Good digital camera for beginning and advanced users
Written: Apr 28 '05
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Pros: Great pictures, easy to use, movie mode, size (small, but good feel).
Cons: Supplied memory stick is too small, more capacity is expensive compared to other media.
The Bottom Line: Very good overall camera suitable to beginners and experienced photographers. Has held up very well to months of abuse by both adults and kids!
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| v908's Full Review: Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-P72 Digital Camera |
Okay, you can get plenty of technical specifications in other reviews, this is more about usability and user experience.
When it finally came time to move my wife from film to digital cameras I knew I needed to find a camera that was both easy to use (for her) and had plenty of features to keep me entertained when I was using it. I've gone through many full featured cameras from old SLR film cameras to a variety of digital cameras, settling on my current Sony Mavica CD350 a couple years ago. I looked at several cameras on the market (including Casio, Canon, Nikon, etc.) and ended up going with the Sony DSC-P72 for several reasons...
1) It is very easy to use. Point-n-shoot mode for beginners, reasonably programmable for more advanced users. My wife can leave it in auto mode, push the power button and shoot away without worrying about any settings. She even shoots video with it (more on that later) with no drama or fuss. Perfect for her needs.
2) The size is a good compromise -- small enough to slip in her purse, but large enough to have some feel to it. Smaller cameras just don't feel right to either my wife (used to point-n-shoot film cameras) or me (primarily used to SLRs). This is a good fit in between.
3) The interface is is fairly intuitive (almost identical to my Mavica too, which helps) and has enough features to allow advanced photographers to get better shots through different ISO, shutter, light balance, and other settings.
Aside from those major points; the zoom is adequate for most shots (3x optical, 3x digital), though we usually skip the digital zoom; the movie mode is very handy and good quality (good lighting helps) -- lots of fun to play with. The LCD screen size is adequate (not large), but having the optical viewfinder is handy for shooting in bright sun; uploads to our PCs (running Windows XP) are quick, painless, and don't require any software (XP automatically detects the camera and starts it's photo download wizard); shutter lag is reasonable most of the time, though slow when using the flash; picture quality is VERY good for a camera this size. We usually shoot in 2.8 mp mode (correct aspect ratio for printing 4x6 photos), but the other resolutions are handy for e-mail or larger prints as well. We routinely print 4x6 and 5x7 pictures and are very happy with the quality.
Battery life is about average with the supplied rechargeable batteries (buy an extra set). However, it is nice that you can use regular alkaline batteries in a pinch. If you're on the road or someplace you cannot recharge the batteries, you can simply pop in AA alkalines and keep shooting (albeit, not for as long as you could on another set of freshly charged batteries). This has come in handy several times for us.
Our only minor gripe, the standard memory card provided (16MB) is way too small. Buy a 256MB or larger card when you buy the camera. Sony should never have released this camera with such a small memory stick.
Bottom line, this camera is very easy for a beginner to use and good enough to keep more advanced photographers happy. In fact, I usually grab the P72 over my Mavica unless I plan to take a LOT of shots or need the extra features of the Mavica. The pictures are very good quality and easily replaced prints from film. I wish the LCD screen was a little larger (like on the Mavica), but the optical viewfinder makes up for it in bright sunshine. We wouldn't hesitate to buy this camera again, and would probably buy it over the later models (more megapixels) as we don't need 5 or more megapixels and prefer to have the storage...
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 220
This Camera is a Good Choice if You Want Something... Easy Enough for Anyone to Use
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Epinions.com ID:
v908
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Reviews written: 14
Trusted by: 0 members
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