Rating: 
Summary: Impresive quality for the price
Review: I have been a 35mm film amateur photographer for many years. I have always used Nikon equipment and I value to control the camera myself for maximal creativity. I waited till now to try a digital camera, what I did two weeks ago buying the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S85 camera. These are my impressions when I compare it with classical 35 mm film and my reflex Nikon camera:
1.- The DSC-S85 is small, but not small enough to fit easily in a pocket. Nevertheless is easy to carry and the retractable lenses make it quite compact when the power is off. The camera comes with a lens cover for protection. It is a high quiality point a shot with manual settings capabilities.
2.- One of my concerns about digital photography is battery life. With the DSC-S85 this is not a problem at all. The battery will last a long time and unless you don’t have the chance to recharge the battery during several days, it will not run out of power. The battery recharges quite fast when connected to electrical power.
3.- The lenses and Carls Zeiss, and the quality shows. Impressive resolution across the whole picture, not only when you view the pictures in the computer screen but also in print. I have done up to 5x7 inches prints and the quality is as good as film. Resolution is as good as the one obtained with my Nikon lenses.
4.- It very easy to learn how to use the camera and very easy to control manually the shutter and aperture. In addition you have also aperture and shutter priority settings and full automatic setting. The easiest camera I have ever had.
5.- The light meter is very good, and most of the exposures will come perfect unless you try to fool the camera with difficult light situations. The exposures are better than when I use my Nikon SLR.
6.-Color balance is very good, saturated images but with real colors. Only very strong reds (i.e. a red rose) might fool a bit the camera and you might need to correct the image with software. Film here might be better and you can uses several film typoes, but one advantage of digital is that you have ISO 100-400 with no need to change the film.
7.-The LCD screen is very good, bright (you can regulate the brightness, and provides a quite realistic view of the actual image. I use the LCD a lot, and really is a great way to compose pictures, better than using the view finder.
8.-You can do MPG movies that are fine if all you want is to have a memory of a short moment (don’t expect top quality here, after all this is an still camera). You can not do this with a film camera.
9.- Although the Memory Sticks are not the cheapest memory in town they are reasonable after the recent price drop. With 128 MB you will be able to take >60 pictures at the top resolution. Film is not cheaper because you can reuse the Memory Stick for ever.
10.- Very good macro. Nice pictures taken at short distances (<4 inches). My macro fotos with the SLR Nikon are better though.If you are a film photographer that wish to get very good quality in digital to have the opportunity of doing creative photos without caring about the price of film, I highly recommend this camera. You will enjoy it very much you will make more photos that before (without paying always for the film) and when the digital SLR cameras drop in price (2-3 years from now) you will be ready to move to a classical camera with digital power.
Rating:
Summary: from a Design Student at Parsons
Review: Hi I recently bought this camera for my design projects. And its Great. When pictures are taken at high quality it goes to the computer at 32in X 24in @ 72 dpi pic. but when resized to it can print on 17in X 11in @ 300 dpi with little or no pixelation, at 8inX6in its quality is only limited by your printer. The Power of the camera to take pictures at night is exceptional too, i took a picture at 12 midnight of a bridge 3 or 4 miles away and it came out very clear. clear enough for me to see the support beams and a defined outline of the horizon of buildings behind it. The camera is also good for close up shots as well. I recently started takign pictures of my friends at 1-3ft away and its clear. When zoomed you can see pores, small face hairs, and skin flakes. it also records mini movies(limited by your mem-stick space)with sound. in general its really powerful and well worth the money. the only bad things is it takes 3-5 secs for each shot, lcd can get scratch up easily, flimsy plastic protector for usb port, and doesnt come with a case to carry it.
but well worth it =). God bless.
Rating:
Summary: Great camera for beginners and professionals
Review: I bought this camera to take pics of my baby that is on the way. I tested it at theme parks during the summer, inside the house, at the baby shower and bbq's. Most of my shots came out perfectly. The red eye reduction is almost perfect and flash is appropriate. One problem is it takes a few seconds between shots and I sometimes got shots where my subject was out of focus when other objects were at different depths in the shot as well. Pictures are clear and print great even at 8x10. Features are intuitive and useful. I like the fact that sound is recorded during mpeg recording however the quality of the video is fair. Battery life is adequate and thank you Sony for including a rechargeable Lithium battery AND an adapter in the box. I do wish the lcd screen was protected as I have unfortunately scratched it numerous times even though I bought a case for it. I am not a camera expert but the pics I have taken with this camera make me look like one and with one week left for my baby's expected birth, I feel I am more than prepared to have pictures ready to email and print for my family and friends. Great camera.
Rating:
Summary: Ease of Use and Great Pictures.
Review: I've owned this camera for a couple of weeks now and I must say I am quite pleased with my purchase. You really can't beat the features/price of this camera. I'm a complete novice and I'm finding this camera very easy to learn to use and take clean pictures. When I first was trying to decide which model to buy, I was a bit apprehensive concerning Sony's use of proprietary Memory Sticks. Well, I'm happy to say that not only has Lexar began selling their own branded type of Memory Sticks but, SanDisk has just signed a deal to resell Memory Sticks also. That should not only drive the costs down but, it will make it simpler to find them in stock. I should also mention that the battery life is pretty good on this model and I find the fact that the battery tells you how much life it has left before needing a recharge quite usefull. All in all, I love this camera and am very happy to have jumped into Digital Photography with this model.
Rating:
Summary: a REAL TOP the $ can buy
Review: Honestly - I am NOT a photo Xpert, just a fan that makes dozns of snaps each holiday since I think many of the views I see R c00l. AND - which is VEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRY important - when shootin I wanto have the BEST Qlity, since all eVRY shot matters, when made. The real efficacy of the shots? - 'bout 10% or may-B less, honestly. DSC-S85, with 128MB MemStick, and with MSAC-US1 (USB-reader) aR my solution: I can shoot as a devil, havin options delete anytime a snap I dont like. When the card is full, I still can go over with friends and select on the DspLY the shoots worth keepin, and after the selection I can use my 128MB MemStick - or instert another MemStick and GO. Anytime the phots are displayed from a PWRPoint presentation or re-fabricated as old-fashioned paper-photos - they R just PRRRRRRRRRRRRRRFCT! Love this CyberShot DSC-S85, think it is my FAV for nxt yrs.
Rating:
Summary: Great Camera
Review: I just received this camera a few days ago. Being new to Digital Photography, I have a few things to figure out yet, but I love it already. Feels great in the hand...very comfortable. The quality of build is fantastic. Images potrayed on the LCD are vivid and clear. Menu's and operational features are clear, with a well documented manual. Just a note that I did not buy it here.... AS well, sony just dropped prices by half on their memory sticks, so storage is cheaper as well.
Rating:
Summary: This camara is awsom!
Review: After many weeks of research I selected this camara. was it a wise choice? You bet! This camara has all the features and then some. It has a powerfull macro ability. Able to capture pollen in the center of a flower. The manual is easy to read and I was snapping photos in just a few seconds. Downloading is quick & easy with no problems. If your in the market for a top of the line digital camara this one will fit the bill.
Rating:
Summary: dsc-S85: The VALUE choice of camera
Review: I just bought one. Considered the G1 canon, and the 995, both similar in price. BUT THE SONY has 4 megapixels! What more to say? Image quality is excellent. Ease of use - any dummy can use it. And it seems durable. It is comfortable in the hand. TONS of modes - shutter, aperture, program, b/w, sepia, different resolutions, etc. The onscreen help is great. Tells you minutes of batt time, pictures, all camera settings, and even when the zoom is optical vs digital. THE ONLY DOWNSIDE: uses Memory stick instead of CF. MS is much more expensive. Oh well... I wish you could use a microdrive! This camera is so superior to the G1 and nikon. Sony's price is incredible.
Rating:
Summary: Love it
Review: I love this camera. I had it for over a year. And I am never with out it. Even my 6 year old can use it. It's the best camera I have had and durable beyond my comphernsion...
Rating:
Summary: Great Camera from Sony
Review: (...). Here's my review. The image quality is excellent. There is very good color balance. I also like the excellent battery life (This is true for Sony products). It's easy to transfer images to the PC using USB. It has a very good lense (Carl Zeiss). The menu is user friendly. The slight drawback is speed of operation. This may be true for most digital cameras. It's difficult to take good action shots as there is a time lag between shots (when compared to an analog SLR). Bottom line is...Very good value for your money in the 4 MP range.
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