Photography lite (Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S40)

Member Name: Plymyphil

Product:	Sony Cyber-shot DSC-S40
Date:	15/10/05 (369 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Small, light, easy to use

Disadvantages: Not much control for the true photographer

The first aspect to attract me to a digital camera is usually the price. WIth this in mind, this Sony fares well - the price I piad of £139.99 is now easy to beat both online and in high street stores.
Second though for digital cameras I look for a trusted name. Some might argue that this represents an unnecessary brand loyalty that will cost me in the long run ... I argue the opposite. Having been stung frquently by the 'unknowns' I now stick to the knowns. Again, this Sony inspires a trust - Sony produce quality goods in my experience and that helped lead me to the purchase of this camera.

So, what do you get for your money.
Surprisingly you get a well equipped point and click machine. There is little need to play with settings or think about anything other than the composition here - just point and click and enjoy the great results in a variety of lighting conditions. The camera is small and lightweight which makes it great for holidays and those occasions when you want to take a camera but don't want to hand over half the suitcase to the latest SLR and attachments.

The autofocus on this camera is the best I've ever seen in this price range. It clearly identifies on the 1.5" LCD screen the area of primary focus and this allows easy repositioning of the camera if the image is not as you expect.

Features include:
Settings for twilight, candle, snow, beach, landscape and a 'soft snap' mode.
The facility to record short movies with sound. (For this you will need an additional memory card as the supplied 32Mb is not up to video.)
Multi-burst mode and burst mode - ideal for catching moving objects and getting the great pic every time.
Creative picture effects including blacnka dn white and sepia.
Adjustable auto focus.
White balance adjustment.
Auto-macro mode for close up shots.
PictBridge printing.

Ease of use:
The camera itself is very easy to use with an intuitive menu system clearly displayed on the 1.5" LCD screen.
The camera is instantly recognised by Windows XP which makes for quick and easy downloading of images. In addition the supplied software installs onto Windows .9x machines onwards and even Mac OS machines.

Overall:
The image quality is superb for a 4MP camera and the ease of use makes this a must have for the quick clicker. If you want stacks of control over your image and a more professional photographers camera then maybe this isn't such a good buy.

Summary: Superb quality and easy to use makes me recommend this for snap shots.

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