Sony Cybershot DSCP93 5MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

Rating:
Summary: I like it
Review: This is my first digital camera. I went with a 5.1 megapixel because I wanted the flexibility of printing larger photos if I ever wanted to. I never have, but hey, you never know. A few observations so far:

I've heard bad things about digital zoom in terms of quality. If you take pictures at the highest setting (5.1 megapixels), the digital zoom feature isn't available, so you don't have to worry about possibly pixelated pictures. However, at lower settings (3 megapixel for example), the zoom bar shows a green line signifying when digital zoom is being used. Yes, you can turn off digital zoom, but with this camera, you can keep it on and see when you are in digital zoom.

I thought the battery life was weak, but it's actually pretty good. A friend bought another brand of digital camera and complained that after taking just one picture, the battery would drain. He found out that the batteries that shipped with his camera were cheap and underpowered and he had to buy a better battery. The batteries with this camera are fine. I thought the batteries were draining, but I was looking at the memory stick indicator (gimme a break, I said it was my first digital camera).

Video capture is ok, especially for a camera. I've only used the 32 MB stick that comes with the camera, and I've been able to capture the "video mail" size which is very small, but easy to send in an email, and the 640 size, which is better, but still a little choppy. As I understand it, the Pro memory sticks enable you to capture at the "Fine" setting, which is supposed to be better. I have still found it suitable to capture those humorous moments in video.

The flash is very bright. I took a picture where I couldn't even see anything on the LCD screen, and the flash was bright enough to make it look like the lights were on.

I was able to view the pictures I took on my TV without any problems, using the cable that came with the camera. I was also able to view the videos I took, and the videos do have sound.

The camera also has sound when turning on, taking a picture, and navigating the menus. They're not annoying, and actually are nice as confirmation for changing a setting (and when taking a picture, you get that shutter sound like on an old-fashioned camera). It also has a volume control and plays back the sound when reviewing video on the camera.

All in all, this was a great purchase, especially for my first digital camera. It fits in a jacket pocket nicely, and has great features (I haven't even got through the manual, but it's easy enough to use without going thorough the whole thing). One more note--it takes 6 hours to charge the batteries when you first get it (a battery charger is included).

Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Well, despite the price (it's 499 dollars in my country) this is an excellent camera. If you are a newbie like me with digital cameras, you're starting with a monster.
This baby can take beautiful pictures, and offers options never before seen in P series. Manual control is superb.
Cons: It needs Memory Stick Pro to save video... agh!