Sony Cybershot P-100, my first digital camera. Well yes, but I’ve been having the privilege of taking digital pictures through my phone Nokia 6600.
I have been looking for a digital camera since quiet a while, before I finally bought it just before Christmas of 2004. I had no idea on what all I must look at, and what all should / should not be there in a Digital camera. So thanks for the research online, and stopping over at various equipment shops and understanding what means what and what’s good to have, I zeroed down to getting this, as my first Digital Camera.
Following was my checklist:
Over and above 4 Mega pixel range, preferably 5 MP
Minimum of 3x of optical zoom
Lithium Ion battery a must, and a good battery life
Good resolution of final pictures (quiet of course)
Less noise in the pictures (I’d just write what it is)
Sleek and not bulky
Non-conventional & fresh design
Flexibility of Manual settings
Nicely placed controls
Also should have movie recording
Reasons why I had the above in my checklist:
More than 4MP, to ensure that I don’t get outdated in month’s time / so. Though having more Mega pixel doesn’t really matter much, once you have 4+MP, as it just enables larger canvas size and of course better clarity (with more pixels creating that image of yours). But as I’m not thinking of this a professional camera (the DSLR range), but good enough to capture what I see
Optical Zoom - Optical zoom is better than the Digital zoom. Optical zoom is when the lens of the camera actually moves to get the subject into focus. Whereas, the Digital zoom just stretches the image, and that distorts the image quality.
Lithium Ion Battery - Well, I know that A4 batteries are available everywhere, but that means that you would’ve a recurring cost with your camera. With Lithium Ion batteries, no cost involved. Also, the time to re-charge flash is consistently negligible with Li-Ion batteries, whereas, with A4 batteries, you’d be counting time, when your camera is done charging the flash for you to take the next shot, and trust me that’s pretty frustrating
Clarity of what I shoot is what I get, is what’s important. Sony does offer this in this range. I have used Cannon, and Kodak cameras. Nothing against them, but they don’t offer the same picture quality in this bracket, as the Sony
Less Noise - Noise is the particles that you see moving (blackened) while you’re recording a picture (at night) or a video. Sony offers the least amount of noise, and one of the best clarities on the pictures.
Sleek & not bulky and non-conventional & fresh - Of course, one shouldn’t’ be ashamed seen with a camera that one’s carrying. Thus Sony is an inevitable choice for me. I considered around 5-7 brands, and saw over 20 cameras, before I settled down with Sony Cyber shot, as it fitted my budget, and of course looks great to the eye. What more about the design, Sony’s 7.1 Mega pixel comes with the same design, and Sony offers this 5.1 MP camera in Silver Grey, Blue & Red colors, to suit everyone’s taste. And of course I had disliking about the fat cameras, thus the choice towards long sleek camera.
Flexibility of Manual settings - This is one of the most important things when you’re buying a digital camera. You do not want just a point-&-shoot camera, and not be able to do anything, other than just click the button. Sony Cyber shot allows you to have manual aperture control, and 9 different screen modes (Portrait, Night-Portrait, Landscape, Night mode, Sports, Snow, Beach, Fireworks, Candle-Light). In addition to these screen selections, you get a Manual setting mode, with Just point & shoot functionality as well. As you learn, you grow on the camera, and it has more and more to offer. To an extent that you get one of the highest manual exposures of 30 seconds.
Nicely placed controls - All the controls are neat metal, placed just where you’d expect them to be. Gives you single-hand operation, and simple, and non complex. Best part is that menus inside are also easily accessible, and are non just one into the other, mixed, complicated. Pretty straight forward, and nicely kept. And this is one thing I like bout Sony & Nokia. Sorry if I sound biased, but that’s my experience.
Movie recording - A lot of digital cameras, offer either movie / still shots, and those who combine both, do a bad job at it. But with Sony Cyber shot, that’s not the case. You get Unlimited movie recording, depending on the size of your memory stick (unlike other cameras, which’s limit it to few minutes/seconds)
I bought this camera in December 2004, and its been over 8 months since I’m using it, and people who know me well, say that I take pictures as often as I breath. I am working towards taking my hobby of photography, to a next level, of freelance photography, and take this as a serious career. For now, I’d go ahead with my Sony Cyber shot, as it does give me that flexibility. Just bought a tripod to help me get better shots.
I bought this camera while I was in Malaysia, and got 256MB card, tripod, camera cover with it. Bought it for RM1500 (Rs 18000), now here its available for RM1250 (Rs 15000)
I have my own website, where I put the pictures, and showcase my work. You can visit and see the results from this camera for yourself :: https://keeny.fotopic.net