Customer Reviews

Sony MVC-FD83 Mavica 0.8MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

After buying a Sony Vaio F290 notebook, and being completely thrilled with it, my next step was to study up, and learn about digital cameras. I've been doing photography for years, but am not a professional. I have had my Mavica 83 for just one month, but the real thrill was taking it out onto the beach, two hours after bringing it home, and easily taking my first 2 floppies full of pictures! The menu is easily understandable, and the quality of the pictures I've taken, is excellent. The 6x digital zoom is also excellent for most shots. I love being able to copy the contents of one full disk onto another (to share) right in the camera's 4x drive. I'd heard negative reviews, concerning it only having the LCD, but with a bit of practice, this becomes second nature. All LCD's have some problems with & in the sun, but if you know how to set up your shot, this isn't a problem. The flash is very stark/bright in & on your photo. It's so much fun and very easy sending pictures by email! I think everyone in my family will probably be buying a digital for Christmas! I went to several stores, to pick up, handle and move around with the menu's, of all the camera's I could find. I recommend you do this too, if you're going to buy one. Some camera's just don't feel right in your hands. The controls on this camera are conveniently placed. I have a couple "newspaper" writing friends, and they tell me, they use Mavica 83's from the office too. That seemed good enough for me! The only thing I am not satisfied with, is the battery life. Yes, I'm turning off my LCD too, in hopes of extending it, but, the battery doesn't have the stated minutes life. The macro is also excellent, and can really catch some interesting views. There are cheaper cameras, and getting more powerful by the week, but for now, I highly recommend the Mavica 83. Being able to use floppies as film, is great, as you can share these with anyone, and it's the cheapest way to go. My only wish is that they had included a cap / protective cover, for the LCD.

This is a well-engineered camera: its feature set, build quality, interface, battery life, optics, and ergonometrics are all top-notch. It is a joy to use and produces high-quality pictures for web site or small photorealistic prints, especially if you use the "fine" mode that imposes less jpeg compression.

There is also a thriving Mavican community on the 'net, and lots of useful freeware shareware, and third-party accessories. If you need to print out 8X10 photorealistic prints, buy a 2 megapixel camera; for everything short of this, the Mavica 83 is a superb camera. Unlike other reviewers, I find that this camera does a respectable job in low-light situations.

One drawback is the optical zoom, which is "only" 3X. Sony's high-quality teleconverter (~$50) will increase this to 6X. Its use of 1.4mb floppy disk storage hasn't been a drawback for me: the 4X floppy drive is quick, it is easy to change floppies, and one floppy holds a respectable number of images (around 8 in 1024X768 fine mode, around 20 in 640X480 fine mode).

The brief MPEG movies are great fun, and an easy way to create video e-mail or to add streaming video web sites.

For the price, I'd prefer this high-quality .8 megapixel camera to the "bargain" 2 megapixel cameras, which may have inferior optics.

My conclusion: Don't believe the hype about the "need" for 2 megapixel cameras. For e-mail, web, and smaller prints, the Mavica 83 occupies a great "sweet spot:" it combines many higher-end features with superior ease-of-use, convenience, and optics.

I can't help but rave about Sony Mavica FD-83's versatility! It has auto/manual focus, digital zoom, four different picture effects including black & white, 2 image quality modes, and it can also record a short video with voice. You'd wonder if you have to be a hi-tech guru to operate a camera loaded with features. Not so! This camera is soooo easy to use that I didn't even have to read the manual to make it work the first time I got it. I just popped in a floppy disk, took pictures, took the floppy out and into my computer and presto! QUALITY pictures right before your eyes! Of course, after finally reading the manual, I found out about the other wonderful features of FD-83. My favorite is the "E-mail" setting which automatically makes a copy of the pictures you take in a much smaller file size and therefore, cuts the upload and download times of the pictures you send through email. No more playing around with your pictures to reduce the file size, it's all done for you! There's more to this camera than I have space to write about them for. Read the other reviews. I highly recommend the Sony Mavica FD-83 ... IT IS WORTH IT!

If you are looking for a convenient, smart and easy to use camara. This is it, while resolution is not as good as other camaras, if you need it for web applications its good enough. One very good feature, at least for me, is its great macro capability and manual focus. You can take objects as close as 1 cm. You can also control the exposure level which for close distance shots is a very usefull feature. But the best feature for me is the fact that it stores in floppy disks. This is a convenient storage media and while the storage capacity is not big, they are so cheap you can buy as many as you need. Overall I'm very happy with it, I strongly recommend it.

After much consideration, stalling and browsing I decided on the Mavica FD83. I've found it a most useful, acceptable quality camara useful internet features, one can make and send a 15sec 320 X 240 mpeg video clip in a few minutes. it also records in small frame X3 15sec video clips, internet ready,on a single floppy. Stills with 40sec audio. All around I'm pleased and plan to use it for many years. High res only 3-4 pictures per floppy otherwise up to 20 pictures per floppy. Worth the money really...though not I suppose the very best for the hi-tech professional. I like the floppy system, quick and easy to file and view.

I'm a wildlife artist and always hated the hassle of waiting for film developing (and the expense). I need images quick and a lot of them. The FD83 just fullfulled all my expectations. The limited storage on the floppy is not a problem....I just keep a lot of them handy. I can reel off the images I need, edit them, and store them for future reference.

The resolution, while some say is lower quality, seems pretty great as well. I can actually take digital photos of paintings or prints and get immediate good prints to send to perspective clients or even print out on a good photorealistic printer for mini art prints (but be sure it's on good paper and with good ink). While the Fd8s has it limitations (you can do better with twice the money!), it serves every purpose for me.

If you want standard-sized prints, this is a great camera. If you want web or computer images, it is an excellent camera. If you want professional prints, get a 35mm film camera. I have all but replaced my 35mm for almost all my photo uses. Once you learn the quirks of exposure settings, you can get excellent quality images in a wide range of lighting conditions - in spite of what others have said. Don't rely too much on the supplied manual - you have to experiment - but since you're not 'wasting film', you can afford to. I find the floppy storage to be very convenient. The ONLY drawback I find is the inability to stop fast action without blurred images.

The only problem is the viewfinder in hot sunlight, being an elderly it's hard to see when you try to take a picture in bright sunlight on the outside, living in Florida. An additional Optic View finder would very much appreciated.

My company need a digital camera for maintain progress photos of our projects. After looking at cameras from other vendors and trying cameras that our other departments were using our group decided upon the Mavica mainly because of the floppy drive. Overall, we have been delighted with the camera except for the fact that it is limited to daytime usage. In dim light conditions one has to be almost on top of the subject or the result is too dark. In addition, we found that the LCD screen was easily scratched by shirt buttons when the camera was carried on the strap around the neck. Also in the year of ownership we have had a floppy drive failure. Be aware that free labor charges end after 90 days and the normal charge is $ for repair. The parts are free within the first year of ownership. In conclusion, for daylight outdoor scenes or indoor scenes with the right lighting conditions this is a good camera. And for multiple users the floppy drive is efficient.

I bought my camera in March of this year. I am a real estate agent and I have to say this camera was ideal in aiding and promoting my business. The images it took were sharp and clear. I took both interior and exterior shots of homes and with very little effort I could print up a promotional highlight sheet, which was both professional and impressive. The camera was easy to use and the floppy disk is a very versatile way to obtain the quick results I required. It is a good buy.