Sony Cybershot DSCP73 4.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

Rating:
Summary: Great value.
Review: After coming home with my brand new Kodak Easyshare I noticed its memory card didn't fit in my Sony TV. I went back to the store and exchanged my nice Kodak for a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P73. What a difference! When I opened the box all items were carefully organized and packaged, the memory stick had its case and lables, even the rechargeable batteries had their own cute plastic case. It also accompanied its battery charger. The shutter button is located in the middle of the mode dial, which is far better than having them in totally different places like the Kodak does. When I first used the Kodak Easyshare I had no idea how to insert the memory card in it, there were no arrows, no diagrams showing what side or end should enter first, I had to refer to the instructions manual. The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P73 has drawings or diagrams so I could see how to properly insert the memory stick and batteries. The coolest thing is the sound it makes when you turn it on. The Sony makes a cute Windows XP type of sound when is turned on and a digital camera flashing sound when you take a picture. When I looked at my first pictures using the Kodak Easyshare I thought they were sharp for a 5MP, but when I looked at my 4.1 MP Sony pictures I was blown away by how much sharper they were, and the colors were more vivid. I guess Sony cameras have better lenses. I'm so glad I exchanged that Kodak Easyshare for a Sony, now I can take picture, open the camera, remove the memory stick, stick it into my 40 inch TV and enjoy great digital funny family pictures.

Cons: Couldn't find any.



Rating:
Summary: Overall, a great camera
Review: As about two or more reviewers got this for the holidays, and so did I. I have to say, this camera is great. I'll just break down pros + cons because it's an electronic device

PROS:

- With the 4.1 megapixels, picture and video quality is clear and crisp.
- Easy menus.
- Overall easy to use if a beginner.
- Many different ways and styles to take pictures.
- Very durable, as Sony products are mostly all trustful.
- Love the zoom in and zoom out features.
- Easy to delete videos and pics.
- Easy to connect to a computer or a television.

CONS:
- The memory stick that came with this is only 16MB which is only 8 pictures and 42 secs for video. Luckily, I also got a 256MB memory stick seperatly and I can take about 120 pics and 11 min for video.
- The batteries were not charged up when I recived the product.
- Sound on the videos are sometimes weak.

Overall, this camera is great, but make sure to buy a seperate memory stick or you will only have 42 seconds of fun with the video and only 8 pics.

Rating:
Summary: User Friendly.
Review: For the price, this is a first-class camera. It is well known that a digital camera is only worth the quality of pictures it produces. The Cyber-Shot creates excellent images, that even an amature, like myself, can create.
It will capture beautiful shots, using the pre-recorded Scene Selecters:

Soft Snap: provides a sharp accent of your subject with a hazy background.

Candle: Lets you take perfect images of your partner over that romantic candle-light dinner.

Twilight: Those night time shots of the city lights come out perfect.

Landscape: Clear wide long shots that will not get any better.

For basic value for money, and for an amature like myself, this digital delivers and more.

Rating:
Summary: Unsatisfactory pictures
Review: I bought this camera after reading several positive reviews. I found that this camera has good features, is easy to use and has a battery charger. But to my dismay the picture quality was below par and didn't meet my expectations. The picture brightness with this camera is lower than a Nikon I had bought 18months ago. Most of the pictures appeared dim and a little dull wheras Nikon pictures at the same spot were brighter. I'm returning this camera. I will probably spend some extra dollars to buy a canon or a Nikon

Rating:
Summary: Incredible & Excellent Digital Camera
Review: I bought this digital camera in last December 2004, and really I can tell this was a bargain, very cheap for so many functions and benefits. I have token so many beautiful pictures of my children and family. We are very happy with this, our first digital camera. Every time I think of it, I can confirm you that it was the best selection we made.
Don't think anymore, you won't regret it!

Rating:
Summary: pretty cool for what you pay
Review: I just bought the p73 and I am pretty content with it. altough bulkier than the exilims of casio, I like the fast cycle times between shots, which often caused me to loose nice pictures before with my old digital camera. The video is quite good considering it's just mpeg, and good for those moments when you wished you had brought your camcorder. I am using the mem stick pro 256 meg so there is alot of room for short videos as well as pictures. The preflash works pretty well in low light, an added benefit is that it catches the attention of my baby so all our shots have her looking straight at the camera. I havent tried the more advanced features yet, altough I am saving up for a wide angle lens to attach onto this toy. It is a bit heavy for a small cam, but then I realized that it was the battery which was accounting for much of the weight.

Rating:
Summary: Quality purchase!!!
Review: I just bought this camera after a few weeks of research and am very pleased. It is my first digital camera (and first camera that I have actually bought that you didn't throw away after 24 pictures!) I wanted something that had optical zoom and I could not justify 5 megapixels for my use. In addition I have seen 5 megapixel cameras that took 3 megapixel-quality pictures. Some cameras claim the high megapixel as a selling point but often lack optical zoom (a must), fine tuning to light changes, and just take poor pics. That being said I wanted something that I didn't have to have a degree in photography to take quality pictures. I wanted enough features to play with in case I the urge. I also required durability and a camera that came with a recharger and batteries (otherwise plan on spending $20-$40 more down the road). Here's the deal:

Pros:
Great, easy to take pictures.
Easy navigation through the menu.
Price for value is outstanding. (I paid $200 + 69 dollars for a 512 sandisk card)
Sony-like feel in terms of quality (but I've never had a sony ANYTHING fail on me so I am biased)
Movie mode is excellent, seems much better than the HP, Vivitar Cannon competition at this price point. Not as good as a a real video camera but still quality sound and video.
LCD screen is easy to see in all light conditions and you can even dim it.
Did I mention it came with rechargeble batteries and charger?

Cons:
I realize no cameras come with big memory cards but at least they can give you 32 or 64 mb as charity (instead of less than 10)
Software is a little weak. I expected something a little better than paint, but instead it just reads from the software and transfers it to paint for editing.
Size, kinda bulky but you have to cut cost somewhere and it is certainly competitive against the competition.
USB 1 transfer with camera but I just ordered a USB 2 reader so...
Thats it.

Overall this a good purchase if you are looking for a reasonably priced camera that will (hopefully) take a little abuse and take great photos. 4.5 rating for the worthless standard memory card.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding Value
Review: I purchased the Sony DSC P73 a week ago for $235 at a local retailer. I have an older 2 megapixel Sony digital camera, also, that I have been pleased with. I wanted this camera because it has a higher resolution than my old camera, and it also has a viewfinder, which was lacking on my 3-year-old camera. After using this camera for a week, I am very happy with my decision to purchase it. It has many features that make it an outstanding camera for a very low price.

I am very pleased with the performance so far. My pictures have been very crisp and clear. I like being able to snap pictures rapidly, which is a big improvement over my old Sony. I especially like the zoom feature, which is much improved over my old Sony, whose digital zoom was worthless. Pictures taken with the digital zoom on this camera are very clear. I did a close-up of my cat using the digital zoom, and every individual hair can be seen in the photo. I also tried the macro feature, which allows for close ups as close as 10 inches. I photographed a page of the user's manual, and every word in the photo is clear.

I was worried about using rechargable AA batteries, but I have taken many pictures and videos this week, and I have not had to recharge yet. I plan to buy the rapid recharger and two more batteries, so I will always have charged batteries on hand.

I loved the video mode on my old camera, so I wanted that feature on the new one. I haven't tried the fine mode, because I don't have a pro memory stick, yet. I'm using the 128 mb stick that I used with my other camera. I like being able to record for a longer time than my old camera. And I also like having the larger image size of 640 x 480 for playback, but I do miss the option of a 320 x 240 image size. I think that this would allow for longer recording with good playback resolution. I don't think Sony allows for this option on any of its digital cameras anymore. I also have used the email mode for recording video. This is great for sending movies to family, or for posting video on web pages, as the file size is small. This camera also has a video editing feature that allows you to delete sections of unwanted video before downloading. I have found this a very useful feature.

Multiple folders can be created in the camera to keep photos of different events separate for ease of organizing for playback or downloading.

I installed the Picture Package software that came with the DSC P73, but I probably won't use it. With it, you can create slide shows, and you can view thumbnails of all your pictures. I can already do this using Windows XP, but I think Windows 98 users would like this software.

Overall, I think that this is an excellent camera at a very reasonable price.

Rating:
Summary: A very good consumer level digital camera
Review: If you are just an amateur photographer that is either finally switching from analog to digital or just want a decent camera to take on family vacations or school projects, this is a great camera. It is small, lightweight, and does just about anything you could possibly need it to do. It won't take pictures of hummingbirds feeding across a forest bed, but it will take a decent photo of the grand canyon. The quality of the 3x optical zoom is really good, but the picture is sacrificed slightly as you try to artifically enhance it with the digital zoom. The battery life is good enough to take on extended trips from your hotel or on a hike without having to carry around a charger or spare batteries. If you plan on taking lots of high quality large photos, you will need to get a larger memory stick (64 MB will work, 128 MB even better), but the memory stick it comes with will be enough to photograph your child's birthday party as long as you download the photos onto your computer afterwards. At 4.1 MegaPixels, this camera will pick up individual hairs on a persons head and it will even be able to clearly define a flea in the hair. There are 5 MegaPixel cameras out there, but at the consumer level there is really no point in spending the money on one (5 MP won't come in handy unless you are student taking pictures through a microscope or a telescope) All around, while Sony's camera lenses may not compare with Canon or Olympus, Sony makes up for it with their superior knowledge of how to make a great consumer digital device and turn it into a decent digital camera. It is a great value for the price.

Rating:
Summary: Sony Cybershot DSCP73
Review: My husband & I wanted a good digital camera but did not want to spend a bundle. We own other Sony products and know the products are usually high end. We are pleased again with another Sony product. The camera is a little bulky, but the pictures look wonderful and the capability is amazing. More than enough to keep us non-techies amazed!