Digital-Camera Reviews

I've you've never used a high-end camera in your life, you would think this is a pretty good camera. But I have, and I'm pretty disappointed.

What disappointed me:
- Wrong subject focused. If you let the camera's artificial intelligence pick the subject to focus for you, you're likely to have to refocus a lot, unless you fix the focusing point.
- Impossible action focusing. If the subject is moving, you can forget about getting it in focus in the continuous focus mode. You'd have to prefocus.
- Slow focusing. Even slower than some compacts.
- Power hungry. Make sure you get spare batteries. I have a feeling that most of the power goes to heating the CF card, since the card gets pretty hot when reading/writing.

What kept me from trashing it:
- Picture quality is pretty good.
- Adobe RGB colorspace can be useful (if you use it).
- Good lens range (28mm-200mm equiv.), with decent quality throughout.
- Pretty good macro performance.
- Manual zoom, but this is subjective.
- Comfortable to handle, though slightly small.
- Useful view modes, like grid or crosshair.
- Useful manually controlled focusing point.
- Allows screw-on filters.

So should you buy one? I'd say that if you do any form of action photography, be it sports or just cute kids running around, look elsewhere. But if you like landscapes, architecture, still life, portraits, etc. where the subject doesn't move around, this might be for you.

Minolta Dimage 7Hi along with Nikon CoolPix 5700 and Sony F717 are well known as the leading 5 Megapixels in the market all have advantages and disadvantages over each other. The Dimage 7Hi offers the most manual features familiar to traditional SLR users and professionals because as with most photographers who wants an elements of "control" over the outcome of the picture it appeal are geared more to the "tinkers". However the Dimage 7Hi has poor battery performance, USB 1.1 and the noise on the images for a camera this price call into question no matter how many manual buttons and options you can play with the final picture is of little if any improvement over the competition. Compared to the Sony F717 which has the least manual features it let the camera do the talking with its more advance faster USB 2.0, long life lithium battery, histogram that gets every picture focus rights in whatever lighting condition, excellent nightshots and with additional infrared filter add on can use as an Xray cam and to top it all a versatile Carl Zeiss lens.
If you wants to buy the Dimage 7Hi and you dont mind all the controls then this might be the camera for you, the Sony F717 does not offer as much for you to play with but shoot faster yet both produces equally good pictures (Cons for the F717 is the slight red saturation, the Dimage 7Hi is the noises).
My impression of an ideal digital camera is that it do all the hardwork for you, the Minolta does not handle all the hardwork itself but instead gave that back to the user, however I am not a professional photographer and like most mortal I like something that automatically handle most of the work and produces equally good picture as what the Minolta or Coolpix can do, this is what gave the Sony the edge for me.

I spent several months researching the high end amateur digital cameras, looking for (and hoping to find) the ideal camera to pursuade me to give up film photography. I had a very demanding set of criteria: great lens, at least 5 MP, at least 7X optical zoom, lots of photographic control, Compact Flash and IBM microdrive compatible, non-proprietary rechargeable batteries, and it had to feel really good in my hands. To my surprize, such a camera does exist - the Minolta Dimage 7Hi. I tried it out at a local store, and was so impressed I immediately ordered it from Amazon.com. Now, over 4,000 pictures later, I'm absolutely thrilled. This is one awesome camera, that takes incredible pictures. Every feature works like clockwork, and the photo control is terrific. It's solid and even looks great. I've compared my pictures to those of a few friends using Canon and Nikon high-end digicams, and the 7Hi results are as good or better. I'm a very picky person who's been into photography and darkroom work for over 30 years, and I I've not shot a picture using film since I bought my DImage 7Hi - it's just too good and too much fun.
If you want a great digicam, that produces photos that rival the best you've taken with film, this camera won't disappoint.

I am no photography expert and this is my first digital camera. I agonized over this purchase for several hours reading all the reviews I could find. This seemed like a good all-round camera for the price. I rather get the impression that in camera terms you get what you pay for.

I think that this camera represents very good value for money. If you want to put pictures on the web or email them then this camera certainly does an excellent job. The software that comes with the camera is not great, but then you just plug it in and you can access the images using Windows Explorer (the camera is recognized as a removable hard disk).

I would say that indoor pictures in low light taken with flash are not too bad, however I understand that the flash is weak on many digital cameras, and this one is no exception. I bought a 32Mb memory card, which can store 35 really high quality or 99 medium quality pictures, which I think is more than enough. That card cost ...and medium quality is 1280 x 960 in 24bit, which is more than enough for my purposes.

I have not tried to print the pictures out in any way, but I am a web designer and so really I only want pictures in computer form for web or email use. All in all I am quite impressed. There are a few minor shortcomings but generally if you want high quality digital pictures for a reasonable cost this would be a great buy. If you want awesome printable pictures that beat a quality 35mm camera, you're going to have to spend a little more I think.

The Olympus D-150 is an excellent entry level digital camera. It has most of the major features that is needed to do general purpose photography, whether it's computer based (web/email) or print based (great pics upto 5x7), with the ease of use of "point and shoot, auto everything" technology found on most "traditional" 35mm cameras. All features are easily accessible from the menu system and there are quick access buttons for flash and marco zoom modes. The D-150 is is one of the few digital cameras in it's price class that has optical zoom (3X) which is far better than digial zoom (the D-150 also has 2X digital zoom for upto 6X zoom). The included 8MB Smartmedia chip is small and you need to get at least a 16MB chip to do any serious shooting(the memory chips are not that expensive). The 1.5in LCD display is handy for precise framing of your subject. Also, buy the Lithium batteries!!! Do not buy the Duracel or Energizer or other alkalines unless you are desparate. It's worth the $10 (19.99 for two packs) to buy the Lithium battery pack. They last considerably longer than alkalines, especially when using the LCD display. Unless you have Photoshop or MS Office's Photo Viewer or equivilant, the software on the CD is useless except for PC driver support since the pics are jpeg format. If you're using a Mac (especially G4 w/OS 9.x and higher), you don't even need the CD for the drivers thanks to it's USB connectivity. Make sure your USB ports are working properly and try not to connect the camera through a hub or keyboard on both platforms. All in all it is a nice, "fun", little camera and takes great images for 1.3 megapixals. The D-150 is highly portable (unlike the high end Sony Mavicas...) and is feature packed for $300. Truly a "Best Buy".

For a first camera, I wouldn't trade it for the world. It's small, durable, and takes great photos. The interface is easy to use and the photos it produces are printable quality.

Sure, if you want to spend a few hundred dollars more, you will get a better camera. But, if you want something simple, with an optical zoom, this is the camera. Photos print out fantastically (with the proper paper and printer, of course), and they are great to use for online purposes as well. Add on a pack of rechargable AA batteries for it (or any camera), and a larger memory card, and you're set to go forever.

I've had the 5060 about three weeks and have had great luck taking pictures. Pictures are high quality, good color and good exposure with just auto setting.

The menu was not that tough to get used to (bark is worse than the bite), plus, there are special short cut buttons for common features (like flash settings or ISO) where you press one button and the jog wheel gets you right to the feature setting you want.

I love the tilt LCD and the solid feel in my hand. I sometimes forget to take the lens cover off, but the cover design lets the cover pop-off with no problem. This is better than the 5050.

I think the wide angle improvement (27mm) made the lens ap. drop from 1.8 to 2.8, but I'm not sure. I would have preferred the 1.8, but I love the 27 wide angle with no attachment necessary. All the other cameras I looked at had a 2.8 also (including Nikon 5400, Canon G3 and G5).

The 5050's 1.8 lens was the exception. Even with the 5060's 2.8 ap., I have taken great indoor shots. Really! I just printed a beautiful Christmas picture I took in front of the tree. Yes, I used wide angle rather than tele, but aren't most indoor shots at wide angle anyway? I try to zoom with my feet indoors to get the widest angle possible, and the 5060 beats almost every other camera with wide angle (except the 5400), but, the 5400 doesn't have a low light auto focus assist. The 5060's low light auto assist seems to do the job!

BTW, the movie feature works great, too! I did not buy the 5060 to take movies, but it is easy to use and the movie quality is excellent, even in dim light. You can take as long a movie as you have room on your card, too.

I also love the included remote. The remote is better than the timer, but it has a timer, too.

I would buy the 5060 again, but if I had a 5050 I would be happy too. Happy New Year!

The Olympus C-5060 is a truly great camera! About the only complaints I have are that when using the viewfinder what you see is not necessarily what you get, especially when close to the subject, and manual focus can be a little difficult. An SLR camera would take care of both of these problems, but I can't afford it. Also, the supplied 32-MB memory card is way too small. A 256 is about the right size; it will hold nearly 100 images in the better-quality jpeg format.

My main reasons for looking at this model were the lithium-ion battery and the ability to zoom out to a reasonably wide angle. There have been negative comments about the battery in other reviews; I can't understand why. With my old camera, I had become very tired of messing with piles of AA NiMH cells, charging one set while using another. The Olympus battery lasts for hours and hours on a charge. Just in case, I bought a second battery (Merkury Innovations, about $20, higher capacity than the original).

The physical design of the C-5060 is excellent. The controls are not tightly crowded, but are spread throughout the body. Buttons are different sizes and shapes, so using it in low-light situations is easy. The camera seems very rugged. I hope I never drop it, but I would be very surprised to find any damage if I did.

The CCD array is very quiet and has a noise-reduction feature for low-light situations. I have taken some night-sky pictures in which stars are points of light on a completely black background. It is also possible to take good flash photos at night. The camera lights the subject with an eerie red glow for a few seconds in order to get an accurate focus.

Using the camera in fully automatic mode generally produces good results. When you need to take control, you have many choices: aperture-priority, shutter-priority, or fully manual exposure, for instance. I don't think there's anything that can't be placed under the user's control. Unfortunately, that eliminates excuses for taking bad pictures.

The image quality is just about perfect. I was a little disturbed at first by ghostly outlines around tree branches and other objects. This turned out to be the sharpness setting. One would think that zero, the factory default setting, would be normal; minus numbers would produce soft focus and positive would sharpen the image. Not so! At zero, images are over-sharpened, producing unpleasant artifacts. I set it at -5, and if I feel the need to sharpen an image I use the unsharp-masking filter in Photoshop. Also keeping white balance always under manual control prevents color variations that sometimes occur with WB set to automatic.

All in all, I am very happy with my decision to buy this camera. It has generally surpassed my expectations. I would recommend it to anyone looking for something beyond point-and-shoot but not able to move up to an SLR with interchangeable lenses.

PROS: Great Images Can be obtained from this camera. Color & the like. Batt. life has been great even with a full night of flash use. Almost every command has a shortcut or a button on the camera making it a blast to use. Support for 3 types of Memory CF, XD, Or MD (Hint: 340MB MDs DO work in this ca) Wide array of add ons. Works great MACs with OSX and above. Iphoto will read the camera like a dream. With the dual slots for cards/MD you can switch on the fly between the two and that means you can have loads of memory! PhotoShop CS support for the RAW format. No plugin needed! The camera is not lite but not going to make your arm fall off. That's what I love about it. It feels like a camera and not a toy (EX. Cannons EOS digi) CONS: Save your money and get a good TTL flash for this camera and/or the bracket with a HS link cable. The flash on the camera is not in the worst place but I have found red eye and other flash points to be a bit of a trouble. Get more lens sets. You do have to buy a tube to make them work but it's not all that big of a deal. They also make aftermarket lens sets in a vast range of sizes. (Big Deal you have to buy lens sets and items for film cameras to0.) Also it will take a while for you to learn everything about the camera because the manual is not very well. In short I love my 5060 and have loads of great photos! My friend bought bought the finepix and it stoped working after 2 months! Mine is going strong without a problem!

It's the perfect size, but the lack of a zoom lense kills it. Also,the indoor photos have a redish tint and the quality of the photos fell far short of the Canon Elph 300. The only zoom on the camera is digital zoom -- just like cropping a photo on your computer.

The MP3 player software forces you to convert via a special process, but if you can get the music on to the camera then it's a great plus.

The instructions...very poorly written. English as taught in Seoul. I immediately bought extra batteries and a speed charger at Radio Shack. Have not regretted it. I've had it about two weeks. I love it. Never was big on cameras but being able to erase bad shots, edit good ones, email, print, take close ups from 6-8 inches. It is fun. Fits in my shirt pocket, sometimes I forget I have it with me. I am tempted to upgrade the memory but I have not reached its capacity yet. The picture quality is excellent. The video capability is a lot of fun too. It seems too tiny to do so much. Everyone who has seen it is impressed with it. I would buy it again.

were not included in package received as specified on web site ?

the nikon coolpix 5400 is a solid 5MP, 4x zoom camera with a strong feature set. but it has a few shortcomings so make sure to consider its competition.

pros:
- 5MP and 4x optical zoom.
- good color response, average resolution for 5MP.
- photos have very low noise.
- allows a great deal of manual control.
- macro mode better than most.
- low redeye occurrence.
- virtually free of chromatic aberrations.
- shadow highlights maintained.
- timed exposures up to 10 minutes.
- expandable with a boatload of lenses, flashes, and other accessories from nikon.
- wider lens than most.
- supports CF card types I and II.
- flip-out LCD display - protects LCD when not in use.
- high resolution LCD with anti-reflective coating that actually works.
- very comfortable to hold with a deep hand grip made of soft rubber.
- compact body feels solid.
- reprogrammable FUNC button, and initial record menu.
- above average battery life (i still recommend getting a spare though).

cons:
- some lens distortion, especially at maximum zoom.
- images occasionally appear soft around corners.
- slow response interface, non-intuitive menus.
- no AF assist light - very puzzling why nikon doesn't provide this.
- to add insult to injury, this camera has a hard time focusing in low light so an AF assist light would really come in handy.
- average auto focus speed.
- buffering issue? the camera locks towards the end of write process.
- slow CF write speed / processing.
- you're on your own when using manual focus - it doesn't show focus distance.
- LCD smaller than competition.
- RAW mode not supported.
- flimsy cover for CF slot.
- no live histogram in record mode.
- no support for external Speedlight features such as AF assist or flash zoom.
- connectivity options all over the place rather than in a central location.
- uses proprietary battery so make sure you add some $$ to your budget to get a spare.
- the supplied 16MB CF card is inadequate - again, more $$ for more memory.

the coolpix 5400 is a solid camera from nikon with a very strong feature set. it will produce very good pics in point and shoot mode but still has full manual control if you want to be more creative with your shots. i've given this a 4-star rating because of two important factors for me: the lack of an AF assist light and the dead time at the end of write process. i would suggest that you consider the canon g5 and the sony dsc-v1 before committing to the nikon 5400.

i hope this helps with your buying decision. peace.

Finally decided to get the Nikon 5400 from Amazon at the regular Nikon suggested price, because I have grown to trust Amazon, and my impression is that the "lower priced" 5400's out there are mostly gray market. This made-in-Japan wonder, has not let me down. Have been using the 5400 about 10 days now. I took camera and manual up to a lean-to in the Adirondacks for an overnight, and had a great time trying the various features. I took pictures in the deep forest in a misty rain, using a Leki Photo walking stick as a monopod and got great results. I set the white balance for "cloudy" and colors were rendered accurately. Subsequently, on a clear day in the shade, with white balance set to "shade", greens were nice and warm - not blue as with slide film (unless you put on a filter.) You can even bring along a piece of white paper, aim the camera at it, and set the white balance precisely for any lighting situation. I have methodically plodded through the manual, and pleasant surprises abound. The camera is a joy to use, controls are well deployed. And with battery, it only weighs 13 oz - a backpacker's dream camera, with 28 - 116 zoom. This is possibly the only 5 MP camera on the market with a 28mm equivalent wide angle lens integral to the camera. In macro, it will focus as close as 1/2 inch! If you are into scenics and nature, this is the camera to own. The only down side so far is the viewfinder (the glass one you look through) which has a somewhat restricted view.

Having had some doubt about the ability to get high performance from a digital camera (below stratospheric costs), I decide to try the Nikon 5400. It has delivered consistent, fine images and allows many pre-set modes to shoot as well as manual control. A top piece of equipment with Nikon know-how.

Sony dscp52 no longer opens the lens cover buzzes and acts erratically.

This camera susrained no physical damage yet couged it up in 7 months.

I contacted sony about this camera and the "customer service" rep informed me that even though the parts were still under warranty the labor charge for this 200 buck camera would come to 150 bucks.
150 bucks!!!!!
I told them iI was not satisfied with their charges and they told me that that was the flat rate for labor and there was nothing else they could do.
What a ripoff!
Beware of sony's repair policies folks.....

This camera is a great gem for the price and offers great versatility. The camera is very good quality (sturdy) and can take a few bumps and scratches, unlike many other flimsy cameras in this price range. I have owned digital cameras before and many of the typical problems are solved with the P52. I take a lot of pictures at family events, and vacations. Its a great take along camera.

PROS -
- The camera turns on super fast, like in 2-3 seconds it is ready to take a shot. (this is an annoying problem with many digital cameras) And it also saves the pictures to the memory card is very fast, less than 1 second and its ready again to shoot.

- The battery useage is excellent. Even with regular alkaline batteries I've been able to take pictures for several hours, at 2Mpix Normal setting. With the included rechargeable Sony batteries it is superb on battery life.

- Camera menu is very extensive IF you want to use it. If not you can leave it on "Auto" and the pictures turn out great, most of the time.

- Can take pictures in COMPLETE DARKNESS. This I have done many times using the flash on red-eye reduction setting, it works in a regular size room (10 x 14). Great for sneaking up on sleeping family members and taking funny pictures. The flash is very powerful up to about 9-10 feet.

CONS
- The pictures tend to have redish atifacts in them, particularly when taking very close up shots of people.

- Pictures taken out doors can sometimes look too bright, almost washed out. You can make some adjustments to the ISO to fix this problem.

- Movie mode eats up the memory stick quickly, so I had to upgrade to a 256MB Memory Stick Pro ($65 at www.buy.com) and now its great.

- Marco mode ...forget it, not good on this camera. So if you plan on taking close up shots of flowers or something, choose another camera.

Overall this a gem of a camera for any regular picture taking, and can even be used by kids without having to fiddle with a lot of controls. Just press the power button and you are ready to take pictures. It really takes the hassle out of digital photography.

This P-52 Cybershot camera is an incredible value, and I couldn't be happier with it. I've compared this camera with 2003 Canon, Fuji, HP photosmart and Kodak models, and the Sony wins hands down. Except in the case of the Canon, the Sony P-52 is far superior. There are almost too many pros to even list.

=====PROS=====
-The most advanced "Super H.A.D. CCD" exclusive to Sony.
-CCD is 2x as sensitive as any other company's CCD, & 6 dB less digital noise!
-beautiful, accurate colour
-extremely versatile lens takes perfect pics from 3 inches away
-very fast autofocus (1/2 a second)
-autofocus illuminator light for taking pics in the dark
-extremely fast start-up. Around 1.5 seconds!
-very fast LCD: almost no lapse time from real life to LCD.
-LCD has 6 settings for good viewing indoors or out.
-Aperture stays open up to 2 full seconds in dark. Anything longer can damage the CCD, or let in too many unwanted artifacts
-full array of manual functions (aperture [ev], focus & ISO)
-snow mode keeps the detail of the white snow
-beach mode captures the perfect blue of the water
-up to 1 GIG of memory - supports memory stick Pro!
-5 pic size settings - VGA, 1.2 mp, 2.0 mp 2.8 mp & 3.1 mp
-2.8 mp is "3:2 ratio" for perfect 4 x 6 photos
-cool multi-burst mode. Takes 2 pictures in a row, under 1 second. 16-shot option as well.
-smart flash. Even when taking picture in daylight, will sense if it is needed, and come on appropriately.
-Smart Zoom. Not a digital zoom. Picture quality does not degrade like standard digital zooms.
-very long battery life. 2 Ni-mh "Stamina" AA batteries last 67% longer than 2002 batteries.
-metal threads for tripod. Most other companies use plastic. Bad idea!
-menus are beautiful: incredibly easy to understand and navigate.
-prints at "photo quality" up to 8x10. After that, starts to lose some quality, but 11x14 still looks excellent.
-USB 2.0
-fun modes like Sepia, B&W, Solarize and Negative Art.
-voice function: records audio for 5 seconds after taking a picture. (40 sec. option available too)
-instant "review" button of last pic taken, when the LCD screen is off.

=====Mpeg Movie=====
-film mpegs with sound, limited only by the size of the memory. Example - 128 mb memory stick = 6 minutes of 640x480 or 1.5 hours of "email" quality (160x112)
-filmed at 16 frames per second, although after filming, camera info states that it was filmed at 25 fps.

=====CONS=====
-flash is off too far to the side of the lens. It makes big shadows on the left side of your subject.
-Snow mode seems to overexpose the shot a little.
-Optical viewfinder only shows roughly 80% of actual picture area. Use the LCD.
-only 2x optical zoom. The standard seems to be 3x. Sony needs to catch up here.
-zoom only works before you start filming. Can't change the zoom during filming.
-flash will charge slowly if batteries are running low.

=====CONCLUSION=====
An absolutely perfect and versatile camera. Only a professional photographer would, or could, find fault with it. But a professional would likely be using an SLR style camera worth at least double what this camera is worth.That being said, the price is great and Sony has really found a winner here.

This is a very fast camera in all respects, and that is important. Takes fast (and accurate) pictures, and saves info almost instantly. There are no load times for pictures or movie files, like the Hewlett Packard camera line.
5 stars all the way.

Had this camera for a little over a year and it's a piece of junk. From day one it has never worked right. At least 90% of the time it locks up when I turn it on; the red LED light stays on and I have to open the battery door for thirty seconds to reset the camera. Sometimes when I change modes it locks up. I have no confidence that it will work when I turn it on. When it does "boot up" correctly I jump for joy (is this how it's suppose to be?). This thing also uses a lot of power, my 1800ma NiMh batteries (4 AA) only lasts about 25 pics at medium resolution and small image size. It's a shame because this camera is constructed well (metal case), takes terrific pictures (when it works), zoom is great, LCD screen is very clear for it's size, uses easy to get CompactFlash cards and batteries. It's out of warranty right now and I don't think it's worth trying to repair so it'll get tossed into the rubbish can; what a waste! Maybe I just got a lemon when I bought it but I will never buy another Minolta digital camera again, this S304 really tarnished Minolta's reputation in my books. I won't tell everyone "don't buy it"......it's up to you, maybe you won't get a lemon like I did.

The Minolta s304 is a fine camera if you can get it for significantly less than it's current retail price. The 3.3 megapixel resolution makes for some excellent daylight shots, and the 60 second movie recorder renders superb quality avi files. However, the camera suffers excessively from camera shake in low-light conditions. In addition, the manual setting for taking shots is difficult to manipulate...even for the intermediate level photographer. Night-time shots suffer from imbalance in color levels

Rechargeable Ni-MH batteries are an absolute must for this camera. My unit came with 4 AA alkaline batteries which expired after roughly 45 minutes of usage. I've owned my current set of 1850 mAH Kodak Photolifes for roughly a year now and they've consistently given the camera an operational battery life 2-3 days with regular on/off usage.

While the s304 has a workable zoom it fails to give adequate focus (in both automatic and manual modess), rendering blurred images - especially to subjects taken with the digital zoom.

I won't recommend this camera to a first-time buyer.

I purchased this camera after a lot of research. Initially it was not in my budget but a [amt] price drop happened at just the right time.
The camera takes very sharp pictures, I have a 1.3Mp camera and these pictures are an order of magnitude sharper, especially when you crop, enlarge, etc.
I do agree with another review, you MUST have rechargeable batteries and let them charge overnight or you will only take about 20 minutes of pictures and get a low battery signal and the camera will shut down. I bought 2 sets of batteries just to be sure to have one set always charged.
The optics on this camera are very nice, no chromatic abberations (purple fringing), very little flat noise, colors are very good, even better (print wise) when run through the Image Viewer software.
I highly recommed this camera for the quality of optics, the fair amount of manual control and great photos!

We are an older (60+) couple who received a Kodak Easy Share for Christmas. We had no prior experience with digital cameras. We needed a little help from the kids to load the software and get the camera up and running (and still can't manage to load pictures for the docking station), but we have been delighted with the quality of the pictures and the ease of operation. We taught outselves to edit photos in less than 1/2 hour. Generally, we are very happy with the product.

This is a great camera. It is small and easy to use. It takes great pics in daylight and even at night. Even though there is only 2x optical zoom, the digital zoom is actually very good on this camera. It doesnt take much quality from the picture.

The menus on the camera are very easy to use. It is also very easy to upload the pictures onto your computer. I did not get the camera with the Camera Dock and I have no problems uploading into my computer. Just a quick plug into the back of the computer and they are uploading right away. I recommend buying the camera in the value pack because you get rechargeable batters and a charger, not to mention the case to keep your camera safe. Take my word though, you do not need to spend the money on the camera dock if you can buy this value pack with the rechargeable batteries and the recharger. I do recommend you buy a larger memory card with the camera. With all of the deals amazon had i was able to get a 128mb Viking Memory card for only three dollars, but that was before Christmas so they had many sales. The 128mb memory card holds 91 pictures at top quality.

Overall this is a great camera. Whether you are a beginner or an expert you should purchase this camera. I guarantee you wil love it.

I am not a professional photographer and never will be. My life is very active and I needed a camera that is simple to use. If you are looking for a camera that will take beautiful pictures and not have to read the whole manual before to do it, this is the camera for you! The menu is very easy to use and it is a great point and shoot camera if you don't want to mess with changing everything. This camera has been used sometimes daily because I also list on Ebay. The 4.0 megapixels really give it that extra boost in quality pic taking. I also have the Kodak DC3400 and this was an upgrade. Both cameras are great!

I have previously used a Nikon Coolpix and Canon Digital ELPH. The Sony is far and away the best camera out of the three. Extremely crisp images, also has a letterbox feature (so you can take pictures in widescreen format if you want, which looks pretty cool). I would've liked if the digital video was captured at a higher res, but I can't complain since this is the only camera out of the 3 I've used that allows unlimited video capture (the only limitation is the size of the media) and audio. Also has some cool image effects- you can add sepia tones or take negative exposures. The menu is easy to use. The camera is sturdy without being too heavy, my only issues are battery life (about 1.5 hrs on a full charge, which is pretty standard but I'd expect more for the price) and the size of the provided memory stick- 16mb is ok if you're only using the lowest resolution, but to take advantage of the camera's full capabilites, including the digital video w/ sound, go out and get a 128mb stick as well.

After much research and changing my mind several times, I finally decided to go with a compact camera. I chose the P7 over the S230 because it was easier to hold while taking pictures.

This camera is extremely easy to use. Even my 5 year old son can use it and take adequate pictures. The quality of the images has been excellent. The outdoor pictures are truly incredible. I have been in two low light situations and the camera has performed very well. Like any point and shoot, the flash does have limited range. Apparently there is an external flash available with this camera. That might be a worthwhile consideration for events like weddings where you can't always be front and center. The camera is very slim and fits easily in a coat or pant. The LCD is very bright and clear, but because it is so small, it is often difficult to detect if the image is slightly out of focus.

The battery life seems pretty good. If you don't need the flash, I would guess that you could take pictures for the better part of the day, especially if you turn off the LCD. With the flash and LCD on, I took about 85 pictures before the battery died out. The charging of the battery is very convenient. Because the power cord plugs directly into the camera, you can use the power cord to power up the camera if it is turned on or if the camera is off, then it will charge the battery. The battery life remaining displayed in the LCD is also very useful.

The 16mb memory stick that comes with the camera is woefully insufficient. Plan on buying a larger memory stick. I bought a 128mb Lexar memory stick ... It works flawlessly with the camera. I have installed the USB drivers that come with the software on both a Win98 system and an IMac OS9 and both handle the download/upload between camera and computer with ease. I have not played with it too much, but the editing software seems kind of clumsy. For making prints, I have been taking my memory stick into [a local store] and using their Fuji machines to edit the images. The prints have come out great ...

So far I have found myself taking many more pictures than I did with a film camera. At the party and wedding I went to, all of my friends had a great time looking at the pictures on the LCD and have really enjoyed the images that I have emailed to them. I know that a lot of people have digital cameras so I am surprised that more people don't bring their cameras with them because it really is fun to use. Anyway, I highly recommend this camera.

I've had this camera for over 1 year now and I am nothing but satisfied. When I decided that I wanted a digital camera it was important for me to get one that was small enough not to impede on my active lifestyle yet did not compromise on technical ability. Sony's DSC P7 is the perfect mix. I travel a lot internationally and so I just put it in my pants pocket and keep the charger in my luggage. You can snap about 300-400 pictures before the battery dies. The menu functions are very user friendly and allow you to highly customize the settings.

There is also no compromise on other aspects. The movie quality is not perfect but really good and the sound is excellent. Another thing that is annoying about most digital cameras is how long it takes for the picture to snap. With this one, it takes the picture as soon as you push the button. This is also true with the movies. I know on some digital cameras when you are done recording a movie you have to wait a while for it to "save" to the flash memory. Not with this one; Sony seems to have gotten the right idea in that, flash memory should work in a flash. The only problem I have with it is that sometimes in extremely low-light conditions when the flash is imperative, you have to wait about 6 seconds for the flash to build up. But just to reiterate, this doesn't happen in the light. The other cool thing is the memory stick. You can get 512MB sticks and you can even buy generic ones (from the same company that makes them for Sony) at half the price Sony charges. The picture quality is outstanding. The user can select a variety of qualities along with visual effects such as B&W, etc...

To recap: It responds quickly to user commands, picture quality is excellent, it's small & light, it's not that expensive, and the movies have excellent quality sound with very good video.

Bottom Line: I'm a tough customer but the Sony DSC7 gets 5-stars because it deserves it.

Have a very bad experience with this camera,
-never think about having good picture using the medim and high quality options
-never expect an indoor good quality
-battery eater
-sometimes you have to manually push lens if it stop moving

This is a great entry level digital camera. The pictures look good, even on the lowest quality setting. In response to the people who say the pictures are too dark, use some "photo-sense" and don't shoot into unlit corners. Or, simply force the flash option.

I particularly enjoy the large photo capacity. One the low setting the camera can hold 110+ pictures. If you find the need to take pictures on the maximum quality setting, an expandable memory card is recommended.

The only thing keeping me from awarding the 5th star is the fact that the AC adapter is sold separately, which is necessary if you plan to use the camera to recharge batteries. If you own a charger, then it's a moot point.

Let me say again for clarity, this is a great entry level camera. The photography enthusiast may not be won over, but for shooting birthday parties, holiday gatherings, and Jimmy's T-ball game, this camera is a good buy.

After shopping around long and hard, I finally decided on the HP 612. I think my biggest reason for choosing it was the optical zoom. Which by the way, works quite well.

No one ever seems to talk about picture quality in reviews. Well I'm going to. The pictures as they come straight out of the camera are a little bit grainy. But it comes with ACD photo software, and all you have to do is click enhance, despeckle, and adjust your level, and it looks better than a lot of point and shoot 35mm cameras. It captures skin tones very well, it captures the complex greens in outdoor settings, and the lighting is very accurate. I'm very pleased with the quality of the photos after playing with them in the software.

It has a very nice preview screen, as most digital cameras now do, and a very simple interface. Its somewhat bulky, but still very comfortable to use. And you just don't find optical zoom in this price range. Overall, I think I made the best decision for my price range and needs, and I highly reccomend this camera.