My friend bought the Sony Cybershot DSC S500 as a Diwali gift last year, it turned out to be a great device, specially considering the retail price.. The camera has everything he was looking for at the time:
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S500 - a remarkable combination of simplicity and performance makes it a perfect choice for first-time digital photographers. The DSC-S500 combines 6.0 megapixel resolution with a quality 3X optical zoom lens design, terrific wide-angle shooting capability, 25 MB Internal Memory for capturing shots in-camera, and a bright, 2.4" LCD screen that allows you to check your shots and share results immediately. For added convenience, the camera has a built-in slot for an optional Memory Stick Duo to provide extra storage space. It also features several shooting options including Auto, Twilight, Landscape, Burst Mode, and QVGA Movie Mode.
This camera takes excellent detailed and rich pictures with high definition and great color details (like his other Sony Cameras - always impressed by their pictures). With 6 megapixels, the pictures this camera takes can be blown up to 16 by 20 inches.
One drawback to this camera is that it does not respond quickly enough to be useful at sporting events or when the shot is critical. On more than one occasion while they were in Essel World, They lost a shot that he thought the camera was prepared to take because it decided to refocus or adjust for lighting again or whatever reason. For his uses of this camera, this was a mild (and manageable) irritant. If needed for fast action or critical shots, something other than the S500 is warranted.
Like other Sony cameras he has worked with, it has a user selectable dial for determining the camera settings. The AUTO setting works great in most situations, but the camera has other settings that work better for different lighting levels and uses.
Unlike his previous Sony camera, the movie-mode is locked at a size of 320 by 240 pixels, but still has the options for black & white and Sepia modes. The movie recording works well - records in 30 frames per second, but the resolution is very weak and the audio can be terrible depending on what is recorded.
The night setting works well, and if used with a tripod (yes, this camera has a tripod mount), then excellent night shots are possible with background objects visible and foreground objects lit up nicely by the flash.
The internal (included) memory is only 25 MB, which is very limited, but if the only reason for the camera purchase is emailing pictures and not printing, then a comfortable 152 JPEGs can be taken using the internal memory alone. Otherwise, there is a memory stick pro duo slot under the battery access door. He additionally bought a 1.0 GB memory stick pro duo for his uses, and over his trip at Essel World felt the right capacity and took every shot he wanted (about 270 6 MP shots and a few movies of varying times). he don’t know if there is an upper limit for the capacity of the memory media, but Sony offers a 2 GB item of the web page for this camera as an accessory, so presumably it will handle at least that much.
During his experience he found the flash to be somewhat limited in its power. Three or four feet was the limit of it’s ability to illuminate the subject effectively in poorly lit areas. As a fill flash, it is unacceptable, meaning its important to keep the subject lit up from the side being photographed.
The LCD display is also a little weak and difficult to see in bright sunlight (compared to other cameras he has previously used). There is an option to increase the backlight level, but this wastes more battery power and it is not very effective.
Speaking of battery power - WOW - this camera goes through AA batteries faster than he would have believed. he was using Titanium Alkaline batteries (better than standard alkalines) and went through 8 batteries in six days and 1 GB of shooting. The manual also specifies that the NiMH batteries will also provide many more images before requiring replacement than the alkaline batteries (I have not tested this).
In the end, if you are tight on cash and want a small point and click that will serve you well, this one is for you.