Sony DSC-P72 is a delightful cute digital camera. I am very fortunate to have some experience with it which I will narrate you all in my own way. Why fortunate: because the camera is not mine: I got some time to play with it (you may say abuse it!), nearly broke it but love it in every minute. Now it is gone back to my relative who bought it from Circuit City (USA: Paid around $329) about couple of months ago. This camera is still in market with same ID and still considered one of the best buy for its quality, multitude of features and rock solid sony’s reliability.
Out of box:this camera is a beauty. It is under the category of cybershot with brilliant silver finish and size to fit in pocket easily. You can hold it in couple of fingers and could take picture without any trouble. However, the camera surface is very smooth and therefore slippery.so better watch out because there is every possible chance you may drop it and could possibly break it and then cry over it (I did!). Cibershots are hot cameras and so cute you may possibly bite it. To my eyes, they have some sort of feminine look and belong to the slim, long fingers of the pretty ladies to maneuver it.
What comes with this pretty face? You get image-mix software which will help you to download the snaps to computer. It is not that a great software but one good thing about it: you can create a vcd out of all your pictures provided you got a cd writer in your box. If you got XP, then it will recognize your camera right away and show you all the pictures downloading automatically. You will get a 2 Nickel-metal hydride around 2100 Milli-Ampere which are capable of taking around 300 shots even if you use the lcd and flashes. It comes with the battery charger which works around the world with both 110/220V. You also get a USB rope which will connect your camera to the computer. It works fine but you may not like to drag the camera all the times to load pictures back to computer.
So get a cheap memory reader which could utilize the sony’s memory stick. Sony provides a 16Mb memory stick which can take over 100 shots worthy of computer viewing or sending by email. However if you like to take your best shot (3.2Mpixel), you can only store around 10-12 pictures. Most of us will go for at least a 128M/256M card.
Most of the stuffs in this camera you could figure out just by pressing the menu and a bucket looking button. Reading manual is not mandatory but helps. The camera could also be used for making short mpeg movies which you can watch it in both India American TV systems (PAL/NTSC). You can also make movies for e-mail purpose and they are of smaller size compared to the regular mpeg ones. It has an optical lens magnification of 3x and focal length goes from 6-18 mm which is equivalent to an optical camera-35 mm (39-117mm). The aperture and shutter speed are automatically controlled and you can indirectly tinker them by changing the iso rating and taking pictures under low lights etc.
Like any other digital cameras: this one loves eating the batteries out ASAP. Always keep a good stock of batteries. Digital cameras are also not as smart to light like the standard camera. So most of the time use the flash. Indoor pictures in nights are usually come out inferior. Pictures taken outside are pretty good. You have to play around and test/validate your imagination. Best thing: you don’t spend any money for that. Recharge the battery: erase the bad pictures and the lack of fear for loosing money will make you a better photographer.
Taking all consideration: it is an excellent mid-range digital camera. Pc Magazine has rated sony’s camera products as the best of all in terms of reliability and market share. One has to very careful with this product: it will surely slip out of your hand if you are not careful. Some one may steal or even bite it as it seems so cute.