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CyberShot DCS-P30 Digital Camera

CyberShot DCS-P30 Digital Camera

List Price: $499.99
Your Price:
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great buy
Review: Very nice camera with loads of features. To truely enjoy it though, purchase a rechargable battery pack.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: READ THIS FOR THE TRUTH!
Review: If you read any of the reviews, especially the negative ones, MAKE SURE YOU READ THIS! I want to shed light on the most of the negative comments here that are really inexperienced users being unprepared.

I have used an Olympus D-340L for a couple years now. I have taken innumerable shots from close-up portraits to multishot panoramas and most things in between, like action shots. Which, by the way, most digital cameras under a grand do not do well without practice. Even then it's a compromise. So I suppose that is the first truth.

Second is battery life. No AA batteries will last long in ANY product with an LCD display. Especially when there is also a flash and electronic components that can really drain. The solution, as recommended by some here is rechargables. Recharagbles often make sense for home-centered products. If you plan to hit the road, bring a set of Alkalines for emergencies. Your other option, like many 35mm film cameras, is non-rechargable lithiums. I use this method and have found it is economical.

Truth three is AC adapters. So far as I have seen, all digital cameras require a proprietary AC power adapter that is thirty to sixty extra dollars. It's a plain fact, unfortunate but true. Two months after the camera I got the adapter and since then ALWAYS use it during the slow (serial, not USB, boohoo) camera to PC transfer.

Truth four is memory/photo storage. Here's the deal: you get what you pay for. Two years ago, my 340L was rated number one by Consumer Reports, came with a 4MB SmartMedia card, and was about four hundred dollars. That was a good value for an relatively exceptional "basic" digital camera at the time. The P30 would be a better value with 8MB. But it has features that others do not at this price. So this camera's compromise is less included storage. However, you can get a wide angle lens for about fifty bucks, where others are over a hundred, if at all.

So, THE TRUTH IS: You are paying comparitively less, but also getting the mentioned compromises, all of which can be overcome. Albeit with a little, and sometimes not, dinero.

So there it is. I hope it helps you.

Happy Shooting!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Tons of functionnality, short battery life
Review: It's my first digital camera, and I don't know if this battery issue is shared by other brands and models. However, the fact that an AC adapter and a rechargable battery are expensive options certainly doesn't help to forgive this camera's battery life. Apart from that, it's quality is very good, and it has a lot of functionnalities. It is everything I expected from a digital camera when I decided to buy one, and more. UPDATE: I have seriously demoted this camera rating from 4 to two stars after mine just broke a few months after the warranty expired.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent for Mac users who want a good Digital camera
Review: I received the camera for Christmas and it did not take long to begin to operate it. I took the memory stick out and put it, turned it on, and I began taking pictures right away. The little screen showed exactly what the picture that was taken. When I got home and put them on my computer, the pictures looked even better. The software that came with the camera was easy to use and understand. I reccomend this camera for anyone who is looking to buy a digital camera to replace their 35mm camera.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good camera, but beware battery life
Review: This is a great camera. The pictures are good and the 4MB memory stick that it comes with will hold 58 pictures if you use the standard mode instead of fine. (I honestly can't tell the difference between them unless you zoom in a bunch.) The MPEG feature is cool, no sound though. The drivers were easy to load and when you turn on the camera and hook up the USB cable it treats it like another hard drive. You just click on My Computer and there it is! Pretty simple. The only draw back is battery life. I have since purchased the Sony Litium rechargeable battery but have not got it yet so I don't know if it will make a big difference. Using regular AA batteries though, it maybe lasts 10 minutes maximum, pretty pathetic, but I guess most digicams with LCD screens are like that. Hopefully, the Sony battery will help.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great beginning camera for the price.
Review: We bought this camera a few months ago. This was our first digital camera and we wanted mainly to take photos for viewing on the computer, posting on webpages and emailing to family. We have not yet tried to print photos taken with this camera as we don't yet own a printer for doing that.


We have been very pleased with the picture quality - I don't think it could be any better. The camera is also easy to use.


We bought a bigger memory stick to take with us on vacation as the one supplied doesn't hold enough photos for a one week vacation. Also, we recommend buying the 4 pack NiMh Kodak AA rechargeable battery unit. Taking pictures doesn't drain the battery but uploading them for any length of time to your computer will drain them in a matter of minutes. Get the battery pack mentioned above and you will always have a spare pair ready to go when you need them. It's a must.


One complaint we read about this camera is the length of time it takes the camera to get ready between shots. I do notice a delay that is sometimes frustrating if you are trying to take several pictures quickly in a row. If you take action photos this is probably not a good choice. However, overall we are very pleased with this camera. If your main goals are sharp quality photos for computer/online viewing you can't go wrong.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Another winner from Sony
Review: If you want a camera for sending pictures over the Internet or for small photos, then the Sony DSC-P30 camera is a great entry level camera. Even though it's 1.3 megapixels, this camera has a lot features not available on other 1.3 megapixels such as 6X zoom and mpeg movie (no audio). The best feature I like is the macro setting as it lets you take pictures up close of very small objects. Since, I publish trout flies over the internet, I have got comments about the great picture quality.
The only downside to the camera is battery comsumption. I would recommend buying batteries specially designed for digital cameras. When I go fishing I often bring a spare pair of batteries and over a day I can run out of power. The best way to solve that problem is turn off the viewfinder.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great camera!
Review: First off, yes it would be wise to buy a lithium (sp?) battery and charger. It DOES go through the AA batt. very quickly (20min or so). But there are so many pluses to this camera especially for a starter camera. In simple terms it has: picture effects (black/white,sepia,solarization,negative), hooks up to the tv for easy viewing, USB cable, MOVIE mode (w/out sound),10sec timer. I really have enjoyed this camera so far and it really is easy to use. The instructions are a bit overwhelming but you get the hang of it rather quickly. It makes great 4x6 prints as well. We bought our camera with a free 32mb of memory so make sure you shop around. The camera comes with a picture program that is really easy to use. It takes awhile to familiarize yourself with the program but you can resize, crop, add funny "props" and just have fun with your pictures. I reccomend this camera to anyone that wants a good camera for a great price.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Think twice before you buy!!!
Review: I took the plunge and bought this camera. I liked the style and the features, I read the reviews and disbelieved the battery problems. Everyting everybody writes here is is true...this thing eats up batteries like you won't believe! 15 - 20 minutes per pair of batteries max. Wow. It's incredibly frustrating. Then, if you want to upgrade to the Lithium battery, . . . the charger, the DC adaptor, or upgrade the memory (the 4MB is a joke) to 32MB, etc. etc All are sold seperately. You can't just grab some no name accesories either. It must be ($$$$) Sony!

I returned this camera in less than 12 hours after purchasing. I won't be tethered to Sony for the rest of my life. If you want a similar camera, at the same price, that has more memory(16MB), uses RECHARGEABLE long-life Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries and includes the charger, try the FujiFilm FinePix 2600 Zoom.

Buyer beware! The Sony has great features. But what good are they when the batteries keep dying?

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great camera
Review: Awesome!! Its price and features are hardly to find in such a sleek camera. The quality of the pictures is good enough in almost every situation, so if you are not a professional you'll be amazed of what can be done with 1.3 Megapixels. The only reason I didn't rate it 5 stars is beacuse of his "STAMINA" power supply, they are not included!!, and if you buy it (almos a MUST HAVE!) you have to buy the charger too. But still it is a great buy!


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