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Sony Cybershot DSCP100/LJ 5MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Blue)

Sony Cybershot DSCP100/LJ 5MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom (Blue)

List Price: $449.95
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Buy this now!!! It's worth every cent and much more!!
Review: This camera has to be one of the best cameras out there. When i first got it I noticed its sleek design. Its so small and light. It fights in the palm of my hands and I can carry it anywhere. I actuallly noticed too that its basically smaller than my nokia 6800 cell phone which is shocking. anyway the camera has a nice 1.8 inch LCD screen. The photos look amazing when you view them. When you are dealing with this camera you also get the FASTEST performance. The camera starts up in like 1 or 2 seconds and it shoots with NO LAG. Even if you are shooting with flash the shot to shot time is awesome. The zoom pops out very fast too which also makes a funny noise. i don[t reallyh ahve to explain the picture quality because you know Sony is always EXCELLENT with that. Others say that canon is better but I think Sony's a tad better well atleast with this camera anyway. The movie mode on this camera is comparable to a camcorder. It shoots VGA (640x 480) at an option of 15fps or 30fps. 30 fps is basically smoother but requires about twice the memory so 15fps would be sufficient for any user. To tlel you the truth i bought this camera for the movie mode too because its much better than the Canon S500. Lastly, the battery is outstanding. You can shoot pictures a little over 3 hours worth. I recommend geting the accessory kit from sony (comes with battery, case, wallet thing) about $65 on ebay and a 256mb memory stick card or 512 memory stick pro card. You can get the 512mb one for under $120!!

Oh and I forgot to mention the cool accessories available for this beastily camera. You can get 1.7X telephoto lens, 2.6X lens (turns ur compact camera to almost a 8X optical demon, lol), .7X wide lens, marine pack (underwater case) and external flash (some say the flash on the camera isn't bright enough so people buy external separate ones)

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Horrible camera
Review: This camera looks great. Has all the features I want. LCD is very clear indoor, but almost useless outdoor. I took identical pictures of my kids indoor and outdoor between this camera and my 3 years old 2M Fuji camera that I paid $240 3 years ago. This camera color and sharpness is horrible compare to the Fuji. I don't think the camera is defective. I don't know why so many professional reviewers said that this is a good camera. ZDNET review gave this camera a bad grade and I saw the same problem on my camera with the one ZDNET/CNET reviewed. I had the camera setting on automatic. I didn't want to play around with the setting because all I want is a point and shoot camera. Maybe there's a manufacturing problem with this camera? If you want to buy this camera, make sure you can return it w/o incuring the re-stocking fee.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Sony P100 review (plus Canon S500, Fuji F610 and others)
Review: Ultra-compact digicam comparison: which ultra-compact camera should I buy? Make sure you read the whole thing - it'll give you an idea of what to look for yourself.

Considered: Fuji F610, Sony T1, Sony T11, Sony P100, Pentax Optio S4i, Canon S500, Nikon 3700/5200.

Fuji 610 (72 x 93 x 31 mm)
Pros: excellent camera with awesome image quality. Claim that vertical design will limit camera shake - maybe. Video quality excellent at 640 x 480 (30fps). xD picture cards cheap.

Cons: Larger than canon s500 and sonyp100 - but not a huge problem considering the better features (especially the amount of manual controls with shutter/aperture). BUT - NO AF ASSIST LAMP: therefore poor low light performance. Not able to switch off digital zoom such that the optical switches over to digital automatically - which will reduce image quality stored. But the clincher here is the lack of AF assist lamp.

Sony P100 (108 x 51.5 x 26.6 mm)
Pros: It's a Sony: their attention to detail is always guaranteed. Nine scene selections which makes shooting for amateurs so much simpler and takes you up that extra notch - read excerpt below. Option of attaching a wide-angle telephoto lens down the track - should you start to take your photography (more) seriously. Excellent video quality at 640 x 480 (30fps or 17pfs), size unlimitied). AF assist lamp. Battery life indicator: provides estimated mins remaining. Battery has also been found to be of exceptional stamina - compared to other digicams of this size.

I got this from Imaging-Resource: "Scene mode offers a range of preset exposure modes, including Twilight, Twilight Portrait, Landscape, Soft snap, Snow, Beach, High Speed Shutter, Fireworks, and Candle modes. Both Twilight modes optimize the camera for low-light shooting by allowing shutter times as long as two seconds, while Landscape mode sets the camera up for shooting distant subjects. Soft snap mode warms skin tones and sets focus to slightly soft. Snow mode enhances saturation and adjusts exposure, to prevent loss of colour in bright white snow scapes, while Beach mode ensures that blue tones are recorded accurately in lakeside or seaside photos. High-speed shutter mode is for shooting action or bright subjects. Fireworks mode preserves colour in shots of fireworks or other night light displays by fixing the lens aperture at f/5.6 and setting the exposure time to the 2-second maximum. Candle mode slows shutter speeds and biases exposure to keep candlelit scenes looking natural; a tripod is recommended in this model"

Cons: Memory stick: expensive, but prices have come down and will come down further. Definitely get yourself a MS Pro Duo (either a 256, or better still 512MB). Getting the Duo now (which is not much more $) will keep you ahead of the game. Size: slightly longer than Canon S500 but thinner - so not so bad. Overall the cons are not awfully bad.

Sony T1/T11 (T!: 91mm x 60mm x 21mm)
Pros: Awesome design. Very thin. All other pros similar to Sony P100. Nice option of black.

Cons: NO tripod mount - sure it's an ultra-compact which you'd carry around, but sometimes it's nice to mount it for macro and other shots. I would have seriously forked out the extra cash for this camera but the lack of a tripod mount was the clincher.

Canon S500 (87.0 x 57.0 x 27.8 mm)
Pros: Size: I like to use this camera as a benchmark for size comparisons with other cameras. Design and form factor: almost as good as Sony: very elegant. CF - cheap, very cheap. I've previously had the Canon S230 (3.2MP 2X optical) and it was an excellent camera.

Cons: VERY, VERY POOR: no battery life indicator - with the S230 I have been caught out many times, this is especially so when other members of your family use the camera and you have no idea how much charge is left. The solution is to get a spare battery, but Canon should have rectified this issue by now and they have deliberately chosen not to and that tells me something. Video at 320 x 240 (15fps): if you want 640x480 only available at 10pfs: compare this with Sony and Fuji, both at 640x480, 30fps!! Now I know that this is a digital camera and not a camcorder - but it's nice to know that you can take VGA quality shots at an instant - so you're always prepared - because who carries the camcorder everywhere?!!

Pentax Optio S4i ((83 x 52 x 20mm))
Pro: Size. Size. And price.

Cons: No AF assist lamp: therefore poor in low light. Although a good camera, you'll read that it's more a 'fun' camera than half-serious like the Sony P100 or Canon S500. Of course the Fuji F610 takes it up a notch as far as manual features go. Also the video quality is poor: similar to the canon S500 - although I would imagine Canon would still do a better job of it.

Nikon 3700 (95.5 x 50 x 31 mm)
Pro: Scene selection. Size.

Cons: Some have claimed a disparity between sound and video - not sure about this though. Appearance: very uninspiring, like the rest of the coolpix family.

CONCLUSIONS
Rank overall:
1.Sony P100 (image quality, scene options, video quality, it's a Sony)
2.Canon S500 (two downfalls - and both quite big - no battery life indicator and low video resolution)
3.Fuji F610 (NO AF assist, can't switch off digital zoom)
If size and form factor the most important and tripod mount absolutely not necessary (e.g. if will be in handbag all the time): Sony T1

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Wonderful Little Camera
Review: Wow! This camera is great! I'm not too sure there's anything wrong with this one... There are some features that have been removed since my last Sony Cybershot 2 Megapixel, but those have been replaced with some great NEW features. I especially like the histogram display, it tells you (when you're going manual) if the picture is too dark or too bright. Pretty neat idea. I wouldn't hesitate to buy this camera at Amazon's price. I bought it the day after thanksgiving for a little cheaper, but the Amazon price is still good. I'd like to mention the dock too. I haven't bought it yet, but I plan to. ANOTHER THING: Rechargable LI-ION in the cybershot! FINALLY!, the charging port is in kind of a wierd place, but there are ways to work around that.

THE ONLY CON (perhaps?):
The USB is on the bottom of the camera, it doesn't use the traditional mini connector, it's a whole new fandangled connector. The box includes two of these, one for USB and one for connection to the TV (MONO SOUND TOO!) YOU CANNOT HOOK THE USB AND TV SIMULTANEOUSLY!!!! (It's not possible) UNLESS... you buy the docking station.
Overall, through what i've done with it so far, it's a great little camera! BUY THIS ONE! It should last you an amazingly long time too. (5.1 Megapixel is AWESOME, 4x6 Prints Easily, no quality loss even when cropping) Thanks for reading, and do yourself a favor and buy this camera, you'll be happy you did!


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