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Reviewed by
AdamT
, Professional
, from UK
Price Paid
$139.00
at Wrexham Cameras - UK
Summary
This camera may not have the same "Cute" factor as the U30 and similar as it`s bigger and not in the least bit shiny but it has one thing no other tiny Digicam has and that is serious weather sealing..
It can be dunked in water down to 5 feet so rain and dust are a doddle for it, even shallow coral diving shoots are possible so long as you don`t go beyond the 5 feet limit or drop the thing..
Images aren`t up to the standard of the expensive hi-end Digicams of yesteryear (Nikon 950, Oly C2100UZ etc) which is to be expected but they`re better than the Fixed focus brigade and even give some 2Mp zoom cameras more than a run for it`s money (the Sony DSC-P50 and Fuji 2600 spring to mind here), the colour balance is rather un-sony like in that it`s Neutral, images are sharp and reasonably detailed, there is none of the soft corner problems a lot of fixed focal length Digicams suffer, AF is sensitive and fast compared to canon`s non-zoom offerings also....
The 1" LCD is far better than you might think and it`s protected with a thick glass screen, Menus are very button-pressy (it`s like playing a game-boy just to delete a pic) and there is little in the way of settings but it gets the job done, in adverse conditions at minimum size and with decent image quality, Heck even the flash works well..
Gotta be worth 5 stars despte the "weaknesses" for the value factor considering you can take it anywhere and the money it costs
Strengths
Water resistance makes it unique in this field
Tough and Robust (opposite of U30)
Lasts well considering AAA Batts
Comes with batts and charger
Decent image quality with decent lens
Fast sensitive AF
clear easy to see LCD
Neutral Colour balance and sharp
Easy and natural to shoot with one hand
Excellent ability for closeups
Good lens (F2.8) without Soft corners most non-zoom Digicams suffer from
Weaknesses
Horrendous Movie mode which is a waste of a switch
Navigating menus to do the simplest of tasks is like pulling teeth
JPG compression is a bit on the aggressive side given that it`ll take Mem-Stick Pro cards of 1Gb or more!
Image noise a bit on the high side in certain conditions (to be expected though and in line with other budget cams
ISO is Fixed on Auto and can`t be locked down to 100 - this results in very noisy photos indoors with flash a lot of the time
Charger is sloooow
Similar Products Used
There aren`t any similar products really but in cheap non-Zoom Digicams I`ve used the Canon A200, A300, Sony U10, Fuji 202
Customer Service
Dunno, Sony stuff doesn`t break does it ?? ;-)
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5 of 5
5 of 5