Rating: 
Summary: Close to Perfect
Review: The image quality of the Sony has lived up to my high expectations; it is incredible. As a long-time amateur 35mm photographer and professional graphic artist, I really wanted a true digital SLR digital (couldn't afford $3k with lenses), but as a digital rangefinder, I am giving away very little with the DSC-S75. The manual mode combined with available spot metering gives me the control I need, and the controls are very easy to set - much easier than on most film SLR's. The overall size is small, but the rubber grip gives me a good place to hold it steady. Compared to the Nikon 995, the build quality is obviously superior. The heft of the controls is superb, and the materials are first-rate. The Nikon feels like it is made by Fisher Price. The image quality of the Sony is crisper and the colors truer, to boot. Tell me again why the Nikon is more expensive. The battery lasts a LONG time. It lasted more than 2 hours with the LCD on the whole time and with a lot of flash use. I had presupposed that I'd need a second battery, but I am sure I will get tired of shooting before this camera does on any given shoot.I will list my quibbles here in hopes that Sony might see them and rectify them, but they by no means outweigh my extreme satisfaction with this camera. Quibbles: *Needs more white balance presets - For now I use the one-push calibration, but if you don't have a gray card or a sheet of paper handy, more than 2 measly presets would be nice. *AF lock is awkward to use - It works, but not well at all. You have to push a button to lock focus AFTER releasing the shutter button from its halfway down position, and you risk the focus going blurry again (catching it in the middle of its trying to refocus) before you engage the lock button. *Manual is lacking in detail - There is no guide relating recommended apertures to distances for the different settings of the flash. You either use auto mode or you take guesses at the correct f stop. It also doesn't explain what the camera does with the flash in auto mode. I am sure I'll figure all this out with some experimentation, but as a techie I like to know EXACTLY what is going on. *Metering only shows +-2 stops, and doesn't work at all when in aperture or shutter priority mode and the camera deigns that there isn't enough light to get to the desired exposure. It just blinks a light at you. *The 8mb memory stick is a joke. 128mb sticks are now available for [$$$], but this must be factored into the price.
Rating: 
Summary: good camera, software should improve
Review: the MGI software 8.1 is unable to get pictures from the camera to the software without making a folder and copying files to the folder. the mgi 8.1 needs a full sheet of photo paper to print a wallet size photo.
Rating:
Summary: Getting Closer
Review: The Sony DSC-S75 brings digital photography one step closer to the output one acheives with a 35mm camera. The unit fits perfectly in ones hand and is ergonomically well designed. It has an in-camera recharable battery that gives you an amazing amount of shooting power over time. The Carl Zeiss lens yields some of the sharpest prints I have ever seen produced by a digital camera. Even 8x10s look gorgeous when shot in the fine mode. The camera has all the bells and whistles that allow the photographer different degrees of control over the image. Shutter priority, aperture priority, manual overide and digital zoom are but a few. The macro mode allows you to get extremely close to an object with fantastic results. On the negative side, Sony embarasses itself when it ships this item with only an 8 mb memory stick. You must factor in the price of a 32mb stick into your budget. I loved the camera so much that I splurged on a 128mb stick and now I can shoot until my finger gets sore! This aside, I highly recommend this beautifully engineered piece of equipment. I am beginning to reconsider my reliance on the 35 mm camera.
Rating:
Summary: The best advanced camara for the money.
Review: This camara is NOT for somebody that want to just take a few snapshots every once and a while to stick on a web page, and maybe make a print once in a blue moon for a really good shot. If you want something like that, there are camaras that are smaller, lighter, cheaper, and easier to use. This camara is NOT for somebody who is a photo fanatic. If you want razor-sharp prints the size of posters, or if you want to take pictures of hummingbirds in flight, there are camaras that have interchangeable lenses, higher resolution and better image controls. If you are semi-serious about your photography, require a good lens, decent control over the photos, and spectacular batter life, this camara is an excellent value. Equipped with an excellent (if bulky) Zeiss lens, this camara can produce much better pictures than other three (and even four) mega-pixel camaras that only have tiny, small things. One thing you must remember is that mega-pixels are useless if the lens cannot deliver detail that fine to the camara. This lens can. The 3MP it has will do just fine for any size print up to and including 8x10's. The user interface for the camara is simple enough, which makes up for the somewhat lousy manual. My only complaint about the controls is that the cursor movement button is hard to center correctly. This is a minor point, as I have never had it cause a problem other than me having to hit the button twice. The pictures are razor sharp and the camara is capable of perfect white balance. (For those that don't know, bad white balance is what causes some pictures under flourescent light to look green, and incadescents look yellow.) All you have to do to adjust it to perfect every time is to keep a white index card in your camara case and then use the "one touch" balance control to re-calibrate it in a couple of seconds. You can make small movies with this unit, but they aren't suitable for anything but posting to the web. Let's face it, this isn't a camcorder. The included rechargable lithium battery is more than enough for a full day or two of shooting, but if you won't have access to a car or electrical outlet, it could be a problem, since it isn't a AA you can pick up at any corner store. (That means that you can't use this camara for your 10-week trek through the wilderness.) This camara includes only an insultingly small 8 MB memory stick. However, I believe that everyone with a 3MP camara should own a 128MB chip, and NO camara maker includes one that big. Buy one when you buy the camara. Since other manufacturers besides Sony now make them, they are very reasonably priced. You can buy accessories like a flash, an adapter for 52mm filters, additional lenses, etc., but the cheaper non-sony brands are tough (but not impossible) to find. The included software (MGI Photosuite) is not really that good, but not bad for a bundled package. I reccommend, and use, Microsoft Picture It! Digital Image Pro. All in all, for the price this camara costs, it is the best available and has no competition. P.S. If you have windows XP, you MUST change the USB Transfer mode from the default. If you don't, it won't work. See the manual and the sony website for details.
Rating:
Summary: The best advanced camara for the money.
Review: This camara is NOT for somebody that want to just take a few snapshots every once and a while to stick on a web page, and maybe make a print once in a blue moon for a really good shot. If you want something like that, there are camaras that are smaller, lighter, cheaper, and easier to use. This camara is NOT for somebody who is a photo fanatic. If you want razor-sharp prints the size of posters, or if you want to take pictures of hummingbirds in flight, there are camaras that have interchangeable lenses, higher resolution and better image controls. If you are semi-serious about your photography, require a good lens, decent control over the photos, and spectacular batter life, this camara is an excellent value. Equipped with an excellent (if bulky) Zeiss lens, this camara can produce much better pictures than other three (and even four) mega-pixel camaras that only have tiny, small things. One thing you must remember is that mega-pixels are useless if the lens cannot deliver detail that fine to the camara. This lens can. The 3MP it has will do just fine for any size print up to and including 8x10's. The user interface for the camara is simple enough, which makes up for the somewhat lousy manual. My only complaint about the controls is that the cursor movement button is hard to center correctly. This is a minor point, as I have never had it cause a problem other than me having to hit the button twice. The pictures are razor sharp and the camara is capable of perfect white balance. (For those that don't know, bad white balance is what causes some pictures under flourescent light to look green, and incadescents look yellow.) All you have to do to adjust it to perfect every time is to keep a white index card in your camara case and then use the "one touch" balance control to re-calibrate it in a couple of seconds. You can make small movies with this unit, but they aren't suitable for anything but posting to the web. Let's face it, this isn't a camcorder. The included rechargable lithium battery is more than enough for a full day or two of shooting, but if you won't have access to a car or electrical outlet, it could be a problem, since it isn't a AA you can pick up at any corner store. (That means that you can't use this camara for your 10-week trek through the wilderness.) This camara includes only an insultingly small 8 MB memory stick. However, I believe that everyone with a 3MP camara should own a 128MB chip, and NO camara maker includes one that big. Buy one when you buy the camara. Since other manufacturers besides Sony now make them, they are very reasonably priced. You can buy accessories like a flash, an adapter for 52mm filters, additional lenses, etc., but the cheaper non-sony brands are tough (but not impossible) to find. The included software (MGI Photosuite) is not really that good, but not bad for a bundled package. I reccommend, and use, Microsoft Picture It! Digital Image Pro. All in all, for the price this camara costs, it is the best available and has no competition. P.S. If you have windows XP, you MUST change the USB Transfer mode from the default. If you don't, it won't work. See the manual and the sony website for details.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Digital Camera
Review: This camera is just incredible! There are so many picture options, The battery lasts forever, It is an ergonomic excellence, and most of all the pictures are incredible. I am having a great time using this camera shooting life (My children). I only wish the Memory sticks where larger in capacity. Looks like Sony has plans for bigger than 128mb in the future. I have 2 64mb Memory sticks and that is the minimum you need for this camera. I would like to get a few more as the prices drop (which they are). ENJOY!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Pictures
Review: This is an awesome camera!! I am a die hard "still camera" person. I always said that a digital could never produce the quality and clarity of my Cannon EOS Rebel "still" camera.
I will have to say I have almost switched completely!! I absolutely love my Sony Cybershot!! I take pictures alot. It is very user friendly. I love that it takes black and white and the sepia tone. I take pictures that look like professional prints. I take my memory stick or a cd up to [a local store] and print them on their photo machine. I can't tell the difference between my still camera and my digital prints. It also does little mini movies. They are great to email to grand-ma. It is very durable. My husband did his research and found that this one had the most to offer. I would reccomend this camera HIGHLY!!
Rating:
Summary: Awesome!! Very Dependable!! I Love my Camera!!
Review: This is an awesome camera!! I am a die hard "still camera" person. I always said that a digital could never produce the quality and clarity of my Cannon EOS Rebel "still" camera.
I will have to say I have almost switched completely!! I absolutely love my Sony Cybershot!! I take pictures alot. It is very user friendly. I love that it takes black and white and the sepia tone. I take pictures that look like professional prints. I take my memory stick or a cd up to [a local store] and print them on their photo machine. I can't tell the difference between my still camera and my digital prints. It also does little mini movies. They are great to email to grand-ma. It is very durable. My husband did his research and found that this one had the most to offer. I would reccomend this camera HIGHLY!!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent camera, highly recommended
Review: This is an excellent camera. We just bought it after having a baby and we have taken so many pictures with it. It is very user friendly. The menus are easy to browse through. I have borrowed a friend's digital camera in the past and it was nowhere near this easy to use. The pictures it takes are excellent. I don't know how I lived without a digital camera before. It is great to have a camera that can take such high quality pictures and I can choose which ones I want to print and which ones I'll just save.
Rating:
Summary: Not a bad camera!!
Review: This is my 2nd digital camera (my first was the Sony Mavica FD-95). This is a pretty easy camera to use (Sony cameras have generally been user-friendly) so that the 1st time buyer can just pick it up and shoot and yet has features that you'd want if you were an intermediate to advanced user. The resolution is great for the money although if I could I'd probably get the DSC-85 model simply for the opportunity for 4.1 megapixel as opposed to the 3.2 that you'd get with this DSC-75. Also you can get a 3 shot burst with the 85 as opposed to the 75. But still that's taking very little away from the 75; you still get outstanding pictures with the 75. A couple of caveats: although I generally don't use digital cameras for action shots (I do from time to time on an experimental basis; just not when I need money shots) I haven't used it yet for indoor action shots (e.g. basketball games) so I couldn't evaluate the burst option yet. That said, I also feel that if I did, then you probably need an external flash as the built-in one would be inadequate for action shots.
A few more little squabbles: If you do buy either the 75 or the 85, I highly recommend getting the 128 mB memory stick. The factory 8mB stick just is inadequate; the down side is the extra $$$ for it. But it is definitely worth it. Also I think it records images a little slowly but that may be one of my personal quirks.
Overall, I feel this camera does a very good job and I highly recommend it!
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