Customer Reviews

Sony MVC-FD91 Mavica 0.8MP Digital Camera with 14x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have had mine since September of 1999 and it is fantastic! The best feature is the floppy disk storage media. You're out of town, no laptop mega-drive and out of storage? Buy a $5 box of disks and shoot for another month!

I bought an extra battery for mine which is real handy when traveling. The battery life is real good - several hours of continuous shooting and viewing, even with the lower life battery supplied with the camera. These batteries also interchange with Sony video cameras, so you can get double duty out of them if you own a video camera also.

I have used the camera to take pictures to email to family & friends, Fox & Friends, post on auction sites, send to publications and even just to print out on photo paper. I used the camera on a tripod to take pictures of kids on Santa's lap this past Christmas, printing them on photo paper with an ink jet printer - a terrific success! The quality was not quite 35mm SLR, but it was a whole lot better and faster than a cheap 35mm.

I am now experimenting with the mpeg video mode for our local track team, many events are completed in less than the 1 minute limit in extended mode. We may post these to the students web sites eventually.

All my old 52mm lense accessories fit this camera. The filters, effects lenses & etc. add to the creativity you can unleash with this camera. The ability to instantly check your work by viewing on the screen is impossible with 35mm. Many years ago I considered becoming a professional photographer and back then you had to do a test shot with a Polaroid to check lighting, composition and so on. I believe this camera will take the place of Polaroids in all applications. Don't throw out the old Nikon 35 yet though, for true quality work, you still need film.

This camera also has a whole disk or single frame copy feature that is really nice if you want to give copies of your pictures away in the field. You can also delete unwanted frames to free disk space in the camera. The controls and menus for all these functions are intuitive and straight forward to use.

Exposure control is also easily accomplished with a series of programable features. The shutter speed, apeture, flash and white balance can all be set manually if you don't want to use the automatic mode, which really is adequate for most situations. You will want to read the book first, but once you have the basics down, it is just infinite experimentation from there. You can't make a mistake - just reset and try again - you're not wasting expensive film!

I would recommend getting a wide angle accessory lense; if you are taking pictures of large subjects in tight quarters, (no, I'm not talking about Santa Claus!), sometimes you can't backup far enough. An extra battery, as mentioned above, is also essential if you plan to use it traveling or on all day assignments.

I run a small newspaper. The FD91 has become so indispensable that I now own 2. I can lend one out to an experienced emulsion photographer and, when necessary, teach him/her the essentials of how to use it in 5-6 minutes. These flexible features make it perfect for my situation: The 14:1 zoom means less cropping, and therefore higher resolution in the final cropped photo; the swivel LCD means it's easy to shoot from a higher angle (like over heads of a crowd or from a low angle, or even around a corner; floppy-disk media means film is essentially unlimited, or limited only to roughly 8x the number of disks I'm willing to carry, and they're cheap so "film cost" is never a problem. Finally, of course, in a newspaper operation there are the digital camera advantages of immediate availability, unlimited no-cost shooting because there are no one-time film or processing costs. As to resolution, the 1024x768 size means that a landscape shot can be printed as wide as 12 inches in an 85-line screen without apparent loss of resolution. (But because this camera is so oustanding, I've now purchased a third Mavica, the FD95, for its resolution, which is 2.5x the FD91's.) The cost equation on the FD91 is outstanding, because although the purchase price is high, the advantage of no film cost soon makes it the cheapest possible photo solution for anybody who shoots a lot of pictures.

This camera is TOPS for home use. The pros might find a few things lacking, such as the limited flash intensity and inability to add an external flash. The ONLY other draw back I have found it the length of time it takes to save a pic. It takes approximately 3-4 seconds for the pic to save, so rapid fire shooting is out. But, with the floppy drive, and ultimately endless storage capacity (how many disks can you carry?) makes this a tolerable drawback. It is not in the megal pixel range, but in the 1024x768 fine mode, I have found that the resolution is very good. NOTHING beats the zoom on this thing. 14x zoom! A toy that I will NEVER get tired of using and playing with!

I have had this camera for six months and still find it to be the best digitial camera available for the price. (Amazing in the computer world) Others have cameras with more pixels, more storage, etc., but no one has matched the lens. a 14x (38mm-510mm) optical zoom is unmatched. Combine that with the floppy storage (no easier method for transporting to multiple computers) and the multiple viewfinders (LCD screen and eyepiece) and you have an unbeatable combination. The resolution is more than acceptable for anything but professional use (and even for professional use online) and I bet hardly anyone uses anything other than JPEG mode anyway. A real winner! PS mine got stolen last night and I am ordering another even after checking out all the newer models!

A GREAT CAMERA. AMAZING HOW MANY THINGS THIS LITTLE BABY CAN DO.FLOPPY DISC STORAGE IS BY FAR THE BEST AND EASIEST WAY TO TAKE PHOTOS. A GREAT FEATURE IS THE ABILITY TO COPY A FLOPPY RIGHT INSIDE THE CAMERA TO GIVE TO SOMEONE THAT WOULD LIKE YOUR PICTURES. THE ONLY SHORTCOMING OF THIS CAMEA IS THAT THE RESOLUTION IS NOT UP TO 35MM FILM. BUT THE CONVIENCE FAR OUTWEIGHTS THE CONS.

Sony has a habit of being just a little better then the competition and the FD91 is no exception when it comes to digital cameras. As a web designer by trade I was looking for something that would give me professional looking photos. Have to say I haven't been disappointed. This is an extremely easy camera to use and I love the floppies, no download problems or issues, plus I can leave a copy with a client instantly. I would highly recommend this camera to anyone that isn't turned off by the price.

The two features that really stand out to me with the Mavica FD91 are the 14x optical zoom and the manual focus. Those features make it into a very high quality camera. I bought this camera thinking that it was an advantage that it uses 3.5" disks instead of memory cards but I now think I would rather it use memory cards just because it would hold more pictures and I wouldn't have to carry around stacks of disks. That's not too big of a problem though because the quality of the pictures are fantastic. I use this camera all the time and would recommend it to others that don't mind that it uses 3.5" disks. If possible I would rate this camera as about 4.7 stars but since its either a 4 or a 5 I gave it a 5 because it really is an excellent camera that deserves more than a 4.

Got this camera for Christmas (am I lucky or what). Great camera and pretty good resolution. The ability to use floppies is very convenient (and Apple thinks floppies are dead). Easy to send an entire disc of pics to relatives after copying them on my home computer. And even easier to send slideshows of pics as attachments to email. Can also print out nice photos on color printer without a problem. This is a great camera for taking photos that you can do so many things with. Just wish floppy held more data.... Now when Sony finally comes out with their high volume storage disc (100MB), hope they will update this camera to hold THAT...I would buy it in a second.

I had earlier version Mavica but the FD-91 blows the others away. As a construction estimator I use my camera every day. This Sony camera is the best tool I have ever found for my estimating work. The pictures are great and the features cover every situation. It is amazingly easy to whip up a photo presentation with the excellent photos and included software. I have probably sold more of these cameras for Sony than their advertising department. I never go anywhere without my FD91!

First of all, a confession...I am not "Joe-digital camera." I don't get involved in discussions about how many mega-pixels a camera has, etc., but I know that I am sold on the Sony Mavica line in general, and on this camera in particular...here's my story...

When my department found enough funds to purchase a digital camera I campaigned for a SONY Mavica. I had used one briefly, with nothing but success. What a camera, easy to use, and good results, too! We went the rounds about pixels, and the rest...but in the end the point that tipped the scales was that this camera has an option that other makers simply didn't offer, the ability to use standard 3.5" floppies.

The 3.5" floppy option is perfect for us. The camera is used by multiple people (including students), who work at their own computers. That means that we could avoid having to track down the patch cords for downloading, hassles associated with multiple station use of software, and etc. Whew!

The camera has a 14x zoom capability that makes it easier to use the entire frame. You can take photos at different resolutions, depending on the use and the number of images you want to put on each disc. In addition to still images, this camera lets you make MPEG files. They're fun, and they can be useful.

As for ease of use...I was taking pictures in less than 5 minutes after I picked up this camera for the first time -- and this is the first digital camera I ever used! When you take photos you have the option of using a viewfinder or a small LCD screen to frame your photo. As a long-time 35mm SLR camera fan I the eyepiece a comforting option. After a while I suppose I could get used to the LCD screen...it's a reasonable size, and in color.

The camera's menu system is easy to use, you can even delete unwanted photos immediately.

Be prepared for a camera that's a bit bigger than most digital cameras out there. This camera is comparable in size and weight to many changeable lens 35mm cameras systems. On the plus side, the design is ergonomic. It feels good in your hand. The grips are well designed, there is someplace for your hands and fingers to go. I like that.

Our department bought this camera at full price. At the currently discounted price I'm toying with the idea of getting one of these for myself...but I better talk to the wife about that (hint -- that's always a good plan).

To sum up, this is a great camera. It's convenient, easy to use, and a great deal to boot! What more could anyone ask? And this is a lot of camera for the money! If you take a lot of photos, the money you save in developing will eventually pay for the camera!

P.S. I wonder how long it will be before my 35mm SLR is a collector's item? Probably not too long with cameras like this one around.

Happy snapping!

Alan Holyoak, Department of Biology, Manchester College