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Under 2 Megapixels
Sony DSC-U40 Cyber-shot 2MP Digital Camera (Silver)

Sony DSC-U40 Cyber-shot 2MP Digital Camera (Silver)

List Price: $299.95
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent Ultra-Portable Camera
Review: When looking at the picture, I didn't truly get a sense of how small this camera is. Barely 2/3 the size of my credit cards, and only 1" thick, I am able to just toss this beauty into my pocket and be prepared to snap pictures wherever I am.

There are two picture size settings. VGA (640 x 480) and 2M (1632 x 1224). The pictures at both modes are quite excellent for a cam of this class; however, this cam by no means should be your primary camera, since it does not have optical zoom (nor digital zoom, but that shouldn't be used even if it were available). I bought it so that I could always have a cam to carry around, and I have found that at such a compact size, I can with ease. The pictures come out to be just a bit grainy and slightly blurry, but that depends on the lighting and how steady your hand is, considering the size of this tiny wonder.

Although without sound and quite small, the movie mode is nifty to have, just to have it.

Start up time is superb. To turn on the camera, all you have to do it slide open the cover, and the camera is instantaneously on (< 1 second). Shutter lag is also quite negligible since there are no zoom lenses to adjust for. I've found that if the camera is set to Fast Action mode, there is virtually no shutter lag at all, and the pictures still come out nearly as good as when in normal shooting mode. To turn the camera off, just slide the cover back over the lens.

Although there is no optical viewfinder (which I never use anyways) the LCD is quite sharp and viewable, even only if 1". Also, as a power saving option, the LCD back lighting can be turned off, and the screen can still be seen, if there is ample sunlight or lighting in the background.

Overall, the body has a solid feel with its all-metal construction and is quite lightweight. It has a small array of features such as shooting modes (portrait, landscape, etc...), focus options, and flash mode, but I find this very nice since I don't have to worry about fiddling with controls when all I want is to point and shoot. I'll save those intricacies to situations where I bring my primary digital camera.

I also appreciate that Sony included a pair of 800mAH rechargeable NiMH batteries and a battery charger with this camera.

PROS:
Incredibly small, compact and lightweight.
Superb start-up time, perfect for those unexpected photo opportunities.
Ease of use, simple operation, truly point and shoot.
For its class, very good picture quality.

CONS (Minor):
The Memory Stick Duos are a bit pricey; I wish this camera used the slightly more affordable SD card, but the Duos, I suppose, are very, very small, and are well suited to the camera. This is just a minor thing, and does not detract from the quality of the camera itself.


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