Sony Cybershot DSCW50 6MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom -

Customer Reviews:

Problem within 24 hrs of use
I am taking out some of my precious time in Maui in the balcony of my beach hotel after having a stressful altercation with the Sony customer service dept. I bought this camera from Amazon just 2 weeks back and started using it just 2 days back when I got to Hawaii for my year end vacation. This is my 1st time here and I thought I will get the best of pictures with this portable and nice looking camera. I had not even taken 150 pictures when I had a problem with it. I was watching hula dances last night and took several pictures with the camera. Then put the camera in my pocket (which is one of its benefits in being a thin camera). 5 mins later, I took the camera out and turned it on and got a message on the screen "Access" and then several beeps with the message " Turn camera off and then on" on the LCD screen. I thought this was because the battery was dying. Came to the room at night and put the battery on charging. Got up at 2 am (as I was to leave for a 38 mile bike ride down the Haleakala trail down hill), put the battery in, turned on the camera and lo.. the same 2 messages. My heart sank right then.

I called customer support when I got back telling them the situation and the term "customer support" really had no meaning anymore. They were obstinate and all they said was buy a disposable camera and send the camera back for repair when you get back from Hawaii. No compensation. Believe me ... its not easy to get stuff cheap in Hawaii. So I have no option but to go and buy another digital camera from Walmart (couple hrs drive from my hotel). Then get back home and send this one for repairs.

Irony is that I bought this camera from Amazon after reading the 52 good reviews on this site before mine. So to let you all good people know ... nothing is perfect. watch out. have a back up plan when you go to an isolated place this Dec for your Christmas break, else you will end up spending some more.
--2006-12-09

Great camera
I like this camera good picture quality, good zoom but you must gauge the picture size. I did not like the light quality though its hard to go through all the setting to see which one has better light on the picture so you have to get used to finding the right one for the photo. Downloading to my desktop a snap easy to use. It does suck sony's cheap they don't provide you with a power supply cord so you use batteries when downloading. Oh and it sucks up batteries like a hover. But over all I think that the digital cameras have come a long way and is by no mean perfect but a great improvement from their earlier model I would recommend this but only for a good deal I got mine for less than $200 or you could wait for the price to get cheaper and quality to get better up to you but if you need a good entry level this is not a bad choice.
--2006-11-07

Take the time to learn and use the features
My husband bought me this camera as an early Christmas gift. At first I wasn't in love with it. I was disappointed because I wanted a camera that had image stablization. This camera instead boasted about its ISO sensitivity settings and fast shutter speed. (They claimed it was similar to image stablization) When I first tried it out I was in a very low light setting and was experiencing some blur in my images which was exactly what I was trying to avoid in a new camera!

I almost traded this one in for something different (A cheaper priced olympus with IS) but thankfully I gave the camera another chance first and decided to play around with all the manual settings. There are a lot of them in the menus so you can fine tune it like you wouldn't believe. This ability to change its setup is what made me stick with the Sony.

However, I wouldn't say this camera is ideal for very low light situations. The two preset choices of shooting a low-light scene without flash won't give you crystal clear pictures especially if you experience a tiny bit of camera shake. But again, it goes back to the adjustments in the menus, you can make manual adjustments and get pretty decent pictures with minumal (or no) blur. But you have to take the time to find and set the right ISO and light settings. I highly suggest using the histogram that you can pop-up onto the screen for help. Unless you are willing to spend about $200 more on a camera, you won't find one that will perform great in very low light anyway. And like my husband said... "really... how often are you taking shots in the dark honey?" Hey, there's Halloween trick-or-treating and fouth of July fireworks and other night time events I retorted, but he's right. There really isn't a lot of real low-light pictures you take where you aren't using a flash.

I know lots of people (me included) like to try and figure out all the menu options and settings on their own before reading a manual... but this one, if you really want super amazing shots, reading the manual will give you A LOT of insight on how powerful a camera it really is. For people that always read the manual this is probably a big "DUUUH"! But if you are like me and like to try and rush through and figure it out, you are missing out on a ton of nice options.

Some great features:

The camera doubles as a video camera and it is only limited to recording up to the amt of space available in your memory stick. Other cameras will only let you record a pre-set maximum number of minutes.

I also like the Burst modes which allow you to take shots in fast succession. Great for action shots. But take note, when using a burst mode you cannot use the flash. (Again, watch out for low light!)

I have a 3 year old daughter and the fast shutter speed (and burst) works great in a well lit situation. Just the other day I caught shots of her running around and jumping up and down that came out crystal clear. No blur at all. Every flying and bouncing hair on her head came out perfectly frozen in time. Quite neat!

I gave this camera 4 stars because the camera performs wonderfully in every situation except very low light. But for the price, you can't do much better anyway. Its a great buy and I think just about anyone would be pleased to receive it as a gift.

--2006-11-06

Get the most aout of you menoy with this Digital Camera
Just be sure to get a case along with it, because the large screen could get scratched.
--2006-11-05

Great little Camera! - Excellent Photos and easy to use!
I had previously owned a Kodak Easy share that died while I was on vacation. I loved the easy to learn and use features on that camera so I wanted another camera that was easy for a non-professional to use.

This little camera has been great! I've had it for a few months now and LOVE THE PICTURES! It is very easy to use and is super small which makes it easy to throw in my purse to take anywhere. The pictures are crisp and clear and the battery lasts forever. My old Kodak used to take real AA batteries and I thought a camera with its own little rechargeable battery might be strange but it's actually MUCH easier and lasts way longer than the AA's did in my old Kodak. The LCD screen is huge and makes it very easy to review photos. Just one little click to go to review and back to taking photos.

Only two downfalls I've found so far are that the little setting dial moves easily on its own so you have to always check it before taking a picture or it might be on some strange setting or video. The other thing is that I haven't been able to figure out if there is a way to delete all of the photos on the camera after you upload them - I've had to delete them one by one which is a slow process. Other than those two little things this camera is WONDERFUL! Highly recommended!
--2006-11-05

Sony Cybershot DSCW50 6MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

- Sony