| A | is outstanding and exceptional, rated in the top 10% of digital cameras. |
| B | means they are good, with some standout features. |
| C | means they are mediocre, and probably more trouble than they are worth. |
| D & F | mean they are absolutely awful or old. Avoid at all costs. |
- 4 out of 5
- 4 out of 5
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- 4 out of 5
Good Photo - Questionable Video
(Kyle Pointer - 12/25/08)I ended up with this nice little camera as a Christmas gift this year. Normally, I shoot with a Nikon D70s or D90, so I am slightly spoiled in the realm of image quality.
That said, I believe this is an excellent camera if you can find it in your heart to accept a few small flaws.
Cons -
Image Quality - not as good as my SLR, but not bad for a point & shoot... also, the Sony camera seems to go more for color than texture... if you catch my drift.
Menu System - Sluggish, not horrible... except when deleting a photo, because there is no dedicated "delete" button. You can, however, select multiple photos to delete as a batch, so this isn't horrible
Full Manual Controls - there are none :(
Memory Format - You have to use Sony memory sticks... not really a dealbreaker, but I *already had* a bunch of SD cards that worked just fine.
Flash - Not the brightest flash I've used on a point & shoot... and it's easy to cover with your fingers
Shape - The camera body is not as ergonomic as it could be. It is hard to hold with one hand, especially when you're trying not to cover up the flash.
Shutter Release - It wiggles... not a huge deal, but it's weird.
Pros! -
Optics - Nice, Big, Quick - I can't pretend I'm an expert, BUT the quality seems pretty good. 5x optical zoom is a plus, but not extraordinary.
Speed - This camera shoots exceptionally fast. Dealing with the menu system is another story.
View Finder - THANK GOD! I can't stand it when a camera doesn't have a viewfinder. This one isn't the best... I'd say you get around 80-85% of the frame in the viewfinder, and there's no adjustments for glasses people, but it's there, and it works. My last point & shoot died because I broke the LCD... and there was no viewfinder.
Display - I love the display. I also love the live histogram available on the display.
Conclusion -
Basically, this is a very nice, high-end point & shoot. There's a few little quirks with it, but they aren't really too bad. I know it looks like I probably hate this camera, because I wrote so much more on the negative half, but that's only because I'm coming from an SLR and take a lot of these things for granted. Everything that I didn't mention is basically perfect. This camera has a few extra features like smile recognition, which I will personally never use, but some people might get a kick out of.
BASICALLY - This is an *excellent* Point & Shoot. Just don't expect it to be an SLR.
