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Sony MVC-FD73 0.3MP Mavica Digital Camera w/ 10x Optical Zoom

Sony MVC-FD73 0.3MP Mavica Digital Camera w/ 10x Optical Zoom

List Price: $499.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good camera, but the resolution...
Review: The Mavica FD73 is a good camera if you're just getting started out. But the low 0.3 megapixel resolution is a problem. Even on the "fine" setting, it's still not enough detail to really satisfy. Love the removable-media method of storing pictures - allows extended sessions by giving you an unlimited and easily-replenishable supply of media (you can make a quick dash to a local Wal-Mart in a pinch).

All in all, great camera for casual photo-shooting, or if you're shooting photos for a personal Web site or small-business Web site. But if you're really into photography, and need the resolution, get one of the CD Mavicas.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Perfect For A Beginner!
Review: This camera is perfect for what it is meant to do....provide a user-friendly, quality introduction to digital photography for the beginner. I had never used a digital camera before, and the very first day that I had the camera, I was snapping away like a pro. (And I bought the camera at an on-line auction site for an excellent price, so it's an even better bargain!) I am even pleased with the quality of the printed-out pictures; I've noticed that the quality of the photos improve if I edit the pictures down to a smaller size (my computer's pre-loaded photo software program will do this.) It's important to remember that, if a shot doesn't come out perfectly, you can always view it through the LCD display, delete it, and re-take the shot. If I ever get more seriously into digital photography, I will consider an upgrade to a higher-resolution Mavica, but for now I am having a ball with this camera!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great cam for price
Review: I finally broke away from my 35mm Nikkon and decided to try a digital one...one draw back, the LCD screen is impossible to view in bright light. I had to move to shade or snap and hope they came out. I was able to view in the index at the pics to see if they turned out before I moved on which helped. There is a ev+1.5 to ev-1.5 and a brightness control along with choice of event setting. I carry a few floppies disks with me and edit them at home...Overall, the cam is a great buy, even more so at the price I got it....Safe enough for the kids to use too!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: My dependable FD 73.....
Review: A great basic digital camera. The floppy is terrific because it is easy to use even for the 'analog' generation. You can always take the floppies to a pal's house or to Kinkos to print out photos if you don't have a computer or printer. PLUS you don't need to know anything about computers to use this camera. I took this camera on a trip around the world for the millennium, it went to the Democratic National Convention and has been at my side for scores of conferences. I've probably taken more than 3000 photos with it. Most I would rate at about 80-85 on the l00 percent scale. Not perfect BUT very acceptable.
Enjoy your camera, you can get it at a great price now. Plus you can then download easily and store your photos in JPEG format.
My only challenge has been that the flash seems to not work perfectly in really dark rooms. But maybe that's just me?? Anyone with suggestions I'd appreciate them. Thanks
FD73 owner.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Works out pretty well, but not always
Review: I've been using this particular model for three years. I use it mainly to take pics of the various items I sell on eBay, and I've found it to be fairly reliable, although the picture quality & resolution isn't always consistent. Some of my photos will be reasonably crisp & clear; others will be a bit muddy. Of course, this could just be due to a lack of photography skills on my part, since my parents also own one of these, and their photos consistently come out nice and clear. They use theirs to take reference pics and event photos for the various organizations they're involved in.

The Mavica MVC-73 is okay for taking outdoor & social function pics so long as the place being photographed is reasonably well-lit, and the proper picture-type settings are being used. Unfortunately, the flash function for darker occasions isn't all that hot. It throws a bit too much light on the subject(s), and has a limited range of about eight feet (approx. 2.5 meters). Beyond that, you might as well have taken the pic without the flash at all.

The camera also features a playback mode, where you can review the previous pics in the disc. It's a good thing to have in case you're not sure if the last snap you took came out well or not. In my case, usually not! Another nice feature is the auto shut-off, which kicks in after about two minutes of disuse.

Although the battery is stated to last for up to 2.5 hours, I've never gotten more than an hour and 50 minutes from a ful charge. Never the less, a 'full' cell will usually last me a week or so, since I don't use it too much. One somewhat inconvenient thing about the battery, though: you have to remove it to recharge it, instead of just plugging it directly into an AC adapter/charger. And even though the storage on 3.5 inch disks is convenient in one sense (I can download the pics from the disk into the hard drive faster), the limited capacity of the disk can be a problem. At most, I can get 18 images onto one floppy.

Oh, and one last thing. I know this sounds a bit cliché, but do remember to remove the lens cap before trying to photograph something! I've had times when I'd turn my camera on, and the view screen would be completely dark, when it should've been showing whatever the lens was aimed at! Speaking of the lens cap, it's attached to the neckstrap by a small cord. Although it has a small clip on it to hook onto the neckstrap, it never stays on! This isn't so bad if you're clickin' pics at the normal angle & elevation, but when you're shooting snaps of things on the ground below you like I do, that dangling cover in the frame can be a real pain!

'Late

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Sony Mavica MVC FD73 is great!
Review: My whole family loves our digital camera! We're getting about 20 "fine" photos to a disk, or about 40 on "standard". We've had it for about a year & a half. It's even been dropped in a parking lot & is as good as new. Great for e-mailing photos, or printing out for snail-mails! :-)

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Exactly the right product
Review: I ordered this camera for my Dad. He needed an easy-to-use camera for his real estate business. The easiest I could imagine was pictures on floppy disks to e.mail to clients, no USB transfer.
I worked with the camera for a week and it was great. I had to give it up to him reluctantly, so I'm ordering another to use in my web site business.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great. Love it! Only a few drawbacks.
Review: As this is my first digicam, I bought the FD73 for its price, simplicity, ease of use, unique diskette storage and large 2.5" LCD screen. I'm not disappointed, to say the least! On my large 20" computer screen the "Normal" mode" images look just "Fine"! Even after severely cropping images, they remain remarkably sharp. Love the 10x zoom. Indoors and outdoors out of the sun the LCD screen is great. In "Normal" mode I make an average of 25 pictures per diskette.
On the down side, I miss the time exposure option. The LCD screen is weak under sunlight. Suggestion: Try positioning yourself in a shaded area. The 120 min. battery empties much faster than that! Avoid battery drainage by turning off the beep and not using the image management menu (deletion, copying, formatting, etc.). The user manual doesn't provide much details about camera specifications.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Digital starter
Review: My first digital, after my old Canon AE1 gave up the ghost. I needed heavy macro capability for shooting small objects, mostly for recording my student's art projects. Delighted with the ease of operation and macro really IS great, but color balance can be off sometimes (vivid - but off.) Blow ups are grainy, repetitive detail (such as background vegetation) looks like a bad computer-generated drop-in effect. I bought it on sale well below list, so overall it's been a good value for me.

Suggested uses: Compiling a virtual student portfolio, close-up photos, teaching beginning photography or visual composition to younger students, documentation for inventory or insurance purposes, pet photos, etc.

Suggested tip: If formatting disks in the camera eats up battery time, format a bunch ahead of time and then charge the battery so it's set to go again.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Camera!
Review: Both my mother and myself bought one of these for use at auctions, and don't know what we would do without them! Sure, the resolution is not as high as others, but for what it meant to do the Mavica is untouchable. Wonderful to use at school with my students, as well!


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