Rating: Summary: Great picture quality ... Review: The Sony DSC-S70 Cyber-Shot is a great camera to own if picture quality is your main consideration. Like all new electronic products, it takes awhile to learn all the ins and outs, but once you do, you'll be pleased with all the things this camera can do. The quality of the photos is great. With the USB connection, you can print directly from the camera if you want. I was pleased with the light, contrast, level of detail, etc. when I printed. The 8Mg memory stick doesn't hold much -- only 5 pictures at the 2048 x 1536 resolution. That's the main drawback. I bought the accessory[kit] which includes a carrying case, spare battery, and another 8Mg memory stick. I like that they include the AC adapter with the camera. I'm still learning and experimenting, since I've only had the camera a week. The menus are easy to navigate. Oh, by the way, it has a 6x digital zoom, not 2x. That's so prominent on the packaging, I'm surprised the product specs and other reviewers misstated it.
Rating: Summary: I bought it, used it and LOVED it! Best for my purposes. Review: I needed a quick easy to use, high quality digital camera. I've owned five already including the Olympus D-400, D-450 and C-3030. I think the Olympus C-3030 is very high quality but requires four PhD's to learn how to use it. I am not an amateur. I've taught photography and I've built 15 different computer systems over the years. I am a professional in presentation software, for example. The Olympus C-3030 was an expensive disappointment. This Sony camera has great optics and --- once you spend a little time learning it --- an extremely simply menu system! I can take pictures of clients and rapidly download them and embed them into a Powerpoint presentation. Others have noted the flaws: the USB cable is simply 'not ready for prime time' and the 8mb memory stick is a joke. So: if you want a great digital camera (that can do excellent 5-15 second video clips--- something I really need) then get this camera and a PCMCIA adapter [and] an extra battery and two 64mb memory sticks [and] you'll have a great system to use. Toss the USB cable and write a letter of complaint to Sony for not providing the PCMCIA adapter. The attached unlosable lens cap is a good idea, but an automatically hidable one (as on some other cameras) would have been better. Including all the goodies and a case in one 'kit' would have been smart and should have been done at the same price. Putting the microphone in front instead of on top would have been a good idea, too. Letting the user record 60 second video clips would have been great, too. But as a usable high quality system: I currently haven't found a better one.
Rating: Summary: A Top Notch Digital Camera Review: Our Sony has given us trouble-free service on an around the world trip. We ran out of memory sticks pretty quickly and found the price for the 64 mb stick to be pretty expensive. Overall the image quality (on 2048 3:2 mode) is excellent. The colors are vibrant and we are able to easily print A4 copies on high quality printers.
Rating: Summary: Great product with great features! but... Review: I bought the S70 about two months ago and I shot a lot of pictures with it: its light weight, compact size and ease of use even with one hand (the right of course :) ) make the perfect digital camera for ME. I was really impressed by the quality of its pictures (colors, shades, contrast...) although I've read a pretty bad review about it in a magazine. As many other digital cameras, there are many features such as crop/resize a picture, choose between 6 different resolutions, zoom in a picture (to look for a specific detail for instance), USB connection to your PC (which is a lot faster), optical and digital zoom (even though I don't recommend using the digital one unless you're perfectly still), several effects (sepia, black and white, solarize, negative and two or three others), a viewfinder with a focus ring (very convenient at night, believe me, you can't see anything using the LCD display)... you can even shoot a movie with it! Why only 4 stars ? Simply because it comes with a 8Mo memory stick (come on Sony! we can't do anything with 8Mo unless we use the 640x480 resolution!), there is no carrying case or something to protect it and the menu is not that intuitive... it can get pretty complicated to find what you're looking for when you don't know your camera. However, it's still very easy to use... turn it on, point and shoot... delete if you're not satisfied and try again! Want to have a look at your pictures ? Turn a switch to "play mode" and use the arrows of a small pad to navigate among them, delete, resize... then just plug your USB connector to your PC and with the driver installed, a removable disk appears on your machine, just like a zip drive or a hard drive! Drag and drop your pictures where you want. The stamina rechargeable battery allows you to know exactly how much time you have. In short, I think the S70 is worth the price you pay for it even if you'll have to buy another memory stick (around $140 for a 64Mo but you can go with a 32Mo). It has all the features of the other digital cameras of its range of prices plus others, the quality of the picture is commendable (and again I'm not talking about the 3.3 megapixels resolution which is obviously excellent but the colors, contrast...) and it's easy to use, except for the menu. I've used it in trade shows, parties with friends, during weekends (sceneries...), I've even taken some pictures from a plane! Last but not least, even if I print a lot of pictures with this camera, using a pretty good Epson printer (but not a photo printer, no need for it), I still have a good 35mm when I want to have a professional result. That makes sense, doesn't it?
Rating: Summary: Easy to use Review: My wife wanted ease of use and I wanted optical resolution and zoom. The DSC-S70 met both our requirements. We've had the camera for about four months and are still very satisfied.Some good things about the camera: The pictures are great. Printed on an Epson 2500 they look photo quality. The Info lithium battery goes forever and is quick to recharge. The LCD display controls are easy to learn. Lot's of flexibility in recording and exposure modes if you care to operate other than automatic. The video playback, both pictures and video clips, is straight forward and works well. Some things to think about: The included 8MB memory stick is too small. I ended up buying two 64MB sticks, and at about $120 each I think they're too spendy, but then so is SmartMedia and Flash. If you have any other Sony products that use memory sticks it takes some of the sting out of buying extra memory. The delay when the camera 'sets up the exposure' (shutter button part way down) takes some getting used to. Picture processing time at the highest resolution is about half a second so there's no 'rapid fire' picture taking. If you're a Windows 2000 user you'll have to get the USB drivers from Sony's website. It took a Sony technician almost one-hour to find them for me. Once installed the camera worked fine with Windows 2000.
Rating: Summary: Great images, easy to use Review: This camera... * Produces great images: - Clear, nearly 35mm-quality images are created using the 3.3 mega pixels resolution - Zooming is excellent using the 3x optical, 2x digital zoom - Focusing is easy using its auto-focus feature for typical use, or using five levels of pre-set focus levels plus a macro setting for close-ups * Is easy to use: - Lightweight and compact with good, wide camera strap (included) - Includes great features like self-timer - Batteries & memory sticks are easy to swap when necessary * Requires a couple additional investments to make it perfect, as do nearly all digital cameras: - An extra battery (~$60) is helpful as you delete and retake photos - A 64MB extra memory stick (~$175) is helpful so you can record more photos The included software is easy to use, as is the speedy USB-port uploading. A memory stick disk adapter is available for folks who would rather upload their images using their floppy drive, although using that adapter is considerably slower than using the USB cable. This camera is a fantastic value at under $800 plus the couple other suggested investments, especially with Amazon.com's terrific customer service behind it.
Rating: Summary: Potential collectors' model Review: The longer I own this DSC-S70 digital camera, the more I like it. As I climb up on the learning curve of all the camera's functioanlities, I think that it is a very fine piece of precision instrument and worth every penny of its price. Some users, I believe, have overlooked the advanced functions of the camera. The shutter speed, for example, can be adjusted in 13 steps from 1/8 sec. to 1/1000 of a second in taking pictures of a moving subject. And the aperture can be adjusted in 9 steps from F2.0 to F8.0. Another great feature is the selection of alternative image sizes. I used to use the 1290 x 960 size which would allow 96 images with a 64 mb memory stick. Then I found the quality of the picture was sufficiently good even if I went down to 640 x 480 size which would allow 760 images with the same 64 mb memory stick. During my recent vacation in France, I recorded several hundred images on one single memory stick. (But don't forget to bring your international electical adapter since you have to recharge the battery every night.) Lastly, the German Zeiss lens is definitely superior to other cameras' lenes on the market. I think that the camera has a good chance of becoming a collector's item since Sony has already stopped production of this model.
Rating: Summary: Delicate auto-focus lens Review: The pictures from this camera are beautiful. We have taken over 3000. However, buyer should beware of the sensitivity of the lens. Once, I set it down quickly and must have barely tapped the lens. The lens stopped going in and out. The camera was 4 months old, but Sony told me the labor warrantee was only for 3 months. They said we would have to pay a flat rate...for labor of the repair. So I bought a camera... 4 months ago, and they insist I pay [money] for some little problem. Hmmm. Well, we tapped the lens, figuring we had nothing to lose, and it started moving again. It has worked without a problem since then. However, I am very careful of the delicate nature of the camera and do not feel free to take it just anywhere. Once again, the pictures are worth every penny. It just isn't a camera you can casually throw around your neck or in your bag.
Rating: Summary: Sony DSC-S70 Review: I bought this camera and did not notice that I did not have a battery charger for it. I am looking to find one. Maybe you can help me.
Rating: Summary: Great camera Review: Bought this camera over 3 months ago, have no complaints. Takes incredible pictures - no matter what quality pictures you want to take(high or low resolution). The digital movie is a joke and hardly ever used. You should consider buying extra memory sticks. The camera USB interface is a breeze to connect to your PC. Your computer will treat the camera as a computer and see the memory stick as a Harddrive. The camera also have S-video interface to connect to the TV or VCR to entertain your family/friends during the holiday.
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