Customer Reviews

Sony MVC-FD95 Mavica 2MP Digital Camera with 10x Optical Zoom

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The new Sony MVC-FD95 digital camera is one of the best. I have the older model the FD-91 and love it; the only two things I would like added were added to the new FD-95. One was the limited flash. They have added a hot shoe for an external flash and it now gives you the same indoor flash quality as the old SDL cameras. The other was the somewhat low DPI. The olderFD-91 was at 1024 x 768 the new FD-95 is way up at 1600 x 1200. With this amount of Dpi you can print a full 8-1/2 x 11 picture that truly looks like a photo. The new eye viewer is centered in the camera and has a wider opening with eyeglass correction focus. The mike for Audio in located on the front as before it was on top, and is more sensitive. I do miss the moveable LCD for self-portraits, but not many of them taken anyway! The steady shot is a must and was one of the best features. I used it all the time, when you are on the10x~20x it is a must. The new FD-95 now has a date and/or time stamping on the picture that can be used or eliminated. This might be useful for showing the correct time or date as the file information could be changed. The only con's I have found is the battery charging system. I liked the old separate charger that you could charge a battery as you are away using the camera, but then you can buy the extra battery charger as an accessory. Now you have to leave the battery in the camera and hook up the charging system to the camera. The other was the video mode; it is only 15 seconds now. I liked the 60-sec. mode on the older FD-91, but the larger format is nice. The camera style is a little more compact and well balanced. The new date and time stamping is a nice added feature.

If you are considering a jump from your trusty old SLR to digital, this camera is the reason to do it. The ability to review a shot right after taking it, reshoot it if you like, and then email the image home is fantastic. Any digital camera can do that, but this one gives you ease of use, sound annotation, remarkable quality of images, great zoom capability, and worthwhile advanced features as well.

This camera is ready to travel. The batteries recharge quickly in the camera off 110V US or 220V European style outlets with the cables provided. Also, any computer shop can move your images from floppies to a CD for cheap. You might also be able to upload your images to a web site. You don't need to carry 400 disks on a long trip as you can reuse them.

Limitations:

- This is not a small, unobtrusive camera. The FD-95 is comparable in size to a big SLR. You'll need to carry floppies also, so plan on a bag.

- I have had a 2% failure rate writing images to floppies. (Might be the disks. Buy good disks!)

- Action shots are harder as the image capture is slower than with an SLR. You'll need to anticipate your shot.

- The placement of the LCD view screen is perfect for catching nose prints.

- No JPEG viewer/editor is provided, though you can download a great one from CompuPic for ($).

- No case is provided. (See bag, above.)

- No warranty comes in the box. 5 year third-party warranties are about ($).

- Only one battery pack is provided. The NP-F550 pack outlasts the NP-F330 supplied with the camera and runs about($).

- The manual covers only function. Amazon's camera page will teach you the rest about digital cameras.

- Consider buying a CD burner if you take lots of photos. ($).

Even with the issues noted above, this is a great camera. Enjoy your new toy! You won't look back.

I first saw this at a high school reunion. I was impressed with the features my friend was doing on it, and that's what got me hooked. I looked around and did a little comparison shopping and decided on the MVC-FD95. I like the feel of it (feels like my old 35mm Minolta) and it was extremely easy to use. I feel this camera has a slew of features that make it very attractive. The viewfinder and the LCD screen are very easy to work with and the menus are easy to navigate also. The MPEG movie feature with audio are also nice too. Primarily I was impressed with the 1600 x 1200 image size. Shots came out really clear and crisp. The built in flash is adequate but it at least lets you hook up an external flash. Probably the downside for some (but not necessarily for me) is the floppy disk memory, meaning you can only put approx 4 shots of hi-resolution shots on disk before its full. However, I look at it as not a big deal, because floppy disks are cheap and I carry a bundle in my bag anyway. Plus floppy disks can go directly into your computer's disk drive (an advantage for me). The main limiting factor could be price... . But this camera is extremely easy to use and I've gotten a lot of enjoyment out of mine. Sony also has a lot more features on it that I didn't mention, but go to the store and look (and play) with one and compare it! Good Luck!

After taking days worth of pictures, I enjoyed how easy it was to use. The zoom is the fun part when you zoom in the people's faces while you're at around 25 meters from them.

Pros :

-Too easy to use. Just points and shoot.

-Floppy disks are [inexpensive] and simple to manipulate. Just insert the disk, copy, and "voilà". Some people prefer buying compact flash cards because of their size, but when they realize they have room to spare, money was wasted.

-It takes excellent pictures. Bad pictures are made by the user, not by the camera.

-Zoom, zoom, zoom.

Cons :

-I wish it could take pictures faster.

-The compatibility with memory sticks is useless when their prices are so high. I end up paying 10 bucks the meg and it isn't faster with sticks.

-The batteries are expensive. They are drained after more than 90 shots at 1024x768.

I love to take landscape pictures and clouds as wallpaper. Buying a 3 mega pixel camera with a 3x zoom(optical) and 2x zoom(digital) is nothing compared to this one, because you can't even zoom in to see someone's face near you and you will get mad when the subject is too far away.

Last words : night shots are darker than expected, but when you reduce the images' brightness, you could see more details. Go to a retailer store and see it for yourself. It may be heavy and big, but what could you expect from such a great camera. My second choice of camera would be those tiny ones with 3 mega pixel and 64 megs, because of it's size and speed.

You can email me to see some pictures I have taken.

This Sony mvc-fd95 has produced some very good pictures. It allows you to use it as a 35 mm camera. I am not sure that i would have purchased the wide angle lens for it, while it does give you a near 28mm wide angle affect, it is a little fuzzy. The camera it self is very forgiving, have shot pics of bats flying at dusk, deer nursing in the woods, machine screens at work, indian pipes growing in the woods. A really nice camera, Amazon's service was excellent as usually.

Having decided to purchase a digital camera for our small architecture firm, we debated about the importance of the various features available. The two criteria which ultimately led to the FD95 were the ability to write on standard diskettes and the resolution of 2.1 Megapixels. (The diskette requirement limits the choice to Sony). Regardless of the validity of our criteria, I can safely say that we are satisfied with the purchase, having used it now for several months.

The advantage of the diskettes is debatable. We like their simplicity and the ease of transfer to a computer. On the down side, the capacity is small. This is readily apparent when taking high resolution shots (four shot per disk). For job-site photos, the 30 shots per diskette capacity is adequate. As for the debate, I have heard that using a high-capacity flash memory card and a USB connection is an equally convenient method of transfer. Perhaps so. Sony does provide for the use of a "Memory Stick" with the FD95 with an adapter, which can then be simply inserted into a disk drive.

Although the resolution is not the best available, it is more than adequate for our uses: job-site record snap shots and promotional brochure photos. For these, we use the lowest and highest resolutions, respectively.

The ease-of-use is good, with the feature menus being relatively intuitive. The feature list is also impressive, though many are not particulary applicable to our needs (the video feature falls in the "neat-o" category). We are particarly pleased with the quality of the optics and the optical zoom capability. The camera has a nice heft and feels solidly constructed, a feature that is important in our application.

One downside to the camera is its bulk, but this is directly attributable to the diskette memory feature and the professional-quality optics. Another minor criticism is the inability to control how the files are named; it would be nice to "wildcard" the sequnetially-numbered names with a job-specific prefix.

Overall, we would recommend this camera to anyone who had similar criteria as our own. If compactness is the primary concern, look elsewhere. If you can justify the expense, consider the Sony model that writes to CD-RW.

We bought the camera in early December, a last minute splurge before our trip to Asia over the holidays. My only instructions came from a brief review of the manual but it was enough to take advantage of many of the features of the MVC-FD95 camera. The operation became second nature to me in no time. My wife, a true techni-phobe was able to operate it with great results with only a few seconds of instruction and felt very comfortable using it (unlike the VCR). One of the silliest (yet impressive) pictures I took on the trip was from the crosswalk between the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur of our hotel in the distance. Using the full zoom, it brought the hotel into the viewfinder and with the steadyshot activated, made the picture seem like it was taken from a block away. To appreciate the picture you would have to see the shot from that distance without the use of any zoom. I took some beautiful macro shots of orhids and other exotic flowers with unbelievable colour and clarity. The camera was a luxury for us, however I am as thrilled with it now as when I first used it and just wish I had more time to fully discover the features. I read several reviews of this and other brands and although I was a bit concerned about the size, I have had no regrets. The floppy disk system is fantastic. Take the 3.5, put it in the floppy drive of your computer and you have the images ready for posting or editing. On our trip, I used it under some extreme conditions, high humidity and temperatures without any problems. I feel very comfortable recommending this camera.

I was very disappointed when I finally decided to purchase a digital camera and was unable to get the Sony FD-91 that my brother and friend both owned. I had used their cameras and loved what it could do but couldn't find it anywhere. The only thing close was the FD-95. Although a bit pricier, I have not been disappointed in the camera. I have gotten excellent results from it and was surprised at how light it is despite its deceptive looks. It's very easy to handle and operate. I highly recommend this camera, even for a veritable novice like myself. The only downside I have found is something that was pointed out in another review -- it is slow when taking a picture. You really have to hold that button down to get it to take and it makes taking my hockey action shots a bit of a challenge. If that is the only thing that I can see as a problem, though, do yourself a favor and pick up one of these cameras. You won't be disappointed.

The new Sony MVC-FD95 digital camera is one of the best. I have the older model the FD-91 and love it, the only two things I would like added were added to the new FD-95. One was the limited flash. They have added a hot shoe for an external flash and it now gives you the same indoor flash quality as the old SDL cameras. The other was the somewhat low DPI. The older FD-91 was at 1024 x 768 the new FD-95 is way up at 1600 x 1200. The new eye viewer is centered in the camera and has a wider opening with eyeglass correction focus. The mike for audio in located on the front as before it was on top. I do miss the moveable LCD for seld portraits, but not many of them taken anyway! The steady shot is a must and was one of the best features. I used it all the time when you are on 10~20x it is a must. The only con's I have found is the battery charging system. I liked the old seperate charger that you could charge a battery as you are away using the camera, but then you can buy the extra battery charger as an accessory. The other was the video mode is only 15 seconds now. I liked the 60 sec. mode on the older FD-91, but the larger format is nice. The camera style is a little more compact and well balanced.

The Mavica MVC-FD95 is an excellent purchase. I have used it in low light to full light conditions with good results. THe quality of the pictures is excellent, and you do not need to store your images in the highest resolution. Color rendition is also excellent, with a high level of resolution which is important in the type of work that I do.

The storage on floppy discs has been very helpful to me, especially now that floppies are so inexpensive. You can store up to 32 pictures per disc which is close to using a 35mm camera film. I detail on the label the contents what is stored and have not had a problem with mixing pictures up. It will also allow you to film short mpeg movies of up to 5 seconds in duration.

It is somewhat bulky to carry and will not fit a small camera bag. I certainly overcame the bulkiness without much problems. The menus to control the camera features are clear and easy to understand. Because of all its features, it does tend to "consume" a lot of power. I keep my camera charging when not in use. With proper use, I can leave it on for up to 4 hours continuously.