What can I say? I really like this camera! I'm a 35mm photo-hobbiest that previously owned/used a Mavica FD-81, and was looking for something that was smaller, faster, and took cleaner pictures. I originally was looking at the S50, but with that model on it's way out (being replaced by the S55 possibly, depending on sales of the P50...I'm told), I looked into (and bought) this model.This camera may actually begin to replace my 35mm. First off, the camera's lens takes some excellent pictures: clarity, color, etc. Combined with the tons of manual override features, it gives me the visual control I found lacking in other models (you can even disable the digital zoom altogether, a big feature for me). And the LCD capabilities also stand out against the competitors: (1) you don't have to use it (a view window is provided, which is centered to the lens...so you really get what you see) and this almost triples your battery life, and (2) LCD image review allows you to zoom in/out of pictures to verify that you got the details you were looking for. Expansion speaking, Sony uses the memory stick technology in their cameras (I can share my 64 MB sticks between my mp3 player and this), it has a slot to attach a more professional model flash, and the camera lens supports add-ons. As well, the speed is phenominal it takes the pictures quick...and you don't have to half-press the button to focus before you take the pic...just press once and it'll auto-focus and take the picture on it's own.
There are only two real downsides of note to the S75: (1) size and (2) ease of image distribution. There are a lot of cameras out there that are both smaller and lighter; however, I found this model to have the same size and feel as my Nikon 35mm, so that didn't bother me. As well, I miss being able to use the straight-to-disk feature of the Mavica. Also, beware out of the box it's set to 2048x1536 fine (which will blow up to poster-size without pixilating, BTW) which will eat up the 8MB stick in about 5 pics...reducing it down to 1280x960 let me fit a lot more before I upgraded my memory stick.
If size and weight is your ultimate selling point, take a look at the P1 or the P50; but if you want the pictures and the control of a real 35mm, this is definitely the camera for you.
This camara is NOT for somebody who is a photo fanatic. If you want razor-sharp prints the size of posters, or if you want to take pictures of hummingbirds in flight, there are camaras that have interchangeable lenses, higher resolution and better image controls.
If you are semi-serious about your photography, require a good lens, decent control over the photos, and spectacular batter life, this camara is an excellent value.
Equipped with an excellent (if bulky) Zeiss lens, this camara can produce much better pictures than other three (and even four) mega-pixel camaras that only have tiny, small things. One thing you must remember is that mega-pixels are useless if the lens cannot deliver detail that fine to the camara. This lens can. The 3MP it has will do just fine for any size print up to and including 8x10's.
The user interface for the camara is simple enough, which makes up for the somewhat lousy manual. My only complaint about the controls is that the cursor movement button is hard to center correctly. This is a minor point, as I have never had it cause a problem other than me having to hit the button twice.
The pictures are razor sharp and the camara is capable of perfect white balance. (For those that don't know, bad white balance is what causes some pictures under flourescent light to look green, and incadescents look yellow.) All you have to do to adjust it to perfect every time is to keep a white index card in your camara case and then use the "one touch" balance control to re-calibrate it in a couple of seconds.
You can make small movies with this unit, but they aren't suitable for anything but posting to the web. Let's face it, this isn't a camcorder.
The included rechargable lithium battery is more than enough for a full day or two of shooting, but if you won't have access to a car or electrical outlet, it could be a problem, since it isn't a AA you can pick up at any corner store. (That means that you can't use this camara for your 10-week trek through the wilderness.)
This camara includes only an insultingly small 8 MB memory stick. However, I believe that everyone with a 3MP camara should own a 128MB chip, and NO camara maker includes one that big. Buy one when you buy the camara. Since other manufacturers besides Sony now make them, they are very reasonably priced.
You can buy accessories like a flash, an adapter for 52mm filters, additional lenses, etc., but the cheaper non-sony brands are tough (but not impossible) to find.
The included software (MGI Photosuite) is not really that good, but not bad for a bundled package. I reccommend, and use, Microsoft Picture It! Digital Image Pro.
All in all, for the price this camara costs, it is the best available and has no competition.
P.S. If you have windows XP, you MUST change the USB Transfer mode from the default. If you don't, it won't work. See the manual and the sony website for details.
Buy Sony DSCS75 Cyber-shot 3MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom Now
The image quality of the Sony has lived up to my high expectations; it is incredible. As a long-time amateur 35mm photographer and professional graphic artist, I really wanted a true digital SLR digital (couldn't afford $3k with lenses), but as a digital rangefinder, I am giving away very little with the DSC-S75. The manual mode combined with available spot metering gives me the control I need, and the controls are very easy to set much easier than on most film SLR's. The overall size is small, but the rubber grip gives me a good place to hold it steady. Compared to the Nikon 995, the build quality is obviously superior. The heft of the controls is superb, and the materials are first-rate. The Nikon feels like it is made by Fisher Price. The image quality of the Sony is crisper and the colors truer, to boot. Tell me again why the Nikon is more expensive. The battery lasts a LONG time. It lasted more than 2 hours with the LCD on the whole time and with a lot of flash use. I had presupposed that I'd need a second battery, but I am sure I will get tired of shooting before this camera does on any given shoot.I will list my quibbles here in hopes that Sony might see them and rectify them, but they by no means outweigh my extreme satisfaction with this camera.
Quibbles:
*Needs more white balance presets For now I use the one-push calibration, but if you don't have a gray card or a sheet of paper handy, more than 2 measly presets would be nice.
*AF lock is awkward to use It works, but not well at all. You have to push a button to lock focus AFTER releasing the shutter button from its halfway down position, and you risk the focus going blurry again (catching it in the middle of its trying to refocus) before you engage the lock button.
*Manual is lacking in detail There is no guide relating recommended apertures to distances for the different settings of the flash. You either use auto mode or you take guesses at the correct f stop. It also doesn't explain what the camera does with the flash in auto mode. I am sure I'll figure all this out with some experimentation, but as a techie I like to know EXACTLY what is going on.
*Metering only shows +-2 stops, and doesn't work at all when in aperture or shutter priority mode and the camera deigns that there isn't enough light to get to the desired exposure. It just blinks a light at you.
*The 8mb memory stick is a joke. 128mb sticks are now available for [$$$], but this must be factored into the price.
Read Best Reviews of Sony DSCS75 Cyber-shot 3MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom Here
I was dead set on getting on of the Sony P1s it was small and took high quality pictures. Sadly, the store had run out, but an enterprising showroom assistant suggested checking out the DCS-75 instead. I'm so glad I did! This camera is amazing. I've never owned a digital camera before and wonder why I waited so long now. 3.3 Megapixels is probably more than enough for most people for snapshots I have the setting down to 640 x 480 and don't go much above 1280 x 960 for anything. However, should you want to, the camera can take 2048 x 1536 and can save in a variety of formats, including .TIFF. It will even take movies of up to about 1 minute, although the quality of the movies is not fabulous. There are some standard special effects settings too (if you don't trust youself with Photoshop or the like)such as black & white and negative. The menu system is easy to understand although I'd recommend having a quick look through the instruction booklet to find out about all the extras. I found it easy to find my way round the camera after only one reading. The camera has a nice chunky feel like and old school 35mm and the handgrip feels good and secure. The LCD is a sensible size at about 1.5 inches (although like all LCDs is hard to see in very bright light)and combined with the viewfinder makes it very easy to focus and frame in just about any light. An adjustable LCD would have been even better, but there you are. The only thing that I found wrong with this camera was the piddly little 8mb Memory Stick. I would strongly reccomend getting a 32 or 64 Mb, as the 8 meg will fill up in about 10 shots if you go for size and quality. Also some sort of protective covering offered with the camera would be nice: I bought the semi-hard carrying case for it after dropping on a corner and denting the aluminium casing... What more can I say a fabulous camera.Want Sony DSCS75 Cyber-shot 3MP Digital Camera w/ 3x Optical Zoom Discount?
I probably spent 2to 3 hours researching my anticipated purchase of a digital camera. I told myself that I would spend no more than a couple of hundred dollars but the more I looked into it, the more I realized that a decent camera could not be bought for that price. So I changed my goal to find a camera that had all the features I would need for the least amount of money. I must have read everything on the net about digital camera's that ever was and I started narrowing down the list to a few names, then finally all roads kept pointing at the DSC S75. So I found a deal and made the leap, fully expecting to be a little disappointed when the camera finally arrived. The camera arrived and I began shooting the same day. Yeah, there was a bit to learn, but the more I learned, the more impressed I got. The quality of the pics are quite amazing. Oh, I also bought the Lexar 128mb stick so I would not have to keep deleting the pics cause I had no more room. I got a fantastic deal here on Amazon on that, even better than you can get on Ebay. I also bought the HP photosmart 1115 printer and it arrived about 3 days after the camera did. Anyway, back to the pics. They came out super good. Now I am hooked, I just ordered the flash, and now I am checking out the telephoto lense options. Photography many years ago was a big hobby of mine, and I do believe this camera has brought that interest back to life. This camera has auto settings, aperture priority options as well as shutter priority. This camera has so many cool things to take advantage of that I guess it will be a while till I get proficient with all the possibilities. I wanted to be brief with this review, but with this camera that is difficult. I can just say that I am glad I did my homework, I feel like I got an "A" on the exam. Oh, just thought I pass this one on to you, I read a professional reviewers article on this camera, he that said this camera was probably the best digital camera under the $5000 professional range. I thought he might be biased, but now I am not so sure.
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