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Sony DSCP10 Cyber-shot 5MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

Sony DSCP10 Cyber-shot 5MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom

List Price: $499.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good one
Review: Good one but I have to agree with what disappointed_user has to say. I agree with James Arvo esp the negatives. Overall Im happy with the camera esp for the price i paid

I also found sample shots of many digital camera at Steve's digicam site very helpful. You can judge yourself whether you need to purchase a different one. I was wondering whether I should go for dscv1 but it was out of my budget.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Sony DSCP10 is not for advanced photographers
Review: The Sony DSCP10 Cybershot 5 MP is a good quality camera but is only suitable for those who are happy with the preset settings that come with the camera. My biggest gripe is that there are no manual override (i.e you cannot change the preset settings), aperture priority or shutter priority which makes the camera virtually useless if you want want more control on how your pictures are taken. If you are happy with simple snapshots, then go for it. But if you want to be a bit more creative, you will be better of with a Canon or Nikon.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Only lacks 2 options I would like to have
Review: It's a great all around camera from what i have used. The only thing it lacks is a black and white picture taking mode (it gives you 3; sepia, neg. art, and solarize.) I would find the black and white feature much more useful. One other thing is the zoom in the 5 mega pixel you only have 3x optical zoom instead of using 4x smart zoom. I am also having some trouble with the differance of opinions of the length of the memory in the movie mode and how long it can record with what memory stick. The camera says 90 min with the 128 stick but consumers say differantly. Who is correct?? Don't get me wrong I love the camera and would recomend it to anyone that is listening!

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Compact but disppointed
Review: I bought this camera P10 this last December.

The following is the review about this camera.
Pro:
(1) Compact
(2) Battery charger charges the battery very quick ( less than 2hr)
(3) Navigation menu is very easy ( no need to go thru the manual)

Cons:
(1) Shutter speed is unreasonably slow ( difficult to catch candid moment - especially required fast speed shutter). Yesterday I tried to catch some candid moment about my daughter's basketball practice. I caught the shoots but the focused object was not in the center of the picture . Very disappointed.

(2) Zoom is not powerful enough - all the pictures are blurred if the focused object is more than 20 feet away. It is almost impossible to take shoot for the basket ball game if you are in the audience seat.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great digital camera
Review: This is my 4th Sony camera and this is the 5th generation of Sony's DSC's digital cameras (prior main models: DSC 30,50, P5, P7, P8). So this model have evolved with time, refining features, resolution and size, with every model I wished some changes, and for the next model the changes were done, even minute changes... however, it can be overwhelming for a newcomer to check all the 40 or 50 features, variables, settings, modes, screen symbols etc.
Regarding general features, you may check Sony's website (www.imagestation.com) but here is what I personally like and dislike:

My favorites:
-The all time favorite: You can zoom, trim, copy and save from exisiting pictures, all inside the camera . Say, you want to make a single, separate copy of just one face from a group picture. This is far faster than using the computer.
- It has the option to make 3 copies from one single shot...with bracketed exposure (every copy of the picture will come with a different exposure and you keep only the one with the best amount of light). The amount of light between each copy is user defined.
- It has an option for a series of 3 pictures with a 0.5 sec. delay between them. This is new in Sony's, a welcomed feature,it's easier to freeze "the right moment". It might compensate an existing delay when pressing the shutter, too (if you use it moments before the moment you pretend to capture).
-Improved white balance: You con control indoor light color from incandescent, fluorescent etc. with very acceptable results.
- It is possible to organize your pictures in different "folders", so you can organize them faster once in the computer.
- It has several combinations of shutter speed/aperture: small aperture and long shutter ("fireworks"), large aperture and fast shutter ("sports") etc. etc. ( 7 options); I guess it must compensate the lack of manual controls over aperture/shutter speed.
- About the 640X480 movie mode: since this is a series of photos instead of real video, objets in swift movement are blurry, and since not everyone has a steady hand, images usually are a little shaky. In spite of this, this feature was the main reason I purchased this camera, I don't like to use or carry a videocamera, instead I always carry this camera in my pocket and I has been able to capture key moments in the life of my 2 kids, in the most diverse places. Please note this: I takes 128MB to record 6 min. If you buy a mega-hyper-expensive 1GB memory stick you'll get some 45 min. but yo'll be able to record only some 30-35 min. in one standard 800MB compact disk. Remember that you can cut or delete unnecesary portions of movies right in the camera (it splits a movie and you delete the undesired portion).
- You can adjust the picture's sharpness, contrast and saturation (besides of exposure adjustment). Adjusted at its maximum setting, a picture of some glorious clouds over a blue sky will be captured very,very close to the real thing.

Drawbacks:
- Painted, plastic case (DSC-P5 and P9 were all brushed stainless steel!)
- The 6X zoom (3 optical and 3 digital) works only at 3.1MP, not at 5MP (here only takes optical 3X).
- I found the font size in messages etc. too little (Am I getting older?).

Features I find useless:
-There is an histogram, a graph showing the amount of light and shadow on the screen. What is the real and useful purpose of this? Mmmhh..
-I've never used the "sepia" mode. I guess someone in need of a brown picture, would change the color with software, not with the camera. Who knows?.

A note for first timers: Remember that a tiny lens (like the one in this camera) will gather just a small fraction of light compared with larger cameras, so be prepared to get yourself used to the flash when taking pictures at dawn, sunset or indoors...it means a shorter battery life, too. More: In a trip, I used to take some 20 or 30 pictures everyday, and at night I review them in the hotel and kept only the best ones (1 or 3 per day). Just imagine the quality of every picture kept.

About the software: Ill-designed. You'll have to get some decent editing software separately. They pretend you should learn to use a non-standard software with limited features...it might be well for someone living in Mars or where fine editing software is non-existing.

The bottom line: I have had DSC's cameras over time because they always give you more features for the price...if a small size camera is important to you. Otherwise, there are many other less expensive cameras with many features, but they will be always larger in size, and only if you're lucky you'll have good color reproduction and easy file handling.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: i love it!!!
Review: ok, so this camera has good zoom, great resolution, its small, it takes awsome videos with sound, that can be up to 90 min!!!, whats not to love??? some people say the menus arent user friendly, but it took me 30 seconds to learn how to use them! the buttons on the back are really easy to use. the battery is also very good. people also say the the screen isnt bright, but u can ajust the brightness very easily...it comes set on medium brightness but u can make it very bright.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Absolute Best
Review: The Sony DSC-P10, has to be that absolute best camera that i have ever seen. PLEASE DISREGARD ANY NEGATIVE REVIEW ABOUT THIS CAMERA! It deserves nothing less than 10 stars, although i can only give it 5. The Zoom is excellent, its small, and not to expensive. The flash could be a litle bit nicer though! I cannot stress enough how great this camera is. And did i mention the 5 mp resolution....the greatest. Settle for nothing less than the best...the sony P10!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Great camera, but recommend Canon S400 instead
Review: I just bought the S400 from Dell for $xxx a little while back and was considering the Sony DSC-P10 at the time as well. I figured I'd write up a review on amazon to help other people out that are in the decision making process.

**I posted a similar writeup for the Canon S400 about 10 mins ago, and also provide recommendations in that review of what accessories to buy for that camera if you decide to go with it.**

Price:
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The Sony DSC-P10 is 5 MP vs. 4 MP for the S400. The difference in resolution may immediately sway your decision to teh DSC-P10, but I would think very carefully. While the extra 1 MP sounds like a lot, my old 2.0 MP Canon S00 was fine for priting pictures all the way up to 8x10 (w/o any cropping). 4 MP resolution should allow you to price 11x14 with no cropping, and 8x10 with a lot of cropping. 5 MP is just excessive IMO. These days, it's just a race among manufacturers to see who can advertise the highest MP number.

Shooting modes and menus
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P10 also has some convenient shooting modes which make it more user friendly. It also has great features like cropping, resizing and rotating right on the camera which helps when you are not by a computer and want to free up room on your media storage. P10 Also has a smartzoom feature which is neat in theory, but as all users of digicams know, you should never use digital zoom of any kind. Turn it off and stick to optical zoom. You can always do the equivalent of "digital zoom" on your computer later with any photo editing software, even MS Paint!

The flash on the P10 is more offset from the lens than the S400, which will cause shadows to be cast on subjects when you take pictures. Imagine someone shining a flashlight on someone's face from an angle you you taking a picture. You'll see shadows on one side of the person's head. While it is not severe, it is worth noting that this effect is not as noticeable on the S400 (the flash is closer to the lens).

S400 has 9 point autofocus system, while P10 has 3 point. It means that the S400 can choose from 9 points to autofocus from in the current settings you are taking a picture of. In the end, this means that the canon has better of of chosing the right thing to focus in on which will mean better pictures. Imagine having 3 oranges and 1 is rotten. You have a 1/3 chance of picking the rotten one. Now imagine you have 9 oranges with 1 rotten one -- you only have a 1/9 chance. This analogy isn't perfect, but you get my point :)

The Canon S400 has a far superior menu system and is much easier to use.

Size:
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Canon S400 is smaller, making it a more pocketable camera IMO. The specs shown them being only very slightly different in dimensions, but the total volume of the cameras makes the S400 ideal. Those with bigger hands may prefer the layout and slightly larger size of the P10 though.

Memory storage:
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The P10 uses Memory cards, which are limited to 128 MB, unless you use the double sided ones (Sony Memory Duo), where you can flip them over to get another 128 MB. Far too much hassle for me.. sounds easy in theory, but in real life, you will hate it. My friend who bought the P10 surely does. You can get larger memory sticks, which comes in the form of the "Sony Memory Pro", which are 256 MB and 512 MB. Keep in mind though, that these cards have problems acting as regular storage for files, and things like Mp3s for sony mp3 players. They have some type of digital rights management (DRM) on them that have causes lots of problems for people (so i've read on many reviews). Also, these PRO cards only work in 2003 (or newer) sony devices. Lastly, the memory pro cards have some type of management files on the cards themselves, taking up about 20MB of space. So a 256 MB card, really only has about 230 MB. Maybe not a big deal, but com'on, at advertise the size correctly!

Battery Life:

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Battery life on P10 is better than the S400. It will last about 20% longer. However, the batteries are cheaper for the S400 AFAIK and they also charge in about 1/2 the time vs. the sony batteries.

Conclusion:
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All in all, i think the S400 is a better choice. Sure, CF maybe outdated in a few years in favor of smaller, superior storage media like SD, MMC or xD cards (which are going up to 1 GB btw), but until then you can get a great digicam with dirt cheap media. I picked up a 512 MB Kingston card for very cheap from eBay. Memory sticks are IMO, completely limited in storage and future expandability. The fact that sony has shunned all pe-2003 devices from using larger than 128 memory duo cards, indicates that users of the P10 can expect similar treatment going forward. Be warned!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great - but MPEG feature a little short
Review: A great camera, and I love it a lot. But, the mpeg movie feature will require external light and there is no flash plug in feature. so if you are shooting movies inside at night, make sure the room is well lit.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great little point and shoot
Review: Great little camera...
I was looking for something that I can carry around and take reasonably good pictures with by just pushing down the shutter...
I am very happy with this puppy. Picture quality is great - certainly good enough for 13x19 prints...
Camera is responsive - quick shutter during daylight and fast save to memory stick - allowing multiple pictures in a short time.
The built in scene-selections are sufficient for me...

The only gripe I have is that the camera does not auto-rotate pictures taken in portrait orientation (my 5 year old Kodak had no problem doing that)...


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