of screensaver, then choose 2048X1536. Adjust photo size in PhotoSuite 8.1, which came with the camera. The printed images look just like photos real picture quality - not pixelated with kodak premium picture paper for inkjet printers.

All my friends are amazed at the quality and cannot beleive the pictures are printed. I take pictures and then print them out immediately if I want.

The camera has all the settings I need, including manual overrides (which I never use) and motion picture with sound recordable and speaker, so I can play the movie clip back and hear it too. I make a lot of use of the close up portrait configuration (excellent detail close and blurring the background, as well as landscape (no blurring of the background) and twilight configurations.

You absolutely need to buy a 64MB or higher memory stick - plan on that as an expense. These memory sticks aren't cheap! The [money] I saved buying this camera on sale went straight into memory sticks and camera bag.

I purchased the Sony DSC-S75 back in June and have found it to be an excellent camera. I shopped around and did the research thing and this was the ticket. As other reviews have stated, the 8mb is a joke. I bought a 64mb and then a 128mb. I used the 128 this weekend for a birthday party and could not use it up. I have found that I can get about 81 shots on the finest setting with the 128mb. As far as picture quality...it is superb!! The macro lets you take beautiful crisp clear shots on flowers, close ups on faces, whatever. I went hog wild and bought the tripod, Sony flash, lense adapter, wide angle lense, and filters. All I can say is if you are looking for a great camera, this is it. Highly recommend reading all of the manual. Battery life: have never lost power and I have been taking LOTS of pictures.

I did an extensive online research before making my final decision to buy Sony S75. I was considering either Sony S75 or Olympus C-3040. I am very happy with the camera so far. S75 has amazing features and so easy to use that I was taking photo ten mins after I opened my box. The camera has various settings like ISO 100, 200, 400 or auto, different flash levels,different degrees of sharpness and photo quality, different image sizes, different rec modes, indoor or outdoor settings...etc. The battery is definitely one of the best part about this camera. It shows you how much time remaining while taking photos and also recharges very fast. The movie mode is great as well. With 320x240 image size and 64M memory stick, you can take up to 10 mins of movie which you can play in any winplayer. The resolution is satisfactory.

However, there are still some drawbacks about this camera as well. The four-way buttom is rather too small to push. Furthermore, even though S75 produces great photos, I am still not happy with the photo quality it produces. For serious photographer, you might want to go for other cameras like Olympus or Nikon which will give you sharper images. S75 also does not take good photo when lack of light unless you use manual mode. Also it is a good idea to buy additional 64MB memory stick while you purchase this camera. You can get a better deal if you shop around online.

Overall, this is still a great camera. You can enjoy it from the first second you open the box and have so much fun with it without thinking how much you just spend on this camera!