Sony Cyber-shot® DSC-W200 Digital Camera

They reckon that for like for like, digital has to pass 13 mp to equal the quality of 35mm - Well, sony are getting close - and at an affordable price as well. It's truly a compact camera, almost just a HUGE lcd screen with a lens attached to it - it stowes away nicely and is ready for action quickly.

After selling up 35mm SLR's to go digital in 2000 - 2001 and the onset of a new child about to arrive we decided it was time to update from our 4.1mp Nikon. Already a fan of Sony and Carl Zeiss from my Photography retail days it didn't take long to whittle the choices down to a couple. Another factor that really did swing it for us was that we already had quite alot of media for it from old sony-ericsson mobile phones.

Controls are easy to use - perhaps not so ergonomical as with some cameras but they work and with all things, you adapt.

Screen is big and clear, easy enough to use in bright light. Fabulous for reviewing your handy work. Lets face it Sony are world leaders in TV's so this is obviously going to follow suit.

Picture quality is amazing! Huge sized images approx 3 - 4 mb nice to work on with adobe and sharp as a pin printed out on 6x4 or other traditoinal sizes.
Video playback is top quality too.

Battery life is impressive and charges up in a few hours.

Buy as much media as you can cause you will fill the cards up very quickly especially if you're using video settings.

I'd like more zoom but the 3 x is pretty standard so you're not missing out.
Extra batteries are £30 each approx. Expensive but worth while.

Why can't we get the case thrown in as I hate ill fitting after sales accessories- still this has been an issue since I can remember.

If you're in the market, this will please you for sure!

I had had a Sony Cybershot 3.1 mpx for some years which had given fine performance but I wanted an upgrage. Wanting to future proof myself for a few years a 12.1 mpx seemed a bit cutting edge and over the top but what the heck!

I read the few reviews I could find and looked at the info about the camera on the Sony site and Amazons site and decided this camera seemed perfect for my needs.

I wanted it as a family camera, holidays and stuff - but beware.....many digital cameras now do not have an eye-piece view finder they only rely on the LCD screen only.....this sony camera still has a viewfinder you can look through. This is a massive bonus when you are trying to take pictures in very bright sun in bright hot holiday locations, think about it.....you just cannot see the pre-view shot ont the LCD screen in bright sun - the viewfinder allows you to perfectly frame your shot even in places like Egypt where refections from sea/sand etc make it impossible to view the screen. My wife also prefers to use the eyepiece because she cannot always see the picture in the LCD scree so again a bonus.

The camera is very slim, you can slip it in your pocket or bag no problem, the screen is massive and crystal clear - its just brilliant. The 12.1 mpx setting means you can blow your pictures up to A3 size and have them crystal clear but after trying out the setting for a few weeks you will want to adjust back to something more normal - I am using the 5 mpx setting for general holiday shots. Remember the memory used per shot is now megabytes. The camera has its own memory but you will need to buy a memory stick on top. A 4 gig memory stick duo pro these days costs circa £20 so really cheap. Get a couple.

With high memory such as above you dont have to worry about using the video part of the camera, you can shoot hundreds of photos too and just delete any poor ones.

The camera is festooned with built in bits and bobs. You can go to manual settings as well if you want. One thing that's great is the macro settings. I took some close up shots of flowers in the garden using the macro setttings - with the camera built in slide show and music generation you can then link to your TV and play back straight away a professional movie where each photo fades into the next via your selected choices. With the software provided you can edit on your PC or just transfer the images easily or burn to CD/DVD etc. You can even playback your slide show on the camera screen immediately and show your family/friends. You can also add your own music etc via the software provided.

There are all sorts of different modes eg landscape, night, snow etc and all just a rotation of a small dial away. You can even select a rapid take feature where suppose you are taking a pic of your boy playing football, select rapid shot, click - and the camera will take a pic every second or so. In a minute you can have a whole stream of pics and just select the best/clear ones. Greaat for rapid action capture.

I really have enjoyed this camera so far, although I have only had it a few weeks it is packed with goodies and OK a lot you will seldom use but there is loads that will add benefit to your photo taking experience. You can make it as complicated or as easy as you like.

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