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Sony Cybershot DSCP100 5.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

List price:	~~$449.95~~
Our price:	that is 100% off!
Manufacturer:	Sony

Average user rating: Average user rating: 4.5

good, small camera

I got the P100 (for free using Sony Visa bonus points), as a companion to a three-year-old F707, which is a wonderful camera (at the high end of the non-pro spectrum in its time) but sometimes too big to take on a walk with a toddler. I was in some ways pleasantly surprised. In every respect except of taking still pictures, the P100 is better. That's technological evolution at work: much nicer movie mode (excellent quality of video and sound!), a nicer directional pad/selector, a handy stand-alone delete button, faster picture taking, accepts MS Pro cards, nicer LCD. Photos aren't as good, especially indoors, but that is to be expected with the tiny lens and small flash of the P100--but tiny is why I got it, so I have no complaints.

Outdoor pictures can be excellent. Indoor pictures can be quite good if one is careful. As always, some pictures won't come out, but that's my fault as photographer. I am quite happy--for my purposes, the camera does the job quite well. It's not going to produce pictures that a high end consumer camera can (the 5MP spec is certainly not everything--the F707 is also a 5MP camera), but if one wants a small camera that one can carry around in a pocket and quickly fire up whenever something picture-worthy shows up, this is a good choice.

I particularly like the focusing spotlight, because it lets me know what the camera is pointed at without my having to look at the LCD/viewfinder, which for certain shots is nice. I wish it came with some sort of a case, but I guess people might want different ones. (I just use a draw-string little cloth bag that a flash for my F707 came with.)

I'd like to address two complaints in other reviews.

1. Focus issues. Some reviewers complain of focusing problems. My impression is that this is when one is taking pictures in multi-area focus mode, which averages out the data in different areas, and which can ensure that no areas is in focus. This is the only focus mode available in the easy-shoot mode (the one with the "camera" icon). I tend to switch to the program mode (the one with the "P") and set everything on automatic except make the focus be center-area only. Then I point to the part I want in focus, press the shutter half way, compose the picture, press the shutter all the way. One really does need to control which part of the picture is to be in focus--no camera can read one's mind! And outdoor this is a lesser issue because with more light the lens will tend to be stopped up more, and hence have a wider focus range. My impression is that the focus might still not be perfect in low-light conditions, but I haven't tested this thoroughly.

2. Ergonomics. Out of the box, the camera is hard to hold in one hand when taking landscape-orientation pictures. For portrait, I think it's fine, and it's fine for landscape with two hands (which one really should use for optimal stability anyway). For someone like me with big hands, it's easy to cover up part of the flash when holding with one hand, and the weight is inconveniently distributed. But there is a way of fixing the ergonomics: egrips (www.egrips.com). These are very grippy sticky things to keep electronics from sliding out of pockets, etc. If one applies them in the right places on the camera (I put a strip vertically along the rear right and two horizontally along the front, where the right hand makes contact with the camera), my grip became MUCH surer, and I could hold the camera reasonably comfortably without obscuring the flash. It seemed worth the ten bucks plus shipping for the egrips, as it fixed the ergonomic issue. (I have no connection with the people who make the egrips, but they're a good deal, I think. The camera kit comes with a lot more stickies than one needs for the P100 so there may be enough for some other uses, too.)

Sony quality at its BEST

The overall performance and image quality of the P100 is superb. It's as good and at times better than my Sony Cyber-shot P5, 3.2 megapixels. It has the fastest start up time i've seen on digital cameras, as well as a short shutter lag (0.3-0.5s )also as mentioned at imaging-resource.com. It rivals some of the D-SLR's on these parameters! It has a Carl-Zeiss lens that provides excellent quality iamges. The colors and saturation of images are well balanced. I've played around with imaging software to make them look better. In addition, it's light and thin, and can be carried around without hassle. It has an excellent macro. The battery lasts for a hundred shots. I am satisfied with the P100 and definitely recommend it as a full featured high-quality P&S camera.

A great little camera

I bought this camera last July and could not be more pleased. It is the perfect camera for slipping in your pocket and catching those candid shots thanks to its quick start up. I have taken a lot of very good photos with this camera. Photos I would have otherwise missed.
The battery life is great. As long as I don't go nuts with the pictures, I can go days or weeks between recharges.
I am looking forward to taking several more this summer underwater thanks to the newly aquired underwater housing. The great thing is that I will be able to take more photos with this little camera than I could with my old underwater film camera, because thanks to the 2GB memory stick I put in it I can take about 800 pictures at full resolution bofore I have to empty the memory. I bought that memory stick for my PDA but loved having the ability to take so many pictures so much I left it in the camera. (Anybody got a 2GB memory stick they aren't using; those things are pricey.)
I plan to buy a digital SLR in the near future but I know that this little camera will still always be in my pocket.