Sony DSC-U30 Cybershot

Review Date
October 28, 2003

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
0-1 years

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 3 votes

Reviewed by
ek , Intermediate

Price Paid
$189.00 at PC Mall in Torrance

Summary
Though I have EOS10D and Powershot G2, I wanted small, light, easy to use digital camera for snap-in-my-town photography.
This is as light as a pen and I often forget that it is in my pocket, looking for the camera on my desk. It is 1/2.7 inch CCD and 2M Pixel camera so I expect some noise and harsh sharpness in print but as Sony says, it is "visual bookmark" for me.

Strengths
90 grams. Lighter than my cell phone.
AAA size batteries.

Weaknesses
Too many steps to delete the shot.
Cannot review the shot unless you change it to play mode.

Similar Products Used
Canon Powershot G2

Customer Service
No International warranty.

Review Date
August 23, 2003

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
3.91 of 5, 11 votes

Reviewed by
Chuck Ward , Casual , from Houston

Price Paid
$199.00 at Circuit City

Photography Experience
6-10 years , Outdoor

Summary
I wanted a digital camera I could stick in my pocket. The abilty to forward pictures from my lap top while on the road was the need. I was put off at first by the DSCU-30's lack of zoom, but an optical zoom was going to be bulkier and more expensive. Digital zooms are basically worthless as you can do the same thing with editing capabilities on the computer. I used the little Sony at the US Amateur Golf Tournament this week. The flexibility to turnoff the flash and all beeps and other noises makes it perfect for this kind of use. It is so quite and unintrusive that the players never knew I was shooting pictures. I think the quality of the photos is outstanding. I bought a 164mg memory stick ($59)and can take 244 pictures at 2 megapixels. I have a Nikon N65 with various lenses for "serious" photos, but I already suspect this camera will get used much more often. I'll be interested to see how durable it is. If you can accept the limitations of a 2 megapixel camera with no zooms, I am hard pressed to believe you could find a better choice, especially at this price.

Strengths
Size!!!
Price!
User flexibility
Picture quality

Weaknesses
No zoom
lcd screen is small and hard to see, but I don't see anyway around this.

Similar Products Used
All film, first digital

Customer Service
Not used