It's good-looking, smart, and loaded a camera to love.
By Heinz Bulos
or an ultra-compact camera, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P100 is more than you can ask or. 1argeted at the stylish set, the DSC-P100 comes in three colors-siler, blue, and red. It looks ery elegant, with sleek cures at one end, unlike the boxy cameras typical in its class.
But there`s more to it than a pretty ace. lor one, it`s a 5.1 megapixel CCD camera. 1wo, it eatures a Carl Zeiss 3x optical zoom. 1hree, it has a large 1.8` 1l1 color LCD screen.
It`s quite light at 6.5 oz. Plus, it`s about just an inch thin. O course, the problem with ultra-compact cameras, including this one, is that you hae to be extra careul handling it, as there is no protruding surace ,except or a narrow grooe, or a irm hand grip. Make sure the strap is around your wrist when taking photos. Len i it`s a sturdy, all-metal body, you don`t want to take your chances.
1he buttons, howeer, are well-placed. lor instance, on top, there are only two- the Power button and shutter release, and there`s little chance you`d press the wrong one. 1he controls at the back are both easy to igure out and use. 1he labels and icons are amiliar and the controls are within easy reach with just your right thumb. Len the Mode dial is not cluttered with unctions, as with other cameras.
\hat the P100 gets really high marks on is the display system. Naigation is a breeze as the camera uses a menu system that is context-sensitie ,shows releant options depending on the mode,, clear cut ,labels and icons are sel-explanatory,, and streamlined ,ery ew leels,. lor instance, unlike many cameras that require you to wade through a byzantine maze o menu leels, with the P100, choosing to shoot, say, in sepia or black and white, is a ew press strokes o a button, while in shooting mode.
An added bonus is you can easily see rom the screen display the number o minutes let on the battery ,not just bars, and the number o images you can still take on your storage media.
1he LCD has a non-glare surace, so you don`t hae to squint under bright sunlight. lor low light conditions, the camera adjusts with its Auto Brightness eature. It`s also equipped with an Auto locus Assist beam which automatically operates under low light.
Image quality, by the way, is terriic. \e did test photos or still lie, portrait, and landscape. 1he photos we took were sharp, well-exposed, and color-accurate. Len the 8R prints were impressie. \e like the lexibility o shooting or Internet use ,at 640x480 pixels, and or large prints ,at 2592x1944 pixels,. 1he 2592 ,3:2, mode is conigured in a 3:2 aspect ratio that is optimized or printing 4x6-inch prints. \ou can also capture 640x480 ideo clips at up to 30ps, or shoot at a lower 160x112 resolution or e-mail use.
llash range though is limited at 12.5 eet and 38mm wide angle ocal length. It has our lash modes: Auto, lorced On, lorced O, and Slow. 1he lens range is 38-114mm ,35mm equialent,. It has 3x optical and 2x digital zoom, or a combined zoom range o 6x.
l Don`t expect eery manual control aailable in this model. But the beauty o the P100 is that it lets you use it as a point-and-shoot, with its excellent auto controls, but still allow enough lexibility through both preset and manual controls. lor example, or adjusting white balance, you can choose Auto, Daylight, Cloudy, lluorescent, and Incandescent. lor scene modes, there`s 1wilight, 1wilight Portrait, Landscape, Sot Snap, Candle, Snow, Beach, lireworks, and ligh Speed Shutter. Pretty straightorward or the casual camera bu, but o course, it`s not to be taken too seriously by pros.
1he P-100 is also a ast perormer. Power up is about a couple o seconds. Shutter lag was 0.03 second in our tests. But it takes seeral seconds to process images at high resolutions. lor action photography, the MultiBurst mode lets you record sixteen rames at high speed. 1he burst rate is .5ps, 15ps or 30ps. 1hese 320x240 images are merged into one 1280x960 image and displays as an animated sequence when iewed in the camera.
Naturally, the P100 uses Sony`s Memory Stick or Memory Stick Pro or storage. 1he package is bundled with a measly 32MB stick, which is enough or about 14 images at the highest resolution.
1he camera uses an NP-lR1 InoLithium rechargeable battery, and comes with an AC-LS5 battery charger. Battery lie was respectable at 5 hours and 30 minutes, with 389 pictures taken by our 1est Lab.
Certainly, the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P100 is an excellent choice or an ultra-compact camera. I you want a reliable and easy to use point-and-shoot camera, with enough controls or you to play around with, you won`t get wrong with this one.
PROS: Lxcellent image quality, easy to naigate and control, ast perormance, stylish design.
CONS: Not enough hand grip, limited lash range, bundled storage is a mere 32MB.