Sony Cybershot DSC-S980 12.1MP detects faces and capture them naturally And has digital image stabilization and High ISO (3200) to prevent blur, specially on low light. Also comes with seven scene selections to adjusts settings to shooting conditions.
Helpful consumer’s review
Our history: A few years back we spent over $400 on an HP camera with 8.1 mp and 10x zoom that we really loved and was treating us well… Then last year we saw a camera when were were at a show in Vegas that was to be the next greatest thing – so we laid down another $500… Well, even with the stabilizer on, that new camera couldn’t take a clear shot so feeling a little burned we put our HP back into operation. Recently, our 18month old started to get her hands on the HP camera and it suffered abuse that quickly put it out of commission. With the holiday upon us, we needed to quickly get a new camera.
I had done a little research in anticipation but… by the time you compile your info, new stuff is always out…
THE REVIEW: That said, we wanted to get a camera that would live up to the standards set by our HP but didn’t want to buy another $500 camera. So on a 20 minute shopping spree in Target, we compromised and got this SONY Cybershot DSC-S980 camera for $150 + 2GB memory card for $25 (Memory Stic Duo). The memory card is a must as the camera only holds a few photos.
1) It was pretty easy to just pick up and use without looking at the manual… but we did skim it to make sure we didn’t miss anything.
2) This was said to have a faster regeneration speed than others in it’s class which was very important to us… we are not disappointed but it is certainly not faster than our HP which had a 3-5 second delay.
3) This camera has a 4x optical zoom – our last had 10x and we definitely notice when taking shots from further away.
4) The steadyshot feature is decent but we still get blurry pics when trying to take many shots quickly.
5) It has a self timer – which was a mandatory feature for us.
6) It has a video mode – another mandatory feature for us…
7) It is small enough for my husbands pocket or my purse…
It does not have a view finder but we are not concerned – the display is actually larger than our HP display was…
9) The batter charge is a compact wall unit – no cords.
10) The battery lasted well over 200 pics/1 week the first time we fully charged it. (The manual indicates 330 still images on one charge)
11) The photo software (Picture Motion Browser) seemed to take a long time to install on our computer but works well.
12) Comes with dedicated USB cable and dedicated A/V cable.
13) Red-eye correction works but doesn’t catch them all.
14) It has other “standard features” like Black & White and Sepia modes, Burst mode, scene selection… but not panoramic mode as our HP camera had…
15) The 12.1mp has not proven to be a great improvement over our 8.1mp HP
